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        AAM ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - September 29, 2007. Don't Miss Out!!!!!

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... "The anti-immigrant crowd hasn't thought through what would happen
if this entire workforce went away. Who will be there to put meat and
vegetables on American dinner tables? The only unaffected group will be
Americans who do not eat."

... "This isn't so much reform as it is a power grab from the Department
of Homeland Security to do through regulation what failed in
legislation," says Angelo Amador, director of immigration policy for the
U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, like many
business groups, has favored a guest worker program.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/aug2007/db20070813_7
97626.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_companies

Immigration August 14, 2007, 12:01AM EST text size: TT
Immigration Rules: An Economic Disaster?
Homeland Security's plan to crack down on employers will gut industries
of workers and drive more immigrants underground, say opponents 
by Moira Herbst 

Employers and immigrant rights groups are speaking out against rules
announced Aug. 10 by the Bush Administration requiring employers to fire
workers without valid Social Security numbers. Opponents argue that the
regulations, effective in one month, will create a disastrous ripple
effect in the U.S. economy and disrupt the lives of an estimated 12
million undocumented people in the U.S. 

"Throwing this rock in the pond will have devastating consequences,"
says Craig Regelbrugge, co-chairman of the Agriculture Coalition for
Immigration Reform and spokesman for the American Nursery & Landscape
Assn. "The anti-immigrant crowd hasn't thought through what would happen
if this entire workforce went away. Who will be there to put meat and
vegetables on American dinner tables? The only unaffected group will be
Americans who do not eat." 

Industries that employ large numbers of undocumented workers, such as
agriculture, construction, cleaning, and maintenance, will be
disproportionately affected by the rules. Regelbrugge estimates, for
example, that fully 70% of all U.S. agricultural jobs are now occupied
by undocumented immigrants. "There's panic right now in the agricultural
sector," says Regelbrugge. "[The policy] will force employers to either
fire experienced, trained workers or put their head down and hope law
doesn't catch up with them." 

Clear Guidelines
The rules, released following Congress' failure in June to pass
comprehensive immigration reform, mandate that employers get rid of
workers whose names do not match up with their reported Social Security
numbers. Companies have 90 days after the Social Security Administration
(SSA) sends out a "no-match" letter-detailing when a number submitted to
the SSA isn't consistent with the name on file-to resolve the
discrepancy or fire the worker. The regulations were announced by
Homeland Security Dept. Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce
Secretary Carlos Gutierrez during a press conference last week. 

Employers who fail to comply will face fines of up to $11,000 per worker
and up to six months' jail time. Administration officials also announced
that they would speed up construction of fences along the Mexican
border, hire more border patrol agents, and detain more undocumented
immigrants caught crossing the border. 

Until now, the government did not issue clear guidelines for employers
to follow upon receipt of "no-match" letters from the SSA. Under a 1986
law, employers must ask job applicants for documents to verify they are
U.S. citizens or authorized to work in the U.S. Many undocumented
workers obtain false identification papers in order to work. It is
estimated that 75% of the undocumented population is currently working
with false Social Security numbers, with the remaining quarter in the
cash economy. 

Strong Reactions
Asked about employers' reaction to the announcement, Homeland Security
Dept. Spokesman Russ Knocke says he expects compliance, and the
department will aggressively pursue those who fail to do so. "Everyone
understands we have a job to do, and we're very serious about getting
that job done," says Knocke. "Now there is an opportunity to do the
right thing or the wrong thing. And if employers do the wrong thing,
they're really going to regret it." 

But critics say the changes are damaging and a far cry from the
even-handed immigration reform many had hoped for. "This isn't so much
reform as it is a power grab from the Department of Homeland Security to
do through regulation what failed in legislation," says Angelo Amador,
director of immigration policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The
U.S. Chamber of Commerce, like many business groups, has favored a guest
worker program. 

Page 1 2 Next Page

(page 2 of 2)

"The bottom line is that this punishes employers for the lack of action
by our legislature," says Mark Gould, president of Gould Construction, a
heavy construction and highway contractor based in Glenwood Springs,
Colo. "One month ago, Bush said he was for a guest worker program, and
now he says, 'Go and fire them all.' The dots aren't connecting for me."
Gould says his workforce of 125 are legal immigrants, but argues that
businesses need more workers to have a legal path to employment in the
U.S. to solve a labor shortage. His firm has 10 open positions he cannot
fill. 

The agricultural sector, which depends heavily on migrant labor, may be
the hardest hit. "It's going to be crazy," says Eli Kantor, a Beverly
Hills-based immigration attorney: "There will be major disruptions to
the economy of Southern California, [which is] heavily dependent on
immigrant labor. There will be crops rotting in the fields." Kantor says
he expects some of his clients to lay staff off, while he expects others
will "take their chances." 

Degrees of Impact
Others warn of unintended consequences including job losses for
immigrants and native-born Americans alike. "The consequences for the
economy will ripple out far beyond the individual immigrants who lose or
change their jobs," says Douglas Rivlin, a spokesman for the National
Immigration Forum, a pro-immigrant advocacy organization in Washington.
"Businesses may close or move off-shore because of the loss of workers
and the costs of compliance while downstream processing, shipping, and
retailing businesses will also feel the impact. This will hurt many
native-born workers who depend on these jobs-all so we can appear to be
'getting tough.'" 

Some companies say the stepped-up rules will not impact their businesses
because they are in compliance with the law. "We already take action on
no-match letters from the Social Security Administration," said Libby
Lawson, spokesperson for Tyson Foods (TSN) in an e-mail statement. "For
years, it's been our practice to actively respond when the government
notifies us of a problem with a worker's Social Security number." 

Labor unions, which in previous decades sought to restrict immigration,
are now speaking out in support of undocumented workers, who are among
their members. "This rule change is the wrong solution to the problem,"
says Eliseo Medina, executive vice-president of the 1.4 million-member
Service Employees International Union (SEIU). "It's a knee-jerk reaction
to the failure of immigration reform in the Senate. It will cause a
whole lot of misery for workers, and huge problems for the economy." 

An Informal Economy?
Medina warns that apart from causing hardship for workers and severe
labor shortages in some industries, the new rules could have the
unintended consequence of expanding the underground economy. "It's going
to create a cat-and-mouse game," says Medina. "Workers will be forced
into an informal economy where employers pay cash and operate entirely
off the books. This is dangerous for immigrants, and will only pull down
wages and benefits for American workers. Bottom-feeding employers are
going to have a field day with this." 

Medina says fear is spreading throughout the immigrant community, and
that the SEIU is developing a program to inform workers of their legal
rights. The SEIU is also in discussions with employers, cooperating at
times to voice opposition to the new rules. 

In the meantime, many employer and immigrant advocates say they don't
expect positive steps in immigration reform until Congress manages to
pass legislation. "This thing will get worse until we figure out how to
reform immigration laws," says Medina. "I'm afraid we're entering into a
very difficult period." 

Herbst is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com in New York. 

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