Speech #990106051

Dislocated Worker Program. to Senate Judiciary Committee staff. June. 1985. 4 U.S Commission on Civil Rights. "The Tarnished Oolden Door." 1983. The criteria by which employers screen applicants can be very damaging to persons who fit immigrant stereotypes. When Texas Businessman J.E. Kastrop. who testified in 1984 before a Texas Congressional committee on an employer sanctions bill. was asked how he determined the immigration status of applicants. he replied: "We check the records. We check them out. Gentleman. if you have a fellow come up to your office. and he cant speak English. and he is looking for a job. and he doesnt have many credit cards. and he lives with six other guys that are illegal aliens. you dont have to look twice to determine this guy shouldnt be in this country." 5 Specific examples of this type of discrimination were reported during House consideration of the SimpsonMazzoli bill last year. as employers began to prepare for the enactment of sanctions legislation. The effects of these employer reactions ranged from differential treatment to denial of employ. ment based in skin color or accent. Some examples included: Bernard Brown. Vice President of the Coalition of Apparel Industries. acknowledged that. to prepare for employer sanctions laws. the 600 employers he represented were instructed to ask applicants who were "La. tinos or lookted] like Latinos" for immigration documents. Similar employer responses were reported in Utah. where in one case 2040 suspected individuals were summarily fired by a foreman. The director of a California manufacturing plant has confirmed that verification processes led directly to discrimination: "I hate to say this. but Im sure there have been a lot of times that Ive discriminated against Latinos.