"Immigration laws are new slavery: groups"
AM New York, Weekend Edition, September 23-25, 2005; pg. 04

Advocates and undocumented workers rallied in front of Federal Plaza
yesterday comparing today’s immigration enforcement laws to legalized
slavery.

“The law has expanded the underground economy to the point that
law-abiding businesses cannot compete unless they hire and exploit
undocumented workers, directly or through shadowy subcontractors,” said
Nancy Eng, an organizer with Chinese Staff & Workers Association.

The coalition of black, labor, religious and immigrant groups called
Break The Chains demanded federal lawmakers repeal the 1986 Immigrant
Control and Reform Act that criminalized hiring illegal immigrants.

The law, they said, rarely punishes unscrupulous employers but pushes
illegal immigrants further underground making them easier to exploit.
Since the undocumented workers are employed illegally they have little
standing to challenge abuses and are treated like criminals or slaves,
said Michael Lalan, an organizer with the National Mobilization Against
Sweatshops.

President Bush’s proposed guest worker program is no improvement, they
said, because it has a set of rules for citizens or green card holders
and another set of rules for illegal immigrants.