Mr. Speaker. in a significant and increasing number of cases. longshore operations in U.S. ports have been performed by foreign crewmembers of foreignflag vesselseven though qualified U.S. longshoremen were ready and willing to do the work. This activity violates the most fundamental principle of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act [I.R.C.A.] and immigration legislation that preceded it: That work in the United States should be reserved in the first instance for U.S. citizens who are available to perform it. However. the Immigration and Naturalization Service [INS] has interpreted the law in such a way that leaves U.S. longshoremen unprotected against the use of foreign labor to perform this work while such foreign workers are aboard ship in U.S. ports or coastal waters. The agency claims that it has no authority to regulate employment activities aboard ship. As a result of this misguided interpretation of current law. the United States now appears to be the only maritime country in the world that allows foreign crewmembers to perform longshore work in its ports.
Keywords matched
Naturalization Immigration immigration