|
February 14,
2001
The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The
White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC
20500 Dear President Bush
As you journey to Mexico to meet with Mexican President Fox, we urge
you to propose and formulate together true solutions to two issues: our
current worker shortage and the undocumented status of many living in this
country who are hardworking, taxpaying members of communities across this
nation. Such a solution would
involve reforming our current immigration system.
Those who entered our country, especially during the last decade and
largely from Mexico, helped create our recent economic boom and are
needed, according to many economists and business leaders, to sustain our
economic strength by performing jobs that otherwise would go
unfilled. Many are
undocumented and entered the U.S. labor force in response to the acute
shortage of workers. The
Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that this shortage will continue for
the next two decades because it is based on demographic factors. The shortage is hitting the
service sector particularly hard.
Our current immigration system impedes any solution to this problem for
two reasons: it lacks
mechanisms that would allow these needed individuals to legally enter our
country to perform important functions, and it does not provide a method
to legalize the status of these vitally needed, essential workers who
already are here. A true
solution would involve the creation of a functioning visa category that
would increase the number of essential workers who enter this country
legally every year, as well as a provision that would stabilize our labor
force by providing workers already here and working with permanent
residency status. Such a
solution also would ensure full labor and human rights protections and
preserve family unity.
Senator Phil Gramm has been promoting a proposal that he believes would
address the situation. We
disagree. While details of
his initiative have yet to be released, we find flaws in his proposal’s
fundamental architecture because it would grant undocumented workers
already working in this country the limited option of entering a one-year
program after which they would have to return to Mexico. Furthermore, the
employer sanctions provision Senator Gramm includes in his proposal flies
in the face of the evidence that these sanctions do not work. While we
commend Senator Gramm for calling attention to our flawed system, his
solution is flawed as well. A
true solution would be based on the components we note above.
As you meet with President Fox, we also urge you to pursue ways in
which the flows of goods, services, and people back and forth across our
common border can be made safer, more orderly, and more efficient. Effective border management and
enforcement is an important issue for our two nations. Our border with Mexico needs to be
a place of orderly migration where human rights are respected, instead of
a militarized zone where people's lives are put in danger and where the
death toll and abuses mount daily.
Mr. President, you said in your inaugural address that, as immigrants
embrace American ideals, it “makes our country more, not less,
American.” You have an
opportunity during your discussions with President Fox and as you begin
your Administration to help immigrants embrace America. We look forward to working with
you on this important effort.
Sincerely,
Jeanne A. Butterfield
Executive Director
28ad1004-2
| 