On Thursday, the Democrat-majority House of Representatives passed H.R. 2474, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act— a bill that rewards illegal aliens by making it nearly impossible for employers to fire them if they have union status.
In a last minute effort to amend the bill, Representative Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) offered language in the form of a Motion to Recommit, which would have ensured that unions cannot communicate with an employee about joining the union if that employee is not legally authorized to work in the United States.
In his remarks supporting the motion, Hern argued that the “amendment [would]ensure that labor unions are not using illegal foreign labor to expand their reach into American workplaces and collect more union dues.” Throughout his speech, Hern was forced to pause multiple times as Democrat members hissed and booed in response to his statements.
The amendment failed— largely on party lines— and the PRO Act was ultimately passed by a similar margin.
Unfortunately, employment opportunities remain the biggest magnet for illegal immigration to our country. Of course, as FAIR has long advocated, the only real solution to this problem is mandating E-Verify, which would ensure that even unscrupulous employers cannot hire illegal aliens instead of American workers. Only when the price of hiring illegal aliens outweighs the benefits will we have achieved a victory for the American worker, and most importantly, turned off the magnet that has driven illegal immigration for decades.
To see how your Member of Congress voted on the Motion to Recommit please click here, and how they voted on the PRO Act, please click here.
