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A Good Day For Border Enforcement

July 9th, 2009 by Kevin

…and already Minnesota\’s newest Senator is proving worthless for looking out for the interests of Minnesotans.

The Senate was considering the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2010 (HR 2892) and a number of important amendments were made, several of which have already been voted on, and two of which are coming up on Thursday.  Call your Senators and voice your opinion, especially to Franken whom has already proven to be the least in touch with Minnesotans.

S.Amdt. 1371 was proposed by Senator Sessions, to permanently authorize the E-Verify program that allows employers to verify if their employees are legally able to work in the United States.  In addition it would require all federal contractors to use this tool.  A motion was made to table the amendment, which would effectively kill it.  That motion was defeated 53-44, with Senator Klobuchar voting to save the amendment and Senator Franken voting to kill it. Since the motion to kill it by tabling it failed, it was then voted on by voice and it passed.  This secures the future of an absolutely critical tool in the fight against illegal immigration.

S.Amdt. 1399 was proposed by Senator DeMint, to require the completion of at least 700 miles of reinforced fencing along the southwest border by December 31, 2010.  Granted this is something that was already required but heh, it\’s a start.  DHS is kind of like a small child, if you don\’t keep reminding them to clean up their room it\’ll never happen.  A vote was taken on this amendment and it passed 54-44.  Again Senator Klobuchar voted for border enforcement and Senator Franken voted against it.

These were two important and critical amendments but not all is well yet.  There are at least two very important amendments coming up which need to pass.  Call your Senators and let them know they need to vote for them.

S.Amdt. 1375, being proposed by Senator Vitter removes any barriers to the implementation of the so called \”no match\” rule, which basically lets the Social Security Administration send letters to employees whose personal information does not match the Social Security number they are using.  In some cases these are simple errors, but most of the time they are indicative of identity theft being committed by illegal aliens.  This allows the SSA to let employers know there is a problem so that the problem can be addressed.  This seemingly common sense measure has repeatedly met resistance by those who wish to make identify theft easy for illegal aliens.

S.Amdt. 1415, being proposed by Senator Grassley allows employers to use E-Verify to verify the legal status of all employees, not just new hires.  Under current law, amazingly E-Verify can only be used to check on the work eligibility of new hires, which means thousands of potentially illegal employees may be unchecked.  It doesn\’t require employers to check current employees, it simply gives them the option to do so.  Allowing an employer to go beyond requirements and verify the legality of their workforce seems like a goal that should be encouraged and we should give employers the ability to do so.

Call your Senator today and let them know you want them to vote for both of these critical bills.

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Posted in Immigration | 3 Comments »

3 Responses

  1. J. Ewing Says:

    I thought we already had a “no match” rule, that letters were sent to employers if their employees didn’t match, and that some employers, perhaps most, simply ignored them. If this sends such letters to the employees in addition, then the real owner could scream identity theft and maybe get something done. That would be an improvement but I did not see that clearly in your description.

    The issue in the past has been that SSA was barred by law from sharing this information with the INS, even in cases where dozens or hundreds of employees at a single location were on the no-match list. IF elimination of that barrier is what is proposed, that will be great, because INS will know which businesses to raid. Very efficient and effective.

    The last time I looked at it, the SSA basically admitted that they knew where roughly 9 million of the supposed 12 million illegals were working. It seems stupid not to get after crimes that you KNOW are being committed, by whom and where they are.

  2. Kevin Says:

    Legislation has since blocked the SSA from sending those letters.

    On the plus side this new amendment would make employer action compulsory.

  3. EckerNet.Com » Blog Archive » Keep On The Pressure Says:

    […] A Good Day For Border Enforcement […]