FAIR House Committee Northern Border Security/Guest Worker
From: Federation for American Immigration Reform <info@fairus.org>
Date: 2006/08/29 Tue PM 05:40:39 EDT
Subject: House Committees Examine Security of the Northern Border and Guest Worker Program Impact - August 29, 2006
House Committees Examine Security of the Northern Border and Impact of a Guest Worker Amnesty on American Workers
House Resources Committee
On Monday, August 28, 2006, the House Resources Committee held a field hearing in Hamilton, Montana entitled "Border Security on Federal Lands: The Importance of Securing the Northern Border." Congressman Tom Tancredo, member of the House Resources Committee, chaired the hearing. "While most of the press has focused on the potential threats from our porous southern border, this meeting sheds light on the 4,000 miles of open space to our north. We cannot ignore the dangers from an unprotected border, no matter what its geographic location may be," Tancredo stated. The northern border has 12 national parks and forests and four Native American reservations. The greatest concentration of these federal lands is in Montana, Idaho and Washington.
The panel of witnesses at the House Resources hearing included Abigail Kimbell, Regional Forester, USDA Forest Service Northern Region 1; Jeff Copp, Special Agent in Charge, Denver, Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Chief Robert Harris, Customs and Border Patrol, Spokane, Washington; Sheriff Wayne Dusterrhoff, Glacier County Sheriff and Detective Sergeant Jeremy House, Billings Police Department. According to the Missoulian, a local newspaper, the witnesses gave "ample testimony" that drug smuggling was a problem along the Canadian border. Glacier County Sheriff Wayne Dusterhoff and Detective Sergeant Jeremy House, who supervises a drug task force in eastern Montana, both said their agencies have considerable difficulty getting information from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. House said it was frustrating that investigations had sometimes been hindered by ICE.
Other witnesses generally testified to the need for manpower and equipment, such as additional agents, improved roads and better technology. Congressman Tancredo agreed that there was a "resource allocation problem."
Congressman Denny Rehlberg (R-MT), Montana's sole House member, was also present at the hearing. Congressman Rehlberg expressed his hope that the witnesses would highlight the need for security along the U.S.-Canadian border. He said, "For too long the issues of border security and illegal immigration have revolved around what can be done to shore up the southern border. Montana shares a border with Canada that spans over 500 miles meaning the northern border and its security absolutely must be part of a comprehensive plan to strengthen our borders."
House Judiciary Committee
On Tuesday, August 29, 2006, the House Judiciary Committee held a field hearing in Evansville, Indiana to examine the effect the Senate guest worker amnesty bill would have on American workers' wages and employment opportunities. The panel of witnesses included Vernon Briggs, Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University; Steven Camarota, Director of Research, Center for Immigration Studies; Paul Harrington, Associate Director, Center for Labor Market Studies, Northeastern University; and Ricardo Parra, Midwest Council of La Raza.
Professor Vernon Briggs began the hearing with his testimony. "Illegal immigration is the primary issue that immigration reform must embrace," he said. "Not only is it a cause itself of significant harm to the economic well-being of the most needy members of the American populace, but it also adversely affects the broader society itself." Steven Camarota concurred with Professor Briggs stating, "Few government policies can have so profound an impact on a nation as immigration. Those who support the current high level of unskilled legal and illegal immigration should at least do so with an understanding that those American workers harmed by the policies they favor are already the poorest and most vulnerable."
Mr. Paul Harrington explained that young immigrant workers have become substitutes for native born workers under the age of 25 without a college degree. "Native born and established immigrants account for less than one-sixth of the total increase in civilian employment that occurred in the nation over the past five years." He added that the young native-born population, both male and female, has seen a significant deterioration in their employment rate — up to 20 percent.
Ricardo Parra from the Midwest Council of La Raza criticized the immigration field hearings as offering sound bytes, not solutions. He argued that border security alone is not enough to fix the immigration crisis. Instead, border security must fit within a process of comprehensive reform (interior and employer enforcement, legalization, and guest workers). Mr. Parra said the House of Representatives should reshape its legislation to provide "true immigration reform along the lines of bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform recommended by the Senate." The Senate bill, he said, addresses "border security and enforcement, a smart and efficient immigration system, earned legalization for undocumented immigrants who qualify and a guest-worker program to meet the economic needs of the U.S."
Professor Briggs concluded, "Until it can be demonstrated the United States is willing and capable of enforcing its immigration laws, illegal immigration will continue with all of its negative impacts on American workers and corrosive effects on American society."
Stay tuned for more updates as the Congressional hearings on immigration reform continue…
