EMPLOYMENT OF ALIENS IN THE UNITED STATES: A QUESTION OF DISCRIMINATION AS EVALUATED UNDER STANDARDS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW.

Abstract

This study is designed to investigate discrimination in employment against resident aliens in the United States as evaluated by both U.S. practices and standards of international law and to determine whether the American treatment of aliens in employment is compatible with the international standard. In order to examine the common assertion that American practices in the treatment of aliens in employment is superior to the international minimum standard, two sets of hypotheses are tested: one on the existence of the minimum international standard, which protects aliens' rights, and the other on the American practice of requiring citizenship for employment, which deprives aliens of equal protection and thereby places the legal position of aliens below the minimum international standard. Three major sources of data for this study involve data from: (1) international arbitrations, conventions and agreements; (2) United States executive, legislative, and judicial decisions and actions; and (3) Immigration and Naturalization Service materials. The major findings indicate that the contemporary minimum international standard includes post-1945 Human Rights instruments together with the traditional minimum international standards. The most significant finding is that the contemporary minimum standard affords aliens the right to work without discrimination and confirms the relevant hypothesis in connection with the minimum standard. The study reveals that aliens in the United States are discriminated against in employment because of alienage at three different levels--federal, state, and private--with more intensity of discrimination at the federal level, despite the equal protection clause in the U.S. Constitution. The study concludes that American employment practice in the period of 1886-1971 was comparable with the international standard. On the other hand, during the 1971-1980 era, U.S. standards were below the minimum international standard as set forth by international law. This confirms the hypothesis, with some modification, that the U.S. practice of demanding citizenship for some employment has undercut the legal position of aliens so that it falls below the minimum international standard.