Questions for Lawmakers on Immigration

Twenty questions on amnesty that politicians haven't answered

The Center for Immigration Studies has released a new report highlighting questions on immigration legislation that voters might ask their representatives when trying to determine their actual stance on the issue. Too many politicians have discussed immigration legislation proposals with clich‚d talking points that fail to describe the true impact of increasing legal immigration and amnestying 11 million illegal immigrants. The questions in this report are intended to help move the discussion beyond the evasions and platitudes usually offered by politicians.

The report contains twenty questions for lawmakers on a variety of topics, ranging from the impact an amnesty would have on unemployed Americans to the number of immigrants the proposed legislation would welcome into the United States. The questions also focus on provisions contained in the Senate bill (S.744) like E-Verify, the flawed "back taxes" and English language requirements, and the problem of conducting background checks on millions of illegal immigrants.

Additionally, the questions prompt legislators to respond to findings from the Congressional Budget Office that immigration legislation would lower the wages of many Americans, and that the Senate bill would allow up to two-thirds of illegal immigration to continue. The questions also encourage a response to immigration law enforcement officials who have come out against current proposals.

The report is available online at: www.cis.org/questions-for-lawmakers-on-immigration

"These are the type of questions that constituents and journalists should be asking of politicians promoting amnesty legislation," said Jon Feere, Legal Policy Analyst at the Center for Immigration Studies. "Thus far, too many politicians have shown a complete lack of understanding of the impact their legislation would have. These questions should foster a deeper conversation between the public and congressional leadership."

View a new CIS series analyzing the House of Representatives bill, H.R. 2278, at: http://cis.org/SAFE-Act

View the Senate bill, CIS Senate testimony and commentary at: http://cis.org/Border-Security-Economic-Opportunity-Immigration-Modernization-Act

The above is a press release from from Center for Immigration Studies. 1522 K St. NW, Suite 820,  Washington, DC 20005, (202) 466-8185 fax: (202) 466-8076.  Email: center@cis.org. Contact: Jon Feere
202-466-8185, jdf@cis.org.  The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent research institution which examines the impact of immigration on the United States.  The Center for Immigration Studies is not affiliated with any other organization






Why Employers Hire Foreign Workers

It's Not Because of a Labor Shortage

The Center for Immigration Studies has published a new backgrounder, "Motivation for Hiring Alien Workers? Hint: It's Not a Labor Shortage", analyzing the reasons behind the employer push for a massive increase in temporary foreign worker admissions.

The new analysis finds that temporary alien workers are attractive to employers not only because of below-market wages but also because they are indentured by their terms of admission to the United States. Further, these workers are recruited from relatively docile, authority-fearing Third World populations and are thus can be easier to manage than Americans. Finally these programs allow the employer to avoid the nation's age discrimination laws and to hire a disproportionately young work force from overseas.

The backgrounder's author and a Fellow at the Center, David North, comments, "Politicians and advocates for mass immigration were successful in having an enormous increase in foreign worker programs like the H1-B inserted in the Senate bill (S. 744) by citing a labor shortage and the need for the 'best and the brightest.' However, a shortage only exists because employers are not willing to increase wages. It is clearly in their best interest, as opposed to the best interest of the American worker or the economy, to instead get Congress to adjust and expand the work force."

View the paper at: http://cis.org/labor-shortage-not-reason-employers-want-alien-workers.

North also discusses a rarely mentioned policy problem, ethnocentric hiring practices. An H1-B visa employer is not required to adhere to equal employment opportunity laws when hiring overseas, allowing him, if he so chooses, to hire from only one ethnic group or country. But the problem is bigger than just a few small operations; there are entire industries engaging in such practices. The backgrounder cites two specific examples, the outsourcing firms in the computer and IT-related fields, generally, and one set of tax-supported and charter schools, specifically.

Before laying out the motivation for employers to seek increased foreign workers, Mr. North debunks the idea that the United States has a labor shortage or lacks access to the necessary best and the brightest workers. According to the backgrounder, rather than targeting the programs to the limited number of unique situations, "these systems impose both serious displacement and wage-depression impacts on the U.S. labor market."

View a new CIS series analyzing the House of Representatives bill, H.R. 2278, at: http://cis.org/SAFE-Act

View the Senate bill, CIS Senate testimony and commentary at: http://cis.org/Border-Security-Economic-Opportunity-Immigration-Modernization-Act

The above is a press release from from Center for Immigration Studies. 1522 K St. NW, Suite 820,  Washington, DC 20005, (202) 466-8185 fax: (202) 466-8076.  Email: center@cis.org. Contact: Marguerite Telford, 202-466-8185, mrt@cis.org.  The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent research institution which examines the impact of immigration on the United States.  The Center for Immigration Studies is not affiliated with any other organization