Coming from eastern Washington. which is primarily agricultural in nature. I have a large number of Mexican Americans in my district. These people come in and work. and they consist of migrants and permanent residents. both of whom work in agricultural labor from early spring until late fall. Many of them are citizens and legal residents of this country. Many of them are illegal aliens. We know this. and no one seriously pretends this is not true. Many of the growers and farmers who hire them operate legally and do their best to hire only legal immigrants or citizens. Some of the growers. unfortunately deliberately try to obtain illegal immigrants. so that they can operate with cheap labor. I think the situation is indeed an unfortunate one. I think that certainly we should do all we can to correct It. But to require that an employer certify that an employee is indeed a legal employee or is a citizen is putting an undue hardship on the employer and is stigmatizing all the MexicanAmericans or Spanishspeaking farmworkers. It is subjecting them to a particular type of discrimination which would work against those who are citizens and legal immigrants. I believe that if we are really serious and sincere about this legislation. we will have to provide in it that every persons social security card be a plastic card with a photograph and his fingerprints on the card. Thus. when a potential worker presents his social security card to an employer. it can be looked at and the employer can say yes. this person is indeed a legal entrant. or a citizen of this country.
Keywords matched
illegal immigrants immigrants migrants illegal aliens