Donald Trump choice of Andrew Puzder, CEO of a fast-food conglomerate that includes the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., as labor secretary has alarmed many on the left, who note Puzder’s opposition to increasing the minimum wage and to expanding overtime pay. But Trump’s pick has also raised hackles on the right, especially among those who most passionately agree with the president-elect on his signature campaign issue: immigration restriction.

“Trump Expected to Tap Labor Secretary Who Prefers Foreign Labor to American Workers,” blared the headline at Breitbart, the chief organ of Trump-style right-wing populism. “Puzder has suggested that available U.S. jobs should instead be filled by imported foreign labor,” Julia Hahn wrote in her lengthy attack, citing several op-eds the CKE Restaurants executive has written over the years. “Puzder has even gone so far as to suggest that he prefers foreign laborers to native-born American workers because foreign nationals are more grateful and have a better ‘attitude.’”

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, writes in National Review that Puzder is the “worst person imaginable for that role” because he is “one of the nation’s most outspoken business voices for Gang of Eight-style immigration policies” and “he’s been a high-profile champion of amnesty and huge increases in immigration and guestworkers.”

Trump has opted for someone who thinks there are jobs Americans won’t do. Andrew “Gang of Eight” Puzder would have been a better fit for the Jeb Bush administration, though even Jeb might have blushed at the idea of appointing him. Assuming he’s actually nominated and confirmed, the Labor Department will go from being run by a post-American socialist to a post-American capitalist. So much for putting American workers first. #NeverPuzder.

On Twitter, two of the most hardline anti-immigration voices in the media aren’t hiding their displeasure. Mickey Kaus appears to be hoping that enough Republican senators vote against Puzder to deny him the nomination. Meanwhile, Ann Coulter tweeted:

Hispanic workers are so much more tractable than Americans! https://t.co/m5JjsQJIed #NeverPuzder — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) December 9, 2016

The anti-immigration right is fully justified in fearing Puzder. As Krikorian notes, the Department of Labor has vast administrative power in the immigration process, helping to certify guest worker visas and, depending on the discretion of the secretary, working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Under Obama, the Department of Labor hasn’t co-operated with ICE on enforcement—nor is that likely to change under Puzder, who sees immigrants as having a vital role in the economy.

