Thread: Official: illegal alien legislation won't hurt businesses

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Official: illegal alien legislation won't hurt businesses
Rachel Youens
Posted: 6/13/06
Legislation proposing tall fences and making illegal immigrants felons led thousands to protest in May. But the deputy secretary of the U.S. Commerce Department assured Austin business leaders Monday that the bill approved by the House of Representatives and currently before the Senate, would not threaten the role immigrants play as workers in America.

"Simply adding controls or building walls alone will not solve the problem," said David Sampson. "True border security and economic security for the American people demands a comprehensive immigration reform approach," he said.

The temporary worker program provides border control by giving foreign workers a system for temporary work and pairing them with willing American employers so they have an alternative to illegal entry, Sampson said. He also assuaged fears of deportation, saying that the 12 million immigrants already in the country serve an essential role in the economy.

"It is just not practical to deport all these individuals, nor is it compassionate or consistent with the American character to do so, because it would require separating parents from the 3 million American-born children," Sampson said.

The Texas Republican Party has already taken a stand against the temporary worker program, saying "no amnesty, no way." Their platform advocates the suspension of citizenship, education and health care to their children as well.

The ability to become legal through this program is not unconditional. Immigrants would earn legal status by paying fines and back income taxes, going through criminal background checks and learning English. They would also be in line for citizenship behind all of those who have legally applied.

"It is not automatic citizenship," Sampson said. "It is penalizing those that have broken the law."

A raid on Texas French Bread June 1 led to the arrest of five illegal immigrants, four of whom were deported. The owner said he was unaware of their illegal status and that they had given him fraudulent visas and Social Security numbers when they applied for work.

"American companies want to abide by the law and try hard to abide by the law, but with fake IDs and fraudulent Social Security numbers it's not easy for an employer to tell who is in this country legally," Sampson said.

The bill outlines a system for a biometric ID card using fingerprints that would be issued to legal immigrants. These IDs, which are difficult to forge, would help protect businesses from accidently hiring illegal immigrants with forged documents.

Citing the founders of Google, Yahoo and Intel Corp. - who are all immigrants - as examples, Sampson pointed to the role immigrants are playing in technological and scientific innovation in America. Caps on the number of green cards and work visas that can be issued are currently preventing some of these skilled workers from being able to come to or stay in the U.S., he said.

"Business leaders have made it clear that if they cannot bring high-skilled workers to their U.S. offices - then the only alternative is to consider moving work to wherever they can access the needed talent, including relocating projects abroad," Sampson said.

The planned reforms would make the caps on the visas and green cards flexible to the demand for workers.

Sebastian Puente, a member of the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, sees the immigration issue in terms of economics.

"The Hispanic segment of the population is what's driving growth for a lot of our companies here in the U.S.," Puente said. "These immigrants come here not to take something from somebody else, not to threaten you or me. They're only here to work. So their contribution here, I think, is one-sided."

Originally Posted by Brian503a

He also assuaged fears of deportation, saying that the 12 million immigrants already in the country serve an essential role in the economy.

George Washington in his Farewell Address, 1796:

The nation which indulges
toward another an habitual hatred or an habitual fondness is
in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to
its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray
from its duty and its interest.

So, we are their slaves now. That is what George Washington would say of us.

Read his complete address here:http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RA...hfarewell.html

AI_BOT

"It is just not practical to deport all these individuals, nor is it compassionate or consistent with the American character to do so

More political BS....It's the American character that we are worried about. This Nation has lost it's character and it's will to overcome impractical things like enforcing the damn LAWS!

"Business leaders have made it clear that if they cannot bring high-skilled workers to their U.S. offices - then the only alternative is to consider moving work to wherever they can access the needed talent, including relocating projects abroad," Sampson said.

More threats from corporate America! Many high-skilled temporary workers ultimately remain in the United States, which in essence damages our domestic labor force economically. Basically, those corporations utilizing "high skilled labor" are doing the same things as those utilizing the low skilled illegal immigrant labor. It's all about cheap labor (cheap is a relative term). Let me explain, the ability to have access to a large pool of high skilled workers keeps wages surpressed for that specific pool of workers. It's a simple case of supply and demand economics. When supply equals demand - wages and benefits stay consistent - when supply exceeds demand, wages are adjusted downward and benefits are reduced, but when demand is higher than the available supply, competition for that limited supply means increased wages and benefits to American workers. This works on the same principle as supply and demand in the low skilled labor market. Obviously this is not something corporate America wants. There only interest is corporate profits, not America or its labor force. Maximize profits at all cost, even if it's not good for America or its citizen population. Having a global labor market at their disposal ensures wages and benefits in the low skilled and high skilled labor force stay as low as possible. My guess is, it's complete B.S. that our universities, colleges, and technical training programs are not producing enough high skilled workers for the U.S. labor force. If I'm wrong, than perhaps it's time we cut back on foreign student visas. Ask yourself this, how come other countries have enough high skilled workers to supply America, but America doesn't have enough high skilled labor to supply America?

Very good point about foreign student's visa's. We give them spaces our kids should have in colleges paid for with our tax dollars. Whether the Schools are private or public there are massive infusions of tax dollars to keep them afloat. Then they overstay their visa's or take their engineering skills back to the middle east to work in jobs supporting OPEC, or in some instances to design bombs. Khan the Pakistani that gave nuclear weapons technology to the middle east had his physics education in the West
One of the leaders of the Taliban is attending Yale. But hey "W" went there too.