Progressive Democrats of America Editorial  

LAS VEGAS May 27, 2006 — The Senate recently passed a “comprehensive immigration reform bill”. With all due respect Progressive Democrats of America must take the position that no bill is better than a bad bill. The bill in its present form not only does nothing to improve our broken down immigration system; it is counterproductive.
 
Senator Arlen Specter, the Republican Senator from Pennsylvania asked, "Does anybody have a better approach? Not yet. But we're still open for business." President  Reagan must be rolling over in his grave that his Republican colleagues have shown such disrespect to his landmark Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA).
 
Why are Republicans at the forefront of bashing the 1986 law? What was so wrong with that piece of legislation? The 1986 Act was an excellent vehicle that legalized and brought out of the shadows millions of people. Those individuals continue to be permanent residents or citizens of the United States. They are contributing members of our American society. They are homeowners, business owners, tax payers, little league coaches, politicians, movies stars.
 
You might want to ask Michael J. Fox if he thought it was such a bad law, since that is how he acquired his lawful immigration status. This is the same Michael J. Fox who brought us “Family Ties,” “Back to the Future , “ and who is now a United States citizen and is leading the charge on research for stem cell  and Parkinson disease.  
 
IRCA attempted to address the problem of the undocumented and illegal immigration into the United States through legalization of those unlawfully present in our borders, and employer sanctions. In retrospect the legalization process was a success. However, the employer sanctions failed to stem the tide of continued illegal immigration. Instead an industry of false documents sprung up, unchecked by the government.
 
An unintended side-effect is, as a result of false documents, it is estimated by our government’s GAO report that almost 80% of the undocumented pay taxes. Almost a half trillion dollars has accumulated in the Social Security ''earnings suspense file''. This is the Social Security tax revenues on unmatched Social Security numbers that the Social Security believes is paid by the undocumented. Stephen C. Gross, Social Security’s chief actuary stated, ''Our assumption is that about three-quarters of other-than-legal immigrants pay payroll taxes.''  
 
The earnings suspense file does not even address the millions of undocumented paying taxes through a document acquired through another Government agency, the IRS. In 1996, the IRS, an agency that firmly believes that there is no tax that says “if you are undocumented do not pay,” facilitated the payment of federal taxes by the undocumented. Through the completion of a form an individual taxpayer identification number is created for anyone who doesn't have a social security number. That “the undocumented do not pay taxes” is a lie.
 
So what was lacking in the 1986 Act to halt or slow the flow of illegal immigration? Employer sanctions did not work because for the most part employers are complying with the law. That is the reason why employer sanctions has not been pursued by the enforcement component of BICE formerly know as the Immigration and Naturalization Service, INS.
 
How can you punish employers for doing what the law says? The employer sanctions provide that an employee must complete the I-9 within three days of hire: documentation must be shown to indicate that the employee is authorized to work.  BICE was unable to show to show that employers knowingly hired undocumented workers. It is unreasonable to expect an employer to determine if a document is legal when even the experts have been fooled because of false documents. In addition, the voluntary Social Security verification system is broken down a good percentage of the time and employers can not verify Social Security numbers.
 
As a result, employer sanctions failed to staunch the flow of illegal immigration. The lacking component in retrospect was a temporary worker provision. If the huge economic disparity that exists on both sides of our borders is not addressed, we will continue to have illegal immigration. Until such time we can turn to other existing immigration laws to speak to this aspect of illegal entry.
 
Under NAFTA temporary workers are allowed to enter the United States from Mexico and Canada. It is a relatively simple straight forward process that is restricted to specific categories of skilled laborers. Limitations are in place for the TN visa restricting length of validity, renewability, and requirements for qualification. A worker has the option to switch employers as long as status is maintained. A worker is prohibited from being hired where there is a labor dispute and must be paid prevailing wage. The individual is free to live and work in the United States during the legal status and can freely travel outside the United States. To apply an applicant must have a verifiable contract with a U.S. based employer and provide documentation to show that job requirements have been met. The application can be granted at the port of entry or at the U.S. Consulate. Before the applicant can enter the United States, fingerprinting, biometrics and background checks must be completed.  These same types of visas are available under CAFTA. NAFTA and CAFTA are restricted to the Western hemisphere which is also where the greatest percentage of unlawful immigration is generated. It would be a simple matter to expand the employment categories of NAFTA and CAFTA to included unskilled laborers.
 
In light of the foregoing experience, it would behoove Congress to build on  existing law instead of creating an unenforceable   700-page  document that will only make matters worse. The Fear Factor of border security is the reason that Congress has not used common sense and precedents.  
 
Border security is a no-brainer. Everyone wants our nation secure. The greatest security measure that we could give to our country would be to legalize the undocumented. Every single person applying is required to be fingerprinted and placed into a data base.
 
There is an existing post 9/11 mandate that anyone seeking an immigrant benefit either inside our borders or out must be fingerprinted and a biometrics check completed before receiving any benefit. This includes student visas, visitor visas, permanent resident status, naturalization etc. President Bush alluded to this when he spoke of his guest worker program. What President Bush failed to mention is that is the same security measure is incorporated in the legalization component. Lest we forget, the D.C. sniper was uncovered because the teenage accomplice had been fingerprinted when he filed for asylum with the former INS.
 
Based on its actions it is clear that security is not at the top of the Administration’s agenda. Border security is yet another tool in the smoke and mirrors arsenal of this administration. The administration recommended the hiring of only 200 border patrol agents in budget year 2004 as opposed to the 2000  recommended by the 9/11 Commission. The excuse for not increasing those numbers was that 2000 Border Patrol could not be trained in one year. Instead we now have National Guard doing support work to distract from the administration’s failure to properly push for funding of trained personnel.
 
In addition, the administration’s actions lay the ground work for a national identification. (Bash the employers because employer sanctions and Social Security checks do not work, then “correct” the problem with a “fraud proof” ID.) It is in this way the administration continues its unabated agenda of creating an atmosphere of fear, anger, and divisiveness.    
 
Congress has blindly thrown out the baby with the bathwater. If they were judges, they would fail the test for following precedents. There is good existing immigration law to address the immigration problem. There is no need to contribute to the administration’s climate of fear. Use the good immigration laws; eliminate or correct the bad laws that have contributed to the immigration headache. Rely primarily on those people who actually work in the field, rather than legislative aides who have little practical experience with the application of immigration law.
 
Senator Specter, I hope you are still open for business because that 700-page beast being formulated in the halls of Congress is a lawyer’s paradise. When it fails, and it will, the blame will unfairly be placed on the backs of the undocumented. Good legislation can be designed but only by rejecting the bad legislation currently before Congress and starting all over by using existing good laws as the foundation. President Reagan would be proud to see that his landmark legislation, fine -tuned, can help address the problems we face today.
 

Vicenta Montoya, Esq.
National Immigration Coordinator
Progressive Democrats of America