New Immigration Rules Panned, Praised Responses Differed Sharply To The Bush Administrations New Get-Tough Immigration Regulations
Posted on Sat, Aug. 11, 2007 BY DAVE MONTGOMERY dmontgomery@mcclatchydc.com
WASHINGTON -- Responding to Congress' failure to enact a new immigration overhaul, the Bush administration on Friday opted for a regulatory assault to toughen workplace enforcement and crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants.
The package of regulatory measures prompted a torrent of criticism from business groups and immigrant advocates, who warned of a withering economic backlash and potential widespread discrimination against Hispanics.
Conservative groups calling for more restrictions on immigration cautiously welcomed the crackdown as a needed step in the right direction.
The reactions constituted a mirror-opposite response within the diverse coalition that participated in the congressional debate over White House-backed immigration legislation that died in the Senate in late June. Pro-immigrant groups generally sided with President Bush in advancing the bill while enforcement-first advocates accused the White House of betraying the demands of the public.
Bush said the measures would enable his administration to work within the boundaries of existing law to address the nation's ''immigration challenges.'' But Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, one of the president's chief Democratic allies in the congressional debate, said the administration's latest actions ``will make our immigration crisis worse.''
MATCHING NUMBERS
As expected, the package of enforcement tools also will force employers to dismiss thousands of workers whose Social Security numbers don't match those in federal databases, a requirement that already has come under attack from business and labor groups.
Other measures include a 25 percent increase in civil penalties, expanding the Border Patrol to 20,000 agents by 2009, additional detention facilities for illegal immigrants and stepped-up training to help state and local officers to combat illegal immigration. The administration also renewed its commitment to erecting a controversial border fence.
Contractors who receive new federal contracts will be required to screen employees through an electronic verification system that thousands of businesses are now using on a voluntary basis. The Web-based system, created by Congress in 1996, will be strengthened and expanded under a new name: E-Verify.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, complained that ``these reforms could have been implemented a long time ago.''
But Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, in announcing the measures, said the administration chose to wait until Congress completed work on the immigration bill.
''We had hoped that immigration reform on a comprehensive basis would give us a much wider set of tools,'' said Chertoff. ``But until the laws change, we are enforcing the laws as they are to the utmost of our ability using every tool that we have in the tool box. And we're going to sharpen some of those tools.''
Perhaps the most volatile feature centers on the regulation that would require employers to dismiss undocumented workers suspected of using phony Social Security numbers to get work. Employers could face potential sanctions if they fail to act within 90 days after receiving a so-called no-match letter that a worker's Social Security number does not match those in federal databases.
Chertoff said the regulation would include ''safe harbor'' provisions for businesses that acted in good faith to comply with the requirement. But business groups, anticipating the changes, say the requirement could force the wholesale dismissal of needed workers and could force many small businesses to close their doors.
`ATTA BOY'
Pro-enforcement groups that previously have been harshly critical of the administration's immigration stance praised the measures as a welcome if belated effort to crack down on illegal immigrants.
'It has to be given the proverbial `atta boy' with an eye of caution as we move into the future,'' said Bob Dane, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
The DHS, which oversees immigration enforcement, also will intensify civil and criminal action against employers who systematically hire illegal immigrants, Chertoff said.
Using its authority to adjust civil penalties for inflation, the DHS will raise civil fines by 25 percent to a maximum $12,500 for repeat offenders.
PASSAIC -- Two local Hispanic organizations have received more than $140,000 in grant money to boost their community outreach programs.
The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs announced last week that it awarded more than $3.7 million in Hispanic Policy Grants to 30 Hispanic community organizations throughout the state.
Two organizations in Passaic, the Hispanic Information Center of 186 Gregory Ave., and the Immigration & Citizenship Org. of 647 Main Avenue, received $62,332 and $78,000, respectively.
The center helps Spanish-speaking residents and newly-arrived immigrants read complicated government documents, find jobs and necessities like shelter, food and clothing. . Funding to maintain the center's $1 million budget and 23 staff workers come from the New Jersey Department of Children and Family Services.
BUSH ADMN TO CRACK DOWN ON SOCIAL SECURITY FRAUD BY TARGETING IMMIGRANTS, EMPLOYERS
By Javier Erik Olvera SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
Article Launched: 08/11/2007 03:02:39 AM PDT
WATSONVILLE -- Eleuterio knew it was against the law when he sneaked into the United States 11 years ago and used someone else's Social Security number to find work.
For years, the 26-year-old, along with millions of other illegal laborers, escaped the eyes of government enforcers, buttressing the nation's agriculture industry by doing, as he put it, "the work nobody else wants to do."
Friday, illegal laborers became the focal point of the Bush administration's newest push against illegal immigration, a sweeping effort to step up enforcement of the nation's existing rules set to begin next month.
Authorities are promising a widespread crackdown, concentrating on Social Security fraud with new scrutiny for workers who use bogus numbers and increased fines against those who employ them. To avoid those higher fines, employers must fire any employees whose numbers can't be verified within 90 days of being notified.
The announcement has revived the immigration debate and sent ripples from Washington, D.C., to the Salinas Valley. At least half -- and as many as 80 percent -- of the United States' estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants have used false paperwork to secure jobs.
"This is going to hurt everyone," said Eleuterio, a strawberry picker and father of two who didn't want his last name used.
The push comes two months after Congress failed to pass President Bush's proposed immigration overhaul, a package of laws that would have tightened borders, clamped down on employers and set up a series of guest-worker programs.
Instead, the administration pushed forward by looking at other tools to crack down on immigration without a decision from lawmakers.
The hope, said Michael Chertoff and Carlos Gutierrez, secretaries of Homeland Security and Commerce, respectively, is to put the onus on Congress to take up reforms once again. Other provisions include tighter border control, a system to track deportations and reduced processing times for immigrant background checks.
Although some conservative groups such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform, lauded the decision, saying it would be welcomed by a population tired of watching illegal immigrants and their employers go unchallenged, labor experts and others warned of economic devastation.
"It doesn't deal with the reality of the service needs of this state, which depends heavily on illegal immigration," said Mike Garcia, president of the local Service Employees International Union. "If you try to remove these people, whole industries would go belly under."
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, noted that although the White House is enforcing laws already on the books, reforming those laws would have been the best solution.
"The impact is apt to be a significant one in several aspects of the economy," she said.
The Social Security Administration each year analyzes millions of Social Security numbers that for several reasons, including fraud and human error, don't match names provided by employers.
About 8.6 million "no match" letters will soon go out to employees across the country for the 2006 tax year, said Lowell Kepke, spokesman for the office's San Francisco branch. Social Security earnings for those workers -- billions of dollars a year -- are placed in a holding fund until it can be determined where the money should go. The pot of unclaimed earnings now tallies about $585 billion.
Industry leaders -- chiefly in the agriculture, construction and service fields -- began to brace themselves this week for a rocky transition after officials indicated a crackdown would be announced.
The state's $32 billion agricultural industry, which relies on immigrants to make up a majority of the 450,000 employees it needs each harvest, would be among the hardest hit. Experts estimate that as many as 70 percent of farm workers use false paperwork -- known in the fields as "papeles chuecos" -- to receive their weekly checks.
"It will result in a loss of perishable crop," said Bob Perkins, executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau, adding that the bureau's 500 members would adhere to the laws.
The Salinas Valley, where the farm bureau is based, is home to what he calls "full-time workers" who have jobs tending farms year-round because of the various crops that are grown.
He predicts the region -- home to vast lettuce and strawberry fields -- will initially be fine because a large number of laborers in the region live there legally. But he anticipates those workers will be in high demand for other jobs and eventually be enticed from the fields by industries offering higher wages and less-grueling work.
California's restaurant industry also expects a blow to its workforce, which studies show has a high number of undocumented immigrants, although the amount is unclear.
"It's going to cause a serious issue given the tightening of the California labor market," said Jot Condie, president and chief executive officer of the California Restaurant Association.
Friday morning, Condie said, he received a document from the Department of Homeland Security outlining the stricter sanctions against employers who hire illegal immigrants.
"It's burdensome for the employer," he said, "because they're being asked to do some of the enforcement work for the Department of Homeland Security."
Labor expert Katie Quan said federal leaders have failed to consider the fallout from the new push: With millions of people losing their jobs, employers will scramble to fill behind them -- and that will lead to a new influx of people crossing the border illegally.
"Why enforce now?" asked Quan, associate chairwoman of UC Berkeley's Center for Labor Research and Education.
For Eleuterio, who has spent years looking over his shoulder, the concern now is for his 6-year-old son. The boy, who was born here, has already started school, and Eleuterio said he doesn't want to pull him out. It wouldn't be fair to the boy, he said, and to his future.
"This is going to ruin families," Eleuterio said.
San Jose Mercury News Staff Writer Jennifer Martinez and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Javier Erik Olvera at jolvera@sanjosemercurynews.com or 408-920-5704.
Johnny GarcÃa saw it coming long before dozens of other employers with immigrant-heavy work forces realized it: The government is coming after you, so get ready. But besides targeting employers who hire illegal workers, the government also is offering businesses an olive branch, and GarcÃa's firm became one of the first to grab it.
In exchange for meeting the Department of Homeland Security's "best practices" threshold, employers can become certified members of the ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers, or IMAGE, program.
ICE is the acronym for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency within the Department of Homeland Security leading an employer crackdown that it formally announced Friday.
"You're never safe anymore," said GarcÃa, human resources director for Systems Painters and Drywall in New Ulm, about a two-hour drive east of San Antonio. "You need to do everything you possibly can to show you've got your records straight."
GarcÃa, the only Texas employer so far to receive IMAGE certification, estimated that about 85 percent of his 350 workers are immigrants. Since the mere perception of supporting illegal immigration could hurt business, he would rather not take any chances.
If for some reason immigration agents were to show up at his door, he would prefer that they gave a friendly knock instead of kicking it down.
In Washington, the agency rolled out its initiative to go after companies who routinely have ignored letters informing them some of their employees' Social Security numbers don't line up with those in government databases.
The move "” employers could be fined as much as $10,000 per violation "” coupled with an ongoing ramp-up of workplace raids producing criminal prosecutions, has instilled fear in the minds of formerly careless employers.
Criminal arrests skyrocketed from 25 in 2002 to 718 last year, while those nabbed on civil immigration charges jumped from 485 to 3,667 in the same four-year stretch.
But while maintaining a tough public image, the government quietly has been encouraging cooperation with concerned bosses.
One tool employers have tapped for a decade is the Basic Pilot Program, an Internet-based system showing whether workers' listed Social Security numbers match government databases. Word about the program spread gradually, but nearly 20,000 companies, including more than 1,300 in Texas, have signed up.
The IMAGE program goes further. After completing all requirements, the first nine "charter" members were revealed in January, including GarcÃa's painting company.
Under it, employers seeking to impress Homeland Security officials literally have to prove they have nothing to hide "” starting by voluntarily opening their books. They must use Basic Pilot for all hiring, form a team to detect document fraud, and even set up an internal hot line for employees to anonymously report co-workers perceived to be working illegally.
To date, ICE has received more than 350 applications, said Pat Reilly, an agency spokeswoman. IMAGE is expected to eventually become the hiring standard for industries popular with illegal workers, such as agriculture, construction, landscaping and meatpacking, she said.
"It's our Good Housekeeping seal of approval, our ideal image of what an employer should be," Reilly said.
Even with such certification, no employer is immune from investigation. But cases against them would be hard to prosecute because they acted in good faith against knowingly hiring illegal workers, Reilly said, and any wrongdoing discovered during initial audits would not get them in trouble.
Critics of the program say that, crackdown or not, employers may want to consider whether it's a good idea to essentially become the government's immigration enforcement lackey.
The Basic Pilot Program already has proven unreliable because it can't pick up identity theft, and reports abound of cases involving legitimate workers who were wrongly targeted, said Mónica Guizar, employment policy attorney with the National Immigration Law Center, a migrant advocacy group in Los Angeles.
"IMAGE lumps together all worksite programs," Guizar said. "It's intended to simply hand over the responsibility and duty of enforcing immigration law to employers."
Even with training, employers cannot turn into experienced document fraud investigators "” and the result will be discriminatory firings, Guizar said.
Labor unions complained that IMAGE will give ruthless employers more legal muscle to quickly weed out workers looking to unionize. They also pointed out that labor violations "” federal law provides rights to all workers regardless of their immigration status "” will continue since the program doesn't touch the issue.
The IMAGE program goes further. After completing all requirements, the first nine "charter" members were revealed in January, including GarcÃa's painting company.
Under it, employers seeking to impress Homeland Security officials literally have to prove they have nothing to hide "” starting by voluntarily opening their books. They must use Basic Pilot for all hiring, form a team to detect document fraud,
and even set up an internal hot line for employees to anonymously report co-workers perceived to be working illegally.
August 11, 2007 Lake County News-Sun By RYAN PAGELOW rpagelow@scn1.com
A parent trying to re-register her child at a North Chicago school was allegedly questioned about her immigration status earlier this week before her child was eventually enrolled in the district.
The Illinois State Board of Education is reviewing the enrollment policy of North Chicago Community Unit District 187, said board spokesperson Matt Vanover.
"We have reached out to the district and requested they provide us with their policies on enrollment documentation," he said. "Immigration status has no bearing on the right of a student to enroll."
The district requires proof of residency within District 187 boundaries by providing three of the following: A recent gas bill, electric bill, mortgage, renter's lease or driver's license or state ID.
Earlier this week a parent used a gas bill, electric bill and mortgage documents to satisfy the district's residency requirements at her child's local school, according to Ricardo Meza, regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
The parent, who neither Meza nor school officials identified, also presented a photo identification card issued by the Mexican Consulate in Chicago, known as a matricula. Administrators told her that the matricula was not being accepted as proof of district residency and she needed to produce a state-issued identification card.
The parent complained to an administrator at the district office who responded by calling Homeland Security. The administrator then told the parent to show proof of legal residency or work authorization, Meza said.
School officials cannot make inquires of students or parents that may expose their undocumented status, according to a 1982 Supreme Court case that overturned a Texas statute that denied enrollment in the public schools to children not legally admitted into the country.
District 187 School Board President Gloria Harper said that the call to Homeland Security was only to inquire about the matricula card.
The intent of the district's proof of residency requirements are to ensure that all students live within district boundaries.
"For the taxpayer we must ensure that the children do live in North Chicago," Harper said.
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Editorial Sunday, August 12, 2007
Illegals often and easily use false Social Security numbers to obtain work. Now, the Department of Homeland Security is putting employers and workers on notice that names and Social Security numbers had better match. We shall see if enforcement takes root or if this is a cynical ploy to placate conservatives in advance of next year's election.
Why our concern? While promising a crackdown, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff also lamented Congress' failure to pass a new law that would have granted virtual amnesty to illegals.
The Social Security Administration routinely sends out millions of name/number mismatch letters (9.5 million in 2005) notifying employers and workers of discrepancies. Some problems owe to simple clerical errors. Others involve fraud. All too often, the letters are ignored.
Under the supposed crackdown, employers will have to clear up the discrepancies, fire the worker or face stiff fines. Gee, maybe bosses should also start reporting illegals for deportation.
Obviously, the open-borders crew is worried. And Social Security officials fear they might not be able to handle the clerical load if there arises a heavy response to the mismatch letters.
Tough tacos. Nobody would be in this mess if the White House, Congress and private-sector employers had not looked the other way while cheap labor poured illegally over our borders and found jobs.
ARKANSAS LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE TO HOLD MEETING ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
Associated Press August 12, 2007 10:14 AM ET
LITTLE ROCK (AP) - Arkansas members of the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs hold a hearing tomorrow at the state Capitol. They are seeking information from state agencies on the impact of illegal immigration on Arkansas. Arkansas' Hispanic population is growing at 1 of the fastest paces in the nation.
State Representative Rick Green says simply doing nothing could leave Arkansas vulnerable.
Oklahoma and Tennessee passed strict laws this year tightening down on illegal immigrants, while the Arkansas Legislature passed a measure aimed only at state contractors.
The hearing tomorrow will include testimony from state officials on illegal immigration's effect on schools, prisons and the work force. Union officials also are scheduled to testify.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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East Valley Tribune Tribune Editorial August 12, 2007
When they torpedoed his immigration-reform bill, congressional Republicans challenged President Bush to enforce the existing laws more vigorously. Now his administration has taken them up on it.
In announcements in Washington from the secretaries of homeland security and commerce and reinforced by a White House pronouncement from the elder George Bush's Kennebunkport vacation home, the administration announced a nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration.
The crackdown includes the usual remedies "” a speedup in construction of the border fence, hiring more Border Patrol agents and stepped-up detentions of apprehended illegals. But it also includes a step the government has shied away from "” going after employers with illegal immigrants on their payrolls. They will be required to fire workers with phony Social Security numbers and take more stringent measures to verify citizenship.
It is no accident that these measures were announced just as members of Congress had dispersed to their districts for a long recess. Bush could have just as easily done this immediately after the immigration bill failed in June. The announcement of the crackdown is likely to be popular with the public, giving Republicans a badly needed short-term boost, but the administration is also betting that, long term, the disruption from the crackdown and the outcry from employers will revive immigration reform.
There are an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in this country, about half of them employed. The administration will target with stepped-up raids businesses that traditionally employ large numbers of illegals, and the Homeland Security Department will work with the Social Security Administration to target the holders of fake Social Security numbers.
Whatever impact the crackdown has on a reform bill, it will test a key proposition advanced by backers of immigration reform: That illegal immigrants play a significant and useful role in the U.S. economy by taking jobs in agriculture, meatpacking, construction and the service industry that Americans won't.
The Bush administration believes that when the jobs go begging after illegals are forced out of them, the lawmakers and the public will want a second look at immigration reform.
Congress failed to pass immigration reform this year, so President Bush has announced his own plans to crack down on illegal immigrants. The proposal, unveiled Friday, boosts border security and calls for state and local police officers to enforce immigration laws.
With the total crackdown they're going to do, it's going to break our families apart," says Tony Yapias, founder of the Utah Latino Project.
Yapias says many local Hispanics are disappointed that President Bush is calling for the enforcement crackdown rather than waiting for Congress to pass full reform. The crackdown also includes tougher scrutiny for employers who hire undocumented workers. Yapias says the changes will have serious consequences on immigrants already established in Utah and contributing to the local economy:
"If someone was just coming in new for the first time, the consequences of the crackdown may not be as severe as for someone who has a career, family, a job, a car payment and has established themselves in the community," says Yapias. "It will create all kinds of ripple effects."
Yapias says local immigration activists may organize a march or demonstration in the coming weeks to oppose the enforcement crackdown. Congress is unlikely to address comprehensive immigration reform again until after the 2008 election.
BLACKS, LATINOS DISCUSS UNITY IMMIGRATION HOT TOPIC AT CONFERENCE
Stanley B. Chambers Jr., Staff Writer Published: Aug 12, 2007 12:30 AM Modified: Aug 12, 2007 05:13 AM
DURHAM - African-Americans and Latinos in Durham live mostly in separate worlds and have different ideas about immigration.
Bridging that gap was the aim of the Durham Human Relations Unity Conference at the Hayti Heritage Center on Saturday. The event drew more than 70 people, a mix of Durham residents and representatives of anti-racism groups.
Relations between Durham's blacks and Latinos are important because they are the city's dominant minority groups. Blacks make up 40 percent of city residents while Hispanics represent 13 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Both often live side-by-side in the city's poorest sections. In 2003, the city passed a resolution supporting human rights regardless of immigration status.
But some believe Latinos have gained opportunities and power more quickly than blacks, creating tensions between the two groups.
"It's hard when you see another community come in and get so much more opportunity," said Chauncey Taylor, 26, of Durham, referring to jobs and business ownership. "It's hard for us to move past that."
Many at the conference agreed that black-Latino relations in Durham need improvement and that the two groups don't understand one another's language and culture. Late last year, several Hispanic robbery victims reported that their assailants were black. And a Duke University study released last year said that more than half of Latino immigrants thought most blacks are not hard workers and could not be trusted.
"Because of immigration, there are some strained relations because it wasn't all of a sudden [that immigrants came to the U.S.], but sometimes it feels that way," said Rita Gonza***-Jackson, 50, of Durham. She also believes misconceptions contribute to the problem. "And that's affecting people and their perceptions. If you don't have commonalities, all you're going to focus on is the differences."
Saturday's conference, a partnership between the city's Department of Human Relations and the Southern Anti-Racism Network, aimed to foster a discussion about immigration while showing that blacks and Latinos share similarities.
"If we talk to each other, we would see that we have the same struggle," said Theresa El-Amin, director of the anti-racism network. "Your struggle is my struggle. My struggle is your struggle. Let's work together."
But working together requires difficult conversations exposing personal beliefs.
That was evident when about 20 people gathered in a circle at the conference's immigration workshop.
Delores Eaton, 77, who is black, spoke of seeing Latino businesses while driving around Durham.
"I see that not only you're acquiring political power, you're also acquiring economic power," Eaton said.
But Bryan Parras, regional organizer for the Houston-based Southern Human Rights Organizer's Network, said people should focus on the similarities and common goals of the two groups.
"We need to get past and beyond that because we all had it bad," Parras said. "We've got to get past these small, minor details."
The immigration workshop group came up with a few suggestions to foster better relations between blacks and Latinos, including better communication, working together more and learning about each other's cultures.
Achieving unity will take equal effort from both sides, said Richard G. Womack, the AFL-CIO's assistant to the president.
"Unity is a two-way street," Womack said. "We have to champion each other's causes. We cannot sit by and watch injustice and say nothing."
Staff writer Stanley B. Chambers Jr. can be reached at 956-2426 or stan.chambers@newsobserver.com.
By Bill Leonard Society For Human Resource Mngt. 8/13/07 6:45 AM
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez on Aug. 10, 2007, announced several procedural changes to strengthen enforcement of existing federal immigration laws.
As part of the enhanced enforcement effort, DHS finalized a set of regulations that employers must follow when they receive "no-match" letters from the Social Security Administration (SSA).
The SSA routinely sends "no-match" letters to employers with employees whose Social Security numbers do not match government records. The new "no-match" rule will take effect September 2007, 30 days after appearing in the Federal Register.
Under the new rules, employers will be in violation of federal immigration laws if they ignore the "no-match" letters and fail to take corrective steps within 90 days.
Corrective steps will include checking employment records for clerical errors and confirming that employee information matches government records. Employers that make "good faith" efforts to solve any problems will not be held liable, according to DHS officials.
However, the new rules will require employers to fire any workers whose "no-match" problems with Social Security numbers cannot be resolved in 90 days.
"Persons and businesses that do their best in good faith to comply with the rules have nothing to fear from these changes and new initiatives," Chertoff said during an Aug. 10 press conference.
Gutierrez said that government officials were well aware that the crackdown could hurt some industries more than others"”particularly agriculture, where more than half of workers are believed to be undocumented.
The Commerce and Labor departments worked together to make existing temporary seasonal agriculture worker and non-agriculture worker programs easier to use for employers and more efficient, Gutierrez said.
As part of the increased enforcement effort, Chertoff announced that DHS would boost fines for employers that knowingly hire illegal immigrants by 25 percent.
"Unfortunately, fines for hiring and relying on undocumented workers are so modest that some companies treat them as little more than a cost of doing business," Chertoff said.
"DHS will use its existing authority to update civil fines for inflation in order to boost fines by about 25 percent or what is allowed under current law."
During the press briefing, Chertoff outlined DHS plans to issue proposed rule changes that would reduce the number of identity documents employers can accept in confirming the work eligibility for employees and that would require federal contractors to use the federal government's electronic employment verification system.
Efforts were underway, Chertoff said, to expand and improve the electronic verification program, called E-Verify, by increasing the system's number of data sources. The verification system would remain voluntary for employers since there is no new law mandating its use, he said.
Chertoff denied that the stepped-up enforcement efforts by the Bush administration were an attempt to put new pressure on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. A reform measure (S. 1639) favored by President Bush stalled in the Senate in June 2007.
"This is not an effort to put more pressure on Congress," he said during the news conference. "This is an effort to execute the law and keep faith with the American public."
ENFORCEMENT ONLY All That's Left of Immigration Reform
The Washington Times Sunday, August 12, 2007; Page B06
SITUATIONS SOMETIMES need to get worse before they get better. That's the best that can be said about the Bush administration's crackdown on illegal immigration, announced Friday.
To its credit, the administration has long pushed for comprehensive immigration reform that would tighten border security, discourage businesses from hiring illegal workers, create a pathway to citizenship for many of the nation's 12 million illegal aliens and open the way to more legal immigration. Congress scuttled such reform this summer, amid outcries from conservatives that it amounted to amnesty for those here illegally and from liberals that it was too timid. In response, President Bush has decided to launch an enforcement-heavy initiative that will probably be as ineffectual as it is painful.
The most disruptive of 26 provisions is likely to be the one that puts teeth into "no match" violations. "No match" occurs when the Social Security number provided by a worker fails to match a number in the Social Security Administration database. Until now, employers were alerted when an employee triggered a "no match," but there were no consequences. A new regulation gives employers about three months to either dismiss the worker or verify his legal status. No one should be surprised when this approach yields thousands, if not millions, of "no matches" that force employers to cycle furiously through workers, at a cost of time and money.
The administration is right to try to streamline the visa program for seasonal agricultural workers to help provide growers with a reliable stream of legal workers; the changes would also increase protections for laborers. The Department of Homeland Security is right to extend to three years the terms of visas for professional workers from Canada and Mexico, who currently have to renew those visas annually. The administration's plan also includes common-sense measures such as requiring government contractors to submit information about their employees to a federal electronic verification database to ensure the legality of their workforce.
No administration can be faulted for seeking to enforce the law, but the nation is saddled with a law that cannot work. The economy, as long as it continues to grow, will continue to attract immigrants, and they will come illegally if there is no other way. The administration acknowledges that an enforcement-only approach cannot possibly address the most significant immigration problems facing the country and is likely to exacerbate the problems already experienced by businesses and workers alike. It's a sad commentary on politics in Washington that, by increasing the pressure for change, such problems may be reform's best hope.
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