In my own State there are tens of thousands of Mexicans who have illegally entered the country. The only time they are detected is when some of them get into trouble with the police. and where a police record is obtained. it is found that they do not have a certificate entitling them legally to enter the country. In those cases they are deported and sent back to Mexico. But if they do not get into trouble with the police. and most of them do not. they continue to remain here. So we are having a gradual dilution of the working force. These aliens in many cases live under conditions which are very close to peonage. because they are afraid they will be turned over to the public authorities by their employer if they do not agree to the terms which their employer suggests. and they fear that they will be deported. Therefore. they accept conditions of employment which otherwise they would not accept. The amendment which I have modified in accordance with the suggestions of the senior Senator from Oregon is very simple. It merely imposes a penalty on those who employ alien laborers knowing. or with reasonable grounds to believe. they are illegally in this country. It does not require the employer to inquire whether the laborer is here legally. nor does it require the employer to serve as an enforcement agency. It merely makes the employer liable if he knows or has good grounds to believe that the laborer has illegally entered the United States.
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deported alien laborers