Tancredo's Turkey - the "Be Real Act of 2003"

Date: Wednesday, November 26, 2003 10:30 AM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo introduced the "Be Real Act of 2003" to the
House on Wednesday, Nov. 19th. This newsletter will be the first of a
series that examines and analyzes how his bill impacts the American
workforce.

The bill can be examined by going to the following website and
entering:
http://thomas.loc.gov/
H.R. 3534

Before the details of this bill are discussed, it's necessary to
discuss the rationale behind it:

Several major guest-worker/amnesty bills are working their way through
Congress. The bill by Sen. Larry Craig, (R-Idaho) and Sen. Edward
Kennedy is gaining so much momentum that many immigration control
groups feel that the only way to stop it is to offer an alternative.

Tancredo's bill is to be the alternative, but it's a trade-off.
Employers will be given the guest-workers they want while the
immigration control groups will be appeased by putting troops on the
border and assurances of increased border security.
In this trade-off, American workers are used as a political poker chips
that are used in a gambit to curb the flow of illegal aliens.

I had a brief conversation with Tancredo in Washington DC in October.
He personally assured me that he would distribute a copy of his bill to
me and other activists prior to his submission of the bill to the
House. Tancredo assured me that he would welcome our comments and the
opportunity to work with us to insure that his bill protects American
jobs. Several weeks passed and none of us received the promised draft
bill. I took it upon myself to contact Tancredo's office to remind him
of his promise. On November 17th I received a copy of this bill just
two days before Congressman Tancredo introduced this bill in Congress.
To my knowledge, Tancredo didn't confer with H-1B experts about his
legislation. (If Tancredo contacted anyone on this mailing list about
his guest-worker bill, I want to hear your story.)

The "Be Real Act" is divided into a two parts. The first part, entitled
"Border Enforcement" describes how the border will be protected against
the invasion of illegal aliens and how to improve national security.
The second part, "Revolving Employment to Assist Laborers" describes
how the guest-worker program will be administered. The title of the
second part implies that laborers will be helped, but keep in mind that
it's not American citizens that will get the help, it's the aliens who
want jobs in the USA, and their prospective employers, who will be
helped.

If you have read this far, and you are wondering why this bill affects
you, here it is:

SEC. 212. REQUIREMENTS FOR PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYERS OF H

NONIMMIGRANTS.

(g) AMENDMENTS TO IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT- Section 212(n)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(n)) is

amended

as follows:

(1) By striking `H-1B nonimmigrants' each place such term appears

and

inserting `H nonimmigrants'.

This statement, buried amongst the voluminous text is the most profound
and far reaching for anyone concerned with H-1B. That's because H-1B
will be deleted from the law and a new "H" visa will be created.
High-wage workers such as programmers, engineers, and accountants will
be lumped into a generic labor pool together with low-wage workers such
as grape pickers, burger makers, and hotel clerks. The amalgamation of
the labor pool doesn't just stop there however. All nonimmigrants that
seek employment in the United States will be combined into this
gigantic labor pool.

My first impression of Congressman Tancredo's bill was favorable, but
the more I studied it, the worse it looked. The bill is so riddled with
loopholes and flaws that I have concluded that it is beyond repair.
This bill is worse than the 1990 H-1B bill that was passed in 1990. The
"Be Real Act" is a wolf in sheep's clothing that will devour its flock
of American workers.

Tancredo claims that his guest-worker program makes aliens less
desirable for U.S. employers, therefore it helps U.S. workers because
employers won't hire as many aliens. He ignores the fact that the
paradigms of low wage earners and high wage earners is different and
that by combining all nonimmigrants into an H visa his bill will have
unforeseeable and undesirable aftereffects. Since the two classes of
employees are different, it's necessary to discuss them separately.

Effects of Tancredo's bill on low wage jobs

Low wage employers desire illegal aliens because they are under the
thumb of their boss, and they are cheap. They have a de-facto
indentured contract because the boss can crack-the-whip by threatening
to report the worker to the border patrol for deportation. This bill
probably won't discourage the bottom feeders from using illegal aliens
but it will give more respectable sweathouses such as Tyson Chicken a
way to hire cheap labor legally. Tancredo's bill will be a net gain for
low-wage employers.

Effects of Tancredo's bill on high wage jobs

Higher wage jobs usually require more skills and education that illegal
aliens don't have. The easiest way for them to import cheap labor is
through the use of nonimmigrant visas (NIVs). Like their low-wage
counterparts, higer paid NIVs are indentured to their employer but the
contract is explicit instead of implied. They are dependant on their
employer for their visa so they are easy to control and they usually
accept low salaries as a condition of employment. Tancredo's bill is a
net gain for these employers because they will be able to import many
more visas and the power they have to discriminate against Americans
will be far greater.

Can The Bill Be Repaired before it Becomes Law?

The myriad flaws in this bill would be difficult to patch. The best
option is to make sure that this turkey never gets approved by
Congress. Congressional sponsors lined up for this bill as soon as it
was introduced, and that is a bad omen. Fortunately he doesn't seem to
have a Democrat yet, but that is probably just a matter of time -
unless an uproar from voters occurs.

What You Can Do?

Stay tuned for newsletters that analyze the Tancredo bill in detail. In
the meantime, you can do your part to derail this turkey of a bill from
becoming law. Contact Tancredo's office, but more important, contact
his sponsors. Request that they reconsider their support for this
guest-worker bill. Their contact information is at the end of this
newsletter. Here is a list of co-sponsors.

Nathan Deal (R - Georgia)

John Duncan (R - Tennessee)

Joel Hefley (R - Colorado)

Wally Herger (R - California)

contact information is at the end of this newsletter

Major Guest/Worker amnesty bills introduced to Congress

Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2003 (H.R.
3142)
Sen. Larry Craig, (R-Idaho) and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass have
introduced a guest-worker amnesty bill that will create a "reformed"
H-2A visa. Co-sponsors include Chris Cannon (R-UT) and Howard Berman
(D-CA). Illegal aliens working on farms will get green cards after a
period of indentured servitude. This bill is gaining momentum and is
the most likely to succeed.

Border Security and Immigration Improvement Act of 2003 (H.R. 2899)
Sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), and Jim
Kolbe (R-AZ). This bill would create an H-4A and H-4B visa that
guarantees citizenship to illegal aliens after several years of
indentured servitude. This bill is being hyped as an improvement on
security.

The Border Security and Immigration Reform Act of 2003 (S. 1387)
Sen. John Cornyn, (R-Texas) introduced a bill that would allow millions
of illegal aliens to work in the United States under an H-2A visa.
Cornyn claims that his new bill is better than the one proposed by the
"Three Stooges From Arizona." Note the similarity in the name of the
bill.

The "Worker Amnesty and Opportunity Act", (H.R. 604)
Sponsored by Democratic Rep. Major Owens of New York. This bill is the
least likely to succeed. That's probably because it's name honestly
states that it is an amnesty bill.

Contact Information

(emails are usually ignored, so don't bother)

Congressman Tom Tancredo
1130 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515

Telephone No. (202) 225-7882

ALSO AT:

6099 South Quebec St. Ste. 200
Centennial, Coloaro 80111-4547

Telephone No. (720) 283-9772

(unable to find a fax)

HOWEVER --- here is Tancredo's "immigration Comment Hotline" it is
(202) 226-6994

US Congressman John Duncan, Jr.
2267 Rayburn House Building
Washington, DC 20515

Telephone No. (202) 225-5435

ALSO at:

800 Market Street, Ste. 110
Knoxville, Tenn. 37902
Telephone No. (865) 523-3772

ALSO at:

262 East Broadway
Maryville, Tenn. 37804
Telephone No. (865) 984-5464

ALSo at:

6 East Madison Ave.
Athens, Tenn.
Telephone No. (423) 745-4671

Congressman Nathan Deal (Georgia 10th District)

2437 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC. 20525-1009

Telephone No. (202) 225-5211

ALSO at:

415 E. Walnut Ave, Ste 108
Dalton, Georgia 30721

Telephone No. (706) 226-5320

ALSO AT:

Ste. 520, Wachovia Center
P.O. Box 1015
340 Jesse Jewell Parkway
Gainesville, GA 30503

Telephone No. (770) 535-2592

ALSO At:

Ste. 102, 108 W. LaFayette Square
LaFayette, Georgia 30728

Telephone No. (706) 638-7042

Congressman Wally Herger (California)

2268 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Telephone No. (202) 225-3076

ALSO At:

55 Independence Circle, Ste 104
Chico, California 95973

Telephone No. (530) 893-8363

ALSO at:

410 Hemsted Drive, Ste 115
Redding, California 96002

Telephone No. (530) 223-5898

Congressman Joel Hefley (Colorado)

2372 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Telephone No. (202) 225-4422
FAX (202) 225-1942

ALSO at:

104 S. Cascade Ave., Ste. 105
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903

Telephone No. (719) 520-0055
FAX: (719) 520-0840

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