Business News

Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants?
Bush considers temporary work for Mexican nationals

The Bush Administration last week considered suggestions made by a task force led by Secretary of State Colin Powell and Attorney General John Ashcroft, to create a guest-worker program for illegal Mexican immigrants.

The guest-worker program would allow Mexicans to come to the United States and work on a temporary basis. A blanket amnesty for the more than 3 million estimated illegal Mexican immigrants currently living in the U.S. is not being considered by the task force after the idea received much criticism from Congress.

“We are working on getting (Mexicans) legal status over a period of time,” says Mercy Viana, a White House spokesperson. “Mainly we are working with Mexican officials to create an orderly, humane, legal and safe migration.”

Discussions of amnesty for illegal Mexican immigrants began earlier this year when President George W. Bush visited Mexican President Vicente Fox. Both presidents expressed an interest in reducing illegal immigration. Every year 1.5 million Mexicans are arrested for trying to cross the 1,984-mile border.

The president’s staff currently is studying the task force’s recommendations, but no decisions have been made yet, Viana says.

At the same time, while he has no set plan, Sen. Tom Dashle (D-S.D.), senate majority leader, is calling on President Bush to create amnesty for all immigrants, not just Mexicans. Stephen Lerner, building services manager for Service Employees National Union, agrees with Dashle’s request.

“We believe there should be amnesty for all immigrants,” Lerner says. “We think a bill that legalizes immigrants will help stabilize the work force.”

Granting amnesty to Mexicans will help the cleaning industry relieve the strain caused by low unemployment across the country, says Beth Risinger, CEO of International Executive Housekeepers Association. She thinks the move will not create a flooding of workers as some people may expect, but that it will help the cleaning industry more than it will harm it.

“[Illegally-residing Mexicans] are going to be here anyway, so we should open our arms up and take them in,” Risinger says.

President Bush has left some questions about the guest-worker program unanswered, such as whether it would lead to legal residency for all Mexican immigrants and when a decision might be made.

The 2000 U.S. Census reported that more than 33 million Hispanics live in the U.S., but many statisticians say that number would be much higher if it included all illegal Hispanic immigrants currently residing in the country. Hispanics now have surpassed African-Americans as the country’s largest minority group.

Dangerous mold growth has become a hot public health issue with many recent stories about health risks in homes as well as commercial and institutional facilities. Just in time to help housekeeping managers sort through the moldy mess of issues associated with moisture abatement is the release of the American Industrial Hygiene Association’s (AIHA) “Report of Microbial Growth Task Force.”

The report offers information from multiple AIHA committees regarding how to assess and remediate potential microbial hazards, and effectively relay findings and suggested recourse to building occupants.

The report is $12 for members and $15 for nonmembers. To order the publication or to access further information regarding microbial contaminations and other indoor air quality issues, call (703) 849-8888.

For housekeeping managers who don’t plan to remediate mold on their own, but want to know enough to identify trouble spots in their buildings, here are a few tips from industry veteran George Weise, zone manager of housing for the University of South Carolina:

• Mold is a fungus, which feeds on dead organisms such as paper, wood, drywall, carpeting or adhesives.
  
  
• Mold tends to grow best at temperatures of 68 F to 86 F and humidity above 60 percent.
  
  
• Molds such as Aspergillus, Penicillium and Stachybotrys can produce microbial volatile organic compounds, potent mycotoxins and spores. These byproducts can be toxic and cause health problems such as lung disease.
  
  
• Bleach and other disinfectants don’t kill mold; they remove the surface of the mold and cause it to become dormant until the cleaning agent dissipates.
  
  
• Moisture reduction is the key principle in stopping mold growth. Mold can grow within 48 hours in high humidity or water-damaged areas. Water-damage areas typically must be cleaned and dried within 48 hours after the water enters the area to avoid such mold growth.

A proposal to create amnesty for illegal Mexican immigrants is too little too late for 25 temporary custodial workers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who were fired earlier this spring.

In March, a UW-Madison worker, whose name was not disclosed, checked the work status of Latino-sounding custodial workers, after some correspondence was undeliverable to a worker’s home address.

“This was a well-intentioned effort to see if there was a problem, but with bad execution,” says Casey Nagy, executive assistant to the chancellor at UW-Madison.

Under law, businesses are required to check worker documentation, the I-9 process, upon hiring. Nagy says the university goes on the facial validity of the documents, and unless there is some reason to find them false, they can not contest the documents. It often is hard for employers to realize when documents are false, he says.

The local union leaders, however, believe UW-Madison meant to target Latino workers.

“We suspect with temporary employees that they are not checking worker authorization,” says Randy Brink, executive board member of AFSCM Local 171. “They should do the I-9 procedure at the point of hiring and then there is no reason to check again.”

However, employers can check worker documentation whenever they please, says Jean Kamp, regional attorney for the Milwaukee district office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She says employers have to check work authorization when they hire employees and can check at any other time as long as they are not looking for improper reasons. The EEOC currently is investigating UW-Madison to see if racial profiling occurred when the 25 workers, all having Latino sounding names, where fired.

When UW-Madison learned its employee was checking Latino-sounding names it put a stop to the inquiries, Nagy says. He says a task force, involving the unions, will draft a protocol in case a similar situation arises. The task force currently is reviewing a final draft of its new standard.

In April, four more UW-Madison custodians were fired after their illegal status was discovered. These employees were unrelated to the first 25 workers, says Nagy.

• The Healthy Schools Network, founded in 1994, received the Environmental Quality Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in April. The award was given to honor the accomplishments of individuals from New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for significantly improving the environmental quality of their schools in the past year.

HSN studies school environments to make sure they are healthy for both children and staff.

• Electrolux and Pro-Team are jointly developing ProLux, a new upright vacuum cleaner. The ProLux product line is designed as three upright vacuum cleaners, which have interchangeable parts.

"We are pleased to be in a partnership with Electrolux to develop a full national product line for our commercial consumers," says Larry Shideler, chairman and CEO of Pro-Team.