Statement of Administration Policy: S. 1200 - Immigration Reform

(Conference)
(Simpson (R) Wyoming)

The Administration has consistently supported the enactment of immigration reform legislation for the past five years and urges that Congress now take the final action necessary for the enactment of this extremely important legislation. In order to ensure that Presidential support for such legislation is not undermined, the Administration urges the deletion or amendment of several seriously troublesome provisions. In particular, the Administration urges:

— deletion of portions of the "Schumer amendment" providing certain alien agricultural workers with temporary or permanent resident status. This aspect of the amendment is particularly objectionable because it offers preferential treatment to aliens who otherwise would not be eligible for permanent resident status under the legalization provisions of the bill. In addition, the Administration objects to the failure to include an overall cap on the number of workers that would be eligible to enter the country as special agricultural workers. As an alternative, the Administraton strongly prefers aspects of the Senate-passed bill that would permit only 350,000 aliens into the country as agricultural workers and would not legalize such workers. Any such program adopted by the Conferees should be employer-financed and limited to field harvest laborers for perishable commodities. (The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act should apply to any field harvest laborers admitted under the program, with regard to job disclosure, working conditions, housing, transportation, and wage determination.)

— amendment of provisons requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services to reimburse States for the costs of all of the health and welfare benefits (i.e., those fully funded by States and localities as well as Federally assisted public assistance) provided to legalized aliens. Instead, the Administration supports a capped authorization of $1.8 billion in total for a four-year period.

— deletion of the provision authorizing Federal reimbursement of State and local costs for imprisoning illegal aliens. Such costs should be borne by State and local governments in connection with maintaining jurisdiction over and enforcing local laws.

— deletion of unnecessary provisions creating additional protections against discrimination by employers and establishing a new entity within the Department of Justice to enforce these protections. Existing law adequately addresses discrimination and there is no evidence indicating a significant problem in this area.

— deletion of the provision which would sunset employer sanctions. Employer sanctions are essential to stemming the flow of present and future illegal immigration into the country, and the failure to eliminate the sunset provision would seriously undermine the effectiveness of any immigration reform legislation.

— deletion of the provision which would preclude the deportation of displaced Salvadorans and Nicaraguans. The Refugee Act of 1980 provides a comprehensive and orderly system governing asylum and deportation decisions, and the Administration has consistently opposed legislation which would undermine the Act and likely encourage further illegal immigration.

The Administration supports January 1, 1980, as the date by which persons seeking legalization under this bill must have entered the United States, and opposes any amendment which increases the costs of the legislation. Also, the Administration prefers the search warrant provisions contained in S. 1200 as passed by the House. Finally, the Administration supports a SAVE program which would allow an exemption from participation when either (1) the costs of implementing the program exceed the expected savings or (2) an equally effective and timely verification program exists; the Administration, however, opposes reimbursing, in excess of established matching rates, State and local governments for the costs of implementing the SAVE system.