On July 8, the Senate passed by voice vote an amendment offered by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) that would require all federal contractors to check the eligibility of new hires through E-Verify. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) tried to table the amendment, but the motion was defeated 44-to-53, allowing the passage of the amendment.
A bill to extend mandatory E-Verify usage in North Carolina passed a state Senate committee on July 7. SB 32, which is sponsored by Sen. John Snow, a Democrat, would require city and county governments, and certain state and local government contractors, to use the federal E-Verify system to check the workplace eligibility of new hires. State agencies were required to use E-Verify beginning in 2007, so this bill is seen as the next step in an effort to extend E-Verify usage and, thereby, free up jobs for unemployed citizens and legal residents.
A 9.5% unemployment rate and stories of returning National Guardsmen who can't find jobs -- plus constant pressure from home-state voters -- has finally produced a victory for mandating government contractors to use E-Verify to keep from hiring illegal aliens. After several defeated efforts, Sen. Sessions finally won over a majority of his colleagues this morning. Especially interesting to all of us are the 8 Senators who voted to kill this mandate in March but who supported it today.
Yesterday, the Senate adopted two immigration-reduction amendments through a voice vote, marking our third and fourth victories this week. Sen. Charles Grassley's (R-Iowa) E-Verify amendment to the Homeland Security spending bill allows employers to check the workplace eligibility of all employees, not just new hires. Sen. David Vitter's (R-La.) No-Match amendment prevents further delay in the implementation of a Bush Administration rule allowing the Social Security to send No-Match letters to employers.
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) will offer E-Verify amendments to the 2010 appropriation mark-ups for the Energy, Finance, Labor, and Health and Human Services spending bills. The mark-ups are expected to occur on Friday.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) introduced an amendment to the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations bill that would require federal contractors to use E-Verify and permanently reauthorize the workplace verification tool, which is set to expire this fall. The Senate is expected to vote on the amendment on Wednesday.
Utah Democratic Representative Jim Matheson wrote a letter to Pres. Barack Obama urging him to require E-Verify for federal contractors. Pres. Obama delayed a 2008 executive order that would require federal contractors to use E-Verify. It was the third time the order had been delayed and the fourth by Obama. Rep. Matheson's letter was signed by 12 members of the Blue Dog Coalition members.
Senator Jeff Sessions and Senator Charles Grassley have offered three amendments to a tourism bill is being debated on the Senate floor. The Travel Promotion Act of 2009 (S.1023) would establish a non-profit corporation to communicate United States entry policies and otherwise promote leisure, business, and scholarly travel to the United States. NumbersUSA is not taking a stance on the bill itself, but we do support the amendments.
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) is offering an E-Verify amendment to the House Agricultural Appropriations write-up. Rep. Kingston offered a similar amendment to the Homeland Security appropriations write-up that was defeated last week 23-to-35.
The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that local governments can suspend the business licenses of businesses that hire illegal aliens. The case stems from a local ordinance in Valley Park, Mo. where a law was passed that requires local businesses to use E-Verify.
Even though E-Verify has been postponed until September of this year, one California company heeded the government’s warning and put all their employees through the verification process.
Three immigration-related amendments have been offered to the FY 2010 House Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bill (H.R. 2847), which is currently under debate in the House of Representatives. The amendments would deny agency funds to states and local governments providing sanctuary for illegal aliens and ensure that no agency funding would be used to employ illegal aliens.
Representative Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.) has sent a letter, along with 51 other Members of the House, criticizing Pres. Barack Obama and his Administration's decision to postpone a 2008 executive order requiring the mandatory use of E-Verify for government contractors. It was the fourth time the order was delayed - the third by the Obama Administration.
The choice couldn't have been clearer. And these U.S. Representatives said a big fat NO to the unemployed voters of their Congressional Districts and said hundreds of federal contractor jobs have to remain with illegal aliens. See the list of shame . . .
Last summer, Pres. George Bush signed an executive order that would require government contractors and subcontractors to verify all employees and new hires using the Department of Homeland Security's employment verification system - E-Verify. Pres. Bush's executive order has been delayed four times, and now NumbersUSA has learned that the new Administration will scrap that executive order and replace it with a weaker version.
Informed sources are telling our Capitol Hill Team that the Obama Administration plans to announce today or tomorrow new orders and rules that will gut most of the improvements in fighting illegal immigration at the end of the Bush Administration. The Big Business Lobbyists apparently are getting nearly everything they want when it comes to favoring cheap foreign labor over unemployed Americans.
Proponents of the immigration-reduction initiative 1043 in Washington State, also known as the Washington "Respect for Law" Act of 2009, are collecting signatures toward the 241,153 necessary to advance it for the November 2009 General Election ballot. The deadline for collecting signatures is July 2, 2009.
The House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee unanimously approved their FY2010 spending budget, and it includes a two-year reauthorization of E-Verify. E-Verify was extended for six months during the omnibus spending bill passed back in March and is currently set to expire at the end of September.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) has introduced the Employee Verification Act (H.R. 2679) which would extend E-Verify for five years. The program is currently set to expire in September after attempts for a longer extension failed during the spring's debates over the economic stimulus bill and omnibus spending bills.
The mandatory usage of E-Verify for companies contracting with the federal government has been delayed for a fourth time. Former President George Bush first signed an executive order making E-Verify's usage mandatory last fall, but he delayed its implementation once, and it has now been delayed three times under Pres. Barack Obama.
It is as if Sen. Schumer (D-NY) and Pres. Obama are moving the goal posts to the 40-yard line and hope to convince a gullible America that it is the real goal line. They are trying to sell the idea that amnesty bills were defeated several times in 2007 merely because our southern border wasn't "secure." Now, they are claiming that just because arrests are down on the Mexican border that it proves the border is secure and Americans are ready to talk about amnesty. Folks, not only is the 40-yard line not the goal line, but the ball hasn't come close to crossing the 50-yard line yet.
Locals in Shelbyville, Tenn. aren't happy with who they're having to compete with for jobs at the town's Tyson Foods Plant. As millions of unemployed Americans are looking for any kind of work, many, like the ones in Tennessee, are finding themselves competing with foreign workers for jobs in their own hometowns.
Twelve states have some form of mandatory E-Verify legislation in place and now Ohio is looking to add another state to the list. State Rep. Courtney Combs introduced legislation yesterday that would require both public and private companies to use the successful workplace verification tool.
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.
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.
The Rhode Island state house passed a mandatory E-Verify bill on Tuesday, but the measure now goes to the state Senate where it's failed the last two years. The bill would require private employers to use E-Verify, which expands an executive order, which requires government contractors to use the workplace verification tool.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano credited the states for the growth of E-Verify. Napolitano testified before the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday and said that mandatory E-Verify laws in the states has contributed to the system's rapid growth in past years.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) has been selected by Senate Republicans to serve as Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee, which oversees the Immigration Subcommittee. Sen. Sessions is a key advocate for reducing immigration levels and recently sponsored the E-Verify extension amendment to the economic stimulus bill.
"With momentum building for Congress to address comprehensive immigration reform later this year, two members of the House have introduced a bill to put employment verification at the center of the debate.
Written by Reps. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, and Sam Johnson, R-Texas, the measure would establish a mandatory electronic verification system that replaces an existing government-run system that has been roundly criticized by employer groups...."
The effective date for the mandatory use of E-Verify by federal contractors and subcontractors has been delayed again. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who administers the system with Homeland Security, announced that the date has been pushed back to June 30, 2009.
Acting Deputy Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Michael Aytes said during testimony to Congress that several enhancements are planned for E-Verify in fiscal year 2010. Enhancements will include additional data sources, an expanded photo screening tool, and improved usability and efficiency.
A Rhode Island Superior Court judge had upheld an executive order issued last year by Gov. Donald Carcieri that requires the mandatory use of E-Verify for state employers and contractors. The ACLU filed the lawsuit seeking a permanent injunction to block the state's use of E-Verify.
Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman is expected to sign into law today LB403, a bill that would require state and local governments to check whether new hires are eligible to work in the U.S., and to verify a person's legal status before receiving public benefits.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said today that she supports E-Verify and an extension beyond its current Sept. 30 expiration date. In an interview with the Gannett Washington Bureau, she extended her support for the program even though the Obama Administration hasn't taken a position on it.
Open-borders groups say their top priority this spring is to pass the DREAM Act Amnesty for illegal-alien teenagers. I have some ways you can test a politician to see if he/she is really concerned about those teens, or if the real goal is just to flood as many foreign workers into occupations and neighborhoods as possible. Here's the test . . . .
Late last week the Open Borders coalition, in and out of Congress, revealed their plans to push through two major amnesties this year. Now is our chance to stop them.
