OP ED: What’s the Deal with the American Manufacturing Comeback?”

No Band

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Lady Liberty.

WASHINGTON, D.C., — So apparently… we’re bringing back American manufacturing! That’s right — the jobs, the machines, the steel-toed boots! We’re doing it, people! We’re getting the band back together. But there’s just one tiny problem…We’ve got no band. We’ve got a stage, some lights, a fog machine... but no musicians.

Manufacturing is back, baby — but we forgot to invite the workers.

And why? Because the immigration system is about as organized as a toddler’s sock drawer. We’ve got a plan to "reshore" factories — which sounds a lot like something you'd do with a boat — and now the whole thing is sinking faster than your aunt’s lasagna at a church potluck.

The White House is hyping manufacturing like it’s a new Marvel movie. "Big comeback! Massive returns! Tax breaks!" They’re out there waving the flag, high-fiving each other, and doing everything except checking if anyone’s actually available to do the manufacturing.

And the labor force?It’s vanished! Disappeared! Poof!It’s like trying to find someone under 30 who knows how to use a fax machine.

“We’ve got 462,000 manufacturing jobs to fill!” says the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s a lot of jobs!And not just manufacturing — there are 116,000 agricultural jobs and 85,000 equipment-making jobs out there too.

You ever tried building a bulldozer without workers?

It’s just metal Legos and frustration.

But wait, we had people.Oh yes, we had over 500,000 immigrants from Venezuela, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Cuba. People who were legally brought in under a "humanitarian parole" program.Which, by the way, sounds less like an immigration initiative and more like something Gwyneth Paltrow would try to sell you as an emotional detox.

These folks? They were actually working. Assembling parts. Harvesting crops. Probably even fixing your cousin Ricky’s third attempt at DIY plumbing.

And now? Poof. Gone. Work permits about to expire. Back to bureaucratic limbo.

What happened? Congress is too busy playing Capture the Flag with actual flags and seeing who can yell "AMERICA" the loudest on social media.

Meanwhile, the supply chain is hanging on by a thread — and that thread is made in China.

In places like Ohio, Michigan, Illinois… you know, the places with factories and people who say “pop” instead of “soda” they’re desperate. You’ve got more “Help Wanted” signs than diners. And diners have a lot of signs.

So what’s the plan?

DC BABY.

Congress tried something last year — a bipartisan bill! And we all know what happens when people from both sides of the aisle try to cooperate. Yeah. It crashed harder than your mom’s Wi-Fi after three people log in.

Now we've got this guy, let’s call him Jimmy “The Jolt” Jangles — sounds like a wrestling manager from the ‘80s — saying immigration could be “a team sport.” Team sport?!Have you seen Congress?If Congress was a team sport, it’d be dodgeball… and everybody’s aiming at their own teammates.

Here’s a wild idea: just let people work.You’ve got people already here. You’ve got jobs that need doing.Why not match them up?It’s like having peanut butter, and jelly, and deciding, "Nah, let’s throw them both out and eat a plain bagel."

We’ve got international students who came here, got degrees, crushed it, and then we tell them, “Hey, great job! Now go home and use that knowledge somewhere else. Preferably in a country that competes with us.”

It’s like training a dog for the Westminster Dog Show, and then sending it to herd sheep in New Zealand.

Manufacturing Comeback?: We’ve got people paying taxes, working hard, playing by the rules, and Congress is like, “Mmmm… yeah, we’re gonna need a few more decades to figure that one out.”

Meanwhile, the machines are gathering dust, the crops are sitting in fields like sad salad, and your Amazon air fryer is somewhere in a warehouse screaming, “Build me!”

And let’s be honest — even the robots are getting sick of waiting. They’re looking around like, “You want me to assemble myself now?”

Soon, they’re gonna unionize. Demand vacation days. Ask for emotional support outlets.

So what do we do?

• Open legal channels for people we actually need.

• Let smart, educated people stay.

• Give legal status to workers who’ve been showing up and doing the job for years — you know, like humans.

• 
  

This isn’t about feelings, folks. It’s about whether or not you get your couch delivered this year.

We can’t keep pretending this is someone else’s problem while drinking our third latte and tweeting about grit and hustle. You want hustle?Ask the guy working a 14-hour shift in a meat-packing plant who’s now being told, “Oops! Sorry! Bureaucracy!”

If we keep this up, manufacturing’s not coming back — it’s calling a rideshare and heading straight to another country.

And the worst part?That rideshare’s probably being driven by one of the people we just told they couldn’t work here anymore.

Want the jobs? Great. Get the workers. Because unless America plans to become a nation of hobbyists building lawnmowers out of popsicle sticks, we’re going to need some help. And if we don’t fix it now, don’t be surprised when your next package includes a note that says, “Estimated Delivery: Never. Love, Congress.”