Speech #1000043829

First. we must protect the employees from discrimination and disruption of their employment. Second. we must protect the employers from the confusion and apprehension caused by misinformation and no information. The Immigration and Naturalization Service has announced that it intends to enforce the sanctions law lightly at first. That will tend to help the employers. but it leaves the employees at risk. The INS has also announced that it will focus on "Fortune 500type companies" at the beginning. I dont think Congress intended that the public information period it required would consist of light enforcement of Fortune 500type companies. There is a great deal of evidence of general confusion and misunderstanding concerning the employer sanctions provision of the Immigration Act. The public information provision of the act has not been carried out in the manner that Congress intended. Business Week magazine conducted a national survey that "found widespread evidence that many small and mediumsized businesses are firing alien workers en masse to escape the threat of sanctions.. ." If employers had been adequately informed of their responsibilities under the act. these firings would not have taken place. Business Week went on to conclude that "INS has complicated matters further by failing to mount an effective effort to educate the public about the law." The Governors Task Force on Immigration Affairs in New York has found 64 cases of discrimination under the Immigration Act. The report attributes these cases to the absence of Federal regulations interpreting the act. employer ignorance of the provisions of the act. the failure of the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel. and the delay in the promulgation of guidelines for addressing discrimination. In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. the League of United Latin American Citizens brought suit against a public school district to enjoin the district from dismissing employees who were qualified for legalization.