CONTACT:
Ori Korin ori@jwj.org
202-393-1044 x126
Washington, D.C. – Jobs With Justice issued the following statement following the U.S. House Republicans’ release of their “Standards for Immigration Reform”:
“The House GOP’s eight-paragraph document does not answer whether John Boehner’s caucus is serious about fixing our broken immigration system. That question can only be answered in the specific details of legislation.
“The U.S. Senate, on a bipartisan basis, recognized that the following provisions are the real standards necessary for fixing our broken immigration system:
- Fixing our broken immigration system requires strong worker protections that end the perverse incentive for unscrupulous employers to exploit immigrants and use unjust deportation policies to retaliate against those workers who speak up. When workers cannot blow the whistle on employers who violate their labor and civil rights, it drives down standards for both U.S.-born and immigrant workers.
- Fixing our broken immigration system requires employment-based immigration programs that respond to the needs of the labor market, not the wishes of corporate campaign donors. Expanding existing guestworker programs—absent appropriate reforms—allows employers to further drive down wages and standards.
- Fixing our broken immigration system requires a real pathway to citizenship. Workers who are contributing members of their communities deserve the opportunity to fully and legitimately participate in society.
“These standards are now a part of H.R. 15, which sits waiting for John Boehner to call to the House floor for a vote. The time to do so is now.”
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