Thread: FAIR Examining the Need for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

From: Federation for American Immigration Reform
Date: 2006/07/12 Wed PM 05:49:30 EDT
Subject: Examining the Need for Comprehensive Immigration Reform Part II


Senate Judiciary Hearing, "Examining the Need for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Part II"
July 12, 2006

On July 12, 2006, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing in Washington, D.C. on the issue of immigration reform. The hearing began with Senator Specter reaffirming his support for S.2611, stating the bill is not amnesty and that he hopes it will go to conference as soon as possible. The first panel was comprised solely of the Secretary of Commerce, Carlos Gutierrez. Gutierrez stated that our economy is growing faster than ever before and unemployment is the lowest it has been in years. Secretary Gutierrez emphasized the U.S. needs a verification system as well as a temporary worker program to ensure this process runs efficiently. These immigrants are not looking for a handout, but jobs. He believes that once we have an effective, legal system in place, immigrants will no longer attempt to cross the border illegally and aliens will know they will be unable to work with fraudulent documents. He argued that S. 2611 is not an amnesty, but an "earned path to citizenship." Senator Specter asked Mr. Gutierrez whether these immigrants were a valuable contribution to our economy. Mr. Gutierrez's responded, "Absolutely."

Senator Kyl questioned Gutierrez about his opinions on a temporary guest worker program. Secretary Gutierrez replied that a temporary worker program is a good solution for those who do not wish to remain here for the long term, but there are those who want a path to citizenship. Senator Sessions stated his opposition to the Senate bill and emphasized that there are many loopholes in the legislation. Senator Sessions asked Mr. Gutierrez how many foreign workers the U.S. needs to sustain our economy and also inquired about the effect these low-skilled workers have on our economy. Secretary Gutierrez stated there are not enough low-skilled workers to do the work necessary and that wages have increased 13% on average per American household. This source of labor, he said, has had a positive effect on the economy. Sessions suggested that the statistics did not in fact lead to those conclusions. Senator Feinstein voiced her opinion that an additional document should be required for worksite verification. She suggested an orange card system, like the one she proposed as an amendment on the Senate floor, would provide effective enforcement. The Secretary responded by saying that there are two major challenges to work eligibility verification reform: designing a logical system and its execution.

The second panel was composed of Mike Cutler, a former INS agent, Benjamin Johnson, Director of the American Immigration Law Foundation, Dr. William McDonald, Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Georgetown, and Niall O'Dowd, founder of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. Mr. Cutler stated that 30% of the inmate population nationwide is identified as being foreign born and in New York the number is 60%. Mr. Johnson stressed the contradiction established between the economic and immigration policies in the United States. He said because demand has kept up with supply, American wages have not been driven down as a result of illegal foreign labor. Senator Sessions questioned this conclusion and Professor Johnson responded that because the country has placed such a high demand on education, there is a large gap between wage earnings of the high-skilled and low-skilled. Professor McDonald said he has been studying the connection between crime and immigrants and that the statistics cannot confirm whether or not these criminals are here legally or illegally. Mr. O'Dowd stressed the rights of Irish immigrants.

The Judiciary hearing went over its allotted time and thus ended quickly and without any concluding comments. Stay tuned to FAIR for more updates as the field hearings on immigration reform continue.