Starting in March, FAIR has been running a media blitz in Michigan to oppose S.2045, a bill to increase the number of temporary foreign workers. The bill is sponsored by Michigan’s Senator Spencer Abraham, chairman of the Senate immigration subcommittee and an implacable foe of immigration reform.
The multi-media ads describe how S.2045 would increase the number of H1-B temporary foreign workers 70 percent over the current level to 195,000 a year for the next three years. This number of foreign workers is larger than the number of new jobs being created in the high-tech fields, and therefore would diminish job opportunities for American students in the burgeoning new economy. Furthermore, while other bills tackle the rampant abuse of the “H1-B” temporary worker program, Abraham’s bill has no safeguards protecting Americans from wage depression and displacement by competition from foreign workers. Neither does S.2045 ensure that foreign workers actually have the skills they are supposed to in order to qualify for H1B visas. For all these reasons, FAIR opposes Abraham’s foreign worker bill.
FAIR’s media campaign in Abraham’s state has had enormous success in raising the public’s awareness of the H1-B issue. The ads included a toll-free telephone number linked to Abraham’s Capitol Hill office. After receiving over 5000 calls from his constituents about his bill, Abraham switched his office phone to bounce back to FAIR’s line, apparently because he was no longer interested in his constituents’ opinions. Abraham has also threatened FAIR’s long-distance carrier and tried to rally the Senate to condemn FAIR’s attempts to hold him accountable to the public for his positions on immigration.
Abraham has issued repeated public statements calling FAIR a racist hate group, even though former Michigan governor Bill Milliken has publicly affirmed, “There is no reason whatever to call it a hate group or racist.” The tactic, according to FAIR media relations expert Dave Ray, is a common one for politicians who are in the wrong. “It’s a continuing attempt to kill the messenger because you don’t want to discuss the message,” Ray said. “Abraham is attempting to dodge the issue of the number of foreign workers he’s letting into the United States.”
FAIR has been consistently vocal in opposing H1-B increases, particularly during a fierce legislative battle in 1998. Following FAIR’s lead, other immigration reform groups (such as Americans for Immigration Control and Americans for Better Immigration) have begun their own media campaigns opposing Abraham’s H1-B increase bill.
The outrage against Abraham’s bill has been so intense as a result of FAIR’s media campaign, that some analysts see it as having unintended side-effects on Abraham’s relationship with the citizens of Michigan. The Detroit News described it as “a hammering that is throwing the Michigan Republican’s re-election campaign off course. … The attacks have forced Abraham-seeking a second term-to divert campaign time, money, and attention to rally support on the issue in Michigan and in Washington.” The Washington political newspaper Roll Call called it “Spence Abraham drowning in a sea of negative advertisements….”
The numbers seem to back up that analysis, as Abraham’s rating with his constituents has sunk to only 37 percent positive. “A 37 percent job performance rating is fatal to an incumbent senator,” noted Michigan political pundit Mark Grebner. Abraham’s campaign initially projected that it would raise $9 million to keep his Senate seat, but has revised that amount to $12 million because, according to his spokeswoman Nina DeLorenzo, “We’ve been forced to raise more money for the campaign in order to fight … FAIR.”
Meanwhile, other opponents of immigration reform have been mounting a counterattack. The American Insurance Association has created a group called Americans for Job Security to run television ads supporting Abraham. The insurance association opposes legislation backed by Debbie Stabenow, Abraham’s Democratic challenger. Stabenow herself, while far from endorsing FAIR’s media campaign, has acknowledged that “there is a legitimate policy debate about the continuous use of temporary visas versus focusing on worker skill development in our country.”
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott-whom Democrats have privately accused of using his position to make passage of the H1-B bill contingent upon the high-tech industry defending Abraham-has met with some high-tech organizations to coerce them into launching their own pro-Abraham media campaign. Those groups included Microsoft, Cisco, America Online, 3Com, Disney, US WEST, CapNet, Tech-Net, and the Information Technology Industry Council.
“While the response to the media campaign has been heartening, we aren’t out of the woods yet,” Dan Stein commented. “As long as S.2045 remains on the Senate floor, FAIR and all immigration reformers must continue our opposition to Abraham’s attempts to replace American workers with foreign ones.”
The bill might come to the Senate floor for a vote this month. Those who wish to encourage their Senators to vote NO on S. 2045 should call the Senate at (202) 224-3121.
(Sources: Detroit News, Roll Call, Oakland Press, IntellectualCapital.com)
05/2000
