Congress Continues to Discuss Immigration Reform

Two small, separate groups in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House continue to work on developing proposals for immigration reform. The president also had his framework for comprehensive immigration  reform “leaked” this week and with specific text on E-Verify and employment verification, border security, and legalization.  AGC is encouraged by the momentum building on reform efforts, and find that many of our priorities are consistent with the overall goals of both the Administration and Congress, despite the fact that they contain several problems for the industry that AGC will continue to work on prior to legislation being introduced.  In order to be successful in fixing America’s broken immigration system, any viable remedy must do four things: strengthen our national security; create a role for employers in an employment system that functions in a fair, efficient and workable way; address the realities of future workforce needs in the less-skilled sectors; and find a reasonable, rational way of dealing with the current undocumented population in the United States. A major point of contention between private employers and labor unions is the design of a future guest worker program. The private sector is hoping to find a consensus on principles for the design of this program and present them to Congress for inclusion in their legislation.  AGC, along with other construction trade associations, believe that a successful future guest worker program must include:

• An annual visa cap that fluctuates based on a demand-driven system that reflects the real economic needs of the nation
• An opportunity for employers to petition for an approved slot that allows them to hire visa-holding foreign workers, and replace those workers if/when they move onto another approved job slot
• A time period for job slot approvals and approved visas that reflects a long enough time period to ensure that the training investment made by employers is not lost;
• A program that requires employers to treat these legal foreign workers in the same manner as U.S. workers—with all of the same wages and benefits as similarly-situated workers at the same location
• A dual-intent process that allows some foreign workers who have demonstrated a commitment to their jobs and their communities to choose to petition for a change of status to a permanent legal resident in the United States, while also incentivizing most foreign workers to return to their home country at the end of their visa period

Additionally, the construction community supports the implementation of an efficient, practical and accurate employment verification system that provides ample protection from liability for employers who comply with the system in good faith. This system should be phased-in according to company size and should not overly burden employers financially or functionally.   Like employers in other sectors, the construction industry firmly believes that any employment verification system should hold all U.S. employers accountable for the work authorization status of their direct employees and not create vicarious liability by holding employers accountable for the hiring decisions made by entities with whom they have a contract or subcontract. Finally, we support the efforts of lawmakers to craft an earned pathway to legal status for current undocumented workers who meet qualifying criteria. In the past few decades, the robust U.S. economy has revealed a shortage of specialized and educated workers in the United States.  As a result, the gap – created by a lack of U.S. workers, a lack of legal immigration programs for less-skilled workers, and a growing American economy – has been filled by undocumented workers. A seamless pathway to permanent legal status for those who have filled jobs otherwise left open by U.S. citizens will help American companies continue to prosper and expand as our lagging economy improves—helping ultimately to provide more job opportunities for U.S. workers. Any program geared toward earned legalization for the current population of undocumented workers should also include a fix to the employment-based immigrant visa process and numerical limitations. AGC urges Congress to continue working together to craft a reasonable and balanced approach to addressing America’s immigration problems in a way that resolves the issue for the long-term. For more information, please contact Jim Young at (202) 547-0133 or youngj@agc.org.