00 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 11 01 Urging the federal government to enforce certain provisions of the Immigration and 02 Nationality Act and reform or repeal certain other provisions of the Act to ensure that 03 longshore work in the state and the coastal waters of the state is performed by United 04 States longshore workers. 05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 WHEREAS, under 8 U.S.C. 1288(b) (sec. 258(a), Immigration and Nationality Act), 07 "longshore work" is defined as "any activity relating to the loading or unloading of cargo, the 08 operation of cargo-related equipment (whether or not integral to the vessel), and the handling 09 of mooring lines on the dock when the vessel is made fast or let go, in the United States or the 10 coastal waters thereof"; and 11 WHEREAS the Pacific Coast Longshore Contract Document, the Pacific Coast 12 Longshore and Clerks' Agreement, and the All Alaska Longshore Agreement are collective 13 bargaining agreements that reaffirm the right of members of the International Longshore and 14 Warehouse Union to perform all longshore work under the Immigration and Nationality Act 15 in the state and in federal coastal waters of the state; and 01 WHEREAS enforcement by the United States Secretary of Labor of the longshore 02 provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act that limit performance of longshore work 03 by alien crewmen is inadequate; and 04 WHEREAS the United States Secretary of Labor too often fails to respond in a timely 05 fashion to reports of illegal longshore work by alien crewmen; and 06 WHEREAS the United States Customs and Border Protection Agency of the United 07 States Department of Homeland Security has not been staffing port areas in the state 08 sufficiently to enforce the longshore provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act for 09 which the agency is responsible and has not been issuing cease and desist orders to halt 10 known ongoing violations of the Act; and 11 WHEREAS an Alaska exception in 8 U.S.C. 1288(d) (sec. 258(d), Immigration and 12 Nationality Act) allows an employer of alien crewmen to use an alien crewmember to perform 13 longshore work in the state or in federal coastal waters of the state if the employer attests to 14 the federal government, in as little as 24 hours in advance, that the employer tried but was not 15 able to hire a United States longshore worker to perform the work; and 16 WHEREAS employers of alien crewmen misuse the Alaska exception for the purpose 17 of hiring alien crewmen instead of United States longshore workers to perform longshore 18 work; and 19 WHEREAS the United States Secretary of Labor often fails to act against employers 20 who misuse the Alaska exception; and 21 WHEREAS a reciprocity exception under 8 U.S.C. 1288(e) (sec. 258(e), Immigration 22 and Nationality Act) allows alien crewmen to perform longshore work defined in 8 U.S.C. 23 1288(b) (sec. 258(a), Immigration and Nationality Act) under certain circumstances in the 24 state or in federal coastal waters of the state, depending on the nationality of the alien 25 crewmember and the country in which the vessel is registered; and 26 WHEREAS 8 U.S.C. 1281 and 1288 (secs. 251 and 258, Immigration and Nationality 27 Act) establish legally enforceable limitations on the performance of longshore work by alien 28 crewmen and provide for legally enforceable penalties for violations of those limitations; and 29 WHEREAS, for the protection of United States longshore workers, limitations on the 30 performance of longshore work by alien crewmen and penalties for violating those limitations 31 should be enforced; 01 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 02 Department of Labor to enforce 8 U.S.C. 1288 (sec. 258, Immigration and Nationality Act) to 03 ensure that longshore work in the state or in federal coastal waters of the state is performed by 04 United States longshore workers; and be it 05 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 06 Department of Homeland Security to enforce 8 U.S.C. 1281 (sec. 251, Immigration and 07 Nationality Act) to ensure that longshore work in the state and in federal coastal waters of the 08 state is performed by United States longshore workers; and be it 09 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 10 Congress to repeal the reciprocity exception under 8 U.S.C. 1288(e) (sec. 258(e), Immigration 11 and Nationality Act) to ensure that longshore work in the state or in federal coastal waters of 12 the state is performed by United States longshore workers; and be it 13 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 14 Congress and the President of the United States to reform the Alaska exception in 8 U.S.C. 15 1288(d) (sec. 258(d), Immigration and Nationality Act) to ensure that longshore work in the 16 state and in federal coastal waters of the state is performed by United States longshore 17 workers. 18 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 19 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 20 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Seth D. Harris, acting United States Secretary of 21 Labor; the Honorable Janet A. Napolitano, United States Secretary of Homeland Security; and 22 the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the 23 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.