Speech #1010205802

Mr. President. I did not support the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. One of my main reasons for opposing the act was the employer sanctions provisions. as I was concerned that the employer sanctions provisions would lead to increased discrimination against Hispanics. I also 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. In addition. I believed that the act would have a devastating effect on the agricultural interests in this country because it failed to assure an adequate supply of workers at harvest time. Finally. it was clear that the act would not halt the flow of illegal immigration to the United States because it did not address the cause of illegal immigration: the lack of adequate jobs in the developing countries of the world. I am not in the habit of saying "I told you so." but events since the bill became law have demonstrated the validity of my concerns. A recently completed report by the General Accounting Office found that the employer sanction provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 have led to a widespread and serious pattern of discrimination against Hispanics and other minorities. The GAO found that. as a result of the act. 19 percent of employers began to discriminate against job applicants on the basis of their national origin or citizenship. The GAO found that Hispanics have been particularly signled out for discrimination because of the act. In a test where two individuals. one a nonforeignappearing Anglo and the other a foreignappearing. foreignsounding Hispanic. were sent to apply for the same Job. GAO found that the Hispanic individual was 3 times more likely to encounter discrimination. The GAO believes this higher level of discrimination resulted. at least in part. from the 1986 Immigration Act. Because of this discrimination. untold thousands of Americans of Hispanic heritage have been denied that most basic of civil rightsthe right to earn a living. In addition. the act has been unduly burdensome on American business. It is estimated that the cost to American business of complying with the 1986 Immigration Act is as much as $675 million. Much of this burden falls on small businesses. The future of some agricultural interests are threatened by the act because the seasonal agricultural worker provisions inserted in the law to compensate for the employer sanctions fail to work for them.