6-03-06, 9:27 am

  WASHINGTON (PAI) – The Senate-passed immigration bill creates “an unjust, unworkable and undemocratic three-tiered society” among the nation’s 11 million-12 million undocumented workers, AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney says.   But though he was deeply disappointed by the legislation (S 2261), which lawmakers approved by a 62-36 margin in late May, Sweeney stopped short of saying Congress should dump the immigration issue and try again next year, after the election.   That’s because the House-passed, harsh, vindictive, enforcement-and-expulsion bill (HR 4437) is far worse, as far as both the AFL-CIO and its allies among immigrant rights’ groups are concerned.   But labor’s position on the immigration bill may be ignored in upcoming weeks, as the GOP-run House and the GOP-run Senate are increasingly at an impasse over the issue. That leaves workers, immigrants and Democrats on the outside looking in.   While the Senate bill opens a rocky and imperfect path to permanent residence for millions of the undocumented workers, the House has hardened into a position demanding expulsion of all of them, declaring them all felons and making those who help them – including teachers and union organizers – criminals, too.   The Senate plan, based on a bill by Sens. Chuck Hegel (R-Neb.) and Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), sets up three classes of undocumented workers. The first and largest group, of more than 5 million, has been in the U.S. for more than 5 years. They could seek “green cards” – permanent resident status – but only each pays $3,250 in fines, all back taxes, proves he or she never committed a crime and learns English.   The second group, of several million, which has been here 2-5 years, must leave the U.S.. then again cross the border after getting “guest worker” permits. S. 2261 allows 200,000 guest worker permits per year. Green cards would be far down the line.   The third group, the 2 million or so who have been here for 2 years or less, would be expelled, the Senate bill says. By contrast, the House would throw everybody out.   Both bills increase enforcement along the border and fines for employers who hire undocumented workers. They also double the number of visas for supposedly skilled workers whom firms can petition to import for specific jobs.   The AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees says many companies exploit those H2-B visas to import workers from South Asia in particular. The firms order U.S. workers to train them in professions such as medical imaging, X-ray reading and computer software creation, and then fire the U.S. workers.   “The fatally flawed Martinez-Hagel compromise…creates an undemocratic, unjust and unworkable three-tiered society that denigrates and marginalizes millions of immigrant families. That three-tiered approach creates a caste society in which millions of hard-working immigrants are driven further into the shadows of American society, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation,” Sweeney said.    Sweeney also said the Senate “adopted the greedy corporate model of addressing our nation's future needs for workers – guest worker programs – instead of crafting a mechanism to ensure that future foreign workers come into the U.S. with full rights and as full social partners.”   Leaders of two top unions in the Change to Win federation – the Service Employees and the Laborers – previously blasted the Senate bill, too.  Both unions have high proportions of immigrant workers.   The only small plusses of the guest worker section, which AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson compares to the infamous bracero program after World War II, are the cut in its size and more worker protection, Sweeney added.   But Sweeney did not mention that senators defeated a wide-ranging effort by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), to extend all labor law protection to the undocumented workers, as well as the guest workers. A Supreme Court decision several years ago denied labor law protection to undocumented workers.   Venal and vicious employers import undocumented workers to jobs and then use the threat of such imports to drive down some native workers’ pay and conditions. When the undocumented workers stand up for themselves, by organizing, employers call immigration officers to deport them.   “We echo the concerns expressed by civil rights, religious and community leaders about the erosion of civil liberties and other fundamental rights embodied in the Senate bill. Further, we stand behind immigrant workers and immigrant communities around the country, who have expressed deep concerns with the Senate bill because, among other things, it creates deep divisions within immigrant communities and leaves millions of immigrants in the shadows,” Sweeney said.

From PAI and International Labor Communications Association