Speech #930041632

Ill.. and New York City. During these hearings we heard from approximately 200 witnesses who were affected by or were intimately familiar with this problem. As a result of these hearings the subcommittee concluded that the adverse impact of illegal aliens on the domestics labor market. Federal and State public assistance programs. and the United States balance of payments has been substantial and warrants legislation to meet the problem as well as to assure the orderly entry of immigrants into the United States. In addition. the subcommittee learned that the illegal alien himself is often viciously exploited by unscrupulous employers. For example. some witnesses indicated that such employers will threaten to expose an alien to Immigration officials if he should complain about substandard wages and working conditions or the denial of fringe benefits. Others. including the United Farm Workers. have stressed that "it is a common practice for employers to hire illegal aliens and right before pay day make a convenient call to the Immigration authorities who thereafter pick up the illegals and absolve the employer from any duty to pay earned wages to that date." In other words. with no law specifically prohibiting the employment of illegal aliens employers will continue to hire such individuals since by virtue of their illegal status. they must work harder. longer and often for less pay. In addition to the intolerable situation in which the illegal alien finds himself. his employment also compromises labor conditions. depresses wage rates and deprives Americans of jobs. Whatever sympathy one might have for the underprivileged aliens in their desire to improve their economic position. this Government can not condone their employment when it adversely affects American citizens and other persons who are lawfully in the United States. It is evident that the primary reason for the illegal alien problem is the economic imbalance between the United States and the countries from which the illegal aliens come. particularly Mexico. coupled with the availability of employment in the United States. It is. therefore. apparent that this is truly an International problem and it is conceded that this legislation will not provide a panacea nor solve the underlying reasons for this problem. namely the "pull" factors encouraging aliens to come to the United States and the "push" factorsthe economic conditions In the aliens native country. On the other hand. the committee has concluded that the best method to attack this problem on the domestic level is to eliminate the availability of employment by imposing sanctions on the employer who knowingly hires illegal aliens. In other words. H.R. 982 is designed to remove the economic incentive which causes aliens to illegally enter this country and to remove the incentive for employers to exploit this source of labor.