Mr. President. legal immigration within the limits and rules of our immigration laws has served America well throughout our history. and is one of the most important elements of our national strength and character. Clearly. Congress and the American people today are rightly concerned about illegal immigration. There is broad bipartisan support for effective measures to crack down on this festering problem. But we must be careful to ensure that attitudes toward illegal immigrants do not create a backlash against legal immigrants. In general. the current laws and policies on legal immigration work well. and we must be hesitant to change them. especially those that give high priority to encouraging family reunification and enabling U.S. citizens to bring their spouses. children. parents and siblings to this country. But one area of legal immigration that needs reform is in the rules protecting American workers. It has become clear that protections for U.S. workers under current law have not kept pace with changes in the American labor market and the world labor market. This problem is particularly serious in our laws permitting the entry of temporary foreign workersthe socalled nonimmigrants. Hearings conducted earlier this month by the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration. under the able chairmanship of Senator SIMPSON. have revealed the depth of this problem. U.S. companies are increasingly outsourcing activities previously performed by permanent employees. More firms are resorting more often to the use of temporary workers or independent contractors as a way of increasing profits and reducing wages and benefits. even though the result is less inhouse expertise for the firms.
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immigration Immigration illegal immigrants immigrants illegal immigration family reunification