Employer sanctions are particularly burdensome for small businesses which are forced to determine eligibility from the 17 different approved verification documents. Businesses should not be asked to scrutinize these documents which are easily counterfeited. As I have asserted from the beginning. businesses are not equipped to act as the enforcer of our immigration laws. Mr. President. the issue before us is how best to end Government sanctioned. de facto discrimination. Repealing employer sanctions is the only sure way of solving this problem that we have created. The onus of reducing illegal immigration should be placed squarely upon the shoulders of law enforcement where it belongs. Employer sanctions also prevent the Border Patrol from performing its primary responsibility of monitoring our borders. On March 28. 1991. the GAO issued a report in response to my concerns about the Border Patrols ability to carry out its duties along the southwest border. According to the GAO. the Border Patrols added responsibilities since the passage of IRCA in 1986. including checking on employer hiring practices. has resulted in an 11percent decline in the amount of time spent on border enforcement activities. I question the need for more time spent on nonborder activities which has increased from 29 percent of total hours in fiscal year 1986 to 40 percent in fiscal year 1991. Furthermore. a January 1991 GAO report on immigration management concluded that the overlap of responsibilities between the Border patrol and the investigations division of the Immigration and Naturalization Service [INS] has caused confusion and resulted in an inconsistent enforcement of employer sanctions that threatens the future success of the program. The legislation we are introducing today takes some positive. rather than negative. steps toward controlling the flow of aliens who enter this country illegally. For example. this bill increases the number of Border Patrol agents and provides the Border Patrol with adequate equipment and support services. It also provides Border Patrol personnel with inservice training to familiarize them with the rights and cultural backgrounds of aliens and citizens in order to safeguard their constitutional and civil rights. These needed resources. along with eliminating the timeconsuming burden of investigating employers. will enhance the Border Patrols efforts to reduce illegal immigration. Other provisions in this legislation that provide our Government with the necessary tools to effectively enforce our immigration laws include: Increasing the number of positions in the INS antismuggling program. increasing the number of fulltime positions in the Labor Departments Wage and Hour Division to investigate violations of our wage and hour laws in areas of high concentration of undocumented aliens. increasing the number of United States attorneys to prosecute persons who bring into the United States or harbor illegal aliens for profit. increasing criminal penalties for persons who are found in violation of this law. and encouraging the Attorney General and the Secretary of State to initiate discussions with Mexico and Canada to establish programs to prevent and to prosecute the smuggling of undocumented aliens into the United States. We can also take a positive step in reducing illegal immigration by going forward with a Free Trade Agreement with Mexico. An improvement in the economic situation in Mexico will reduce the incentive for illegal immigration to America. I have traveled to Mexico and have met with President Salinas regarding Mexicos trade with the United States. I am hopeful that our two countries can proceed toward an agreement that will enable both countries to prosper. By assisting Mexico in its desire to improve its economy. we can reduce the incentive many aliens have to illegally enter our country. Employer sanctions are not a viable alternative to our immigration problems. There is no justification for encouraging jobrelated discrimination against people simply because they appear to be of foreign extraction. We must correct this mistake.*
Identified stereotypes
People of foreign extraction are more likely to be illegal immigrants.