Speech #1000043832

I joined with my good friend. the distinguished senior Senator from Arizona . in offering this provision in committee. I also am a cosponsor with the Senator from Arizona of S. 1083. a freestanding bill which is identical to the DeConcini employer sanctions provision. This provision would extend the public education period prior to the implementation of the employer sanctions provision of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 for 4 months. Such an extension is essential to assure even a measure of fairness under what is really a bad law. Let me emphasize that this is not a discussion on the merits of the Immigration Act. I opposed the enactment of the Immigration Act. but that is not the issue here. as the provision extending the education period does not substantively alter the law. The point that needs to be addressed is that extension of the education period is a matter of simple fairness. Employers must comply with the provisions of the Immigration Act mandating that they verify the legal status of all new hires of June 1. The employers. however. havent been provided with the information and the forms to fulfill their legal obligations yet. and the Immigration and Naturalization Service [INS] has not conducted an adequate education program on the employer sanctions provision. as required by law. Therefore. rather than penalize employers for the delays in providing the forms and information necessary to meet the requirements of the Immigration Act. we should extend the education period to give INS more time to educate employers and the general public on the requirements of the act. Last year. I declined to support the Immigration Act for several reasons. First. I thought that it was improper for the Federal Government to place employers in a position where they had to enforce the immigration laws of the country. Second. I was concerned that increased discrimination agalnat Hispanics might result from the employer sanctions provision. Third. I believed the act would not halt the flow of illegal immigration to the United States because it failed to address the cause of illegal immigration: the lack of adequate jobs in the developing countries of the world. Finally. I believed that the bill would have a devastating effect on the agricultural interests in this country. failing as it did to assure an adequate supply of workers at harvest time. It does not please me to say this. but events since the bill became law have demonstrated the validity of my concerns: We have seen an industry spring up to provide phony documents to persons seeking amnesty. We have seen employers fire illegal aliens. even when the act stated clearly that persons already employed could keep their jobs. We have seen allegations of discrimination because of the act. We have seen illegal immigration continue across our borders. We have seen the future of some agricultural interests threatened because our seasonal agricultural worker provisions in the law fail to work for them. Some changes must be made in this law.