Speech #990082082

I think that is a plus. and compliment the Senator from Wyoming for having that in the bill. But I think that we have to recognize what is going to happen. and I shall Just quote from the Heritage Foundation Issue Bulletin: (1) Efforts to enforce existing antidiscrimination laws would be hindered by giving employers a first line of defense against accusations of discrimination. If a Mexican. for example. were to bring a case against a firm. the employer simply could state that he suspected the Mexican of being an illegal immigrant. I think that is something we have to look very carefully at. (2) Even lawabiding employers would tend to discriminate unwittingly against the foreign born in their "good faith efforts" to comply with the law. Foreigners would be transformed into a suspect class of workers: employers would thus scrutinize their credentials more thoroughly than those of other workers and make summary Judgments regarding their legality. I think that question is one that certainly legal scholars and the judiciary branch are going to have to look at. I personally believe lawyers are going to have a field day in discrimination cases if the sanctions are left in this legislation. I hope we will get them out of the legislation if we expect to have a workable bill. It is only reasonable to assume that a potential employer will respond in this manner to Federal immigration legislation. particularly legislation such as this which provides for criminal penalties against employers. As the abovementioned Heritage Bulletin states: Time magazine recently reported that merely the prospect of a sanctions bill has "excited something resembling panic among many employers. A few factories in the Los Angeles area are already laying off workers they suspect may be in the U.S. illegally." Mr. President. that may appeal to some people who read that article. but what it says to me is a Hispanicborn U.S. citizen who gets caught in this suspect situation could have a very difficult time obtaining gainful employment if this discrimination becomes rampant. Although illegal immigration is a legitimate concern. and an area in which our policy must be reformed. our national immigration policy must not Jeopardize the welfare of our own citizens. I simply cannot condone or agree with the portion of this bill that assumes the employer sanctions can somehow answer this problem. A second problem arises under such sanctions: employers are forced to become police officers. The sanctions shift onto business the burden of enforcing our immigration laws. We already have a governmental agency. the Immigration and Naturalization Service [INS]. which is properly charged with preventing entry of illegal immigrants into the United States. Yet. while retaining that agency and its border patrols. this legislation essentially forces upon employers the responsibility of halting undocumented immigration. We are asking American business men and women to carry out a responsibility that properly belongs to the Federal Government. By shifting the burden of this responsibility to the private sector. the Government is forsaking its duty to the public.