Trump bags first Senate endorsement

Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump has bagged his first Senate endorsement from Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, who had earlier this week held a hearing on H-1B visas.

“Trump understands that a nation must always place the interests of its own people first,” Sessions said on Sunday as he announced his decision to endorse the real estate mogul from New York.

The endorsement first by a sitting American Senator comes days ahead of the crucial Republican presidential primaries on Tuesday in 11 states, including Alabama, is expected to give a big boost to Trump’s chances on what is being called as a Super Tuesday.

Earlier this week, Trump also earned the first endorsement from a sitting Governor - Chris Christies of New Jersey, who had dropped out of the presidential race earlier this month.

“Americans of all backgrounds and ethnicities, immigrant and US-born, are crying out for leadership that puts their needs first, that takes care of those living and dreaming here today, leadership that understands that there is no constituency other than the American constituency. Trump is that leader,” Sessions said.

Trump addressed a massive rally in Alabama during the day. “I am deeply honoured to have the endorsement of Senator Jeff Sessions, leader of congressional conservatives,” an elated Trump said.

“He has been called the Senate’s indispensable man and the gold standard. He led the fight against the Gang of Eight, against Obama’s trade deal, against Obama’s judges, and for American sovereignty,” Trump said.

“He has stood up to special interests as few have. There is no more respected man in Congress and we are closely aligned on many issues, including trade and illegal immigration,” said the Republican presidential frontrunner.

Early this week, chairing a hearing on the impacts of high-skilled immigration on American workers, Sessions during a Congressional hearing had slammed H-1B visas, saying it was having an adverse impact on the jobs market in the US.

“The data shows that there is no shortage of highly qualified working American professionals, nor is there a shortage of American STEM college graduates every year,” Sessions said.

“The sad reality is that -- not only is there not a shortage of exceptionally qualified US workers -- but across the country thousands of US workers are being replaced by foreign labour,” he said.

“The picture next to me is from Northeast Utilities -- a company based in Connecticut and now known as Eversource -- that announced that it was going to lay off employees in its IT department, and hired outside companies that used H-1B employees to provide its IT services,” he said.

“These US workers were forced to train their foreign replacements, and were silenced by Northeast Utilities. According to one of these workers who contacted my staff and requested to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, the only way that we could make a statement was by placing small American flags outside of our cubicles and aisles. Gradually, as we got replaced by the H-1Bs, the flags disappeared as we did,” Sessions said.