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To: steve who wrote (25803)	4/9/2004 2:45:51 AM
From: steve	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 26039

Guest-worker proposals aired Feds must enforce laws, chamber says Jonathan J. Higuera The Arizona Republic Apr. 9, 2004 12:00 AM Any future federal guest-worker legislation should consider homeland security needs first, offer a legal path for undocumented workers already here and give the federal government the sole role of enforcing immigration laws. Those were some of the recommendations put forth by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce on Thursday as the business advocacy group released its immigration policy principles to about 175 business leaders at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Phoenix. Related info • More border news » The event was part of an effort by the chamber to be more aggressive on the emotionally charged issue. Featured speakers Jim Kolbe and Jeff Flake, both Arizona congressmen, discussed a guest-worker bill they jointly introduced and which now has a companion bill introduced by Sen. John McCain. "We have to have an avenue for people who simply want to come to work so we can focus on those who come here to do us harm," Flake said. Although the chamber supports a guest-worker program, it stopped short of endorsing any of the current bills in Congress, Vice President Farrell Quinlan said. Other chamber recommendations, formulated by an ad-hoc committee, included: • The United States should establish a new biometric ID card to identify legal immigrants taking part in a temporary-worker program. • Immigrants seeking to enter the country legally should be rewarded first. • undocumented immigrants working here currently and their dependents should get access to a legalization plan based on matching willing workers with willing employers. • A tax-like FICA (the federal Social Security and Medicare tax) should be used to help cover health care, social services and educational cost of the workers and their families. • The federal government should have the exclusive role of enforcing immigration laws, and state and local governments should not add more sanctions to those federal laws. The last recommendation reflects the chamber's opposition to a proposed state law seeking to suspend or revoke a business license if an employer hires an undocumented worker. "We tried to get rid of all the myths," said Julie Pace, who served on the immigration committee and is an employment-law attorney in Phoenix. "It's too easy to say that employers just want cheap labor or workers only want to be paid in cash." The recommendations factored in the country's future labor needs as well as homeland-security issues, she said. Specifically, the committee examined the existing workforce, future labor needs, enforcement and accountability and the effect of immigration on health care, education and communities. The Kolbe-Flake bill calls for creating a visa for temporary workers to help employers avoid hiring workers using fraudulent documents. "An employer has to knowingly hire an undocumented worker before he gets prosecuted," Kolbe said. "That's why so few employers are prosecuted." "We hear a lot about this being an amnesty bill," Flake added. "Folks, we have de facto amnesty right now in this country. If you make it past the border, which is expensive and dangerous, you might as well take out a home mortgage loan . . . " Several in attendance said they appreciated the discussion on a divisive issue. "We're trying to do things the right way," said Scott Ottersen operations manager for R.H. Dupper Landscaping in Tempe. "We've been hearing about the negative approach from Protect Arizona Now ( seeking a ballot initiative that would require employers and others to report undocumented residents)." azcentral.com steve