Congressional Update

The Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship, held their hearing on “Evaluating a Temporary Guest Worker Proposal,” on Thursday, February 12, 2003. Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) presided.

The following testified:

• Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
• Sen John Cornyn (R-TX)
• Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE)
• Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID)
• The Honorable Asa Hutchinson, Under Secretary, Border and Transportation Security
• The Honorable Eduardo Aguirre, Director Citizenship and Immigration Services
• The Honorable Steven J. Law, Deputy Secretary of the DOL
• Charles Cervantes, Director of Legal Affairs & Privacy, U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce
• Richard R. Birkman, President Texas Roofing Company
• Dr. Vernon Briggs, Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations-Cornell University
• Demetrios Papademetriou, Co-Director Migration Policy Institute

Immigration Subcommittee Looks at President’s Reforms

Senators, Bush administration officials, migration experts and other stakeholders applauded the administration’s proposal for immigration reform at a hearing before the Senate Judiciary’s Immigration Subcommittee.

Several Senators took the unusual step of speaking before the panel regarding the need for reform. The Senators, who included Sen. John McCain, Sen. Hagel and Sen. Craig, focused on the need to recognize and correct the problem of an ever-increasing flow of illegal immigration. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)and U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) officials outlined at least some details of the President’s plan to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws saying that the proposed guest worker program would grant legal status to illegal immigrants who were living in the United States on January 7, 2004. Director of Citizenship and Immigration Services Eduardo Aguirre stated that under the President’s plan legal status would also be granted to the families of immigrants participating in the program. The plan outlined would also include travel and the ability of such workers to recapture funds through individual savings accounts or social security repatriation, both to encourage participation and eventual return to the home country.

Guest workers, who would be matched up with willing employers who have proven in advance the unavailability of U.S. workers for jobs for which the temporary workers are sought, would be granted temporary work permits for an initial period of three years. The President’s proposal would permit renewals of that status.

The President’s plan also calls for a “reasonable increase” in immigrant visas, but does not tie the increase to this program. In fact, many of the government’s witnesses went out of their way to demonstrate that the Bush plan was not tied to any amnesty for such workers, to make clear that a future program would not allow those who break the law to “get ahead” of those waiting in the long line for immigrant visas and green cards.

Undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security Asa Hutchinson focused on the need for greater worksite enforcement to accompany the grant of legal status as a needed incentive against future flows of illegal immigration and to encourage workers to avail themselves of the legal but temporary status. Several witnesses tied the imminent need for reform to current perceived and documented instances of immigrant smuggling and document fraud. Senator Chambliss, in his opening statement, noted that employers need to share the burden in enforcement through employer sanctions after the current burdensome system is corrected.

The final panel of witnesses included immigration experts as well as representatives from the business community. Mr. Birkman, head of a family-owned roofing company, represented the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition. He relayed the frustration his company feels when trying to recruit workers in the U.S. He also described the worker shortages in the roofing industry both current and long-term.

Enforcement of current law was in fact a strong focus of many witnesses and members of the Subcommittee. Senator Jon Kyl (R—AZ) emphasized that enforcement needed to be brought to the forefront of current policy implementation before any reform of the system could be addressed. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) also noted that respect for the law was an absolute predicate for future reform including any plan along the line of the President’s proposal, stating that the subcommittee and Congress needed to “take our time in thinking about it” and not acting in the absence of meaningful enforcement. Senator Craig stated that more enforcement was not the answer and underscored the fact that the employer sanctions system is broken.

We at GT are looking forward to providing continuing coverage on this very important issue.

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