Speech #1010178972

It noted that many persons did not realize they were being discriminated against. Many did not know where and how to file complaints and many will not file complaints because of time. energy and expense. Do we not need employer sanctions to stop illegal immigration? The answer Is even if stopping illegal immigration was an acceptable goal there are many complex reasons why persons come to the United States. including flight from persecution. for economic hardship. and turning employers Into border patrol agents by criminalizing the employment of persons is not ..oing to stop illegal immigration. Instead of repealing employer sanctions should we not adopt a uniform national work permit document? The answer is no. Whatever we call it. a national ID. card is simply not the answer. In fact. Congress explicitly rejected any national I.D. card as part of the immigration bill in 1986. Does everyone want to carry a national I.D. card? Does everybody want the Government to know more of what you are doing or what you have or what we have? Nothing has changed except now the feared discrimination has now been proven. There is no evidence that a national I.D. card will reduce and certainly will not eliminate employment discrimination. The creation of a national computer data base of every citizen and noncitizen is going to take many years and many millions of dollars. The INS files are incomplete. inaccurate and there are no comprehensive records of American citizens. And there should not be.