The E-3 visa (meant for Australians) doesn't have any work restrictions on spouses. Why isn't the administration targeting those visas/ead if this is indeed about "Hire American and buy American" ?
but also: white Australians don't trigger racist reactions & clamping down on all Australian E-3 immigrants would not be as effect of a dogwhistle.
Or could it be something else?
Maybe Americans don't tend to see their whole IT and Dev departments being filled with Australians, who are NOT willing to work in high COL areas on $60k year, share apartments and a car among 6 adults, and work 60 hours a week since the money they're saving won't buy them squat once home in Australia.
This is not true for Indians and others from low wage nations.
Most Americans aren't stupid. They know that businesses here use these visas to push down wages and working conditions. Considering this, I think Americans have been pretty damn friendly to most foreign workers for quite some time.
But eventually, even the most friendly of societies is going to say enough is enough.
The dogwhistle is signaling to racists exactly this: that removing the ability for spouses on H4 visas to get EAD will reduce immigration from non-white countries. So's your comment.
You injecting race into the conversation is racist itself, and does nothing to help advance the conversation.
How does stopping their spouses from working prevent that? If anything, they would be the least affected by this change because anyone doing that is probably young and single.