What's Wrong With the Proposals for a New Guestworker Program?

fairus ^ | jan 04 | fairus

[VU4G10]

Proposals for a massive new "guestworker" program would:

• threaten homeland security
• grant amnesty for law-breakers, a step overwhelmingly opposed by the American public
• establish a back door immigration program
• threaten the jobs and wages of American workers.

The politicians pushing a guestworker amnesty know that Americans staunchly oppose amnesty, and so they shy away from calling it what it really is, instead cloaking it in terms like "earned legalization" or "normalization of status."  They are deliberately misleading the American public.

THEY SAY that the overwhelming majority of people entering the country illegally pose no threat to our country and that if we allow them enter in a lawful manner, we will enhance our homeland security.

THE TRUTH is that there are an estimated 8-11 million illegal aliens in the United States, and it only took 19 to perpetrate the attacks of September 11.  Our immigration system has become overburdened and unmanageable due to mass illegal immigration.  As a result, there is little reason to feel confident that, absent a massive infusion of new resources, which is highly unlikely given current fiscal realities, anything approaching thorough background checks can be conducted on applicants for a guestworker program.  Even without the added burden of an amnesty, people like Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman, the blind Egyptian cleric who masterminded the first World Trade Center bombing, and Mohammed Atta, the leader of the September 11 attacks, managed to slip through the screening process.  There is every reason to believe that adding new responsibilities to an overtaxed system will make us less safe.

No one has yet explained how the millions of applicants would be given security checks or whether that’s even remotely feasible, given an already overburdened immigration enforcement system. Immigration officials would have to deal with hundreds of thousands of more applicants a year, to say nothing of how we would verify eligibility for any of the eight million potential applicants already here illegally, particularly with many of them armed with false identity documents.  When the immigration system can’t adequately perform its most essential mission, adding in the responsibility for security checks, tracking, and removal when necessary for millions of participants in a guestworker program will guarantee disaster.

THEY SAY that the legislation is not an amnesty, but that guestworkers who participate in the program will be eligible for permanent resident status.

THE TRUTH is that the proposal would be an amnesty with an “apprenticeship” provision.  Illegal aliens who are already in the U.S. would  be eligible to apply.  Thus, they would be excused for having violated our immigration laws in the first place, and then be rewarded again with permanent residency--thus making the law, in effect, a double amnesty.  Calling it something else does not change the reality that this proposal is a massive amnesty program.

THEY SAY the program will help regain control of the borders and stop illegal immigration.

THE TRUTH is that the proposal does nothing to discourage future illegal immigration or enforcement of our immigration laws, ensuring that any guestworker or illegal alien who wants to remain in the U.S. can and will.  In fact, about one-third of illegal aliens in the country right now arrived on legal visas and simply never went home.  In addition, it does nothing to strengthen border security to ensure that only guestworkers, and not terrorists, are being admitted.

THEY SAY that spouses and children of illegal aliens may also be eligible to participate in the visa program.

THE TRUTH is that this would be an amnesty not only for those who qualify for this “guestworker” program, but a simultaneous amnesty for their dependents, whether or not they are workers.  Aside from expanding the amnesty to include non-workers, it also grants a benefit to the dependents of illegal aliens that is not afforded to the families of other guestworkers who never violated the law.  Moreover, it undermines the stated – if flawed – purpose of a guestworker program:  that foreign workers come temporarily and then return home.  Employers would be able to utilize a virtually limitless supply of guestworkers at low wages, while the expense for services like education and health care for dependent family members would have to be picked up by taxpayers.

THEY SAY that an electronic job registry operated through the Department of Labor will allow employers to post jobs and American workers would have the first chance to apply.  Moreover, the jobs would have to be offered again at the end of the three-year period, and that workers’ visas would be renewed only if no Americans are willing to take them.

THE TRUTH is that in the estimation of the General Accounting Office and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, the provisions in existing guestworker programs that are intended to ensure that American workers get first crack at jobs have been a complete failure.  Even if the political will existed to prevent employers from bypassing American workers in favor of foreign guestworkers – which there doesn’t – the Labor Department does not have the resources to monitor the hiring process.  A federal government that managed to fine a grand total of 13 employers nationwide in 2002 for violating employer sanctions laws cannot be counted on to enforce the provisions of a guestworker program either.

THEY SAY that BSIIA would be a market-driven program that will negate the reasons why employers hire illegal aliens.

THE TRUTH is that under BSIIA, there would not even be a prevailing wage requirement, meaning that employers will be able to offer wages far below what most Americans would be willing to accept, thereby creating an artificial need for guestworkers.  In effect, the law would grant legal sanction to employers who want to hire workers at low wages and limited leverage.  One of the primary purposes of our immigration laws is to prevent employers from undermining wages and working conditions of American workers.

THEY SAY that the program would prevent abuse of foreign workers by affording them mobility and the ability to file grievances against abusive employers.

THE TRUTH is that the mobility of guestworkers would still be very limited and their ability to change jobs would depend on finding another employer who was willing to go through the procedure of posting a job and wading through the bureaucratic red tape.  The primary interest of the workers would be to hold a job for six years in order to qualify for permanent residency.  Moreover, at the end of the “apprenticeship” period, when the guestworker would be granted permanent residency and would gain bargaining power, there is no reason to expect that the employer would not seek another guestworker who is willing to work at below-market wages.

THEY SAY that the program would prevent deaths along the border.

THE TRUTH is that U.S. immigration laws are not responsible for the deaths along the border – it is the violation of our immigration laws that is  responsible.  If there is any culpability on the part of the American government, it is in its failure to deter illegal immigration by aggressively enforcing laws that prohibit illegal aliens from working here or accessing public benefits.  Sending a clear signal that illegal entry to the U.S. will not be rewarded would have the desired effect of dissuading people from placing their lives and safety into the hands of unscrupulous smugglers.  Besides, when the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE) adopted a measure that demonstrably cut down the likelihood of border deaths – by repatriating illegal alien crossers who were apprehended in Arizona to border towns in Texas – the open borders lobby protested, charging that the program was unfair to illegal aliens.

THEY SAY the program will provide workers when and while they’re needed.

THE TRUTH is that when the economy takes a downturn, there will be millions of guestworkers in the U.S. without a job, without a home, without health care, and with no intention of returning to their home countries.  The guestworkers’ unemployment problems become the public’s burden.

[Zipporah]

I'm not saying that I buy into the 'country of immigrants' argument.. I am saying ALL countries in the world are populated by immigrants, ours only being more recent.

[Ramius]

Boats.

[hedgetrimmer]

The announcement made today is just a precursor to the giveaway of America.

He is traveling to the Summit of the Americas next week. In addition to the amnesty Mr. Bush will give away more American tax dollars through the wealth redistribution scheme called the Millenium Challenge Account.

"Finally, Noriega reminded his audience that the White House has proposed an initiative to provide incentives for, and reward, good governance and social investments which "are critical to the future of the Americas." The initiative, known as the Millennium Challenge Account, aims to provide funds "to those countries that govern justly and honestly, uphold the rule of law, fight corruption, invest in their people, and promote economic freedom," he said."
--Ambassador Roger Noriega

[dagnabbit]

The open-border types love the "nation of immigrants" platitude, though the USA is more accurately described as a nation of settlers, fortified by several assimilated waves of immigration.

Waves, of course, have a beginning and an end, unlike today's model of open-ended extended family chain migration and winked-at illegal migration. So now's there's no wave, just an endless torrent, which helps make assilation passe because there's no lull in migration, and the numbers are great enough to basically set up colonized areas (additionally multiculturalism holds that assimilation is akin to racism).

[WOSG]

THEY SAY that the overwhelming majority of people entering the country illegally pose no threat to our country and that if we allow them enter in a lawful manner, we will enhance our homeland security. THE TRUTH is that there are an estimated 8-11 million illegal aliens in the United States, and it only took 19 to perpetrate the attacks of September 11.

See, this is exactly what's wrong with the argument about this. Somehow people who merely want to work for a living in a land of opportunity are conflated with terrorists. That's an incendiary charge. It basically amounts to a slander against many people.

We also see this confusion between somet How is increasing *legal* immigration a bad thing if the real problem is *illegal* immigration? Or is it anti-any-immigration that is going on?

Our documentation security and border security is indeed enhanced if we can find a way to disincentivize the massive law-breaking so the PROBLEM OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION BECOMES SMALLER. The guest worker program is an "out" and a way to track the illegal immigrants. Combined with documentation verification provisions and ways to more truly enforce laws against non-complying employers, and we could indeed 'drain the swamp' of illegal immigration. But you need carrot as well as stick techniques; sadly, niether side is willing to try both.

"THEY SAY that the overwhelming majority of people entering the country illegally pose no threat to our country" is indeed correct wrt national security.

Someone else here said: "The author does not understand the proposal he is commenting on. Sad he wasted his time writing this." ... I agree.

[fatso]

Michelle Malkin


The criminal raid on Social Security





My eight-week-old son's Social Security card recently arrived in the mail. On the back, there's a stern warning: "Improper use of this card or number by anyone is punishable by fine, imprisonment or both." Welcome to the world of government theft and selective enforcement, my boy.


While innocent babes who have yet to earn a penny are threatened with jail time for misusing Social Security cards, the Bush administration appears set this week to turn the ailing government pension program into an international relief fund for illegal alien workers who used counterfeit Social Security cards and stolen numbers to secure illegal jobs.


Unlike the bedtime stories I tell at night, I am not making this up.


This belated gift to the open-borders lobby and President Mexican Vicente Fox is part of a larger amnesty plan that has been in the works since before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. So, why exactly are we rewarding a country that has been obstinately opposed to the War on Terror? Go ask Mr. Brilliant, Karl Rove. This I do know: It couldn't have come at a worse time from either a fiscal or national security standpoint.


According to Rep. Clay Shaw (R-Fla.), chairman of House Ways and Means subcommittee on Social Security, benefits paid to retirees will exceed revenues in just 15 years. The pay-as-you-go system could go belly up as early as 2030. These projections don't take into account the economic impact of the Bush proposal, which would allow untold millions of illegal aliens from Mexico to collect full cash benefits for themselves and their families from their home country — without having to work the required number of years that law-abiding American citizens must work to be eligible for payouts.


JWR columnist Joel Mowbray, who first exposed this treachery a year ago, noted that this raw deal may well cost overburdened U.S. taxpayers $345 billion over the next 20 years. Probably much more. As we know from experience, Social Security projections are notoriously off the mark.


The bureaucrats call this scheme "totalization." Try total prostration. The proposed agreement is nothing more than a transfer of wealth from those who play by the rules to those who willingly and knowingly mock our own immigration and tax laws. What are we doing promising lifetime Social Security paychecks to day laborers in Juarez when we can't even guarantee those benefits to workers here at home?







Unbelievably, the White House is trying to convince us to embrace this global ripoff because it "rewards work." No, it rewards criminal behavior. The plan will siphon off the hard-earned tax dollars of American workers who may never see a dime of their confiscated earnings and fork it over to foreigners guilty of at least four acts of federal law-breaking: crossing the border illegally, working illegally, engaging in tax fraud, and using bogus documents.


Giving money to scam artists will simply result in more fraud — not only by Mexican agricultural workers, but also by Middle Easterners such as Youssef Hmimssa, who provided fake Social Security numbers and fraudulent drivers' licenses to members of an accused terrorist cell in Detroit. "If you have the right connection, you can get anything," he testified before the Senate last fall.


The door is now open for all illegal aliens to collect retirement benefits using bogus Social Security cards. What's next: survivors' benefits for the families of the nineteen Sept. 11 hijackers?

[WOSG]

We already have 8 million illegals so those shantytowns would already be here.

[longtermmemmory]

BTW the statement that an employer must show no us citizen wants the job is pretty much the US law now. Just now it is for skilled labor not unskilled.

[ableChair]

Joseph Stalin did a pretty good job of it. It isn't that hard. Just put a sentry road along the border and man it. Do the math; it doesn't take that many people (or just ask Stalin).

[WOSG]

THEY SAY that the legislation is not an amnesty, but that guestworkers who participate in the program will be eligible for permanent resident status. THE TRUTH is that the proposal would be an amnesty with an “apprenticeship” provision. Illegal aliens who are already in the U.S. would be eligible to apply. Thus, they would be excused for having violated our immigration laws in the first place, and then be rewarded again with permanent residency--thus making the law, in effect, a double amnesty. Calling it something else does not change the reality that this proposal is a massive amnesty program.

This guy is lying. The proposal quite clearly continues to control the 'green card' status through the same channels as before, and so the number of people getting permanent residency would increase. So there cant be a huge amnesty unless the number of green card approvals - currently in the 140,000 range is massively increased. Even if it were doubled to 280,000 it would take *40 years* to have all 8-11 million illegals get green cards. IT AINT GONNA HAPPEN UNDER THIS PLAN.

This is a plan to divert illegals into 3 streams: US citizen wannabes, revolving door workers, and *deportees*.

I think the program would be a total FLOP if there were no documentation & enforcement elements. Why? Then the illegals would have little incentive to get into this program, it is just a trap to track them. OTOH, it would instead be a swamp-drainer if combined with greater enforcement. Then any illegal would jump into the program rather than risk deportation. Carrot & stick would work to drain the swamp of illegal immigration.

[luvbach1]

Excellent post. But discouraging.

[navyblue]

."our nation is a nation of immigrants"..

Not me Zippy! I was born here Baby!

[WOSG]

Excuse me, but how does a guest worker program controlled from DC 'lose our sovereignty'. It's an expression of sovereignty to define our immigration laws. We've had almost 100 million immigrants in the last 200+ years, and descendents of immigrants make up, oh, 90%+ of our population.

How come our sovereignty isnt already gone???!?

[Zipporah]

Same here.. you know.. The result will bring on forced depression .. for American citizens and boom for foreign workers.

[Edit35]

Massive immigration from Latin America is a BIGGER THREAT to the American way of life than AlQaeda ever was, or probably will be.

Not to be crude, but we can withstand a few bombs. Heck, we can even fight back and stop the killers.

What we cannot do is continue to absorb millions and millions of people who will not assimilate, and who seem to have more pride in their home country than they do in America.

[MattAMiller]

How could you ever seal our border? It's huge. We can beef up the border patrol, but that's about it. We can, however, change the economics of the situation. If employers want foreign workers they can have them inside a legal system.

[WOSG]

I agree that is bumber sticker logic.

OTOH, building a fence is not that impractical as part of the solution. Along any 50 mile stretch where there is a problem, build a fence. And of course man and staff it so the border crossings are stopped.

Another thing: We just release the crossers. We got smarter recently. We release the Arizona crossers in Texas. Then they cant go back to their "coyotes" and try again right away. I also think we should tag the offenders and for repeat offenders, jail them for a few weeks, then send them to mexico.


"Checkpoints every few miles on every highway? Everybody carries a passport or other "papers" to prove they are a citizen?" Actually, proper verification for employment is doable, but we dont have the will to make it stick.

Illegal immigration "works" because illegal aliens can get fraudulent documentation for small change. Then the employer 'accepts' that as good enough for employment, without truly verifying its authenticity. Presto, the illegal has a job and the employer has a fig leaf. We need to end that travesty.

You see the law only requires the employer to not knowingly hire illegals. If we created a verification database, then the problem would be lessened greatly. Then put the legal burden on the employers; YOU are responsible. Add a bonus to privateers to finding illegals and reporting them.

The INS needs to stop simply 'reporting' that illegals work someplace, they need to go there, find them and DEPORT them pronto.

Also it would work wonders if the visa status was on driver's licenses and the drivers license was not valid past any vias expiration date. Then you *further* forbid use of the matircula cards in banks, you *further* require hospitals to get proper ID and pass a law that says hospitals dont have to treat any patient without legal immigration status (saving medicare/medicaid a few billion).
Not to mention getting the real immigration status of kids in schools.


Bush's guest worker program + real border security + real enforcement => instead of 8 million illegals, we'd have maybe 5 million guest workers, and a few million folks going home to Mexico.

[Keith in Iowa]

>>How could you ever seal our border?

Where there's a will, there's a way - a combination of designated border crossings and serious sanctions for not using them, technology, and boots on the ground would be a good start. Sadly, there's no will - thus, there will be no way.

[ableChair]

Excuse me, but how does a guest worker program controlled from DC 'lose our sovereignty'. It's an expression of sovereignty to define our immigration laws. We've had almost 100 million immigrants in the last 200+ years, and descendents of immigrants make up, oh, 90%+ of our population. How come our sovereignty isnt already gone???!?
One primary condition of the classical definition of sovereignty is "controlling the borders". So, the point is that if the borders are not controlled there can be no sovereignty. The suggestion is that this change in policy and/or law will loose control of the borders.
As for the numbers of immigrants. You're missing the point. It isn't aggregate numbers that matters here but the rate of immigration vs. our ability to assimilate. No nation in history has ever been able to absorb the staggering numbers (and percentages of it's 'native' population) of immigrants in the time frame we're looking at and still survive intact. It will utterly destroy the country. We'll quickly slide to third world status. Listen to me now hear me later. If implemented this is the beginning of the end of the greatest and most powerful nation in human history.

[Edit35]

"How do we "seal" 22,000 miles of border? Lots of people throw that out as if it were like locking a gate. But how is it actually done?"

We start by building a fence, combination electric-metal with radar detectors in certain areas where it is not feasible for a metal fence.

The technology is already available.

We are spending $150 BILLION in the war on terror. We should be able to afford a billion or two for a freakin fence.

I refuse to watch my kids and grand kids grow up, fighting to speak English in their own country.

Bush should be forced to live for a few months, without Secret Service protection, in a mid-sized East Coast or West Coast city. It is like living in a foreign, third world country, with police unable to even investigate massive crime due to lack of communication ability.

Man, this proposal really ticks me off.