AGC Urges Senate Not to Remove Due Process of Immigration Bill

June 7, 2007

Dear Senator:

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), the largest and oldest construction trade association, is a strong supporter of comprehensive immigration reform and actively involved in the immigration debate currently on the Senate floor.  Though there are areas of significant concern to AGC in the Senate bill, S. 1348, the association is supportive of the process of moving forward.

One area of concern to AGC is the issue of debarment for federal contractors.  The current bill, S. 1348, strikes a balance that we feel is very important to maintain. It establishes, in statute, a debarment process that will protect the federal government from doing business with bad actors.  This heavy sanction would be enforced upon repeat violators of the Immigration and Naturalization Act.  The provision also preserves due process for all of those accused of violating the Immigration and Nationality Act.  The provision also goes a step further and requires that violators of the Act also be considered for suspension under the procedures outlined in the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR).  The bill balances these heavy penalties with a provision that exempts those who have inadvertently violated record keeping or verification requirements of the Act from being considered repeat violators of the Act. 

The provision already included in S. 1348 provides for the debarment of any current or prospective federal contractor that is not in compliance with the Immigration and Nationality Act, putting repeat violations of immigration law on par with embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, tax evasion and other equally egregious behavior.  These significant sanctions are already included in the bill.

AGC strongly opposes any efforts to remove due process from the underlying bill or to create an enforcement scheme that would make sanctions for immigration violations more severe than those that exist for other equally significant violations of law.  AGC will oppose and key vote against any amendment that would alter the balance included in the compromise language in S. 1348.

Sincerely,

Stephen E. Sandherr
Chief Executive Officer