$800 Billion Economic Stimulus and Job Creation Bill Includes No Protections for U.S. Workers
The whirlwind legislative process that played out in the month between President Obama’s inaugural and Presidents Day resulted in the most massive government spending in history. The intent of the legislation is to jump start the sputtering economy with an infusion of borrowed cash, and to create or preserve some 4 million jobs. At the end of January, an estimated 25 million workers in the U.S. were either unemployed, involuntarily working part-time, or had given up hope of finding jobs.
While American taxpayers and future generations of Americans are being asked to take a nearly trillion dollar gamble that the stimulus bill will work as advertised, the legislation included no safeguards to ensure that the jobs created will actually be filled by legal U.S. workers. The failure to provide protections that jobs created under this program are not filled by illegal aliens was not an oversight. It was a conscious and deliberate decision of the congressional leadership and the Obama administration.
In putting together the largest government spending (and borrowing) package in the history of mankind, the House acted first. The bill approved by that body in late January included provisions that would have provided reasonable assurances that legal U.S. workers would get to fill the jobs created with taxpayer dollars. By unanimous consent, the House approved two key amendments:
- A four-year reauthorization of the E-Verify program. Offered by Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), this amendment would have ensured that the highly accurate program that allows employers to verify a worker’s Social Security number could continue to operate.
- A requirement that employers who receive stimulus money use the E-Verify system. This amendment, authored by Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), would have ensured that legal U.S. workers, not illegal aliens, would be able to fill newly created jobs.
In early February, the Senate got to work on their version of the stimulus bill. Amendments identical to the Calvert and Kingston provisions of the House bill were written by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) to be added to the Senate legislation. However, these amendments were not part of the bill that the Senate passed on February 11—not because they were rejected by a vote of the full body, but because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) refused to allow them to be offered.
U.S. WORKERS DELIBERATELY SOLD OUT
The two versions of the economic stimulus package then went to a conference committee, where the many differences between them were ironed out by a handful of members of the respective bodies. For the vital worker protections provided by the Calvert and Kingston amendments to become part of the legislation signed by President Obama, all the Senate negotiators needed to do was accept the House language.
Exactly what transpired in these closed door sessions is unknown. However, congressional sources close to FAIR’s government relations staff report that the Calvert and Kingston amendments were stripped from the bill by order of the two congressional leaders, Sen. Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Reports indicate that the removal of these protections for U.S. workers occurred without debate or explanation.
A NEW ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MAGNET
Americans are not suffering through the current economic crisis alone. We are experiencing a global recession that is affecting workers everywhere. In addition to the 13 million illegal aliens estimated to be in the country—some 7 million in the labor force—the massive jobs creation bill signed by the president is likely to attract still more illegal aliens in search of employment.
The combined effects of increased worksite enforcement toward the end of the Bush administration and the slowing economy were beginning to reverse the flow of illegal immigration. The combined effects of a massive jobs creation program, rising unemployment in other countries, and no mechanism to prevent illegal aliens from filling the newly created jobs are certain to convince illegal aliens to stay and touch off a new influx of illegal immigration.
300,000 NEW JOBS FOR ILLEGALS?
With its focus on public works projects, the largest and most immediate beneficiary of the stimulus package is likely to be the construction industry. The construction industry is already the single largest employer of illegal aliens. An estimated 15 percent of the industry’s labor force is believed to be composed of illegal workers. According to independent estimates from the Heritage Foundation and the Center for Immigration Studies, if that same percentage of new construction industry jobs are filled by illegal aliens, the net result of the stimulus bill could be to create 300,000 new jobs for illegal aliens. Of course, without E-Verify, that percentage could easily increase as the worldwide recession sends more illegal aliens in search of U.S. jobs.
March 2009
