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I do not support the current bill that just passed the Senate Judiciary Committee with regard to 11 million illegal immigrants. That bill is basically a blanket amnesty program, which is unacceptable. In addition, I do not support the House bill, which is far too punitive in making it a felony to live in this country illegally. In addition, the House bill's provision to erect a wall along the American-Mexican border is unacceptable, unnecessary and sends the wrong message to the world.
My recommendation is that the House and Senate need to start all over. Immigration legislation cannot be considered in a vacuum; rather, it needs to be addressed in conjunction with homeland security and the impact on Americans and documented immigrants.
Unfortunately, the last time Congress addressed the immigration issue, it was 1986 and there were approximately 3 million illegal immigrants in the United States. Since then, the matter has been allowed to fester and the number of illegal immigrants has risen to approximately 11 million.
In 1986, Congress approved a guest worker program, and many American employers made a genuine effort to hire legal foreigners. However, that program failed because our government undermined the guest worker program by refusing to enforce laws that restricted employment of illegal aliens. Because of this failing on the part of our government, the companies that attempted to comply with the 1986 guest worker program were put at a competitive disadvantage. It’s more expensive to hire legal immigrants because they must be paid higher wages and granted benefits.
Nonetheless, our government looked the other way and allowed companies and employers to continue to hire illegal workers.. The chance of these employers being caught, prosecuted and fined substantially was very remote.
So, the first issue is whether our government is now willing to enforce a real guest worker program – this would mean providing money for additional enforcement mechanisms, and that money is not included in the current legislation.
A second issue is this: We can only deal with immigration reform if our border situation is under control, which it is not. We cannot continue to allow our borders to be so open, allowing anyone and anythingto be brought into this country. I oppose erecting a wall – it won't solve the problem. Rather, I support substantially increasing funds and making better use of modern technology to enhance border security.
Finally, immigration reform must be examined in terms of the potential impact on American workers. Immigration reform should not be an excuse to allow American employers to displace American workers with cheaper labor. This would amount to nothing less than a domestic outsourcing of jobs.
American labor already has a difficult time in the battle to maintain good-paying and sustainable jobs in this country. If Congress is intent on immigration reform, then it is imperative that Congress simultaneously pass legislation to strengthen existing labor markets and/or the bargaining position of current workers.
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