US business leaders lashed out on Wednesday at legislation that would penalize companies for employing illegal immigrants.
Presenting its outlook for this year, the US Chamber of Commerce also expressed optimism for the growth prospects of the world's biggest economy, while renewing demands on China to get tough on copyright theft.
Chamber officials had an angry response to an immigration bill passed by the US House of Representatives last month that, among a raft of tough measures, imposes heavy fines on companies found employing illegal workers.
"This is a bill that's going to drag them [illegals] deeper into the shadows," the powerful business federation's vice president Bruce Josten said.
Chamber president Tom Donohue said that the US was a nation built on immigration, and added: "The argument that US companies want cheap labor is crappy."
The House bill, which has yet to be passed by the Senate, also deprived US President George W. Bush of his proposed "guest worker" program, a scheme backed by US businesses that would allow certain illegal immigrants to formalize their status.
Millions of US employers would be required to contact a verification system by telephone or through the Internet to ensure that a job applicant's Social Security number matches with one on file in the databank.
The number of illegal immigrants in the US is estimated conservatively at between eight million and 12 million.
A recent study by the US Congressional Budget Office found that one worker in seven in the US had immigrated, with more than 70 percent of them coming from Mexico and Central America.
On China, Donohue called for the US government to be "very aggressive" about intellectual property rights and encouraged Beijing to open up its currency regime more.
Over the longer term, China must find a way of marrying its political structures to its rapid-fire economic liberalization, Donohue said.
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)