Posted on 06/14/2007 11:16:52 AM PDT by kristinn
A spokeman for the Bush administration sent an e-mail to Jim Robinson and myself confirming the authenticity of a post on Free Republic this afternoon regarding the immigration bill currently before the Senate as having been posted on behalf of the White House.
The spokesman, Nicholas Thompson, works for the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives. The Politico reported yesterday that Thompson and Kerrie Rushton, associate directors in the Office of Strategic Initiatives who work under Karl Rove, would be engaging the blogosphere on the immigration bill.
Thompson's post is on the thread titled Penalty Mitigation in the Immigration Reform Bill, a vanity posted by philman_36. Thompson posted at comment #53.
Thompson's e-mail to Free Republic included a brief introduction and the text of his posted comment:
Hi,
I just wanted to let you know that I just posted a response to the post "Penalty Mitigation in the Immigration Reform Bill."
The White House appreciates the opportunity to respond on Free Republic.
Response:
I would like to point out that the Secretary is authorized to reduce or mitigate penalities against employers who in good faith are trying to comply with the law. Certainly, we understand that not all employers knowingly hire illegal immigrants; this will remain the case, especially before the bill’s new secure documentation requirements are fully phased in. We do not seek to wrongly penalize honest employers who unknowingly hire illegal immigrants, therefore we reserve the right to reduce or mitigate their penalties if the employer can show good faith compliance in following the law.
For those employers who do knowingly hire illegal immigrants, please know that we intend to penalize these employers strongly, and the Administration has already stepped up these penalties in the last couple of years. For example, a 2005 program, “Operation Rollback,” assessed $15,000,000 in civil fines to employers, an amount greater than the sum of administrative fines collected in the previous eight years and was the largest worksite enforcement penalty in US history. In the first quarter of FY07, criminal and civil forfeitures have totaled $26,700,000 for employers.
As a reminder of what’s in the bill, fines for hiring an illegal worker are $5,000 maximum per illegal worker for the first offense, $10,000 maximum per illegal worker for the second, $25,000 maximum per illegal worker for the third , and $75,000 maximum per illegal worker for the fourth. In addition, the bill increases the maximum criminal penalty for a pattern or practice of unlawful hiring twenty-five-fold, from $3,000 to $75,000, and would impose a prison term of up to six months. This represents a significant increase in fines for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.
Nicholas Thompson
White House Office of Strategic Initiatives
“First, just to be clear: Any former gang member (or other applicant) convicted of a wide range of criminal conduct or otherwise determined to be a danger to the security of the United States is not welcome in the Z-visa program — whether s/he has renounced their gang affiliation or not. The range of crimes that disqualify applicants from the Z-visa program extends into the thousands and perhaps the tens of thousands, and includes: any felony; any three or more misdemeanors;”
SO TWO MISDEMEANORS ARE OKAY?!?!? FOR CITIZENSHIP!?!?
“Actually, “simply” signing a renunciation of gang affiliation gets the applicant no advantage whatsoever in the Z-visa process. It does not exempt the applicant from the requirement of a clean record, as discussed above. Nor does it exempt the applicant from the requirement to hold a job, pay a fine, pay fees, or anything else expected of a Z-visa applicant.”
OKAY SO THEY GO THROUGH HOOPS. BFD. THE 1986 WAS FRAUGHT WITH FRAUD AND SO WILL THIS ONE. EXCEPT 20 MILLION WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE INSTEAD OF 2 MILLION.
“Even if a gang member (or other applicant) has not been convicted of a crime, s/he is still ineligible for the program if the Government concludes that s/he is sufficiently dangerous.”
Pathetic. As if the Govt has a superb database on such things.
This of course leaves aside the HUGE GAPING HOLE of all those with court-ordered deportations being able to get amnesty.
I'd have much more respect for an honest foreign invader, than for an American turncoat.
U.S. Constitution, Article 4 Section 4:
"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,
1. The act of invading; the act of encroaching upon the rights or possessions of another; encroachment; trespass.
Mis-guided communication is all. Everythig’s fine, thank CidyDawg.
Remarkable, ain't it.
The President seems to be following the political equivilent of the same strategy that Hitler pursued at Stalingrad.
GWB-POTUS...
“And it’s ‘ma’m, but I’ve been called worse. Not here, surprisingly. Not yet, anyway...”
No problem ‘Ma’m, and at one time or another I have indeed been called just about everything :)
You’ve got to be kidding! Look what has happened in Europe. You might as well call these people what they really are: future terrorists.
Amen, brother.
Of course not! The only reason this person is even here is because someone in the mix had the idea to try to respond to a perceived image problem developing on the internet.
The President will do what he wants.
There is no "prime opportunity".
......’build a wall, make Mexico pay for the criminals they have sent us, make Mexico pay for medical care for their citizens, and send employers to jail who have violated the law.’
You got the idea douglas and its a great one as per usual.
HERE’S HOW WE GET OUR MONEY BACK
On 2/10/06.....the boys at NEWSMAX.COM POSTED A PIECE ENTITILED
‘Can Mexican Oil Save U.S.?’
THE JIST IS:
...’ The Chronicle explains that political leaders in that country (MEXICO) may finally be willing to allow increased drilling in oil-rich Mexico.
“In Mexico, where industries from steel to ceramics to fertilizer have been hard-hit by high natural gas prices, there may finally be the political will to open the country to outsiders who want to explore for more oil and natural gas, according to Fernando Canales Clariond, Mexico’s energy secretary,” reports The Chronicle.
“Most of the countries in the world have done it,” Clariond said. “We may be the only country in the world that has stayed a monopoly.”
American energy companies would partner with Mexico’s state-owned energy company, Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), to drill for oil and gas.
In recent years, Pemex has been hampered in that regard as it struggles to find funds for more drilling after paying 60% of its revenues in taxes to the state.
It will take a change in culture to get the ball rolling, however.
SO THERE YA HAVE IT WE GO IN, EXPLORE, DRILL AND
TAKE ALL THE OIL WE NEED
TO RECOVER ALL THE MONEY WE FORKED OVER IN LO THESE MANY YEARS OF KIND GENEROSTY...TO OUR GUESTS.
AND THERE AS DON CORLEONE SAID ‘ THERE WILL THE PEACE...’
CASE CLOSED. END OF PARAGRAPH END OF STORY.
OH ONE MORE THING..... OF COURSE THE BORDERS STAY CLOSED TILL THE WALL IS COMPLETED AND WE HAVE HIRED ALL THE ENFORCENET FOLKS WE NEED TO MAKE SURE EXISTING IMMEGRATION LAWS ARE ABIDED BY.
AND....... THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.
It sure is. Too bad he's taking the entire Republican Party down with him in flames.
I’m afraid all politicians are the same. Isn’t Hunter the one who is funneling money into a worthless plane that is built in his district, even though it has never worked and the Pentagon doesn’t even want it?
Have you read anything that I’ve said about illegal immigration? It’s not much, because I’m no expert, but I’m all for closing up the borders, etc.
Standing up for President Bush is hardly equal to standing w/ our invaders, who WE have been allowing into the country since the late 1980s, LONG before President Bush was responsible for them.
And why are you wasting thread space with your propaganda? I’ve read the Constitution.
I live in a rich target environment for Islamists.
I get the argument.
I consider people who verbally assault our President without just cause to be TREASONOUS.
WE ARE AT WAR.
Get that through your thick head lest I start to make the case for you being a Stalinist, along w/ half of the nutters on this site.
Oh, lol. I’ve not seen “Jorge” spelled Ho’hay before.
But that works.
The party is out of touch with the people.
Forever after it seems.
Do you feel the same way when you have to check someone's ID to make sure they are old enough to work? How about when a trucking service makes sure that the drivers have the appropiate license.
The employer is not taking over the job of law enforcement and it is not clear how this spin got started.
All the employer is required to do is make sure that the applicant is eligible to work.
This shouldn't be news to you - if you apply for any job you will have to fill out an I-9 which requires two forms of ID.
DC?
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