The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

October 1985: Volume 1, Number 2

Immigration Reform Should Address Anti-Discrimination Issues

The push is on again to move Immigration bills to slow the entry of illegal aliens through the Congress. The bills provide a form of amnesty for illegal aliens currently in the country, differing on the length of time such persons must have resided in the United States. Further, the bills include employer sanctions - a system for penalizing employers who knowingly hire, recruit, or refer for a fee undocumented aliens. Civil rights organizations have expressed strong support for the inclusion of anti-discrimination provisions to protect the rights and livelihoods of immigrants under any employer sanction program. Such provisions would create a form of redress for persons who experience employment discrimination under the program.

On September 11, 1985 the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights expressed dismay and disappointment that the Senate leadership had chosen to initiate debate on S. 1200, Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1985 (introduced on May 23, 1985 by Senator Simpson (R-WY)) prior to scheduled joint Senate-House hearings on the question of discrimination and appropriate remedies. Despite these expressed concerns, S.1200 passed the Senate on September 19, 1985 by a 69-30 vote.

The Senate bill provides temporary legal status for illegal aliens who have resided in the United States since January 1, 1980. Legalization will be granted only after a commission concludes that sanctions have curtailed the flow of illegal immigrants, but no more than three years after the bill is passed, regardless of the commission's findings. The bill includes an employer sanction provision and makes the system of uniform verification, inspecting and recording the work authorization documents of all hired individuals totally voluntary. However, the bill provides that establishing a "uniform verification system" would provide an affirmative defense against a charge of unlawful hiring. The bill does not provide a mechanism for addressing discrimination against Hispanics and other minorities.

Civil rights organizations and particularly Hispanic organizations have expressed grave concerns over the employer-sanction provisions calling them inherently discriminatory. They contend that alienage discrimination will increase in two ways with the implementation of employer sanctions. First the legislation would provide a pretext for employers inclined to discriminate, a defense against charges of employment discrimination. Secondly, discrimination would result from the good faith efforts of employers to comply with the law. The bill would create a "suspect class" of persons who on the basis of physical characteristics, language, skin color etc., appear to be "foreign" to employers. Employers seeking to avoid sanctions, paperwork, or disruption of their work schedules may avoid hiring Hispanics or other "foreign-looking" persons. The personnel director of a large manufacturing company stated:

I hate to say this, but I'm sure there have been a lot of times that I've discriminated against Latinos. Sometimes you just don't have time to wait for the computer. If I have four applicants for the job, I would naturally incline toward the one that's not Latino ... Most employers would just rather play it safe than get into trouble with the INS [Immigration and Naturalization Service] (The Los Angeles Times, June 19, 1984).