A Utah-based scrap recycler and long-time member of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) is urging the trade group to push for immigration reform.
Speaking at the ISRI Commodity Roundtables taking place this week in Chicago, Don Lewon, president of Utah Metal Works Inc., Salt Lake City, declared that the scrap industry’s workforce is threatened by new immigration crackdowns being imposed in the wake of last year’s September 11 attacks.
“Like many recyclers, particularly in the West and South, we have a number of talented and hard-working Hispanic workers at our company,” said Lewon.
Lewon stated that both ISRI and U.S. business owners at large have not acknowledged their dependence on Hispanic immigrants. “The Hispanic U.S. work force is large, and we’ve failed to recognize the impact of the Latino worker on the U.S. economy,” he remarked.
Since the September 11 attacks, the federal government has been much stricter in its enforcement of employer documentation of workers, mandating the filing of such proof of citizenship documents as the I-9 form. “The 9/11 attacks have caused a change on the labor front. The federal government is now using industry vicariously as agents of the Labor Department.”
Lewon said his own company is helping undocumented immigrants retain legal assistance to stay in the U.S., but said it will be difficult for companies to go it alone on this issue.
“This nation must act to reform immigration laws to give the system integrity and to keep America safe while at the same time giving industry the essential workers it needs,” said Lewon.
He called on ISRI to work with other trade associations to advocate reform. Lewon listed the construction industry, the health care industry and several others that would be natural allies for ISRI in its efforts to push for reform.
He said the effort required to help pass critical legislation would be significant—reminiscent of the long-time push for Superfund reform. This time, though, ISRI could enlist powerful allies among other trade groups.
“We have a need for fairness, similar to wbat we faced with Superfund,” declared Lewon. “This policy change needs to come federally, and it will take some hard work.”