Posted on 02/11/2009 9:38:32 AM PST by STARWISE
The Senate passed today a $838 billion stimulus plan that did not include E-Verify, a mechanism to check whether workers are legal immigrants or U.S. citizens.
While Senate Democrats blocked the E-Verify amendment from being voted on, the House has voted 417-2 in favor of including the worker identity checking program in its version of the stimulus package.
The fight over E-Verify, or Basic Pilot, now moves to the House-Senate conference where the differences between the two economic recovery packages will be hammered out in negotiations.
Proponents and opponents of the E-Verify measure have targeted the legislative negotiations as a key battleground over the issue.
Proponents of E-Verify say the measure is necessary to prevent newly created jobs from going to undocumented immigrant worker in the United States.
The House bill prohibits any stimulus funding from going to a company or government office that fails to use the E-Verify identity checking system. This online electronic database checks whether a person is authorized to work in the United States.
A number of groups including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Human Resource Initiative for a Legal Workforce, opposed the insertion of an E-Verify Measure into the bill.
The Hispanic Caucus sent a letter on Jan. 26 to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arguing against the measure.
The caucus wrote that E-Verify would "disproportionately affect Hispanic workers and their employers . We urge you to ensure this provision is stripped from legislation."
The caucus argued that the database used to confirm the worker's status "has been widely documented as unreliable and inaccurate." They said that mistakes in the database could "result in 3.6 million workers a year being misidentified" as not authorized for employment.
In addition, "Foreign-born American citizens are 30 times more likely than native born workers to be incorrectly identified as ineligible for work."
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce too has consistently opposed a mandatory E-Verify program.
In a press release, the chamber stated that "Given the current economy, now is not the time to add more bureaucracy and billions of dollars in compliance costs to America's businesses."
Randy Johnson, the chamber's vice president on immigrant and labor issues, said, "The Chamber supports legislative initiatives to develop and implement an electronic verification system, but first we must be sure that the system is effective, efficient, and manageable under real-world conditions."
In contrast, Federation for American Immigration Reform strongly argued for including E-Verify in the final bill. Dan Stein, FAIR's president yesterday wrote: "With millions losing jobs, it would be immoral for Senate leaders to neglect vital protections for U.S. workers."
He added, "When spending nearly one trillion dollars of taxpayers' money to reinvigorate the economy, the American people expect programs such as E-Verify be not only included but made mandatory."
After most legislators went home last Friday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced to the few remaining on the floor a tentative deal to pass that chamber's version of the American Recovery and Renewal Tax Act.
Pared to “just” $827 billion from $937 billion a day earlier, the package includes another dozen or so amendments and one giant rub:
The Senate's “economic stimulus” package provides Americans zero assurance that its corporate and government beneficiaries would use all that taxpayer money to hire only verified U.S. citizens and legal foreign workers.
“This makes about as much sense as trying to fill your bathtub while the bottom drain is open,” says retired senior U.S. immigration agent Michael Cutler, who served the government for 30 years.
“The U.S. claims determination, through its economic stimulus plan, to put money in the hands of Americans who presumably will spend money in the U.S. At this time, it's counterintuitive and antithetical to hire foreign workers whose goal is to ship their earnings overseas.”
Indeed, before World War II, the Dept. of Labor enforced U.S. immigration laws to protect American workers and mandated a shortened, 40-hour work week “to spread jobs to as many American citizens as possible,” Cutler adds.
President Barack Obama insists that the U.S. has “inherited an economic crisis as deep and dire as any since the days of the Great Depression.” If true, it would make no sense to pass an economic stimulus plan that simultaneously increases the number working in the U.S.
***Senator Majority leader Harry Reid would like nothing better, however.
On January 7, Reid introduced the paradoxically named the “Stronger Economy, Stronger Borders Act of 2009.” Reid constructed the imprecisely worded two-page “placeholder” to later house comprehensive immigration “reform and rationalize” legislation.
Translation:
Reid wants massive amnesty for illegal aliens – now realistically estimated at 20 million. He even hopes to increase lawful immigrants to the U.S., whose numbers by 2006 had topped 1.3 million a year. Such “reform” would only further weaken the U.S. economy and erode already lax borders.
~~~~
CALL, EMAIL, FAX THE CRITTERS:
~~DING!
Good morning Comrades,
It is time to start the revolution before democrats gather more power and sell us all down the river.
They have all the power they need to sell the nation down the river.
If you can’t get in touch with Sen. Snowe, why not call her husband’s office. Former Maine Governor John R. McKernan, Jr. serves as Chief Executive Office and Vice Chairman of Education Management Corporation (EDMC) and as a member of its Board of Directors.
Education Management Corporation, 210 Sixth Avenue 33rd Floor Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Phone: (412) 562-0900 Fax: (412) 562-0598
http://www.jag.org/john_mckernan.htm
Former Maine Governor John R. McKernan, Jr. serves as Chief Executive Office and Vice Chairman of Education Management Corporation (EDMC) and as a member of its Board of Directors. He joined the company in June 1999. Prior to being named CEO in September 2003, he served EDMC as President and Vice Chairman. In that role, he was responsible for the strategic expansion of the company and also oversaw the Law, Education, Human Resources and Strategic Development Departments.
How stupid is it to have the people who caused the problem be in charge of trying to fix it?
The crooks are running the government. The Anticrrist (Obama) talk about Republicans wanting to do the same old tired thing. It's the democrats who are doing the same old tired thing. In order to get their way, they use scare tactics. They will tell any lie demonize anyone who gets in their way in order to gain and maintain power.
Federation for American Immigration Reform
http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer
http://www.fairus.org/site/PageNavigator/contact/
You are delightfully devious. I like it! LOL
E-Verify is just another government program that wouldn’t work even if it was implemented. They would just create loopholes and spend our tax money.
What would work? Whenever you want to destroy anything - including illegal immigration - just sick the trial lawyers on them. Have conservatives put through a bill called the Americans Back To Work Act. (Let’s watch Dems try to vote against it.) If an American applies for a job, doesn’t get it, and then shows that an illegal has the job, that American could then sue the company for the job, one year of back wages, and the company would have to pick up the cost of deporting the illegal back to the country they came from. Something tells me that if it passed within a week there would be zero illegals working in America.
When I call.....will I have to press ‘1’ or ‘2’ for English? /s
Everytime I look up, I am calling my reps.
Good thinking!
” (Call, email!)”
oh please. As if anyone we could call or email gives a $hit what we think. get over it.
“Everytime I look up, I am calling my reps.”
No kidding!
It is too late. Which is what they wanted.
I have no idea what “Jock” ever saw in her.
What is the point that will be the catylyst to the revolution to overthrow this commie takeover?
Thanks for the ping. The democrats want to kill American seniors..but let in millions of illegals and give them access to unlimited healthcare paid for by American taxpayers. It is breathtakingly corrupt and morally bankrupt!
I have no clue, Obama is moving so fast there is no time to counter it.
I’m made of sturdier stuff.
I fight on, until there’s NO chance
that I can make a difference.
I figure America is worth it, but
that’s just me.
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