Worker Amnesty and Opportunity Act - Part 2
Worker Amnesty and Opportunity Act - Part 2
Date: Thursday, April 03, 2003 2:37 PM
H-1B and JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
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The Arizona Republic newspaper endorsed the bill that congressmen Jim
Kolbe and Jeff Flake are pushing in Congress. Of course I have never
seen that newspaper oppose guest-worker bills or amnesty. The Worker
Amnesty and Opportunity Act of 2003 will allow illegal aliens to get
work visas and it will be as easy as filling out a few forms. This bill
is very similar to Tom Tancredo's H-2C proposal, albeit slightly worse,
so it will probably get broad support from the House and the
Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus that Tancredo chairs.
Flake and Kolbe must in cahoots with Senator Larry Craig of Idaho
because their bill is very similar to the one Craig is going to
introduce into the Senate.
So far these worker amnesty proposals are sailing through both the
House and the Senate with almost no opposition. The House and Senate
bills are very similar to Bush's amnesty proposals in 1999 so I have
included an article by Molly Ivins that is still relevant. Bush
temporarily shelved his huge guest-worker bill after September 11th
because it posed such an obvious security threat. Vincente Fox is
pressuring Bush to pass a worker amnesty bill so it will be interesting
to see how Bush receives this latest attack on American workers. My
guess is that he will sign it.
You can view H.R. 604 at http://www.theorator.com/bills108/hr604.html
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0403thur1-03.html
OK, Congress, it's your turn
Arizona lawmakers bring new priority to immigration reform
Apr. 3, 2003 12:00 AM
The Arizona Legislature gets it.
State lawmakers have approved a resolution asking Congress to come up
with a way for undocumented immigrants to enter this country legally to
work.
A lawless underground of smugglers long ago came up with a way for
these people to enter the country illegally.
The result has been costly to border communities and the border
environment.
The result has been a yearly body count of people who die in a hopeless
attempt to cross Arizona's searing summer deserts.
The result has been the rise of goofy vigilante groups and a growing
lack of confidence in law enforcement's ability to deal with this
border crisis.
The result has become a threat to national security because, as Sen.
Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., points out, terrorists are likely to try crossing a
border "so porous you'd have a pretty good shot of making it the first
time."
President Bush and Congress have paid far too little attention to the
problems illegal immigration creates along the border. Comprehensive
immigration reform, guest-worker legislation and efforts to help Mexico
improve its economy and create jobs for its people are all goals that
demand federal attention. Coupled with the need to secure the southern
border against terrorists, this issue should be a priority.
In asking for action on a guest-worker program, the Arizona Legislature
is adding its voice to those demanding the federal government act.
Arizona Congressmen Jim Kolbe and Jeff Flake, both Republicans, are
working on legislation to create a guest-worker program.
During a recent meeting with TheRepublic's Editorial Board, Kolbe
listed amnesty as one of the complicated issues slowing progress on
legislation.
We believe illegal immigrants who are otherwise law-abiding and now
working in this country should be allowed to remain at their jobs
legally if they come forward. Guest-worker legislation should also
provide workers with the ability to move from job to job. It should
offer them the same safety and wage protections enjoyed by American
workers. They must also have the ability to travel to Mexico and
return.
The resolution approved by the state Legislature wants guest workers to
receive minimum wage, have payroll taxes deducted and be eligible for
health insurance. Those are decent and just requirements.
People who are willing to risk their lives to work here deserve a level
of safety, dignity and respect they currently do not enjoy.
Arizona gets it.
It's time for Congress to catch on.
Heed the message from Arizona
By Ruben Beltran
My Turn
Dec. 9, 2002
This year I have witnessed firsthand the consolidation of opinion among
Arizona leaders on the immigration issue. In my view, Arizona is taking
the correct approach.
I was pleasantly surprised to see the way immigration policy was
discussed as a central issue during the recent election in Arizona. All
the gubernatorial candidates openly supported, in one way or another,
reform in immigration policy.
Members of the Arizona delegation to Congress also put immigration on
the public's agenda. During a recent preparatory meeting of the
Arizona-Mexico Commission in Tucson, Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., said
immigration policy reform should include a guest-worker program. This
view is shared by Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., who has held a similar
position for quite some time.
A few weeks ago, I took part in the 81st Arizona Town Hall, which
studied the evolution of the influence of Hispanics in this state.
I am very proud of the recommendations contained in its final report,
which included a chapter on immigration. There was consensus that
immigration policy does not reflect the reality of Arizona, or that of
the United States for that matter. The report clearly states that the
federal government should take into account the economic importance of
the undocumented workforce, and include the creation of a policy that
reflects the migratory realities of those workers.
The Arizona Town Hall also supports a guest-worker program that
includes a certification process to register and identify current and
future undocumented workers and a mechanism that will allow the
regularization of undocumented migrants living in this country.
Gov. Jane Hull deserves credit for spearheading immigrant labor
discussions in Arizona. That interest appears to be shared by
Gov.-elect Janet Napolitano. At the joint plenary session last month of
the Arizona-Mexico Commission and the Comision Sonora-Arizona in Puerto
Pe?asco, Sonora, Napolitano said she would push reform of the migratory
policy, with the objective of developing a guest-worker program in the
state.
Also at the plenary session, Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said during a
forum that he expects to introduce a bill early next year that would
establish a legal framework for a guest-worker program and the
regularization of undocumented workers living in the United States.
And at the 39th Annual Economic Forecast Luncheon last week, Michael
Crow, president of Arizona State University, spoke of the importance of
embracing the community's diversity when discussing goals at the
university. He said immigrants were prime drivers of the state's
economy.
Taking all of this into consideration, and after reading the editorial
titled "Inhumane policies breed border chaos" (Arizona Republic, Dec.
1), I have no doubt that Arizona, with its experience as a border
state, is sending the right message.
Arizona is aware of the positive economic impact that immigration has
in this country and in particular in the state.
Our country's agenda has not changed, only our priorities.
Mexico is convinced that the time is right to renew immigration
negotiations. The desert deaths cannot go unnoticed. We must work
together to make our border safe for the efficient flow of people and
goods.
More than a year after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, there is a
prevailing necessity for both nations to renew bilateral negotiations
on the issue.
Arizona is sending a positive message to the rest of the country. The
voice of Arizonans must be heard by the federal government, Congress in
particular, in order to craft an appropriate immigration policy that
addresses every aspect of this complex issue.
Let's hope the rest of the country is listening.
Ruben Beltran is Mexico's consul general in Phoenix.
http://dailytidings.com/2001/news0723/opinion/dt_opinion-01.php
Proposed worker amnesty just isn't fair
By Molly Ivins
AUSTIN - Immigration policy is one of those subjects, like taxes, that
really is complicated, and it's a disservice to simplify it, no matter
which side you're on. President Bush's new plan to offer amnesty to 3
million illegal Mexican workers has both an upside and a downside. It
would probably work better if it were part of an overall immigration
reform program.
The upside is that it would help the illegal workers already here who
have no rights and are consequently exploited to a degree that would
make your jaw drop. All Americans should read the current issue of
Mother Jones, which has a stunning article on conditions in the
meat-packing industry: "The Most Dangerous Job in America." "In some
American slaughterhouses, more than three-quarters of the workers are
not native English speakers," reports Eric Schlosser.
Although injures in the industry are notoriously underreported,
according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics more than one-quarter of
America's meatpackers suffered a job-related injury or illness in 1999.
The workers are injured and then discarded by their companies in one of
the most shameless and repulsive systems imaginable.
To use Upton Sinclair's approach in "The Jungle," what happens to all
those severed fingers, severed hands and severed arms if, as Schlosser
reports, "The chain never stops," no matter who gets hurt or how badly?
This article is truly "must-read" for anyone in a policy-making
position.
The exploitation of illegals after they are here creates curious
political bedfellows. The nativist, Pat Buchanan wing of the Republican
Party comes up against the business wing of the party. Put your money
on the business end. Entire industries - especially agriculture,
restaurants and those that need service workers - now depend on illegal
workers. At one time, we were supposed to have solved this problem by
putting heavy penalties on employers for hiring illegals, but as you
can imagine, that was quickly gone. Amnesty for 3 million Mexican
workers also helps Karl Rove in his dedicated pursuit of the Hispanic
vote, dovetailing nicely with business interests.
Meanwhile, the labor unions, which once opposed immigration on the
theory that it cost Americans jobs, have been having some success
organizing illegal workers. Unions that concentrate on workers at the
bottom end of the payscale, like Service Employees International Union
(SIEU), have been especially effective. It is critical that these
workers be legalized and unionized if they are not to become a
permanent serf class. There are already alarming reports on the failure
of working-class Hispanics to find much social mobility in this
country.
The downside to the proposed amnesty is that it isn't fair and will in
all likelihood cause a rush of illegals at the border. There are
approximately 3 million more illegal Hispanic workers in this country
who aren't Mexicans, most of them from Central American countries. Nor
is the program fair to the lines of people in other countries who wait
patiently for permission to immigrate legally. In addition, past
amnesty programs have caused radical increases in illegal immigration
on the U.S.-Mexican border. Expanding visa programs seems a sensible
compromise.
Americans are mostly ambivalent about Mexican immigration. Sometimes it
is portrayed as dread menace, a sea of brown feet moving north,
imposing nothing but a staggering burden on us (medical care,
education, welfare - poor us, think of the taxes). Other times we
recognize the more complicated truth that much of our economy, not to
mention our comforts and luxuries, rests on the brown backs of
exploited illegal workers, who do, in fact, pay taxes.
As many experts have pointed out, the only real solution is the
economic development of Mexico. As long as we are a rich nation
bordering on a poor one, we're going to have this problem. Desperate
Africans are now literally swimming into Spain.
Meanwhile, many of our institutions are drowning, as well. The federal
court system is swamped. Between 1994 and 2000, border drug
prosecutions doubled and immigration cases increased seven-fold. The
five federal court districts on the borders of California, Arizona and
Texas handle 27 percent of all federal court criminal filings in the
United States. That's just 6 percent of the judicial districts with
more than a quarter of the work.
Meanwhile, those who benefit most from the current mess are American
employers. At least one part of the answer is to put agricultural
workers under the aegis of the National Labor Relations Act, which
would at least allow them to get the minimum wage.
The old labor argument was that immigrants take jobs away from
Americans. Now, "Taking jobs Americans don't want" has become a
commonplace of immigration discussion. The reason Americans don't want
them is because they pay so little. According to Schlosser's article,
"Thirty years ago, meatpacking was one of the highest-paid industrial
jobs in the United States, with one of the lowest turnover rates."
In the 1960s, employers broke the unions, brought in Mexican workers
and wages fell by as much as 50 percent. Today meatpacking is one of
the nation's lowest paid industrial jobs, with one of the highest
turnover rates. Nativists, meet the unions.
Molly Ivins is a syndicated columnist with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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