California Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, who represents a section just west of Los Angeles, has filed paperwork to initiate a ballot initiative that would recall a bill signed into law last week by Gov. Jerry Brown that allows illegal aliens to receive state funded grants to be used for college tuition.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday, charging that South Carolina's new immigration law is unconstitutional. The law requires law enforcement to check the immigration status of all people that they detain, including those that are stopped for traffic violations. The ACLU and its allies are hoping to get a federal injunction to prevent it from taking effect. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson stood behind the law, saying, "We have a strong opinion this law is constitutional and we’re prepared to defend it to the U.S. Supreme Court if we have to.”
California Governor Jerry Brown had until midnight Sunday, October 9th, 2011 to act on measures that had made their way through the California Legislature and onto his desk. Brown certainly did not disappoint illegal aliens in his state and across the country, as he signed three bills into law that strongly reiterated California’s stance as a sanctuary state.
The federal government asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday to halt the Alabama immigration law. A federal judge earlier upheld two key provisions in the law that allow authorities to question people suspected of being in the country illegally and hold them without bond, and let officials check the immigration status of students in public schools. The measure has already had an immediate impact.
Employers in Alabama's Marshall County are hiring new workers following the stepped-up federal and state enforcement of immigration laws. "It is amazing to see the effects" as illegal workers leave town, said Chuck Ellis, a member of Albertville’s city council. In Alabama’s Marshall County, "three in four [locals] endorse the fact that there’s something being done" by the federal and state governments. "Self-deportation is a real thing," Ellis said.
On Sunday, October 2, 2011, Roy was a guest on MSNBC's "Up with Chris Hayes". Roy was asked about Alabama's immigration enforcement law, but he also discussed the merits of Chairman Lamar Smith's Legal Workforce Act.
Roy Beck, who heads NumbersUsa.com, said the bill should be supported because it protects jobs – for Americans and legal residents, he said.
"This is a tremendous bill and it will change the face of the workplace in the next two years, especially in California," Beck said. "There are millions of payroll jobs unemployed Americans will get."
The immigration questions asked during the MSNBC/Politico and CNN/Tea Party Republican presidential debates approached immigration from an ethnic perspective. The media missed the chance to press the eight candidates on the larger impacts of immigration policy. The debates follow a troubling pattern where the media and politicians fail to recognize immigration's interconnectedness with other issues. This is the third of four blogs concerning immigration-sustainability questions policy makers should address.
U.S. District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn issued a major ruling today that upheld most parts of Alabama's immigration enforcement law that the state legislature passed earlier this year. The bill, which included mandatory E-Verify and a trespassing ordinance, was regarded as the strongest immigration enforcement bill passed at the state level.
EDITORS NOTE: Last week, the House Judiciary Committee completed its mark up of Chairman Smith's Legal Workforce Act, H.R.2885, which would require all businesses to use E-Verify. Ironically, the more liberal Members of the Committee tried to use conservative arguments in their attempt to delay or poison the bill. Some Members went as far as calling portions of the bill an amnesty for illegal aliens, while other Members argued that the bill for being against states rights and increasing the size and scope of the federal government.
The GOP Debate gets underway tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern Time. I'll be
providng updates of any immigration-related questions that may be posed
to the Presidential Hopefuls. In the past two debates, the Hopefuls have
been asked basically the same questions they were asked in the
primary's first debate held in Ames, Iowa. So, we're hoping for some new
questions tonight, specifically questions that deal with mandatory
E-Verify and legal immigration numbers.
Freshman Rep. Rich Nugent (R-Fla.) has joined NumbersUSA's 5-for-5 Club after cosponsoring Rep. Marsha Blackburn's Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal (CLEAR) Act of 2011. The CLEAR Act of 2011 would help local law enforcement detect, arrest and detain illegal aliens in their communties.
The House Judiciary Committee passed Chairman Lamar Smith's Legal Workforce Act on Wednesday afternoon 22-to-13. Only two amendments were approved by the committee, including one offered by Chairman Smith himself. The bill, H.R.2885, would require all employers to use E-Verify within 2 years for all non-agricultural new hires, while requiring federal, state and local agencies to check current employees as well within 6 months.
Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) stood before the House floor on Tuesday night and said that removing illegal aliens from not only the U.S. workforce, but from the United States, would open up millions of jobs for unemployed Americans:
The House Judiciary Committee will continue its markup today of Chairman Lamar Smith's Legal Workforce Act, H.R.2885. The bill would require 100% of businesses to begin using E-Verify within two years as well as create several triggers that would help identify illegal aliens using fraudulent documents and/or already holding a job in the workforce.
The markup of Rep. Lamar Smith's Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 2885) in the House Judiciary coincided with news from around the country that emphasized the need for his national E-Verify bill. While President Obama and other officials around the country are shielding more than 7 million illegal workers, more than 22 million citizens and legal immigrants want a full-time job but can't find one.
In one glance at our easy, colorful enforcement comparison Grid, you can see how the climate for illegal aliens in your state would get really tough if Congress passes U.S. House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith's H.R. 2885 (the Legal Workforce Act). Take a look at the Grid and see the 30 ways that H.R. 2885 would ensure that only legal workers get payroll jobs.
Rasmussen Reports released a new public opinion poll today that shows a majority of Americans believe that the policies of the United States Government are encouraging illegal immigration.
The House Judiciary Committee will begin marking up Chariman Lamar Smith's Legal Workforce Act on Thursday morning. The Legal Workforce Act would require national use of E-Verify for all new hires for 100% of businesses within 2 years of enactment. Earlier today, Chairman Smith reintroduced the bill as H.R.2885 with a new subsection that requires the Department of Homeland Security to establish a support center for states that wish to help enforce the law.
Rep. Ed Royce has joined NumbersUSA's 5-for-5 Club after cosponsoring the SAFE for America Act, which would end the Visa Lottery. Rep. Royce has now cosponsored at least one bill in each of our 5 Great Immigration-Reduction categories and joins 10 other Members of Congress to cosponsor a bill in each of the categories.
The California State Senate passed A.B.1236 earlier this week, sending the bill to Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature. The bill would prohibit counties and local municipalities in the state from requiring businesses to use E-Verify, futhering the need for House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith's Legal Workforce Act that would require all business in the U.S. to use E-Verify.
His liquor store boss (Parimal Patel) says his family has been employing Pres. Obama's illegal-alien uncle for most of the last decade. Patel says Uncle Omar had a good ID and Social Security number, so how could the business have known it was illegal to hire him. Well, we really don't have to put up with those kinds of excuses any more. Under Lamar Smith's H.R. 2164 (as it currently stands), Uncle Omar couldn't have gotten that job or kept it.
Has Pres. Obama's new policy of ceasing deportation for most non-violent illegal aliens so discouraged some ANTI-amnesty activists that they will give up on passing a national E-Verify law this fall? As some people ask legitimate questions about this, I can tell you that we at NumbersUSA aren't about to fulfill Mr. Obama's wildest pro-illegal-worker wishes by stopping our all-out push for a mandatory E-Verify law. Here is why . . .
Radio hosts and newspaper reporters the last few days have been asking me what I suggest Americans can do to counter the terrible anti-American-worker announcement by the Obama Administration that it basically won't deport illegal aliens unless they are violent felons. I believe the answer is that the U.S. House of Representatives has to act immediately when it returns in September to send the world a bold signal that U.S. jobs are closed.
U.S. Customs and Immigration Services has expanded its E-Verify self-check tool to include 21 states, allowing individuals to check their worker eligibility status before applying for a new job. The program is called Self Check and has been up and running for several months in states that have passed mandatory E-Verify laws such as Arizona and South Carolina.
Eight GOP Presidential Hopefuls participated in Thursday night’s debate in Ames, Iowa, but only five were asked about immigration. And none of the candidates brought up the issue on their own. Herman Cain had the strongest response in dealing with illegal immigration, while the frontrunner Mitt Romney was finally asked the question we’ve all been begging to hear.
Sixteen countries, including Mexico, have filed briefs supporting the Department of Justice's lawsuit against Alabama's recently passed immigration enforcement law. In June, the Alabama legislature passed a bill that many believe is tougher than Arizona's SB1070 bill that also drew a lawsuit from federal prosecutors last year. According to the attorney who filed the briefs, the 16 countries "want one immigration law and not 50."
The "labor shortage" claim is an old lobbying gambit that reporters still haven't caught onto. Mass-immigration activists learned decades ago that the press loves a scary story about shortages, whether it is true or not. In 2007, just before the recession Michael S. Teitelbaum, Vice President of the Sloan Foundation testified before Congress and noted that interest groups have a right to promote their own interests. His testimony rings as true in this jobless recovery as it did four years ago before the recession.
San Bernardino County has implemented a policy to require all contractors that do business with the County to use the federal government’s E-Verify system to ensure that their employees are legally authorized to work in the United States. http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/required-29134-san-bernardino.html
Vitorville Daily Press
A federal appellate court reversed its original ruling that found Hazleton's local ordinance requiring businesses to use E-Verify was unconstitutional. The court was instructed by the Supreme Court to revisit its ruling after upholding Arizona's statewide law earlier this year.
Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) has joined NumbersUSA's 5-for-5 Club after cosponsoring Rep. Bob Goodlatte's SAFE for America Act that would end the Visa Lottery. Rep. Miller has cosponsored at least one bill in each category of our "5 Great Immigration Solutions". Rep. Miller is a long-time champion for lower immigration levels, and in the previous Congress, he joined Reps. Sue Myrick and Lamar Smith in forming the Reclaim American Jobs Caucus in Congress.
While the nation has been transfixed by the recent debt ceiling debate, 22 million Americans have continued their search for a full-time job. Now that a compromise on the debt ceiling has been reached, Members of both parties are promising to get back to work creating jobs. Yet their promises are hard to believe considering both parties have refused to act on one of the most pressing job-related issues -- lowering annual immigration levels.
The U.S. Justice Department, on behalf of itself, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, and with consultation with the Department of Education, have filed a lawsuit in Alabama federal court challenging the state's efforts to enforce immigration laws. The lawsuit seeks an injunction before the law goes into effect on September 1 and states that the Alabama law undermines federal enforcement efforts of immigration laws.
Freshman Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) joined NumbersUSA's 5-for-5 Club after cosponsoring House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith's E-Verify bill, H.R.2164, last week. Rep. Ross is the third freshman to join the 5-for-5 Club, but more importantly, the first Member of the House Immigration Subcommittee. He's also the first Member of the House Judiciary Committee to go 5-for-5.
Freshman Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) has cosponsored the SAFE for America Act, H.R.704, that would end the Visa Lottery. By cosponsoring the bill, Rep. Brooks has now cosponsored at least one bill in each category of our "5 Great Solutions". While Rep. Brooks is only serving his first term in Congress, he's cosponsored more than a dozen immigration-reduction bills and was identified as a "True Reformer" during last year's mid-term elections.
Reps. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), Ralph Hall (R-Texas), Kay Granger (R-Texas), and Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) have co-sponsored House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith's (R-Texas) E-Verify bill. Chairman Smith's bill would require most employers to use E-Verify within two years of enactment.
Reps. Hal Rogers (R- Ky.), Bill Young (R- Fla.), and Peter King (R-N.Y.) have co-sponsored House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith's (R-Texas) E-Verify bill. Chairman Smith's bill would require most employers to use E-Verify within two years of enactment.
House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith's Legal Workforce Act is now bi-partisan with the addition of Democrat Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.). Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va) also cosponsored the bill today. Chairman Smith's bill would require most employers to use E-Verify within two years of enactment.
Reps. John Culberson (R-Texas) and Randy Forbes (R-Va.) have co-sponsored House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith's (R-Texas) E-Verify bill. Chairman Smith's bill would require most employers to use E-Verify within two years of enactment.
Reps. Michael Burgess (R-Texas), Tim Griffin (R-Ark.), John Sullivan (R-Okla.), and Don Young (R-Alaska) have co-sponsored House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith's (R-Texas) E-Verify bill. Chairman Smith's bill would require most employers to use E-Verify within two years of enactment.
A new report from the Migration Policy Institute found that only 3.2% of the nation's employers are currently enrolled in E-Verify. House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith's mandatory E-Verify bill, Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 2164), would require 100% of employers to use E-Verify within two years.
Chairman of the House Immigration Subcommittee Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.) wrote an op-ed that was published in Roll Call today that touts Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith's E-Verify bill (H.R. 2164). Rep. Gallegly wrote that E-Verify is efficient, easy to use, and the best bill currently offered in Congress to put Americans back to work.
Reps. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), Dan Burton (R-Ind.), Tom Latham (R-Iowa), and John Shimkus (R-Ill.) have co-sponsored House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith's (R-Texas) E-Verify bill. Chairman Smith's bill would require most employers to use E-Verify within two years of enactment.
Reps. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), and Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) have co-sponsored House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith's (R-Texas) E-Verify bill. Chairman Smith's bill would require most employers to use E-Verify within two years of enactment.
More than any other issue, immigration causes amnesia to mainstream media journalists. For years, we have known three facts about E-Verify: (1) it's accurate; (2) it's effective; and (3) it's free. As these basic truths have become widely known, E-Verify has grown in popularity with the public and the employers that use the system. Yet recent reporting shows a disconnect from E-Verify's most important features.
Reps. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), and Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) have co-sponsored House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith's (R-Texas) E-Verify bill. Chairman Smith's bill would require most employers to use E-Verify within two years of enactment.
Freshman Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) added his name to 14 different bills on Thursday that would reduce overall immigration levels and work to end illegal immigration. Rep. Brooks was identified as a "True Reform" Candidate during last year's mid-term elections, agreeing in the affirmative to all 12 questions on NumbersUSA's Immigration-Reduction survey.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed two pieces of legislation into law on Thursday that will require or encourage businesses to use E-Verify. HB342 requires all state and local contractors to use E-Verify, while HB646 requires all private businesses to verify the legal status of their new hires by providing employers that use it a safe harbor against sanctions.
