PROPOSED LEGISLATIVE OUTLINE
THE WORKFORCE AMERICA NEEDS
FOR RECOVERY AND BEYOND
EWIC supports a comprehensive immigration reform package that secures the borders,
reinforces the rule of law in the workplace, protects U.S. workers and provides a path to
earned legalization for the millions of unauthorized foreigners already living and working in
the United States.
But for employers who depend on immigrant workers, the most important element of reform
– its raison d’être - is a program to supply the U.S. economy with the workers it needs to
recover from the downturn and grow in years ahead, replacing the current unlawful influx
with a legal flow.
We believe this goal can best be met by a provisional visa program that gives employers, not
the government, the primary say in which workers they need to man their businesses and
gives the U.S. labor market, not Congress or a commission, the primary say in how many
workers enter the country annually in a legal program.
As the experience of recent years shows, the market works in a timely, efficient way to
regulate the flow of foreign workers seeking to enter the country. The vast majority of
migrants come to the U.S. in search of work. When demand diminishes, fewer seek to enter,
legally or illegally, and many who are here already choose to leave. According to Mexican
government data, the economic downturn cut the net flow from Mexico to the U.S. by 50
percent last year. And as 2009 draws to a close, existing quotas for temporary workers
remain unmet at both the top and bottom of the economy.
The government cannot do a better job than the market at estimating optimum flows or
delivering needed workers in a timely, efficient manner. And were Congress to attempt to do
so in the months ahead, it could severely hinder economic recovery.
EWIC looks forward to working with Congress to pass a balanced reform package that meets
the needs of employers, immigrants, U.S. workers and the U.S. economy. But we cannot and
will not support l