Speech #920282597

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: On Tuesday. September 12. the House of Representatives is scheduled to take up for debate and action H.R. 16188. a bill to repeal the exemption of employers now contained In the Immigration and Nationality Act from the prohibition against "harboring" illegal aliens. The AFLCIO has long supported this legislation and urges its approval by the House. For too long a time there has been a growing problem arising from the increasing number of persons who enter this country illegally. take jobs needed by the unemployed in our own land. and work at substandard wages paid by exploiting employers. This process is robbing large numbers of American citizens and legal Immigrants of opportunities for needed jobs and it continually threatens to undermine fair wage levels. To the extent that it does so. the present exemption of employers from the antiharboring provisions tends to frustrate and defeat the declared policy of Congress in other provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act which aim to protect the employment opportunities and labor standards of American workers. The AFLCIO has long favored legislative action to deal with this situation along the lines of the provisions contained in H.R. 16188. This bill. we believe. will be workable and effective in dealing with the problem of employment of aliens illegally in the United States.