Teamsters Call Senate Immigration Compromise Bill "Shortsighted"

Official Statement Of Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa

April 7, 2006
(Washington, D.C.) — I am pleased the Senate rejected cloture today on an enforcement-only bill put forward by Majority Leader Bill Frist. This legislation is similar to the damaging bill that was passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. An enforcement-only approach would do nothing to address the fact that we have millions of undocumented immigrants currently living in the country.

Yesterday, Senators Martinez and Hagel reached a compromise with members on both sides of the aisle. Due to disagreements on how to address the more than 300 amendments that were filed, the Senate is now stalled on this important debate. Senators promise to continue to work on this legislation during the recess so that the Senate can pass a final immigration comprehensive bill this session.

While many thought that the Martinez-Hagel compromise was fair and acceptable, the Teamsters Union finds it to be shortsighted and problematic.

First, it contains the same, flawed guest worker program that the Teamsters Union opposes. We do not support an expanded new guest worker program that would allow almost half a million new guest workers to enter the country each year, indefinitely.

Time and again, it has been proven that guest worker programs lead to the exploitation of workers. These workers are captive to their employer and often exploited. Guest workers are often times paid less than their U.S. counterparts, which brings wages down for everyone. A modern day “Bracero” program is not what the United States needs.

Also, the earned legalization language in the compromise is incomplete. To divide undocumented immigrants into three categories, treating each group differently, is not a real solution to our broken immigration policies.

The Teamsters Union calls on the Senate to pass comprehensive immigration reform that includes smart border security, earned legalization for the 12 million undocumented workers currently here, and no guest worker program.