As given to reporters yesterday to make sure the WH's marketing message can be driven home.
Interestingly, I figured they'd go with the "compassion" angle (they do) but I didn't think they'd try to sell this as a Homeland Security initiative. That's quite a stretch, cause we gave them all jobs, we'll know where they are? yeah ok.
Anyway, like most of the Presidents initiatives, I predict it will be rammed through Congress with no debate. It will be interesting to see if they have to break the rules and keep the vote open for hours to ram this one down our throats like the Medicare bill.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Tomorrow the President will propose a new temporary worker program that will match willing foreign workers with willing U.S. employers when no Americans can be found to fill those jobs. This new program would be open both to new perspective foreign workers who are currently in our country, and the undocumented men and women who are currently employed in the United States -- currently employed in the United States.
He will also lay out several detailed principles for immigration reform and call on Congress to enact legislation that would create this new temporary worker program in accordance with these principles. Those principles are that we must protect the homeland by controlling our borders, meaning that we need to know who is here and what their status is. And so we would also work with other foreign governments to make efforts to control our border, but also enforce violations against both employers and people who are here illegally.
Secondly, it would obviously serve our American economy by matching willing worker with willing employer, as the President has said on many occasions, when no American is available for the job. It will provide a labor supply for American employers in a way that is streamlined, efficient, clear and workable.
The third principle is that this program should promote compassion by understanding the current broken system that we have with as many as 8 million people who are currently undocumented in our country, and provide a way to put them as part of the legitimate part of our economy.
Next, it would provide incentives for return to the home country, such as totalization agreements, as we have with several foreign countries around the world, and would create -- call for the creation of savings accounts that could be used for the benefit of the participant for either retirement or for a nest egg to buy land or capitalize a business, or whatever.
Finally, it will protect the rights of illegal workers who now live in the shadows and are fearful of coming out of the shadows, for fear of deportation. They will now enjoy the same protections that American workers have with respect to wages and employment rights and the like.
So that's it, in a nutshell -- principles, calling for a new temporary worker program. It also will call for, in the name of some of the detail, a reasonable increase in the number of green cards. As I hope many of you know that green card holders can then, after five years, elect to become citizens. And we have limitations as to the number of green cards that are available annually. And it would increase some capacity in that regard. My colleague -- I know you have to go.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Open it questions.
QUESTION I was wondering what capacity the Department has at this point to process both the temporary worker visas, or will that be going through some other department? In addition, when it comes to green cards, are there any capacity issues or ramping up that you're going to have to do? Do you have the surge capacity there, in terms of processing?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: And this is addressed for me at homeland security, I assume.
QUESTION Yes.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, let me start -- in terms of the current capacity, we're trying to reduce the backlog that has existed over the years. And we're working to meet the President's initiative on reducing the backlog. The capacity going forward, in relation to this particular initiative, will be dealt with when the Congress responds to the President's call to deal with this immigration issue. And we'll have to then see the law that can be enacted and signed by the President and how we'll be instructed to deal with it. What we're going to do in the meanwhile is make sure that we bring new technology to the front, as we've been doing the last few months, to make sure that this can be expeditiously processed.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Let me pick up on that for a second. One of the things that's integrated in these principles is -- and the President will call for -- a three-year term of participation for the temporary worker program, and call for the opportunity for that to be renewed. There are a number of pieces of legislation on the Hill that speak to terms and number eligibles, whether it's renewable or not, so on and so forth, and so there are a lot of moving parts with respect to the detail of the worker program that will certainly affect the capacity to implement the program, as well.
QUESTION Would that be run through the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of Labor, just the temporary worker piece?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: It will be run through the Department of Homeland Security in coordination and cooperation with other elements of the administration, which, of course, would include the Department of Labor.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Which is just the way that we do other temporary visa programs currently.
QUESTION Do you have any idea how many people who are currently working in the country illegally would be allowed to get on a green card track, and would their families be allowed to come in? And what would happen with continuing flows of folks who would be coming to the U.S. without documentation?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: One of the important parts of this policy is to make clear that there is no linkage between the temporary worker program and the terms of that program, and the normal process for citizenship. Let me take the latter part first. We do believe that while the queue is -- there's a long line and there is limited capacity, that we should expand to some extent the opportunity for people to get green cards. That's a separate issue. However, the terms of the temporary worker program -- as I said, three years initially, allowed to be renewed and so forth -- we believe estimates to be about 8 million people who are here undocumented. We don't know exactly how many of those are working. We do know about 14 percent of our labor market is foreign born.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Can I piggy-back on that for a second? I can see why you're honing in on the green card, because that's an existing program. What is likely to get lost here, if you don't focus on it, is that this is a new initiative to an old problem. We're talking about something brand-new. We're talking about a temporary worker program that doesn't exist today. And we're calling on Congress -- the President would be calling on Congress to craft a new law that would deal with this phenomena that is happening around us today.
QUESTION So these are not H2B's?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: No, no, this would be a completely new program.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Non-sector specific. As you may know, there is no current way to come here temporarily to work in many, many sectors, such as the service industry, the construction industry and the like.
QUESTION With portability?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Between sectors, yes.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes. And if you go back to the number that my colleague has mentioned a couple times, we estimate -- although we don't know for sure, because these are people that are undocumented -- but we estimate that 7 to 8 million individuals exist in this country that would have the opportunity to seek this program.
QUESTION I guess I'm just not clear as to how those who would desire to obtain green cards and get on a citizenship track, how they would attach themselves to that track? Because now, as you know, if you apply, and you're recognized as an illegal, you are automatically expelled.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, the green card, as it's commonly called, is a permanent residency status. And we're talking about a temporary worker program. And therein lies the basic difference, temporary versus permanency. So if somebody -- if this law is crafted and enacted under the President's initiative, we're talking about somebody who would be on a temporary worker status, and ultimately will find themselves back in their home after having worked in the United States.
QUESTION Would they have no access to a green card?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, they would not lose any access to the green card, they would not benefit or lose any advantage on the green card. They can still apply for a green card. If they marry a U.S. citizen, they can still apply for permanent residency.
QUESTION Okay. Just one more question, if I may. I apologize for talking so much. But would you then cure the current prohibition on someone who is recognized as an illegal receiving a green card through the current procedures?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I just don't think there's connectivity here. I think the individual that would apply for a green card on -- that would be to the advantage of this program or not, it's not precluded to them, would not be precluded in the future.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: That's correct. You can be a temporary worker and potentially seek citizenship, but you can also be a temporary worker and not seek citizenship.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Sure, yes. And the citizenship would be getting -- you can be a temporary worker and seek primary residency, or green card, or not. You're not precluded from that. It's just a different track. If you visualize in your mind's eye two different tracks -- one would be for primary residency, one for temporary worker. You can go from one track to the other, but you're not necessarily going to go there.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: You need not.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Right.
QUESTION I was hoping to find out what the limit now is on green cards per year, and what additional capacity do you envision.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We don't have a specific number for how much capacity we believe should be made available, additional capacity. The current number for employer based green cards I believe is 100,000 annually -- 140,000 annually.
QUESTION And if you're an undocumented worker now, can you apply for this temporary worker program just as if you were in another country, or is there something -- would you do something different?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes, if you're currently here working, you would have to pay a registration fee to participate in the program; you would have to show that you were employed currently -- so the notion here is not to, during the course of the debate in the Congress, cause this program to be a magnet to lure people from foreign countries here to work. But you would have to be employed as of this moment. So that's how that would work.
They would have to pay a registration fee to participate in the program. Folks that are currently in their native country who want to apply as temporary workers need not necessarily -- need not pay the registration fee.
QUESTION And are you envisioning a sizeable fee or a small fee?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We don't know. That will be --
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I think that's part of the detail that we want to encourage the Congress in engaging in in healthy debate. Look, this is an issue that is ripe for debate, and I think we want -- I think what the President would be doing tomorrow is making sure that the initiative gets the right kind of debate. That it's not being discussed only in living rooms and offices, but it's actually being discussed in the public.
QUESTION Now, under the McCain-Kolbe-Flake legislation, if I'm undocumented now, before I can apply for the temporary worker program, there's like a three-year delay before I can apply. So under the President's principles, there's not the punishment, or there's not the -- someone who is here undocumented, under the President's program, doesn't have any sort of delay like that. Someone outside the country would not have any sort of leg up like that. I would be in the same queue as someone coming in from my native country?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Exactly.
QUESTION And the last thing is, do you mind just elaborating a little bit on the point you made about the rights -- that you said that they will be able to come out of the shadows and have rights that U.S. workers do as far as wages and employment? Do you mind just spelling out how that would work?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Right. These people will obviously be on the books, if you will, as opposed to in an underground economy. They'll be legally here, working legally here. They'll pay payroll taxes, Social Security taxes and the like. As they rent property, they'll pay property taxes and buy property and so forth.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: They'll pay sales taxes when they buy things.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So on and so forth. They will be in the above-ground economy. They also will enjoy the same protections that American workers have, such as minimum wage and the like, due process, health and safety requirements.
QUESTION Okay, I see. So, I'm sorry, I misunderstood. So this doesn't have anything -- this is only people in the temporary worker program. There's no new rights or protections for someone who is undocumented today.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, the only new right in this case is that undocumented workers are very reticent to come forward and complain about unfair labor practices because they stand the possibility of being deported. This would make them --this will put them in a position where if there's an unfair practice taking place, they can feel comfortable going to the authorities and presenting the situation. That's a big difference.
QUESTION And what about these principles, if these principles were adopted, what would make them feel more comfortable doing that?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, they would have a legal status that, as a temporary worker individual, when and if they complain about a practice, they're not going to be deported because they're legal.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: The other thing that is important to know is that there will be what we call circularity for these people. They'll be able to travel freely back to and from their home country, and they could work in Laredo and live in Nuevo Laredo and come and go daily and maintain their close connections and their roots in their home country, without paying coyotes or fear of injury or health, as we've seen people die in the desert, and so forth.
QUESTION Do you all envision this reducing the number of illegals in the U.S. or stabilizing it, or what will happen to that 8 million figure if these principles were adopted over time?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We believe that this is an attractive program that will reduce the number of illegal immigrants here and give them legal standing, so long as they're employed.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I apologize, but is there a last question for me? I've got to -- I really do have to run.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Okay, thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Oh, thank you. I'm sorry, I've got to go.
QUESTION I'm sorry I missed your colleague, but I have a few questions. This program is not only for permanent -- illegal immigrants already in the country, but also for any who might apply in other countries, as well? That's the principle, right?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes, that's correct.
QUESTION And if you're not -- if there's not a job available for immigrants in this country -- illegal immigrants in this country, and they want to sign up for this program and they've stepped forward, should they be prepared to be deported, that there will be stepped up enforcement to deport these people?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: First of all, no one is eligible for participation unless they can show that they were employed in the program. So that's what it takes to become eligible, is that you are here and you're here working. Yes, we do envision more strenuous enforcement of employers and people who do not abide by the terms of a guest worker program.
QUESTION So does that mean that employers who are already employing undocumented immigrants will have to show that their job is one that needs to be matched with a temporary worker and get that undocumented immigrant into the temporary worker program?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, the fact that the people are here, employed, is a test that the marketplace has assimilated those workers into our economy. The fact that they're employed is a proxy for that.
QUESTION So an employer won't have to fear that they'll also have to step forward and show that their worker is undocumented. Will they have to register that undocumented worker? Is that the idea?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: The employer will sponsor the undocumented worker, yes. But if you're asking the question as to whether the person needs to say, okay, well, here's Mary, and she's in this spot, do we need to hold on Mary and look for some American to fill that position, the answer is, no. We assume that by virtue of Mary's employment, that marketplace test, if you will, has already been met.
QUESTION And I think you discussed trying to -- some compassion through incentives, et cetera, and tax savings accounts and labor protections. Is there any principle on the -- regarding children of undocumented immigrants who are U.S. citizens, and undocumented immigrants who worked in the temporary worker program and then have to go back to their country of origin, what would happen to their children?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Current temporary worker programs allow for dependents of the worker to be present in the United States, so long as they can demonstrate that they can support those dependents. And that would be true of this program, as well.
QUESTION But what if they have had children in the time that they have been here as illegal immigrants, and they join the temporary worker program, and then after working they have to go back?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: If the temporary worker program that they've applied for concludes at the end of the term, then both the parent and the child would obviously return to the home country.
QUESTION And just to be clear, there is no incentive being offered to bring these workers into legalization, any kind of legalization program. The green card that you discuss is to -- they would have to do as they would do if they were just waiting -- they were still in their country of origin, as if they had never come here. They would have to go back to apply, they can't they don't get any kind of jump in line or any kind of permission to apply for that.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We have not been specific about that point, only to say that these people should not be advantaged over people who have taken legal means to become citizens. But that's a detail that we would work through with the Congress, as to whether you could get in line during the term of the temporary worker program, and the like.
Interestingly, I figured they'd go with the "compassion" angle (they do) but I didn't think they'd try to sell this as a Homeland Security initiative. That's quite a stretch, cause we gave them all jobs, we'll know where they are? yeah ok.
Anyway, like most of the Presidents initiatives, I predict it will be rammed through Congress with no debate. It will be interesting to see if they have to break the rules and keep the vote open for hours to ram this one down our throats like the Medicare bill.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Tomorrow the President will propose a new temporary worker program that will match willing foreign workers with willing U.S. employers when no Americans can be found to fill those jobs. This new program would be open both to new perspective foreign workers who are currently in our country, and the undocumented men and women who are currently employed in the United States -- currently employed in the United States.
He will also lay out several detailed principles for immigration reform and call on Congress to enact legislation that would create this new temporary worker program in accordance with these principles. Those principles are that we must protect the homeland by controlling our borders, meaning that we need to know who is here and what their status is. And so we would also work with other foreign governments to make efforts to control our border, but also enforce violations against both employers and people who are here illegally.
Secondly, it would obviously serve our American economy by matching willing worker with willing employer, as the President has said on many occasions, when no American is available for the job. It will provide a labor supply for American employers in a way that is streamlined, efficient, clear and workable.
The third principle is that this program should promote compassion by understanding the current broken system that we have with as many as 8 million people who are currently undocumented in our country, and provide a way to put them as part of the legitimate part of our economy.
Next, it would provide incentives for return to the home country, such as totalization agreements, as we have with several foreign countries around the world, and would create -- call for the creation of savings accounts that could be used for the benefit of the participant for either retirement or for a nest egg to buy land or capitalize a business, or whatever.
Finally, it will protect the rights of illegal workers who now live in the shadows and are fearful of coming out of the shadows, for fear of deportation. They will now enjoy the same protections that American workers have with respect to wages and employment rights and the like.
So that's it, in a nutshell -- principles, calling for a new temporary worker program. It also will call for, in the name of some of the detail, a reasonable increase in the number of green cards. As I hope many of you know that green card holders can then, after five years, elect to become citizens. And we have limitations as to the number of green cards that are available annually. And it would increase some capacity in that regard. My colleague -- I know you have to go.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Open it questions.
QUESTION I was wondering what capacity the Department has at this point to process both the temporary worker visas, or will that be going through some other department? In addition, when it comes to green cards, are there any capacity issues or ramping up that you're going to have to do? Do you have the surge capacity there, in terms of processing?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: And this is addressed for me at homeland security, I assume.
QUESTION Yes.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, let me start -- in terms of the current capacity, we're trying to reduce the backlog that has existed over the years. And we're working to meet the President's initiative on reducing the backlog. The capacity going forward, in relation to this particular initiative, will be dealt with when the Congress responds to the President's call to deal with this immigration issue. And we'll have to then see the law that can be enacted and signed by the President and how we'll be instructed to deal with it. What we're going to do in the meanwhile is make sure that we bring new technology to the front, as we've been doing the last few months, to make sure that this can be expeditiously processed.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Let me pick up on that for a second. One of the things that's integrated in these principles is -- and the President will call for -- a three-year term of participation for the temporary worker program, and call for the opportunity for that to be renewed. There are a number of pieces of legislation on the Hill that speak to terms and number eligibles, whether it's renewable or not, so on and so forth, and so there are a lot of moving parts with respect to the detail of the worker program that will certainly affect the capacity to implement the program, as well.
QUESTION Would that be run through the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of Labor, just the temporary worker piece?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: It will be run through the Department of Homeland Security in coordination and cooperation with other elements of the administration, which, of course, would include the Department of Labor.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Which is just the way that we do other temporary visa programs currently.
QUESTION Do you have any idea how many people who are currently working in the country illegally would be allowed to get on a green card track, and would their families be allowed to come in? And what would happen with continuing flows of folks who would be coming to the U.S. without documentation?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: One of the important parts of this policy is to make clear that there is no linkage between the temporary worker program and the terms of that program, and the normal process for citizenship. Let me take the latter part first. We do believe that while the queue is -- there's a long line and there is limited capacity, that we should expand to some extent the opportunity for people to get green cards. That's a separate issue. However, the terms of the temporary worker program -- as I said, three years initially, allowed to be renewed and so forth -- we believe estimates to be about 8 million people who are here undocumented. We don't know exactly how many of those are working. We do know about 14 percent of our labor market is foreign born.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Can I piggy-back on that for a second? I can see why you're honing in on the green card, because that's an existing program. What is likely to get lost here, if you don't focus on it, is that this is a new initiative to an old problem. We're talking about something brand-new. We're talking about a temporary worker program that doesn't exist today. And we're calling on Congress -- the President would be calling on Congress to craft a new law that would deal with this phenomena that is happening around us today.
QUESTION So these are not H2B's?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: No, no, this would be a completely new program.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Non-sector specific. As you may know, there is no current way to come here temporarily to work in many, many sectors, such as the service industry, the construction industry and the like.
QUESTION With portability?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Between sectors, yes.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes. And if you go back to the number that my colleague has mentioned a couple times, we estimate -- although we don't know for sure, because these are people that are undocumented -- but we estimate that 7 to 8 million individuals exist in this country that would have the opportunity to seek this program.
QUESTION I guess I'm just not clear as to how those who would desire to obtain green cards and get on a citizenship track, how they would attach themselves to that track? Because now, as you know, if you apply, and you're recognized as an illegal, you are automatically expelled.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, the green card, as it's commonly called, is a permanent residency status. And we're talking about a temporary worker program. And therein lies the basic difference, temporary versus permanency. So if somebody -- if this law is crafted and enacted under the President's initiative, we're talking about somebody who would be on a temporary worker status, and ultimately will find themselves back in their home after having worked in the United States.
QUESTION Would they have no access to a green card?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, they would not lose any access to the green card, they would not benefit or lose any advantage on the green card. They can still apply for a green card. If they marry a U.S. citizen, they can still apply for permanent residency.
QUESTION Okay. Just one more question, if I may. I apologize for talking so much. But would you then cure the current prohibition on someone who is recognized as an illegal receiving a green card through the current procedures?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I just don't think there's connectivity here. I think the individual that would apply for a green card on -- that would be to the advantage of this program or not, it's not precluded to them, would not be precluded in the future.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: That's correct. You can be a temporary worker and potentially seek citizenship, but you can also be a temporary worker and not seek citizenship.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Sure, yes. And the citizenship would be getting -- you can be a temporary worker and seek primary residency, or green card, or not. You're not precluded from that. It's just a different track. If you visualize in your mind's eye two different tracks -- one would be for primary residency, one for temporary worker. You can go from one track to the other, but you're not necessarily going to go there.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: You need not.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Right.
QUESTION I was hoping to find out what the limit now is on green cards per year, and what additional capacity do you envision.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We don't have a specific number for how much capacity we believe should be made available, additional capacity. The current number for employer based green cards I believe is 100,000 annually -- 140,000 annually.
QUESTION And if you're an undocumented worker now, can you apply for this temporary worker program just as if you were in another country, or is there something -- would you do something different?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes, if you're currently here working, you would have to pay a registration fee to participate in the program; you would have to show that you were employed currently -- so the notion here is not to, during the course of the debate in the Congress, cause this program to be a magnet to lure people from foreign countries here to work. But you would have to be employed as of this moment. So that's how that would work.
They would have to pay a registration fee to participate in the program. Folks that are currently in their native country who want to apply as temporary workers need not necessarily -- need not pay the registration fee.
QUESTION And are you envisioning a sizeable fee or a small fee?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We don't know. That will be --
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I think that's part of the detail that we want to encourage the Congress in engaging in in healthy debate. Look, this is an issue that is ripe for debate, and I think we want -- I think what the President would be doing tomorrow is making sure that the initiative gets the right kind of debate. That it's not being discussed only in living rooms and offices, but it's actually being discussed in the public.
QUESTION Now, under the McCain-Kolbe-Flake legislation, if I'm undocumented now, before I can apply for the temporary worker program, there's like a three-year delay before I can apply. So under the President's principles, there's not the punishment, or there's not the -- someone who is here undocumented, under the President's program, doesn't have any sort of delay like that. Someone outside the country would not have any sort of leg up like that. I would be in the same queue as someone coming in from my native country?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Exactly.
QUESTION And the last thing is, do you mind just elaborating a little bit on the point you made about the rights -- that you said that they will be able to come out of the shadows and have rights that U.S. workers do as far as wages and employment? Do you mind just spelling out how that would work?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Right. These people will obviously be on the books, if you will, as opposed to in an underground economy. They'll be legally here, working legally here. They'll pay payroll taxes, Social Security taxes and the like. As they rent property, they'll pay property taxes and buy property and so forth.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: They'll pay sales taxes when they buy things.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So on and so forth. They will be in the above-ground economy. They also will enjoy the same protections that American workers have, such as minimum wage and the like, due process, health and safety requirements.
QUESTION Okay, I see. So, I'm sorry, I misunderstood. So this doesn't have anything -- this is only people in the temporary worker program. There's no new rights or protections for someone who is undocumented today.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, the only new right in this case is that undocumented workers are very reticent to come forward and complain about unfair labor practices because they stand the possibility of being deported. This would make them --this will put them in a position where if there's an unfair practice taking place, they can feel comfortable going to the authorities and presenting the situation. That's a big difference.
QUESTION And what about these principles, if these principles were adopted, what would make them feel more comfortable doing that?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, they would have a legal status that, as a temporary worker individual, when and if they complain about a practice, they're not going to be deported because they're legal.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: The other thing that is important to know is that there will be what we call circularity for these people. They'll be able to travel freely back to and from their home country, and they could work in Laredo and live in Nuevo Laredo and come and go daily and maintain their close connections and their roots in their home country, without paying coyotes or fear of injury or health, as we've seen people die in the desert, and so forth.
QUESTION Do you all envision this reducing the number of illegals in the U.S. or stabilizing it, or what will happen to that 8 million figure if these principles were adopted over time?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We believe that this is an attractive program that will reduce the number of illegal immigrants here and give them legal standing, so long as they're employed.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I apologize, but is there a last question for me? I've got to -- I really do have to run.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Okay, thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Oh, thank you. I'm sorry, I've got to go.
QUESTION I'm sorry I missed your colleague, but I have a few questions. This program is not only for permanent -- illegal immigrants already in the country, but also for any who might apply in other countries, as well? That's the principle, right?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes, that's correct.
QUESTION And if you're not -- if there's not a job available for immigrants in this country -- illegal immigrants in this country, and they want to sign up for this program and they've stepped forward, should they be prepared to be deported, that there will be stepped up enforcement to deport these people?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: First of all, no one is eligible for participation unless they can show that they were employed in the program. So that's what it takes to become eligible, is that you are here and you're here working. Yes, we do envision more strenuous enforcement of employers and people who do not abide by the terms of a guest worker program.
QUESTION So does that mean that employers who are already employing undocumented immigrants will have to show that their job is one that needs to be matched with a temporary worker and get that undocumented immigrant into the temporary worker program?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, the fact that the people are here, employed, is a test that the marketplace has assimilated those workers into our economy. The fact that they're employed is a proxy for that.
QUESTION So an employer won't have to fear that they'll also have to step forward and show that their worker is undocumented. Will they have to register that undocumented worker? Is that the idea?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: The employer will sponsor the undocumented worker, yes. But if you're asking the question as to whether the person needs to say, okay, well, here's Mary, and she's in this spot, do we need to hold on Mary and look for some American to fill that position, the answer is, no. We assume that by virtue of Mary's employment, that marketplace test, if you will, has already been met.
QUESTION And I think you discussed trying to -- some compassion through incentives, et cetera, and tax savings accounts and labor protections. Is there any principle on the -- regarding children of undocumented immigrants who are U.S. citizens, and undocumented immigrants who worked in the temporary worker program and then have to go back to their country of origin, what would happen to their children?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Current temporary worker programs allow for dependents of the worker to be present in the United States, so long as they can demonstrate that they can support those dependents. And that would be true of this program, as well.
QUESTION But what if they have had children in the time that they have been here as illegal immigrants, and they join the temporary worker program, and then after working they have to go back?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: If the temporary worker program that they've applied for concludes at the end of the term, then both the parent and the child would obviously return to the home country.
QUESTION And just to be clear, there is no incentive being offered to bring these workers into legalization, any kind of legalization program. The green card that you discuss is to -- they would have to do as they would do if they were just waiting -- they were still in their country of origin, as if they had never come here. They would have to go back to apply, they can't they don't get any kind of jump in line or any kind of permission to apply for that.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We have not been specific about that point, only to say that these people should not be advantaged over people who have taken legal means to become citizens. But that's a detail that we would work through with the Congress, as to whether you could get in line during the term of the temporary worker program, and the like.
