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A post by Pat

The original House version of the stimulus bill included a requirement that contractors receiving stimulus funds must use the E-verify program. That requirement disappeared in the Senate. It is probably a moot point.

With the E-verify program employers can check employee social security numbers against a government database. The objective is obviously to identify illegals. It is a voluntary program for employers. Currently about 100,000 employers have signed up. By law the employers are subject to fines for hiring illegals so it should be in their best interest to use the database if the government was serious about controlling immigration. The Bush administration wasn’t exactly vigilant in cracking down on employers despite some showcase enforcement resulting in an outcry over “brutal” workplace raids.

The opponents of E-verify are the usual suspects of Hispanic groups, other pro-immigration groups and pretty much all of the Democrat Party. The implementation date was always being pushed back. It is scheduled to go into effect May 21, 2009 pending DHS Secretary Napolitano’s review of the rule. The sham criticism of the database is that the error rate, about half of one percent, is too high. The opponents of the system say it works to the detriment of legal workers when due to some mistake no match is found for their social security number. It’s a false argument. The worker has 90 days to correct the error. In most cases a phone call is all that’s needed.

E-verify disappeared from the stimulus bill and you can bet will disappear totally once the new DHS chief pretends to review the rule. What won’t disappear is illegal immigrant laborers pushing citizens out of jobs. Despite all the reports that illegals are leaving the country because of the poor economy, most are staying. They really have nothing better to go to. The ones who left will be streaming back as soon as those construction projects start up. It’s estimated that 300,000 jobs will go to illegals.

They shouldn’t have much trouble getting across the border. Expect border fence work to come to a halt if DHS follows the recommendations of The Migration Policy Institute.

Advisory Group Urges Freeze on Construction of Border Fence

Members of an influential Washington think tank today recommended major changes in the nation’s immigration policy, including freezing construction of a security fence along the U.S.- Mexican border and suspending “zero-tolerance” prosecution programs against all people caught crossing segments of the border.

…the Bush administration quadrupled criminal prosecutions of immigration violators between 2003 and 2008, to 79,400, in part through programs such as Operation Streamline, which filed minor charges against virtually all people caught crossing parts of the Texas and Arizona borders. Advocates say such programs are an effective deterrent that reduce illegal crossing.

Critics say that the government lacks the resources to sustain the strategy and that it diverts resources from more serious crimes such as drug and human smuggling, accounting for about half of total U.S. criminal cases, more than referrals by the FBI and Drug Enforcement Agency combined.

The MPI report recommended halting such programs until Department of Justice and Homeland Security officials determine if they reduce illegal immigration across the entire border or prevent prosecution of more serious crimes.

So far, Napolitano has signaled a greater focus of enforcement resources against employers and immigrants who have committed other crimes, and defended DHS efforts to complete the last 10 percent of 670 miles of fencing planned for the southern border.

The MPI report said the border project is expensive, controversial, poorly coordinated and behind schedule and should be reassessed.

It also urged the withdrawal of a proposal to pressure employers to fire workers who are the subject of Social Security “no-match” letters, indicating their work papers may be involved in fraud, saying the program may duplicate other enforcement efforts and discourage workers from correcting honest mistakes. The Obama administration has delayed its response, until April 10, to a lawsuit filed by business and labor groups in federal court in San Francisco to stop the proposed regulation.

Overall, the authors suggested that DHS target enforcement against criminal networks that sustain large-scale illegal migration and that could aid terrorists; against employers who rely on illegal workers to gain unfair competitive advantage or whom terrorists may attempt to infiltrate; and routinely bring criminal charges against individuals only when they are repeat-offenders or have committed unrelated crimes.

I’m guessing these recommendations will be viewed favorably by the Obama administration. Napolitano has already said the DHS will focus on targeting criminal elements. I can’t argue against targeting the most violent criminals as a priority. As for the rest of the illegals, who’s going to stop them?