Speech #980211504

Now. the big question is will there be discrimination. and I said before that not only will there be. there already is. I would say to the Members that it would come under two forms: One. the employer who merely seeks to comply with the law. and I want to make the point that most employers will want to comply with the law. and that is what makes this bill really so insidious in this regard. because there are people who want to comply with the law. Most employers will not knowingly hire undocumented people but they do not understand immigration laws. You know how many of us are going through the pages and pages and 4 years of hearings to understand immigration law. The average employer is not going to understand it. and he would rather not want to hire anyone who has a chance of being an illegal alien. It is important to note that this kind of discrimination has already taken place. and I would cite to you Time magazine in 1982 which did a story on "Project Jobs" that happened in California. when the Immigration Service went in and raided to find illegal aliens. I think it is important to note that we have a track record on what happens when these kinds of raids take place. Time stated that "Employers admitted reluctance even to rehire workers who managed to prove their legal status to arresting officers." You can imagine how that feels. not only are you subjected to this unbelievable discrimination. to this kind of rough treatment. because you look different and you sound different. but once you have proven that you are not different. that you are a citizen or that you are here legally. you cannot even get your job back.