McCain backs Guest Worker/Amnesty Proposal

Date: Friday, May 30, 2003 1:06 PM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

Arizona Republicans have a solution to end illegal immigration. They
will give all aliens work visas and the rest of them amnesty. This
simple solution will eliminate almost all aliens from being illegal
since the reason they come to the USA is to find work. This scheme is
nothing more than flim-flam. Besides the fact that this bill is just a
general amnesty in disguise, it will make it easier for companies to
exploit cheap labor instead of hiring Americans that need work.

Of course these clever politicians have an answer to the work issue.
Here's what they have to say:

McCain:
"There are jobs that American workers simply won't do,"

Kolbe:
"We must look long term and acknowledge that a flexible temporary
worker program will guard us against future worker shortages."

Flake:
"A guest worker program will allow Mexicans who want to work in the
United States to enter legally, work for a period of time, and then
return home."

There are several guest worker variants working their way through
Congress. They will all have a direct impact on H-1B, because thousands
of visas that were issued for H-1B will be shifted to the new work
visa. That will free up new visas that high-tech companies can use to
import technical workers.

John McCain understands the impact that this guest worker and amnesty
proposal will have on H-1B because he was one of it's chief architects.
McCain has consistently pushed for higher yearly caps and he has voted
against all amendments to protect American workers. This worker/amnesty
bill will fulfill all his goals to allow his corporate donors to have
unlimited access to cheap labor. McCain might put on a good show about
campaign finance, but he will always side with the corporations that
dole the money to his re-election funds.

www.NumbersUSA.com has a fax to send to McCain for those that are
registered fax senders (it's free).

Here are some letters that give more background on these open-border
Arizona Republicans:

Jeff Flake:
http://www.zazona.com/shameh1b/Library/Politicians/Flake.htm

John McCain:
http://www.zazona.com/shameh1b/Library/Politicians/McCain.htm

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/local/5_29_03mccain.html

McCain pushes amnesty, guest-worker program

C.T. REVERE
Tucson Citizen
May 29, 2003

Immigration reform that was put on hold after the 9-11 terror attacks
must be a priority when Congress reconvenes next week, Sen. John McCain
said yesterday.

While national security remains a crucial concern in light of the war
on terror, lawmakers should pass a guest-worker program that includes
amnesty for some illegal workers now in the United States, the Arizona
Republican said during a news conference in his Tucson office.

"I believe we can pursue the security programs and at the same time set
up a system where people can come here and work on a temporary basis. I
think we can set up a program where amnesty is extended to a certain
number of people who are eligible and at the same time make sure that
we have some control over people who come in and out of this country,"
he said.
Immigration reform talks between President Bush and Mexican President
Vicente Fox ended abruptly when terrorists attacked the World Trade
Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. But the relentless wave of
illegal immigrants risking their lives to find work in America dictate
that Congress address the problem soon, McCain said.

"There are jobs that American workers simply won't do," McCain said.
"As long as there's a demand for workers, workers are going to come
across."

An amnesty program is vital to any immigration legislation that
includes a guest-worker program, he said.
"Amnesty has to be an important part because there are people who have
lived in this country for 20, 30 or 40 years, who have raised children
here and pay taxes here and are not citizens. That has to be a
component of it," he said. "How can we have a temporary worker program
if we're not allowing people who have been here for 30 years to hold
jobs here?"
The fact that the Fox administration opposed the U.S. military action
in Iraq cannot be allowed impede negotiations, McCain said.

"I am confident President Bush, former governor of a border state,
understands the absolute importance of our relationship with Mexico and
will move forward as soon as possible, especially on these issues of
border security and immigration," he said.

Immigration law is likely to open the door for a national
identification system, he said.

"At some point in history we are going to have a national I.D.," he
said. "But the first phase of it has got to be for people who are not
citizens, so we can identify them and know who is going in and out of
the country."

Another border security measure is likely to be the use of unmanned
aerial surveillance vehicles, commonly called drones.
"It's one of the important technological tools we have. We're never
going to have enough people to patrol that border. UAVs do a good job,"
he said. "We have an obligation to secure our borders. There are too
many indications of bad people with bad intentions who are
contemplating or coming across our border."
McCain credits U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, a Tucson Republican, for
spearheading the Arizona effort to create a guest-worker program.

"I'm hopeful that congressman Kolbe and the rest of us will be able to
address that legislation shortly after we return next week," he said.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/articles/0518kolbe0518.html

Guest worker policy win-win proposition for migrants and U.S.

Jim Kolbe
U.S. Congress
May. 18, 2003 12:00 AM

It is common for those who are depressed with the current economic
climate to wax nostalgic about the 1990s. What fails to make it into
these recollections is the crucial contribution that immigrants, both
legal and illegal, made in this remarkable growth period.

As we consider avenues to resuscitate our economy, we need to take a
hard look at our immigration policies that have an indirect yet
powerful influence.

Here in Arizona we are too familiar with the illegal immigrant
population and the futile efforts of law enforcement officials to stem
the tide. We fret about what to do, but a closer look at the number of
crossings and apprehensions reveals that there is an obvious solution.

One percent of illegal immigrants apprehended are criminals, according
to Border Patrol statistics. If we assume these statistics reflect the
demographics of all the people crossing the border illegally, then 1
percent of illegal crossers are likely to be criminals or terrorists.

If we establish a legal structure for the current flow of immigrants
who enter the United States to work in jobs for which no U.S. citizen
is available, we will shift 99 percent of the crossings from anywhere
along the 6,000-mile northern and southern land borders to a few ports
of entry, where we can manage it.

This change in policy would allow the Border and Transportation
Security Directorate to focus its border resources on the criminals and
terrorists, drastically improving the security of our nation.

For example, here in Arizona there were 375,516 apprehensions last
year. If we assume the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection catches
one in four crossers (which is a conservative estimate), then 1.5
million people came through Arizona illegally last year, of which an
estimated 15,000 were drug smugglers or terrorists. The rest enter the
country for one reason alone: jobs.

Jobs that no American wants or will accept.

For too long, the sheer numbers of illegal crossers have suggested that
secure land borders with Mexico and Canada are illusive. However, an
improvement in our immigration policies would drastically change that.
With this in mind, I have been working with other members of Congress,
both Republicans and Democrats, to draft legislation for an enhanced
foreign temporary worker program to improve homeland security. I
believe such legislation is critical to securing our borders.

A temporary worker program, commonly known as a guest worker program,
would reduce the number of illegal border crossers who enter through
Arizona and free up the Homeland Security Department to manage more
successfully the remaining fraction of illegal immigrants who enter the
United States for criminal intent.

Of particular concern to southern Arizonans, a temporary worker program
would significantly reduce the destruction of property, strain on our
health care facilities, litter on our lands, redirection of law
enforcement efforts away from local crime, and saturation of our local
court system with federally related cases.

A comprehensive temporary worker legislation has not been easy to
draft. I began working on this last summer, and have faced many hurdles
attempting to satisfy legitimate concerns. There will be compromise, as
indeed the drafting of all legislation requires, but I am committed to
move this matter forward. A temporary worker program must not displace
American workers, must provide business with access to workers if none
exists domestically, and must ensure that workers are protected from
abusive employers.

Each summer, the deaths of illegal crossers in the harsh Arizona desert
have painted a vivid human picture of the need for change. The high
temperatures are quickly approaching, and soon we will be reminded on a
daily basis that reforming our immigration policy is a life-or-death
issue.

As our economy continues in the doldrums, many Americans are
unemployed. But our economy is cyclical. Soon there will be an upsurge
in job growth, and we will face a return of the low unemployment rate
that existed for most of the 1990s. At that time many industries in the
United States, including agriculture, tourism, construction, nursing,
information technology and other portions of the service sector,
experienced labor shortages, hampering further economic growth.

If we are to avoid a repeat performance, we must look long term and
acknowledge that a flexible temporary worker program will guard us
against future worker shortages. According to a Northwestern University
study published in December, the civilian labor force grew by 11.5
percent, and "had it not been for new immigration, the nation's labor
force would have grown by only 5 percent over the past decade and would
have seriously constrained both job growth and economic growth."

On immigration we have been speaking from both sides of our mouths -
from one, we remind the rest of the world that we have made great
strides as a nation due in large part to the fact that we are a nation
of immigrants, and that any citizen who tries hard enough can rise from
rags to riches. But at the same time, the words that come from the
other side of the mouth claim foreigners are to be blamed for most of
what's wrong in this country.

I look forward to working with the many people in Arizona and the
nation to improve the security of our borders and stop the unmanageable
and destructive flow of millions of people illegally crossing through
our back yards. There are no quick and easy legislative actions - if
there were, it would have been done already. But I am committed to try.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/articles/0518flake0518.html

Tightening our borders has reverse effect

Jeff Flake
U.S. Congress

May. 18, 2003 12:00 AM

Last year, 146 illegal immigrants died while trying to cross the border
and enter the United States. I believe that a comprehensive guest
worker program could greatly reduce that number, as well as provide a
number of other benefits to both U.S. citizens and Mexicans wishing to
come here to work.

Increased border enforcement has not prevented many Mexicans from
entering the country, but it has driven them to enter in more remote
parts of the desert, where temperatures during the summer can be
deadly.

Increased border enforcement also has made it less likely that
undocumented workers who have successfully entered the country will
return home to Mexico. Before the Immigration Reform and Control Act
became law in 1986, the average trip of illegal immigrants entering the
United States lasted three years.

After the immigration act, the average trip length has risen to 8.9
years. It seems that increased border enforcement has been effective at
keeping illegal immigrants in the United States. The enormous rise in
trip length has had a devastating effect on the cost of public
services. The longer illegal immigrants stay in the United States, the
more it costs local governments to provide such services as health
care, education, and criminal costs.

Immigrants are putting down roots in other ways, too. Because increased
border enforcement has made it more difficult and more dangerous to
cross the border, many illegal immigrants are bringing their families
with them, rather than looking for temporary work in the United States
and sending money home.

Many of these families rely on the services of a "coyote" to guide them
through the desert and up to Tucson and Phoenix. Needless to say, these
coyotes are not of the highest moral fiber. In fact, quite the opposite
is true; there have been reports of coyotes that have taken groups of
illegal immigrants into the harsh desert terrain, only to abandon them
without food or water at the first sign of trouble.

There are those who dismiss this problem by saying that Mexicans who
try to cross the border know the risks when they attempt to cross the
border illegally. That is exactly what tells me that we need to take a
new approach to our immigration policy. Many of these illegal
immigrants do know the risks, and it does not deter them. They believe
that the opportunities in the United States outweigh the risks
associated with a desert crossing. We can try to tighten up border
enforcement even more than we already have (the Border Patrol's budget
has grown from $151 million in 1986 to more than $1 billion today), but
as long as the United States offers Mexicans more opportunity for work
than Mexico does, people will risk their lives to cross the border.

Rep. Jim Kolbe and I are working on legislation that would create a
comprehensive and sensible solution to the border issue: a guest worker
program.

A guest worker program will allow Mexicans who want to work in the
United States to enter legally, work for a period of time, and then
return home. Willing workers would not have to try to cross the desert
to work; they would simply have to apply for a visa. Because workers
will be in the country legally and able to visit their homes and return
to work in the United States without trouble, they will feel less
compelled to bring their families with them.

With a legal avenue for workers to come to the United States and return
home, scarce border security resources could be focused blocking entry
to those who wish to do us harm.

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