As I posted yesterday, Ainsley Earhardt responded to Trump’s decision to suspend all immigration, not with thoughts of how she could employ an American worker, but with an obvious on-air appeal to the Fan-in-Chief.

One of the purposes of Trump’s ban, according to his tweet, is “to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens.” But cohost Brian Kilmeade didn’t seem concerned about hiring American au pairs, either. “I know a lot of people who have au pairs that come here legally. Someone we all know is waiting on one for a matter of months now,” he said.

And, surprise! Wednesday morning, the AP reported that hundreds of thousands of foreigners will be allowed to remain in the country. That includes Ainsley’s au pair.

An administration official familiar with the plans, however, said the order will apply to foreigners seeking employment-based green cards and relatives of green card holders who are not citizens. Americans wishing to bring immediate family will still be able to do so, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity before the plan was announced. About 1 million green cards were granted in the 2019 fiscal year, about half to spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens.
By limiting his immigration measure to green cards, Trump was leaving untouched hundreds of thousands of foreign workers granted non-immigrant visas each year, including farm workers, health care workers and software programmers. The Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, estimated that some 110,000 green cards could be delayed during a two-month pause. Trump said he would consider extending the restrictions, depending on economic conditions at the time.

Don’t get me wrong: I am relieved that Trump will allow farm workers and health care workers to stay. It’s the hypocrisy from the “America First” crowd that’s so stunning.

I have no idea whether the Fox hosts’ supplications had anything to do with the exemption. But, as they say, it couldn’t have hurt.