In tough economic times, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should focus on ensuring a level playing field for honest businesses, and regulating unscrupulous firms who use illegal workers to cut costs and gain a competitive advantage. Clearly, the federal government should focus its enforcement efforts on the first company and not the second. It would be consistent with general beliefs of fairness and justice.
Unfortunately, if last week's federal register announcement of "dropping the no-match rule" is any indication, the DHS is squarely aiming its efforts on employers who are trying to do the right thing. By ignoring a critical tool that can help agents target employers and instead augmenting the monitoring and compliance of E-Verify users, as announced in May, the administration has turned our sense of fairness and justice upside down.
Of course, DHS' intent to formally revoke the no-match rule is not a big surprise. Earlier this summer, the administration slipped this announcement in with its very positive announcement that it is mandating E-Verify for federal contractors. But while DHS claims that they are dropping the no-match rule as part of their push to do "smarter" worksite enforcement, the evidence suggests that they are also leaving some critical tools for targeting the most egregious employers back in the toolbox. Not only are they discarding the safe harbor rule, but DHS has declared that they will no longer be looking at no-match letters as part of enforcement actions. DHS said as much in Wednesday's announcement declaring, "DHS has determined that focusing on the management practices of employers would be more efficacious than focusing on a single element of evidence within the totality of the circumstances."
This is a mistake. ICE agents and federal prosecutors have routinely used no-match letters as part of an overall strategy to target egregious employers. How an employer handles no-match letters, or rather how they don't, can often provide significant insight into an employer's overall compliance strategy, and useful evidence to support a criminal indictment.Meanwhile, as reported by FederalComputerWeek, federal contractors must comply with E-Verify rule effective September 8, but the authorization for E-Verify by Congress is scheduled to expire Sept. 30 under a so-called sunset provision unless lawmakers vote to extend the requirement.
In connection with E-Verify in Ohio along with the big picture of federal preemption under the Constitution, former DHS official Matt A. Mayer, now of the Heritage Foundation writes that:
Although the E-Verify system is not a panacea, it is a relatively inexpensive ($100 or less per employer), efficient (an inquiry takes 15 seconds or less), and reliable (96 percent) online method of ensuring that Ohio jobs are filled only by Ohioans and those who are lawfully present. With Ohio's unemployment rate at 10.8 percent and increasing, such a law would provide much-needed job opportunities for those out-of-work Ohioans at both the unskilled and skilled levels. Specifically, many entry-level jobs currently filled by illegal border crossers (who make up 60 percent of all illegals) and some technical-level jobs currently filled by individuals who have overstayed their work or education visas (40 percent of all illegals) would become open as those holding the jobs illegally were let go...
For state and local governments to truly tackle their illegal immigration problems, they must take a more aggressive approach than simply relying on the federal government to do its duty and federalize a handful of state or local officers each year. There are many additional actions that state and local governments can take. Critically, state and local government action should "remove or reduce the economic incentives for unlawful presence."
Slow as it might seem E-Verification given a chance to perform, will extract illegal immigrants from the working positions and replace them with American workers. Just like earlier ICE raids foreigners were removed from poultry plants, packing industries and lines of US workers took their places. Those workers who believe they have been wronged can easily rectify this situation at a Social Security agency? But the open border lobby will not mention that way to resolve the problem? Only those individuals, who realize they can no longer fool human resources and employers, will not venture into a government realm. Now that the federal courts have overwhelmed the special interest lobbyists, thousands of jobs offered by government contracts, will overtime remove the illegal worker stigma of those contractors and subcontractors, who have used cheap labor for decades, stealing jobs from Americans.
ReplyDeleteWhistle blowers can connect with the IRS at there HOT-LINE 1-800-829-0433 GOOGLE their website! The IRS is not kind to employers that seek to elude taxes, pay under the table for illegal activity in any place of work. THERE COULD ALSO BE A REWARD WITH A HEAVY FINE OR PRISON SENTENCE FOR THOSE WHO DON'T COMPLY. ICE informants also have a hot-line to contact with information this agency. Nor have we stepped from the pro-illegal worker quagmire yet, as Democrats and many Republicans will use any blockade that halts millions of impoverished people from coming to America. Stepping stones are already there, including the under funded single strand border barrier and not the originally planned two-tier system?
Fading ICE raids on businesses and the altering of the 287 G regular police enforcement and so weakening the powers of arrest? E-Verify only has the power if every business is required to use it throughout the United States? Without any breather we must maintain an aggravating bombardment of our politicians at 202-224-3121. Tell them you want a permanent, all encompassing E-Verify for new and long time workers and insist they do not rescind the 1986 Immigration laws. Positive amendments for US workers, not the slow overhaul for bringing into our nation more destitute people to be exploited by millions of reprehensible companies. If you are sympathetic towards a public option health care for every American, this cannot be established by allowing illegal immigrants to tap into the system?
Their must be certain lawful compliance that identifies US citizens and permanent residents, who enter the system but also dismisses foreign nationals. Any second immigration reform BLANKET AMNESTY legislation would automatically give acceptance to millions of legalized people already here, bankrupting any health care agenda. MORE FACTS TO READ AT NUMBERSUSA & JUDICIAL WATCH.