ABC Fights Amendments Bringing Immigration Debate to Minimum Wage Bill

February 5, 2007

In a Jan. 25 letter, ABC urged U.S. Senators to oppose amendments offered by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) to the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 (H.R. 2) that would bar federal contractors from receiving further federal government contracts if they employ undocumented workers, asserting that “the amendments would be better suited for the upcoming immigration reform debate.”

“ABC continues to call for an overhaul of the current immigration system and agrees that flagrant violators of immigration law should be properly punished,” the letter stated. “But ABC believes that the discussion on employee verification should take place within the context of comprehensive immigration reform. To introduce any immigration reform piecemeal will only serve to befuddle an already broken immigration system.”

Under the amendments, companies with government contracts that have hired immigrants in this country illegally would be banned from receiving future government contracts for 10 years. Companies with illegal workers on their payrolls not already holding federal contracts would be prohibited from obtaining future contracts for seven years.

“Debarring companies who unknowingly made a mistake is unfair and wrong,” the letter stated. “As many of ABC’s members are small contractors employing less than 10 workers, being eliminated from federal contracting opportunities would force many to close their doors for good.”

The U.S. House of Representative approved H.R. 2 on January 10, and the Senate is expected to approve the legislation this week. ABC and its immigration coalition partners will work closely with congressional leaders during conference to ensure that the Sessions amendments are removed before the legislation is sent to the president.

For more information, contact Brewster Bevis at ABC, bevis@abc.org.