Obama is tougher than McCain on illegal aliens? Huh?

[WhiskeyGirl]

Reported the Washington Post: “The effort is likely to significantly reshape immigration enforcement, current and former executive branch officials said. It comes as the Obama administration and Democratic leaders in Congress vow to crack down on illegal immigrants who commit crimes, rather than those who otherwise abide by the law.”

http://blogs.dailymail.com/donsurber/2009/05/19/obama-is-tougher-than-mccain-on-illegal-aliens/

If you are here illegally, are you committing a crime? 

If you work with a Social Security card/number that does not belong to you, are you committing a crime?

If you are here illegally, and you or your children are receiving public benefits, like Food Stamps, welfare, Medicaid, free hospital care, WIC, are you responsible for paying the taxpayers back?  Somehow, I seem to recall that children gotta eat, and many folks I know are responsible for paying ex-spouses and the government back for monies extened for the care of their spouses and families.  Will illegal aliens get the same treatment as other parents who don't pay up?  Will they become criminals?

What crimes WILL cause illegal aliens to be subject to a 'crack down' based on the rules of Barack?  Anything? 

What exactly is the 'crack down'?  Consequences?  What is the rest of the story?

[WhiskeyGirl]

Tough new law in Italy?

The main one will make it a crime for someone to enter or stay in Italy without a visa or authorisation, and they will be liable to a fine of up to 10,000 euros. The fine is lifted if the immigrant agrees to leave the country.

The length of time illegal immigrants can be kept in government holding centres will go up from two to six months.

There is also a new measure aimed at stopping people from helping those living in the country illegally. Renting or offering accomodation to someone without the correct papers will be a crime, carrying a jail term of up to three years.

A result of the new law will be that civil servants will be obliged to alert the authorities if they receive information about illegal immigrants.

Another controversial measure is the setting up of citizen patrols to help provide security in certain suburbs. The volunteers, trained and registered by the authorities, will be told to inform the police and social services about any problems they come across.

http://www.euronews.net/2009/05/13/new-italian-law-against-illegal-immigrants/

The Census reports illegals?  The police report illegals?  The schools report illegals?  Government workers report illegals?

[WhiskeyGirl]

House Bill 184 would require public and private employers to register for a program such as “E-verify,” which allows them to check Social Security Administration and United States Department of Homeland Security records to ensure that potential employees are legally able to work in the United States, according to information provided by Combs’ office.

“This legislation is intended to preserve jobs for Americans and those who are here legally,” Combs said in a prepared statement.

http://www.oxfordpress.com/news/oxford-news/immigration-law-aims-to-protect-american-jobs-125768.html

I know of more than a few returning military people that had a hard time finding jobs.  Jobs they did find, were 'under-employment'.   Hard work should be rewarded, so should applying and coming to this country legally.

jmho

[WhiskeyGirl]

Time to level playing field for working poor in U.S

Westat, an independent researcher, found that E-Verify cleared 96 percent of employees within 5 seconds. Less than one half of 1 percent was not verified because of errors in the Social Security database. (Employers can’t fire them while the mismatch is being contested.) The rest were illegal workers.

Advocates of open borders — both defenders of illegal immigration and cheap-labor businesses — have run a campaign to demonize E-Verify precisely because it does the job. It enables enforcement of the law without scenes of ICE agents hauling away poor foreigners in handcuffs.

The advocates hold that rather than stop the flow of undocumented workers, the United States should just keep legalizing everyone.

Their argument is as follows: Wages for low-skilled jobs are dismal because employers can exploit illegal workers. Make them legal, and companies would have to improve pay and working conditions for all.

There’s some truth in that, but you can’t get around basic labor economics...every worker is subject to the law of supply and demand. The more people there are after the same number of jobs, the less anyone has to pay them.

The United States accepts 2 million legal immigrants a year, more than the rest of the world combined. No American has to apologize for drawing the line at illegal immigration.

Our working poor deserve the same protections against unfair competition that our doctors get. And in this economy, their need has grown desperate.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/6424916.html

[WhiskeyGirl]

Employment service AppleOne Inc., which places workers at a variety of businesses, started using E-Verify at all of its California branches in 2007. Human resources manager Linda Madigan said it shifted the burden of validating documents from the company to the government.

"The E-Verify program is one of the best things we did," Madigan said. "The [branches] don't have to look at the documents anymore and decide if it looks right or not."

At AppleOne's downtown Los Angeles branch on a recent day, office coordinator Mayela Solorio ran an applicant's personal information through the system and within seconds received a response from the government: "Employment Authorized."

"He's good to go," she said.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-everify14-2009may14,0,7963143.story

A good point - it shifts the burden of determining if someone's papers don't look right off the shoulders of the prospective employer.  So many birth certificates, so much paper.

If you have a problem as a legal person, best to get it fixed right away.  I think it will make things smoother in the future too.  Could be used for voter registration too.

How many people get by without a Social Security number these days?