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
FYI.
noted
Tony Snow must have clued the White House in on FR’s influence.
I think they’d be better served READING FreeRepublic than posting to it.
This really irritates me.
It costs less than .50 cents to verify a Social Security Number provided by any job applicant. It takes less than thirty seconds to do so via any of over 700 employment screening companies nationally.
This ‘we can’t hold employers responsible for hiring them unknowningly’ stuff is pure unadulterated horse hockey.
My company is one of those with the capability to do this, btw. I know what I’m talking about here.
And I strongly suspect the spokesperson’s for the administration know it as well.
White House Basement poster, huh? Is he working out of Ash’s old cubicle?
Maybe they are getting an eyeful.
Their spin isn’t working. They have little, if any credibility.
Hi, Nicholas. We will be able to have a reasonable discussion only AFTER you close the borders, 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.
Until the President has proven he has taken his oath of office seriously in this matter, go pound sand.
It’s nice to see the stepped-up enforcement over the past two years. Not much of that has made the news (surprise, surprise)
It’s also nice to see penalties increased against employers who knowingly hire illegals.
And finally, it’s good to see the White House finally engaging the blogosphere.
You know, words are a lovely thing. What we need is ACTION and ENFORCEMENT of all these ‘wonderful’ words!
Well...I can authenticate that most of us here have zero faith in that immigration bill no matter what the text of it is. If we are ignoring the laws we have now, what is the point of new ones? Why should we believe new ones will be enforced?
Speaking on behalf of myself, please pass on this message to President Bush: Secure the borders first--this year. Then let's talk about the rest of the shamnesty bill.
ambivalence
WHERE’S THE FENCE?
OK, nice to add those facts to the discussion.
That is one issue among many worth discussing and resolving.
Now, a question ... based on the number of illegals in the country ( xx millions ) and yy% who hold jobs illegally, and zz% of employers who knowingly employ them ... are those fines demonstrably evidence of rigorous enforcement, selective enforcement, casual enforcement, other?
oh ... are the borders secured yet?
Just my opinions. I’m still free to have my own, I think.
Good intentions are worthless.
This administration has failed to enforce EXISTING laws against hiring illegals.
Why would we belive this BS now?
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