Speech #1040134760

And it would be illegal to bring in a brother or sister. In each of these cases. under current law. the U.S. citizen must agree to sponsor their relativesto provide for them if they fall on hard times. And we must take additional steps to ensure that U.S. citizens fulfill their sponsorship obligations and be prepared to take legal action against them when they fail to care for their immigrant relatives. Clearly. some reforms may be desirable in the numbers admitted each year. But we should not deny U.S. citizens the privilege of family reunificationwhether it involves their parents. their adult children. or their brothers and sisters. In the case of brothers and sisters. large numbers of Americans have already paid millions of dollars in fees to the Federal Government to have their siblings join them in America. Yet. not only are there those who would eliminate this immigration for the future. they would even deny any possibility of family reunification here for those Americans who have paid hardearned dollars to the Government and waited patiently for their brothers and sisters to come. In addition to protecting families. our laws governing legal immigration must also protect U.S. workers. When immigrants come here at the request of an employer to fill a job vacancy. and not for family reunification. we must make certain that they do not displace a U.S. worker from that job. And we must ensure that employers do not underpay immigrants and undercut the wages of American workers. Our immigration laws have enabled dedicated workers to come here to contribute their skills and ingenuity to American businesses. At times. they have made the difference between the success and failure of an enterprise and have saved American jobs in the process. Nevertheless. in many respects. the laws and procedures governing immigration for employment fail to protect U.S. workers adequately. Although U.S. employers are required to attempt to recruit U.S. workers before turning to immigrants. this process results in the hire of an American worker less than onehalf of 1 percent of the time. Clearly. the current recruitment requirement does not work and is widely ignored. I am particularly concerned that the laws permitting temporary foreign workers to come to this country have not kept pace with changes in the labor market. U.S. companies are resorting increasingly to temporary hires. rather than permanent employees. and are contracting out functions which they previously performed inhouse with permanent staff. The growth of temporary and parttime employees in the labor market means that temporary foreign workers are now in direct competition with this new class of American worker. Lax immigration standards on temporary foreign workerssocalled nonimmigrantshave enabled computer consulting firms. health care providers. and too many others to turn to temporary foreign workers. As some U.S. companies lay off U.S. workers from their permanent payrolls. they are hiring temporary foreign workers to take their places. This practice cannot be permitted to continue. I join with the chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee. Senator SIMPSON. in seeking reforms of this aspect of our immigration laws. Clearly. when employers cannot find a qualified U.S. worker. the immigration laws should fill the gap. But these laws must not be a pretext for hiring cutrate foreign labor at the expense of U.S. workers. The immigration issue is about our roots as Americans. It is also about how we see our future. We all agree that we must control illegal immigration. But very different considerations apply to legal immigrants. In the process of enacting immigration reform. we must remember and honor the many benefits which legal immigrants have brought to our Nation. The reforms we enact must crack down on illegal immigrants. but they must also protect U.S. workers and the right of American citizens to reunite with their families.