DORGAN AMENDMENT WOULD REMOVE GUEST WORKER PROGRAM FROM IMMIGRATION BILL

He sets record straight on three guest worker program myths

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) --- U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) said Tuesday he's offering an amendment to remove the guest worker provision from the immigration bill because it is "part of the agenda to put downward pressure on the wages of American working men and women."

"It is, simply put, a plan that would bring cheap labor in the back door in the form of millions of foreign workers, even as we continue to export good paying American jobs to other countries," Dorgan said.

Those pushing the guest worker program are using myths to advance it, Dorgan charged Tuesday and he acted to correct those myths at a Capitol Hill press conference. He addressed three major myths about the program, and provided accurate information on each: • Myth #1: The guest worker program allows up to 400,000 immigrants to come to America to work at jobs in the United States. That's a "vast understatement" Dorgan said, with the actual total number, thanks to an unacknowledged "multiplier" in the program, closer to 3.6 million additional workers who don't now live in the United States.

• Myth #2: The guest worker program applies to immigrants already in the United States. Every guest worker enrolled in the program would be a new immigrant, someone who is not here now. "Each person admitted to the United States under the guest worker program is exerting further downward pressure on wages, by adding to the number of people willing to work at low wages," Dorgan said.

• Myth #3: The guest worker program involves mostly agricultural jobs and other work Americans don't want to do. In truth, "these are not agricultural jobs. There is a separate program for additional agricultural workers. These are jobs in construction, manufacturing and transportation among other sectors. That's the backbone of our blue-collar middle class," Dorgan said.

"This is an important issue, and we need to debate it accurately, with facts not myths," Dorgan said. "The fact is, this program is very different from how it's being described. It's a plan for putting even more downward pressure on American wages. It involves a broad range of jobs and it allows millions of new low-wage workers to come to our country, driving down wages even more."

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