Heads Up! Immigration is Unexpectedly Percolating in Congress

Greg Heineman, president of the National Council of Social Security predicted that making E-Verify mandatory for all U.S. employees would result in an "onslaught" of more than 10 million more visits to SSA field offices.

With the Republicans pushing for enforcement-related immigration legislation to the House floor, immigration has re-surfaced as a hot issue in the current Congressional session. On Tuesday, May 6th, the House of Representatives held hearings on immigration. According to Congressional Quarterly, "The hearings that began Tuesday reflect a careful attempt by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., to maintain some semblance of control and keep the peace with two crucial constituencies — “Blue Dog” Democrats interested in get-tough immigration legislation and Hispanic Caucus members who want no immigration enforcement legislation to move unless it also advances a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already living and working in the United States. But it was apparent from testimony and remarks by various members that her goal would be difficult to achieve." North Carolina DINO ("Democrat in Name Only"), Heath Schuler has paired up with Tom Tancredo to push the SAVE legislation which would require all employers to verify every new employee's documentation via the Social Security Administration's E-Verify system. Currently, less than 1% of employers use the system although various states have made it mandatory. The legislation is opposed by employers and civil rights groups because of its burdensome and anti-civil liberties provisions. An article, in the, May 7^th business section of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, succinctly sets out the flaws in the legislation's provisions.

Forcing companies to use a government system to verify the legal status of workers would cause thousands of citizens and legal residents to be initially rejected for work and cripple the Social Security Administration, critics told Congress on Tuesday. The system, known as E-Verify, is currently voluntary, but several proposals in Congress — including an immigration enforcement measure known as the SAVE Act — would make it mandatory.

John Trasvina, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said that the E-Verify system relies on faulty Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security databases and would therefore create an official "no-work" list requiring millions of U.S. citizens and legal workers to bear the burden of proving their legal status. Forcing a deeply flawed system upon an unstable economy is not the answer," he told a Ways and Means subcommittee.

Greg Heineman, president of the National Council of Social Security Management Associations Inc., which represents 3,400 SSA managers and supervisors, predicted that making E-Verify mandatory for all U.S. employees would result in an "onslaught" of more than 10 million more visits to SSA field offices.

Rep. Joe Baca, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and other proponents of a comprehensive immigration bill have lambasted the Democratic leadership over their failure to act more aggressively on immigration reform. Baca proposed an alternative to SAVE called, Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy Act, also known as STRIVE. The STRIVE bill calls for increased enforcement of laws against employing illegal immigrants, but would also create a guest-worker program to allow millions of undocumented immigrants to stay and work in the United States and eventually become citizens. With the national election looming, and the Latino vote coalescing as an important part of the Democratic strategy to retake the executive branch and augment their numbers in Congress, it appears that the Democratic leadership is listening as witnessed by Tuesday's impromptu hearing. Although the chances of passing any kind of comprehensive immigration reform remain slim it appears that the winds may have shifted in favor of some form of legislation that provides a path to citizenship to the the estimated 12 million undocumented workers in the United States. The danger is that a combination of DINOs and Repubs could advance anti-immigrant legislation in its stead. Stay tuned as things will continue to get interesting as the focus shifts to the general election with the Democrats trying to exact the loyalties of Latinos and blue collar voters. Expect piece-meal legislation intended to mollify both sides of the immigration debate.

We have previously published the list of DINOs who signed on to the Tancredo-Schuler bill. I am again reposting the information.

Help Defeat Save and Promote Comprehensive Immigration Reform

MigraMatters has an excellent comprehensive view of the Act, as well as legislative updates. (http://migramatters.blogspot.com/2008/03/best-have-your-papers-in-order-new.html). It is imperative that the progressive community mobilize against this odious and underhanded breach of civil liberties. To get updates and information, check out the following websites:

· Church World Service http://www.congress.org/churchworld/issues/alert/?alertid=10899656

· The Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform http://www.justiceforimmigrants.org/action.html

· National Immigrant Justice Center http://www.immigrantjustice.org/blog/uspolicyblog/save-act-update---more-calls-are-needed.html

· GENERATION 1.5 http://generationonepointfive.blogspot.com/2008/03/hr-4408-must-be-stopped-call-to-action.html

· Dream Act – Texas http://dreamacttexas.blogspot.com/2008/03/urgent-please-help-stop-hr-4088.html

· Find out if your representative has signed the Bill http://clerk.house.gov/110/lrc/pd/petitions/Dis5.htm

Here are some numbers to call and help defeat this rapacious legislation:

CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND SAY:

PLEASE DECLINE TO SIGN THE PETITION TO DISCHARGE

H.R. 4088 THE SHULER-TANCREDO BILL

(ALSO KNOWN AS THE "SAVE" ACT)

AND, IF YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IS A CO-SPONSOR OF H.R. 4088

PLEASE WITHDRAW YOUR NAME AS A CO-SPONSOR OF

H.R. 4088, THE SHULER-TANCREDO BILL

See if your Rep. is a Sponsor Here:

http://clerk.house.gov/110/lrc/pd/petitions/Dis5.htm

Your Representatives' phone number is online here:

http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/mcapdir.html

OR

CALL THE HOUSE SWITCHBOARD AT:

202-225-3121

Blue Dog Dems


(Ala.) - Rep. Cramer
(Ala.) - Rep. Davis
(Ark.) - Rep. Berry
(Ark.) - Rep. Ross
(Calif.) - Rep. McNerny
(Colo.) - Rep. Perlmutter
(Colo.) - Rep. Udall
(Fla.) - Rep. Boyd
(Fla.) - Rep. Klein
(Ga.) - Rep. Barrow
(Ga.) - Rep. Bishop
(Ga.) - Rep. Marshall
(Ill.) - Rep. Bean
(Ind.) - Rep. Donnelly
(Ind.) - Rep. Ellsworth
(Ind.) - Rep. Hill
(Ind.) - Rep. Visclosky
(Iowa) - Rep. Boswell
(Kan.) - Rep. Boyda
(La.) - Rep. Melancon
(Mich.) - Rep. Stupak
(Miss.) - Rep. Taylor
(N.H.) - Rep. Hodes
(N.Y.) - Rep. Arcuri
(N.Y.) - Rep. Gillibrand
(N.Y.) - Rep. Higgins
(N.C.) - Rep. McIntyre
(N.C.) - Rep. Shuler *
(Ohio) - Rep. Ryan
(Ohio) - Rep. Space
(Okla.) - Rep. Boren
(Pa.) - Rep. Altmire
(Pa.) - Rep. Carney
(Pa.) - Rep. Holden
(Pa.) - Rep. Kanjorski
(Pa.) - Rep. Murphy
(Pa.) - Rep. Murtha
(Pa.) - Rep. Sestak
(Tenn.) - Rep. Cohen
(Tenn.) - Rep. Cooper
(Tenn.) - Rep. Davis
(Tenn.) - Rep. Gordon
(Tenn.) - Rep. Tanner
(Texas) - Rep. Lampson
(Texas) - Rep. Rodriguez
(Utah) - Rep. Matheson
(Va.) - Rep. Boucher
(Wash.) - Rep. Baird
(Wis.) - Rep. Kagen


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