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In testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on
Employer-Employee Relations, NILC and the Austin, TX–based
Equal Justice Center argued
that an enforcement-only approach to immigration reform — as
embodied in a mandatory electronic employment eligibility
verification system, the use of Social Security
Administration–issued no-match letters as an enforcement
tool, and misplaced reliance on increased worksite
enforcement — will never solve the problem of unauthorized
employment in the U.S.
If anything, the U.S.'s
experience with the provisions of the Immigration Reform and
Control Act of 1986 have taught us that an enforcement-only
approach actually creates incentives for employers to hire
unauthorized workers, argued Bill Beardall, EJC's executive
director, in his testimony on behalf of EJC and NILC. If
Congress is serious about addressing this issue, it must
muster the political will to address the root causes of
migration in sending countries and to address the need for
improved working conditions for all workers in the U.S., he
said.
Congress can begin by (1)
creating a legalization program for workers who are filling
the jobs in demand by employers, and (2) enforcing existing
labor and employment laws, Beardall testified. Otherwise,
unscrupulous employers will continue to have a financial
incentive to hire and exploit undocumented workers,
legitimate employers will be placed at a competitive
disadvantage, and both documented and undocumented workers
will be increasingly subject to workplace abuses.
Beardall testified at a field
hearing held in Plano, TX, on July 31. [Read
the complete testimony.]
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