Thread: Businesses critical of House version of immigration reform

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Businesses critical of House version of immigration reform

By BILL STRAUB
Scripps Howard News Service
09-DEC-05

WASHINGTON -- Congress is preparing to crack down on the increasing number of illegal aliens violating the nation's borders, but businesses wonder how they will fill jobs now taken by immigrants.

Undocumented immigrants are filling millions of low-paying jobs from farming to construction. Without some sort of visiting-worker program, a proposal favored by the Bush administration but missing from the House plan, or a substantial increase in the number of visas issued, many of those jobs will go empty.

"Reform must begin by confronting the fact that many of the jobs being created by America's growing economy are jobs that American citizens simply are not filling," said Hal Daub, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association.

The impact the loss of undocumented workers might have on the economy remains open to speculation. The U.S. Census Bureau places the number illegally in the United States at 8.7 million, while the investment company Bear Stearns puts it at 20 million. The most commonly accepted estimate, issued by the Pew Hispanic Center, estimates 11 million undocumented workers.

Once here and after a short period of transition, according to Rakesh Kochhar, associate director for research at the Pew Hispanic Center, "migrants have little trouble finding work."

"Family and social networks play a significant role in this," Kochhar said in a report titled "The Economic Transition to America." "Large shares of migrants report talking to people they know in the U.S. about job opportunities and living with relatives after arrival. They easily make transitions into new jobs, even though most find themselves working in industries that are new to them."

Mexican immigrants, both legal and undocumented, have proved adaptable, a valuable characteristic in the job market. According to the Pew study, the most recent arrivals are less likely to be farmworkers than their predecessors and more likely to have a background in industries like commerce and sales. Construction is the dominant industry for employing migrants in Atlanta, Dallas and Raleigh, N.C. Hospitality is the primary sector hiring aliens in New York. It is manufacturing in Chicago and agriculture in Fresno, Calif.

And, for the most part, they work cheap, an attractive attribute in the eyes of employers. Weekly earnings were about $300 for immigrants surveyed by Pew. Earnings are especially low for women, those who speak no English and those without an ID card.

According to Tom Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, job growth is expected to progress at a steady pace, creating the potential for a critical shortage of available workers. The National Restaurant Association alone anticipates the addition of more than 1.8 million jobs between 2005 and 2015.

"We have an existing situation in which our nation has millions of jobs available, a decreasing work force relative to the number of openings and an immigration system that provides no practical legal mechanism for employers and foreign nationals to fill those openings," Donohue said. "It is no wonder we have such a large number of undocumented workers in this country."

Donohue said immigrants "have always been a key to the success of our economy" and that they not only fill jobs but create opportunities for others by helping the economy expand.

"Immigrants are one solution to work-force shortages that will inevitably exist in different sectors of our diverse economy."

But it appears unlikely Congress will approve measures to address the situation. President Bush has proposed allowing illegal immigrants holding down jobs to obtain legal status for a six-year period. After that time, they would have to return to their home countries and could reapply for a work visa after one year. None would be granted immunity.

But the bill adopted by the House Judiciary Committee this week, and due for a floor vote next week, concentrates on enhancing security along the nation's 1,951-mile border with Mexico and remains silent on guest workers. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., chairman of the Judiciary Committee and the bill's prime sponsor, said he does not oppose a guest-worker program but decided to sidestep the issue because there is no consensus within the Republican majority on how it should work.

Business people need to face reality. Illegal immigrants cost American taxpayers scores of billions each year for education, health care, incarceration and the like. Are business people prepared to underwrite these costs on behalf of illegals?

To simply hire slave labor and let the taxpayer assume all costs other than wages is corrupt and greedy. Further, the corporate mind apparently does not care about terrorism. I guess cheap labor is more important than homeland security.

I say make the corporate folk obey the law. Send a few who have been found guilty of hiring illegals off in handcuffs and we might see an attitude adjustment or two.

Alternatively, how about paying a decent, livable wage that will attract American workers?

If these business owners want cheap labor they should move to Mexico. Oh, it is more difficult to do business in Mexico than the US? Then form an American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico, and lobby Viscent Fox to make it easier!!

But it appears unlikely Congress will approve measures to address the situation. President Bush has proposed allowing illegal immigrants holding down jobs to obtain legal status for a six-year period. After that time, they would have to return to their home countries and could reapply for a work visa after one year. None would be granted immunity.

Is that true? The "sleight of hand" in the original Bush proposals was that illegals would be given temporary legal status and allowed to apply for green cards while on the temporary work permits and then Bush would increase the number of green cards so that the illegals were assured of getting one. That was amnesty leading to citizenship, although Bush said it wasn't. Is Bush now proposing that they actually have to leave after 6 years or is there still an amnesty hidden in the details? Or is he counting on Congress to slip one in?