Welcome to Axisprorado, where we take just 10 minutes to get you smarter on the collision of tech, business, and politics.

I'm Dan Permac. On today's show, the Davos Man is worried and digital media startups are finally profitable.

But first, the crackdown on legal immigration. So when we think of President

Trump and immigration policy, it's usually in the context of undocumented folks trying to cross

the southern border. But the White House has also been very active and increasingly restrictive

when it comes to legal immigration. Things like tighter rules on the numbers of refugees

that are accepted, to the so-called public charge rule, to an unexpected crackdown on pregnant women being allowed to enter the country in order to slow so-called birth tourism.

That last one was first reported over the weekend by Axios' Steph Kite and Jonathan Swan, and we'll go deeper on it soon.

So according to the Department of Homeland Security,

legal immigration fell more than 7% between fiscal years 2016 and 2018,

and some interest groups think the drop is even steeper.

No matter what the specific number,

everyone agrees that the administration's policies are having a tangible impact, and why that matters beyond the obvious issues of morality and humanity is that a growing

number of U.S. labor economists worry that fewer immigrants could lead to a significant worker

shortage, thus harming the economy.

Remember, we are at near record low unemployment, and we simply don't birth enough babies

to keep up with economic growth. In the past,

immigrants, both legal and illegal, have filled that gap. Now, yes, it is possible we are in a new normal

because of automation, but it's also possible, probably even likely, that current legal immigration

policies, ostensibly designed to protect American jobs, will result in unfilled American jobs and slower economic growth.

In 15 seconds, we'll go deeper with Axios' Steph Kite.

But first, this.

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