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
Great idea. Thanks.
have at it!
Don’t scream.
But bear in mind that they don’t refuse to enforce all the laws they pass, only those that secure the border and bring criminals to justice.
They will, however, happily and efficiently enforce the law that paves the way to easy citizenship to those very criminals whom our government should be “bringing to justice.”
The rest of the world is paying attention.
Others now know that “crowding in line” is the fast track to citizenship
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_165001057.html
Fines, background checks, payment of back taxes, renouncing gang membership, yada, yada, uh-huh.
We just are not that stupid. Show me the fence.
SHOW AMERICA THE FENCE.
no more deception, no more lies, no more dishonesty
SHOW AMERICA THE FENCE
ENFORCE THE LAW
STOP THE INVASION OF THE HOMELAND NOW
Heard you the first time, LOL. :-)
for you
Gosh, that's about a buck each for the estimated 12-20 million illegals here. That should cover the social welfare costs.
Post to Mr Thompson and let him know how you feel about this POS the White House is ramming down our throats.
That’s my thought.
You can compromise, cajole and arm twist all you want, WE DON’T WANT AMNESTY III. Ignore us at your own peril. We are still your employers and we have the final say.
Indeed they have NO credibility. Zero.
F15E: You’re always good to go. I hereby chime in and second your straightforward list of immigration priorities. Is it possible to start a thread with that in the form of a petition and ask the admin to send it back to the WH spokesperson?
he’s not “engaging” if he posts and runs like a little girl....
LOL, we’re playing ‘ping tag’...(I just pinged you:)
I would also encourage you to read the Balkan threads so that the President can see as to what a poor choice it is to support Kosovo independence.
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