05/11/2007
Next week, the U.S. Senate is expected to revisit the contentious issue of immigration and undocumented workers. We are prepared to fight for the interests of small business on key issues like border security and employee verification, but we are also working hard to oppose something the big corporations support--amnesty. Big business has been supportive of providing some type of amnesty to undocumented workers, but we strongly oppose attempts to provide amnesty.
We will fight to protect the interests of small business on these key issues:
- Strengthen border security.
- Provide enough seasonal workers under the H2-B visa program to meet small businesses hiring needs.
- Create an employee verification and compliance systems that recognize the differences in size and infrastructure of big businesses and small businesses, for which a $10,000 fine can be ruinous.
- Legislation should also prevent criminal penalties from being assessed on employers who make a good-faith effort to comply with the law; provide a safe harbor for contractors so they are not liable if one of their subcontractors hires an undocumented worker; allow for a slow phase-in of the new system so small businesses have time to adjust and comply with the new regulations and costs; guarantee a quick turn around time on verification requests; and protect employers from liability if the system returns incorrect information.
