Republican senators announced legislation Wednesday to gradually raise the national minimum wage to $11, but tied it to requiring businesses to use E-Verify, a tool that would help prevent illegal immigrants from taking jobs.
Led by Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Mitt Romney of Utah, the proposal explicitly links illegal immigration and U.S. wages, a touchy issue for many in Washington.
“American workers today compete against millions of illegal immigrants for too few jobs with wages that are too low — that’s unfair,” Mr. Cotton said. “Ending the black market for illegal labor will open up jobs for Americans. Raising the minimum wage will allow Americans filling those jobs to better support their families. Our bill does both.”
The federal minimum wage currently stands at $7.25 an hour, though most states set their minimum higher.
The GOP senators’ plan would hike the rate to $11 over four years, then tie future increases to inflation, updated every two years. Small businesses would get a longer phase-in.
E-Verify is the government’s electronic system for checking new hires’ work eligibility. It’s voluntary at the federal level, though some states have required its use for businesses in their jurisdictions.
The GOP bill would phase in mandatory use over 18 months and increase penalties on businesses that still hire illegal immigrants.
The senators introduced the plan in the last Congress, but it didn’t advance in the Democrat-led Senate.
The leading Democratic proposal, backed by Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent, would raise the minimum wage to $17 an hour over five years while eliminating the tipped-worker carve-out.
Republicans’ bill was announced on the same day the government revealed inflation ticked up in August, reducing workers’ real wages.
It also came as the House Education and Workforce Committee held a hearing examining the surge in illegal immigration and its effect on the American workforce.
Steven A. Camarota, research director at the Center for Immigration Studies, testified that most American workers aren’t in competition with illegal immigrants, but those at the lower rungs — the least-educated and poorest — are.
He said 12.6 million illegal immigrants were in the U.S. as of May, which means 2.4 million new ones since President Biden took office.
Some 9 million illegal immigrants are in the workforce, he estimated.
Rob Law, director of the Center for Homeland Security and Immigration at the America First Policy Institute, said nearly 2 million illegal immigrants have been ordered deported but are defying those orders.
He blamed Mr. Biden for inviting the border surge.
“This is a crisis by design,” he said.
Across the Capitol, Democrats held a competing hearing arguing immigration writ large is a boon to an economy desperate for more people.
“We have historic record low unemployment,” said Sen. Alex Padilla, California Democrat.
Mr. Camarota, testifying in the House hearing, said that argument ignores the people on the sidelines — Americans of working age who have dropped out of the workforce altogether as businesses turn to migrants.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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