Legal Issues in Undocumented Immigrant Workers - Essay Example

Legal Issues in Undocumented Immigrant Workers Introduction Immigration is a major concern world over. It is something that did not start yesterday and it is not bound to end now. The United States of America is one of the leading nations in terms of undocumented immigrants (illegal aliens). The economies of most of these developed nations have developed from its grassroots based on cheap and affordable labor from these immigrants. In the U.S.A, there are more than eleven million immigrants, who, with their skilled or unskilled labor end up being consumed by the hospitality industry. “The hospitality industry has been, in fact, the largest employer of unskilled labor in many countries” (Choi et al, 2000). Discussion The purpose of this paper is to show how the law applies in the solution for immigrant works in the hospitality industry and the recommendations for compliance with these legislations. As much as many companies aim at hiring qualified and legally registered workers, there is still a deficiency in the local labor supply. This is why they end up hiring immigrants some of who may be in the country illegally. Various legislations have been passed since the error of Bill Clinton, to George Bush and currently in the Barack Obama regime that try to address the issue of undocumented immigrants in the country especially in the hospitality industry. However, everynew legislationhas been followed by other challenges such as enforcement of the new policies and the aspect of verifying eligibility of the immigrants (Enz, 2010). The change of agency for verifying the authenticity from Social Security Agency to the Department for Homeland Security also affected the process a big deal. However, the development of such means as electronic verification systems (E-verify) has become a major blow to the industry especially to the companies that was dependent on these undocumented immigrants. This is due to a reduction in the labor pool, higher wages and the cost of hiring new staff might shoot, and what looked like a humming industry could be brought down to its knees. With the changes that are being advocated for by human rights activists and other international bodies, it has come a time when the hospitality industry with have to face the impact of the new legislations put in place to advocate for the rights of these undocumented immigrants. Not that these legislations have not been there before, but the fact is that the government is setting up more profound measures that will ensure that the immigrants do not suffer the same historical injustices as they have suffered before. This will also be aimed at ensuring that the job market in the states is decongested, allowing room for the citizens to have access to job opportunities. Previously, legislations were aimed at barring entry of some illegal immigrants especially from Asia, Japan and Korea. The Quota Act aimed at reducing the number of immigrants entering the country and dictated a gradual incorporation of any foreign born immigrants. For example, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 that allowed H-2 visas to immigrants with labor skills to help in agriculture industry created an opportunity for immigrants to find legal refuge in the country. However increase in illegal entry of immigrants into the country led to more legislations being formed such as the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Since the later part of the 20th century, there was an increasing inflow of immigrants to the nation most of which found they contending to the terms of such industries as the hospitality which needed cheap labor which was either skilled or unskilled. This led to the government putting in place legislations to control the influx of the immigrants. For instance, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 allowed citizenship of illegal immigrants who had been in the country before 1986 but made it criminal to hire the immigrants in the business opportunities. Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 - Title I: Control of Illegal Immigration - Part A: Employment - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make it unlawful for a person or other entity to: (1) hire (including through subcontractors), recruit, or refer for a fee for U.S. employment any alien knowing that such person is unauthorized to work, or any person without verifying his or her work status; or (2) continue to employ an alien knowing of such person's unauthorized work status. This provision included the hospitality industry. The act also made verification compliance a requisite in the employment industry (United States. Aleinikoff, Martin, Motomura, & Fullerton, 2014). The problem that arose with the Immigration Reform and Control Act was that most employers were unwilling to verify the documents as required by Section 274A, of the Act which defines the Examination of Documentation and state “if an individual provides a document or combination of documents that reasonably appears on its face to be genuine and that is sufficient to meet the requirements…nothing shall be construed as requiring the production of any other document”. These documents included a U.S. passport, a certificate of U.S. citizenship, certification of naturalization, unexpired foreign passport, resident alien card, social security card, birth certificate or other documentation evidencing authorization of employment in the United States. This led to even more undocumented immigrants in the job market that rendered the Act obsolete. The Congress later in 1996 passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act introduced the hire of border patrol officers as well as Naturalization service Agents (INS) increase border patrol security. This would definitely bar the illegal entry of the immigrants. It is the Act that gave rise to the emergence of the E-verify which had evolved from the formerly Employment Eligibility Verification Program. This supported the system created in 1986 to a large extend. After the bombing of the Twin Towers of September 11 2001, more legislation were put in place including the Border Protection, Antiterrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (CIRA) of 2006 and the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (CIRA) of 2007. In the year 2009, the Comprehensive Immigration and Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act was passed. However most of these acts were aimed at either controlling entry of the immigrants into the country or employing registered immigrants. These legislations were always nightmares to the hospitality industry. The greatest shortages were found to be in the area of food service and food preparation along with room service personnel. In discussing the possible causes, it was noted that “the food service industry is handicapped still by the restrictive U.S. Immigration policy that cuts off the former supply of chefs from Europe.” The question of undocumented immigrants already in the industry was rarely addressed. However on 20th November 2014, President Barack Obama addressed the nation on the wind of change that will blow across the country with the new immigration reforms especially on undocumented immigrants in the job market. This speech was aimed at manual labor, agriculture domestic and hospitality industries. The hospitality industry will be the third to be affected after the agriculture and domestic industries. This will range from the cooks that prepare the food, the bar-backs who stock the glasses at bars or clean up, the maids who clean the rooms at the hotel, the field workers who pick the fruits and vegetables that end up in your favorite “Market to Table” restaurant. Provided any of these people are illegal immigrants they will be affected. The new immigration reforms will aim at ensuring that most of the workers not authorized to work but are in the job market will get legal documentation and work licenses. The employers will now not participate in court sessions or any required petitions for their employees but the individual employees will apply on their own (Enz, 2010). The employers will in addition advice their employees to consult an immigration attorney whether they qualify to come out of the realms of meager earnings and announce their freedom to work legally, equitably and earn what they legally deserve (Barth, & Hayes, 2006). The E-verify system will ensure that it maximizes the facilitation of legitimate hires as well as terminating undocumented and illegal workers. Up to now, the use of the E-Verify system has been in place but not many have trusted its efficiency. However the recent improvements on the system such as the introduction of photo screening machine, if used as it ought to be will change the identification process (United States. Aleinikoff, Martin, Motomura, & Fullerton, 2014). This was part of the president Obamas new strategy of addressing the issue of undocumented immigrants. Criminal background checks will lead to accountability on the part of undocumented immigrants. The President’s proposal is designed to stop businesses from exploiting the system by knowingly hiring undocumented workers. It holds these companies accountable, and gives employers who want to play by the rules a reliable way to verify that their employees are here legally (Medina, 2011). President Obama commented, “It means cracking down more forcefully on businesses that knowingly hire undocumented workers…most businesses want to do the right thing… So we need to implement a national system that allows businesses to quickly and accurately verify someone’s employment status (Barth, & Hayes, 2006). And if they still knowingly hire undocumented workers, then we need to ramp up the penalties.” There are particular proposed improvements that should be put in place to ensure that the new crackdown mechanism does not flop like the previous ones. This begins with the country accepting the mandatory, phased-in electronic employment verification. This will ensure the eligibility of the hired personnel to work in the United States. There is also the proposed use of tamper resistance social security system that will combat fraud and theft should be applicable immediately. The new system is aimed at establishing a voluntary pilot program to evaluate new methods to authenticate identity and combat identity theft (Barth, & Hayes, 2006). In addition, there is a guarantee of protection of workers from retaliation of exercising labor rights. It also creates “labor law enforcement fund” to help ensure that industries that employ significant numbers of immigrant workers comply with labor laws. However this will only succeed if the Congress hastens at passing the said laws. The hospitality industry and other industries that have always benefited illegal immigrant labor force should beware of the blow that will result from the changes. They should aim at employing new documented staff to avoid the criminal justice system associated with not following the said changes. For a company to be successful, it should be willing to incur costs (United States. Aleinikoff, Martin, Motomura, & Fullerton, 2014). The companies should also take online training on the improved E-verify, develop a written company policy and then communicate the policies to the employees at all levels. While the previous electronic verification systems may have seemed faulty, the new standards will allow companies to comply with the undocumented immigrant solution strategy. While the initial, short-term adjustments may seem costly, ultimately the employer may find confidence in the belief that every individual employed within the company is legal to do so in the long run (Barth, & Hayes, 2006). Conclusion While the new legislation may seem a draw back to the industries, the hospitality industry will have no otherwise immediately the legislations are passed into law. It is good for them to embrace the mechanism at the moment rather than wait for the government to initiate the process which will lead them to ramp up the penalty and lose quite a good number of workers from the job market leading to gross turnover. The companies should beware that change is inevitable and therefore opt for mechanisms aimed at peaceful change. References Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Barth, S. C., & Hayes, D. K. (2006). Hospitality law: Managing legal issues in the hospitality industry. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons. Choi, J.G., Woods, R., and Murmann, S.K. (2000). International labor markets and the migration of labor forces as an alternative solution for labor shortages in the hospitality industry. Enz, C. A. (2010). Hospitality strategic management: Concepts and cases. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons. Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 Medina, M. I. (2011). Migration law in the USA. Alphen an den Rijn: Kluwer Law International. United States., Aleinikoff, T. A., Martin, D. A., Motomura, H., & Fullerton, M. (2014). Immigration and nationality laws of the United States: Selected statutes, regulations and forms, as amended to May 15, 2014. Read More