Speech #1090136161

That is what this amendment. unfortunately. would do. notwithstanding the hard work that has been put into it. I believe the placeholder in title III is vastly superior to this socalled agreement. which is obviously not agreed tocertainly not by the Cabinet member who Is responsible for the Department of Homeland Security and certainly not by this Senator and others who have had a chance to look at this. Each day. approximately 1.300 migrant workers enter the United States to work illegally. The vast majority come here not to commit crimes or cause harm but to work. They are looking only to provide for their families. and we certainly all understand that. But they pay smugglers thousands of dollars and risk their lives crossing the border. They take this risk because they know that once they get into the United States. it wont be difficult to find employers willing to hire them in this black market of human labor. Until the Federal Government removes the magnet of illegal employment. it will not regain control over our broken immigration system. Restricting employment of undocumented workers as a way to reduce illegal immigration is not a new concept. In 1981. the bipartisan Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy recommended legislation making it illegal to hire undocumented workers. In 1997. the bipartisan U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform stated that eliminating the employment magnet is the linchpin to a comprehensive strategy to deter unlawful immigration. The U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform went on to conclude that the most promising option for verifying work authorization is a computerized registry based on the Social Security number. Yet. 25 years later. after 25 years of consensus. current employment verification laws are unworkable and unenforceable. Today the Federal law only requires that employers confirm that employees produced paper documents.