43.5 million U.S.-born, working-age men and women are not in the labor force — 9.1 million more than in 2000. If just 13 percent of them rejoined it, that would add 5.7 million workers, roughly the same as all the growth in immigrant workers since 2016. The “worker shortage” used to justify the Dignity Act does not exist. What does exist is a shortage of employers willing to recruit Americans with competitive wages and better working conditions.

H.R. 4393 would reward the opposite approach. Its amnesty issues work permits to millions of people working here illegally — and wipes away the liability of every employer who hired them. Those businesses would face no penalties and owe no back taxes; they would simply be handed a legalized workforce. The American workers they undercut would get nothing: no enforcement, no wage relief, and no effort to reconnect the millions on the sidelines with jobs.

Please oppose H.R. 4393. Congress should be working to draw sidelined Americans back into employment, not passing legislation that pays employers for having avoided them.

Greg Raven, Apple Valley, CA

Sent to:
Jay Obernolte