Posted on 12/25/2007 10:34:36 AM PST by BGHater
Anticipating that the enactment of comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level might not occur for several years, the US Chamber of Commerce will continue to oppose state and local efforts to address illegal immigration. Immigration reform at the federal level is unlikely until businesses are faced with a lack of workers, said Chamber President Tom Donahue at a conference the largest business federation hosted, which examined the impact of state and local immigration laws. "To really get it done," Donahue said, "I think it has to hurt more." In the meantime, Donahue pledged to challenge state laws that businesses could find onerous and to support separate pieces of federal legislation to change current visa rules.
To demonstrate the potential economic effects of state immigration laws, the chamber sponsored a study focusing on five states -- Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. Most immigration-related laws at the state level have been enacted within the past 18 months, the report noted, so it is too early to fully measure their impact. The Illinois and Arizona laws do not take effect until January 1, 2008.
Arizona, according to the report, puts the obligation on employers to verify through the federal E-Verify program that employees are legally authorized to work in the United States. Violators could face significant penalties. The Legal Arizona Workers Act (H.B. 2779) contains no "safe harbor" for employers who rely on false documents presented by illegal workers. As a result, the report surmises that employers cannot be assured that reasonable actions on their part to comply with the law will prevent violations. Small employers may be more vulnerable to errors, and compliance could add extra costs to all businesses.
Colorado also requires businesses to affirm that all new workers are authorized to work in the United States. The law prohibits awards of public contracts to contractors who knowingly employ, contract with or subcontract with unauthorized persons. The report predicted that employers who fail to comply with the law may face the loss of public contracts that could effectively put them out of business.
The Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act (820 Ill. Comp. Stat. 55/1, et seq) takes a very different approach. That state's law prohibits employers from enrolling in an employment eligibility program until the program is deemed reliably accurate. This could create difficulties for multi-state employees that otherwise participate in E-Verify and other verification programs, according to the report.
Oklahoma's Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007 (H.B. 1804) has adopted a very broad approach to illegal immigration. That state's law bars certain aid to illegal immigrants, prohibits in-state tuition for unauthorized immigrants and allows state and local governments to enforce federal immigration laws, according to the report. Contractors who do not participate in an employment verification system would not be eligible for public contracts.
Because of the broad sweep of the Oklahoma law, the effects are likely to be widespread, the report said. Anecdotally, immigrants appear to be dropping out of site, resulting in a tight labor market and higher wages in the construction industry. Overall, the cost of construction projects could rise, the report predicted.
Pennsylvania, the fifth state studied, prohibits companies from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants for any publicly supported project. The Pennsylvania law, the report said, could cause a decrease in competition among contractors because some may decline to bid on public service projects, ultimately leading to higher costs.
The study was authored by Peter Creticos, president and executive director of the Institute for Work and the Economy, a think tank on workforce development. In addition to the Chamber, the study was sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders and the National Roofing Contractors Association.
The US Chamber of Commerce hosted the conference examining the impact of state and local immigration laws on December 7 in Washington, DC. The report, entitled Assessing the Economic Effects of State Laws Addressing Foreign-Born Unauthorized Workers, can be found at: Website
For additional information on this and other HR topics, consult CCH Human Resources Management or Personnel Practices/Communications.
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Ding, Ding.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce: The New Plantation Masters
Self-deportation ping.
Rising wages for Americans ping.
Affordable housing ping.
Solvent hospitals ping.
The national Chamber wants open borders so its members have cheap (and illegal) help. They don't give a rat's patoot what happens to the nation as a result of that policy. Their idea of "onerous" state laws as laws that work.
Local Chambers of Commerce are not so blind, nor as dishonest, as the national one.
Congressman Billybob
They obviously have no idea what the voters may do to them, if they don’t align with public opinion regarding illegal immigration. Things could get very ugly.
This treasonous rabble also spent millions to prevent legislation to properly label all foreign-based food items. Only fish has been mandated, thanks to the legal machinations of this profits-uber-alles group. They have also fought tooth and nail to prevent any and all actions against China or Chinese goods, relating to safety, dumping or machinations of the Yuan.
The Chamber of Commerce should merge with the ACLU.
One man's "onerous" may be another man's "disasterous".
I just love weasel words.
Leni
A modest proposal:
How about all advertising, indicates at the time of the advertisement, where the product or service is provided.
So when Travelocity for example advertises their website, you’ll see “call center in India”. When Target or Walmart advertise a $100 bike, it says clearly “made in China”.
Do this for all advertising, and packaging. Watch how long it takes for “Made in America” to rocket back into vogue - along with a (bunch) of new jobs here!!
Not one tarriff needed.
Do have any information on the food labeling bill, act, whatever? Every time I see a comment such as yours I try to look it up and find nada.
On May 13, 2002, President Bush signed into law the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, more commonly known as the 2002 Farm Bill. One of its many initiatives requires country of origin labeling for beef, lamb, pork, fish, perishable agricultural commodities and peanuts. On January 27, 2004, President Bush signed Public Law 108-199 which delays the implementation of mandatory COOL for all covered commodities except wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish until September 30, 2006. On November 10, 2005, President Bush signed Public Law 109-97, which delays the implementation for all covered commodities except wild and farm-raised and shellfish until September 30, 2008. As described in the legislation, program implementation is the responsibility of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service.
Thanks.
Ironic isn’t it that the Democrats once preached to us about how evil the Chamber of Commerce and its evil minions were, in fact, evil!
If the COC tries to block enforcement of immigration laws, they should be fought at every level...governments should prosecute them if possible, and civilians should fight them any way we can.
Won't happen for a couple reasons.
Walmart drove the small local businesses out of business because people wanted cheaper products and didn't care what effect it would have on the local small businesses.
Americans don't want the low wage high labor jobs. They want high pay low labor jobs.
Like it or not we do have a labor shortage in the high manual labor sector. Our birthrate in this country is still self sustaining, all other industrialized modern countries are negative, but with a growing economy we don't have the labor force for the entry level positions.
Start jailing these ‘patriots’ till we find out what the Constitution says on the matter.
Every step we can take in the direction of encouraging companies and people to build and make things in America, is good for our country.
No one action or step will change things.
But over time, we can change the dynamic. Already illegal immigration has emerged, and become a patriotic rallying cry across America. That would have been unthinkable, just 5 years ago.
Outsourcing and the selling off of America’s industry is even more important, and for many of the same reasons, has the capability to deeply inspire people.
I say we should try it.
Then we should try again.
And keep trying. Every day. In everything we do.
In regards to the Chamber, it’s good to know that the ACLU has an equally evil cousin, just as determined to destroy the country. Different ideologies, but same disregard for laws, and same destructive goals. All traitors.
This is called selling the rope to hang yourself.
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