05/18/2007
Thursday night, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators announced they had reached agreement on an immigration reform package, for which President Bush quickly announced his support. NFIB applauds the hard work that lawmakers have put into this compromise effort on a very important issue.
Elements of the deal meet with our approval. NFIB and its members fully support stronger border security, and welcome the provision of enough seasonal workers under the H2-B visa program to meet the hiring needs of small businesses and the business community.
However, NFIB cannot support a bill lacking an employee verification and compliance system that recognizes the differences in size and infrastructure of big businesses and small businesses. NFIB can only support legislation that prevents criminal penalties from being assessed on employers who make a good-faith effort to comply with the law; provides a safe harbor for contractors so they are not liable if one of their subcontractors hires an undocumented worker; allows for a slow phase-in of the new system so small businesses have time to adjust and comply with the new regulations and costs; guarantees a quick turn around time on verification requests; and protects employers from liability if the system returns incorrect information.
Finally, our members are concerned about any proposal that amounts to amnesty for illegal immigrants and would oppose a bill that includes such a measure.
Based on what we have learned so far, and because the legislative language has still not been released by Senate leaders, NFIB has serious concerns about this package. We look forward to examining the full text of the bill and will follow events closely as details unfold.
