Jacksonville Business Journal - March 26, 2007


Business lobby calls for fair immigrant jobs policy
Jacksonville Business Journal - 1:17 PM EDT Monday, March 26, 2007
Associated Industries of Florida said immigration legislation proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives is too strict and will leave the U.S. and Florida with a labor shortage.

"With America at essentially full employment and Florida's job growth leading the nation, it is immigrants who provide most of the available manpower," Barney Bishop, president and CEO of the state business lobbying group, wrote in a letter to Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Florida. "Florida employers need an immigrant jobs policy that makes sense and is fair to all. If we don't find a common ground, Florida will face a labor force crisis of many proportions and our state's economy will suffer great harm."

AIF believes immigration legislation must include provisions on border security, on both northern and southern borders as well as points of entry, creation of an immigration national identification card and the establishment of a guest worker program.

Legislation should include a provision to exempt employers from liability for hiring illegal immigrants if the immigrant presented a driver's license and Social Security card at the time of hiring, AIF said. Because employers are not trained and do not have the technology to certify the validity of such documents, it is not fair to hold them accountable for hiring a worker with invalid documents.

AIF's legislative suggestions included a "back of the line" policy for those who have entered the U.S. illegally and wish to gain citizenship, and reasonable deportation laws. The group opposes mass deportation for illegal immigrants as the practicality of such a move is "questionable."



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