extensive analysis of a pending law aimed at reforming the United States'
immigration system for a class in social philosophy. That act, which became
1986, was known as the Simpson-Mazzoli bill, or the Immigration Reform and
Control Act (IRCA).
Among its many reforms:
1. criminalizing and/or penalizing knowingly hiring illegal aliens;
2. creation of federal form I-9 to ensure all employees provide
documentation as to their US citizenship or their eligibility to work in the
3. included a provision for a review of the law's application after three
years to determine if any patterns of discrimination in enforcement resulted.
4. provided amnesty for all those illegal aliens who at that time resided in
the United States leading to citizenship.
The Simpson-Mazzoli Act, named after former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson (R)
and Kentucky Representative Romano L. Mazzoli (D), was a predictable failure.
The federal government was never serious about enforcing the employer
provisions of the law, and subsequently, twenty-one years later we are in an
worse situation than in 1986. That is, today the number of illegal aliens for
whom current legislation will confer unfair advantage is estimated to be as
high as 20 millions.
This despite the fact that the illegal immigrants currently in the United
States are failing to learn English and are not assimilating to American
The current proposed legislation is a sham. It seeks, disingenuously, to do
1. provide a "get out of jail free card" to corporate interests and the
wealthy who together form the pull factor for attracting these illegal workers
the first place
2. creates a permanent underclass of exploited workers in the USA who
collectively drive down the standards of living for middle and working class
3. rewards foreigners whose very existence in this country is based on
breaking the law; what law may you, or I, break for that matter?
4. it cheapens the value of labor and drives down wages
5. it creates an extra-legal class of workers outside the legal system who
can not organize or engage in collective bargaining
6. it dumbs-down the public school system thereby cheapening the education
and degrees poor, working, and middle class Americans receive
7. it makes a mockery of due process and belittles the rule of law
The American people deserve real, comprehensive immigration enforcement.
This bill does absolutely nothing other than thumb its nose at the average
It deserves to be defeated...overwhelmingly.