Immigration Bills

If I was giving a speech to Congress to persuade them to vote for my immigration bill, I would present S. 2611, the McCain-Kennedy Bill addressing the “guest worker program” and prevailing wages for those guest (foreign) workers.

Imagine you are a teenager in Southern Texas living on the Mexican border and your current job isn't bringing in enough money so you begin looking for another part time job. Everywhere you go you are turned down by the employers and you can not figure out a reason why. You come to find out they are hiring illegal immigrants. You feel cheated because you lost your job to an illegal immigrant that was willing to work for wags that are under the minimum wage.

A key issue of this bill and of the immigration policy in the United States is whether employers should be able to hire temporary or "guest" workers from other countries when workers are difficult to find and wages are increasing. This is popular with employers, however, “guest worker programs” are generally opposed by labor unions and others who say these programs risk displacing U.S. workers or pushing down their wages.S. 2611 tries to balance these concerns by requiring employers who want to hire temporary guest workers in the construction and service industries to first offer the jobs, at the prevailing industry wage, to U.S. workers. If no qualified U.S. workers apply for the jobs, employers can then hire guest workers, but must pay them the prevailing industry wage.

I think this is a strong bill, especially with the declining job market in the United States. Qualified, American workers should not be overlooked for jobs in their own homeland simply because they work for a higher wage. Hiring guest workers (illegal immigrants) who work for a lower wage puts our citizens out of jobs and possibly into a cycle of welfare and dependence on the taxpayers. We can't overlook job security for