Immigrant unemployment is now soaring. During 18 months of recession as millions of Americans lost jobs, Congress has resolutely refused to reduce immigration and the importation of foreign workers. Scores of our elected officials appear to feel much more obligation to immigrants than to vulnerable Americans among their constituents. Now, a new study shows that the recession has finally begun to hit immigrant workers really hard. With legal immigrants who are already here suffering major job losses, is it possible that Congress can begin to see the need to stop bringing in more foreign workers?
The home building industry was one of the hardest hit with the onset of the current recession, and the impact sent an abundance of workers from the construction site to the farms. According to a report in the St. Petersburg Times, farmers in suburban Tampa’s Plant City saw no shortage of farm workers this spring despite the efforts of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL) who proposed the AgJOBS Amnesty late last week.
On Thursday, three illegal migrants were in a Florida hospital, one in critical condition, after a raft carrying some 30 people capsized off the coast of Florida. Sixteen people were rescued, and the rest are presumed dead. The United States Coast Guard has also conducted a search for other survivors over 2,500 square miles of ocean, which was still ongoing and expanding as of this writing. Autopsies of the recovered bodies were to be conducted.
National Syndicated columnist Froma Harrop in light of high jobless rates called for nationwide use of E-Verify in her May 14 column entitled "Illegal Immigration in Tough Times." Harrop ranks No. 14 nationally in reader reach according to Media Matters for America and was a Hillary Clinton and John Edwards supporter.
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced H.R. 2406, the Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal (CLEAR) Act of 2009. The bill's key goal is "helping local law enforcement detect, arrest and detain illegal aliens in their communities."
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Reps. Adam Putnam (R-FL) and Howard Berman (D-CA) reintroduced the AgJOBS Amnesty in both the House (H.R.2414) and Senate (S.1038). The bill would offer Amnesty to illegal aliens (and their families) who can show that they've illegally worked in the country over the past five years.
Janet Napolitano has raised hopes for better immigration enforcement many times in her career and then disappointed those cheering her on, but I want to believe my eyes/ears that she signaled a major commitment to E-Verify this week. It appears the Obama Administration is finally starting to separate itself from the most extreme open-borders elements of the Democratic Party. Napolitano's testimony before Congress was most significant -- and encouraging.
