The SAVE Act, now being considered by Congress, would require all employers to electronically verify each employee’s eligibility for work. While this legislation is being considered, it is now more important than ever for this country to evaluate its stance on illegal immigration.

While the SAVE Act has many positive effects, if passed it will put out of work some 20 million undocumented immigrants. This will open up many jobs for struggling US citizens, but at wages many of these citizens haven’t been considering.

During the Bush Administration efforts were made to secure US borders from the illegal passage of immigrants, and to make it easier for foreigners to come here to work in the U.S. on a temporary basis. Emphasis was given to the nine guest worker programs currently in effect, though special attention was given by the Department of Labor (DOL) to improve employer’s abilities to obtain needed agricultural labor through the existing H-2A visa. This visa allows agricultural employers to hire foreign workers to fill temporary positions providing that certain requirements are met.

The employer must show that:

• There are not sufficient workers who are able, willing, and qualified, and who will be available at the time and place needed, to perform the labor or services involved in the petition; and that

• The employment of the alien in such labor or services will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of workers in the United States similarly employed.

If the employer satisfies these requirements then the Attorney General must give the final approval for hiring to begin.

The Bush Administration attempted to make the H-2A visas more appealing to employers through several changes. They decreased government involvement in the hiring process, thus speeding up applications. They required employers to pay only for transportation of guest workers from government offices to the places of labor instead of requiring them to pay passage from the workers home country. And they no longer required employers to conduct recruiting efforts in large geographic regions in order to show that there were not enough workers to fill the positions.

These new regulations gave employers incentives to move away from illegal immigrant labor and gave priority to those who have come to work through legal mediums.

These changes were met by strong opposition. The Farmworkers Justice Foundation claimed they did not adequately protect workers rights, and that they lowered the wages of citizen workers by having to compete with the guest workers.

Pressures from these arguments led to the Obama Administration’s nine month suspension on the changes. This decision was challenged and repealed on June 29th 2009 when a federal judge stopped the suspension decision of the current DOL. This ruling temporarily maintains the policies created under the Bush DOL.

For the United States to be able to secure the borders and ease the negative effects of illegal immigration there must be a method provided for employers to access foreign labor markets through a legal channel. If the SAVE Act does make it through Congress then it will become essential to provide employers with a manageable way to obtain the labor they need.