Comprehensive reform needed
By RANDEL K. JOHNSON | 7/14/08 4:51 AM EST


Randel K. Johnson is a vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He is primarily responsible for labor, employee benefits, education, and immigration issues pending before Congress and the federal agencies.

Immigration is an emotionally charged topic that has created deep rifts in our nation. It is essential that our next president work with Congress to address the many difficult issues associated with immigration reform. Our current immigration system is clearly broken and is only getting worse. States have been passing a patchwork of laws and regulations, causing confusion among employers and employees alike.

The current work visa programs for both high-skilled and low-skilled workers are unable to meet the demands of our economy. The status quo, with at least 12 million undocumented immigrants in the country (at least 5 percent of our workforce), is simply not acceptable. Increased efficiency and streamlining of current visa programs is necessary to respond to the realities of a fast-paced, global economy.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports a comprehensive immigration reform plan with the following components: increased border security; an improved verification system that is fast, accurate, and reliable for determining whether an employee is truly authorized to work in the United States; a new temporary worker program that allows employers to recruit workers from abroad when they cannot find U.S. workers; and, under certain strict qualification criteria, a reasonable pathway to legal status for undocumented workers presently in the United States.

Current immigration laws are flawed and have failed to curb the flow of undocumented workers into the U.S. It has been more than 20 years since the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). IRCA’s goal was to address the undocumented workers in the country and create a worksite enforcement regime that prevented the employment of the undocumented. This clearly has not happened.

One of the main reasons that IRCA failed is because it did not address the future work force needs of the U.S. economy. There was no provision to meet the demand for lesser-skilled or semi-skilled (“essentialâ€