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
Parrot’s Up
Yep, but there's better.
See tag line.
I don't know what's the matter with me, but I just can't help despising those who know what's right, but do wrong anyway... Especially in positions of high trust!!!
I know that's nieave(sp?) but that's just me...
Good speaker, too.
And I love that area in which you live. You’re a very fortunate man. :-)
And I am glad to see that free speech is allowed here again. This is much better than when Bush was treated as a god and everyone had to be in lock-step.
I agree, on both counts.
That is SO cool!
Thank you!
Oh no, I didn’t mean to imply you advocate mass deportation- I was just agreeing with you and adding my own thoughts.
Hi Dixie,,,Quite Welcome,,,I saved it to see if I can import
that clock by itself...;0)
The issue of illegals re-entering illegally after being deported is not a “what if” at all. Most illegals are apprehended numerous times- most simply return within hours or days of being deported. That is why securing the border has to be the first step of any solution to the border problems. As long as the border is not secure, it really doesn’t matter how many are apprehended or deported since they don’t tend to stay deported.
Real-Time Data
Coming Soon; OTM Illegals in Country, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Canada, China, Africa, etc. Also, the top funders of the controversial Immigration Reform Act.
Important
INFORMATION
Illegal Immigrants in Country
Money Wired to Mexico Since Jan 2006
Money Wired to Latin America Since ‘01
Cost of Social Services for Illegal Immigrants Since 1996
Children of Illegals in Public Schools
Cost of Illegals in K-12 Since 1996
Illegal Immigrants Incarcerated
Cost of Incarcerations Since 2001
Illegal Immigrant Fugitives
Anchor Babies Since 2002
Skilled Jobs Taken by Illegal Immigrants
Recommended Counter Data Sources - click here
Recommended Numbers Video - click here
Experienced a financial loss due to Illegals? - click here
Recommended
Open Border Photos, Videos & News - click here
http://immigrationcounters.com/
Soooo...that link gets the live data...;0)
Great post of yours, #1519.
The average American is tired of having Washington cram legislation crammed down our throats that we disagree with. The President's track record on border enforcement is dismal, at best. He speaks of fighting terrorism, but allows thousands of illegals to walk into this country every week, without batting an eyelash. And while our brave men and women are fighting in Iraq in this war on terror, Bush is and has, allowed America to become sitting ducks for any terrorist to walk across our borders bearing chemical weapons that could bring this country to her knees.Great post of yours, #1519.Please tell Mr. Bush he has played his hand wrong on this issue.
BumPing that!
BTW, thanks for your service.
I hope you can figure it out.
That would be even more cool!
Please tell the President that 80% of the American people do not want S1348 passed.
We do not want amnesty of any kind offered to illegal immigrants, nor do we want to provide them with tax payer supported benefits of any kind.
Illegal immigration has already been harmful to our citizenry by lowering salaries by business hiring Illegals.
Illegal immigrants have murdered, raped and robbed American citizens.
Please tell the President that his constiuency wants the current immigration laws enforced, and that we want Duncan Hunter’s doubt border fence built now, and ports to be secured as well.
Thank you.
My computer will not cut and paste anything on FR. I tried emailing each one, and they didn’t work, either. Any suggestions?
Thank you nic!
great post that, no?!
Welcome. Good post.
Yes, it’s a very good post and I liked the part about Compean and Ramos. Good to get that in!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.