By Felicia J. Persaud

News Americas, FORT LAUDERDALE, FL, Fri. Sept. 30, 2022: Here’s someone not afraid to at least tell the truth about America’s so-called immigration “crisis.” Let’s give white billionaire, William Albert Ackman, aka Bill Ackman, some applause this week for at least not being hypocritical and speaking his truth.

While Republic governors of Texas, Florida and Arizona are piling brown and black immigrants onto buses and planes and shipping them north as the GOP screams of the “crisis” at the border and the millions coming in, Ackman, the billionaire investor, hedge fund manager and founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital, says the US should be opening up to more immigrants – but not brown and black ones of course – but Russians.

In other words, screw the black and brown Central and South Americans, let’s roll out the red carpet to the White immigrants.

“Doesn’t it make more sense to moderate wage inflation with increased immigration than by raising rates, destroying demand, putting people out of work, and causing a recession?” the billionaire investor and Pershing Square boss asked in a Twitter thread on September 22nd.

Well, he got my attention – at first – because I made this point backed by facts on a lack of farm labor just two columns back.

But this is when Ackman lost me and made me livid.

Here’s the tweet:

“Let’s remove the barriers for Russia’s brightest. The most talented Russians must leave now before they become fodder in an unjust war. Doing so saves our economy and destroys Russia’s future.”

I did not hear Ackman make that case for any black or brown immigrant. But here he is making the case for White migration. Is it that he believes there are no bright immigrants from Central and South America or Africa and Haiti?

Reminds me of the alleged comment from El Trumpeto on being open to immigrants from Norway versus ‘s-hole’ nations; and much like we saw the red carpet rolled out for Ukrainian immigrants over Haitians and even Afghans.

As of 2022, Ackman’s net worth was estimated at $2.8 billion by Forbes. Yet despite his supposed intellect as a hedge fund manager, Ackman seems to have missed an obvious fact that is driving the US’ current inflation crisis – a lack of immigrant labor to do jobs that the best and brightest will not do.

The U.S. has, by some estimates, 2 million fewer immigrants than it would have if the pace had stayed the same, helping power a desperate scramble for workers in many sectors, from meatpacking to homebuilding, that is also contributing to supply shortages and price increases.

Those are jobs Americans don’t want and certainly bright Russians will not either, Mr. Ackman.  The solution lies with those same Central and South American immigrants who are being treated like “aliens.”  That’s the only real immigration solution to the rising inflation and recession. It’s time to look beyond the pale and face reality.

The writer is publisher of NewsAmericasNow.com – The Black Immigrant Daily News.