Speech #970273165

I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman. 10 years ago I took this well and implored my colleagues to adopt legislation which would respond to the serious problem of undocumented aliens. It was evident to me then. based on extensive hearings I and my Immigration Subcommittee held around the country. that undocumented aliens were being exploited by unscrupulous employers. by landlords. and by many others who were quick to take advantage of their precarious immigration status and their fear of being turned over to the Immigration Service. While we can debate at length the causes of this problem and possible solutions to it. there are certain basic facts which cannot be debated. My subcommittee found at that time clear evidence that it was common practice for employers to threaten undocumented aliens with exposure if they complained about substandard wages and working conditions or the denial of fringe benefits. We heard from many witnesses who indicated that unscrupulous employers would frequently make a convenient call to INS right before payday in an effort to have their undocumented workers apprehended and removed from this country before they were paid. In fact. I recall a study conducted by the Mexican Government at that time which indicated that 67 percent of the aliens returned to Mexico were not paid regularly or were owed wages at the time of their deportation. Others who were the victims of crime were fearful of reporting these incidents to law enforcement authorities due to their fear of detection and deportation. Since that timethe early seventiesthe problem has grown much worse. Instead of the 1 or 2 million undocumented aliens estimated to be in this country in 1972. current guesstimates range from 3 to 12 million. Further. many employers. bolstered by our Governments failure to address this serious national problem. no longer hide the fact that they are employing undocumented aliens. While many have argued that these aliens are merely doing the "dirty work" that Americans will not accept. it is clear that some displacement of U.S. workers does occur and that the presence of large numbers of such aliens has a direct effect on depressing wages and working conditions in a particular locality or industry. Clearly. the undocumented alien has become the unfortunate victim of the failure of this Government and the Congress to resolve this intolerable situation. In recent years we have also witnessed the development of sophisticated smuggling organizations which recruit and deliver undocumented aliens to employers throughout the United States. In some cases. this trafficking in Human Cargo has resulted in the tragic death of aliens who are left to die in the desert or to smother in packed vans or trailers. If they are successful in entering the United Stateswhich some smugglers now guaranteethey become a docile and readily exploitable "shadow population" which lives in constant fear of detection. After a detailed examination of this problem. the Immigration Subcommittee concluded in 1972 that the status quo was unacceptable and that immediate action was warranted to eliminate the widespread victimization of this vulnerable subclass and to reduce the unfair competition that they presented to American workers. This body agreed with our committees basic recommedation that the only humane. reasonable. and effective way of dealing with this problem was to "demagnetize the magnet" which brings them here. This would be done by imposing civil and criminal sanctions on those employers who knowingly hire undocumented aliens. It should be emphasized that this legislation is not intended as a punitive measure against either employers or undocumented aliens. In fact. the committee believes that. by and large. most employers are lawabiding citizens. and when it becomes known that it is a violation of Federal law to employ undocumented aliens. most employers will immediately discontinue this practice. Further. the committee has consistently resisted efforts to impose additional penalties on aliens who enter this country illegally or who remain here and accept employment after their nonimmigrant visas expire. The committee believes that additional sanctions on undocumented aliens would be inhumane and serve no useful purpose. since the vast majority of such persons enter this country for the sole purpose of sustaining themselves and their families. The House overwhelmingly approved employer sanctions bills which I authored in the 92d and 93d Congreases. but regrettably the Senate did not act on those proposals. As a result. we have now lost 10 years in our efforts to bring this problem under control.