Excerpt from ILW:
Immigrants Weekly:
http://www.ilw.com/immigrants/weekly/
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I-9s And Mass Legal Immigration
An article in the Rocky Mountain News says that "Nationally, the number of employers fined for hiring illegal workers or failing to verify their paperwork dropped from 808 in 1996 to just 13 last year." This is not because BICE is toning down its enforcement efforts, it is a matter of priorities. The article quotes Jim Chaparro, who heads immigration investigations in Denver "We're focusing on critical infrastructure and egregious violators - employers who hold people in substandard conditions, airports, nuclear power facilities, public utilities, military bases, criminals, alien smuggling, trafficking in persons, money laundering." BICE spokesman Garrison Courtney is quoted saying "We're more concerned about a person working as a janitor in a nuclear facility than as a janitor in a restaurant."
However, the anti-immigration lobby is unhappy with this list of priorities - Rep. Tancredo (R-CO) is quoted in the Rocky Mountain News article implying that terrorists could hide in the "flood" of undocumented immigrants. Mr. Tancredo's solution to this problem? "You have to go after employers who are hiring these people because then you will dry up demand." The obvious alternative solution of mass legal immigration with full security controls does not appeal to the anti-immigration lobby. The reason is equally obvious. The anti-immigrationists' priority is to restrict immigration, and they will use any fig-leaf - including national security - to achieve their aims. We believe that the correct direction for the country is to increase legal employment-based immigration, and that by fits and starts, Congress is moving in that direction. With Congress back in session, the Fall session will likely see some action on the immigration front. Immigrant's Weekly will bring you the action as it unfolds.
We welcome readers to share their opinion and ideas on this topic
with us by writing to mailto:weeklyeditor@ilw.com.
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Immigrants Weekly:
http://www.ilw.com/immigrants/weekly/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I-9s And Mass Legal Immigration
An article in the Rocky Mountain News says that "Nationally, the number of employers fined for hiring illegal workers or failing to verify their paperwork dropped from 808 in 1996 to just 13 last year." This is not because BICE is toning down its enforcement efforts, it is a matter of priorities. The article quotes Jim Chaparro, who heads immigration investigations in Denver "We're focusing on critical infrastructure and egregious violators - employers who hold people in substandard conditions, airports, nuclear power facilities, public utilities, military bases, criminals, alien smuggling, trafficking in persons, money laundering." BICE spokesman Garrison Courtney is quoted saying "We're more concerned about a person working as a janitor in a nuclear facility than as a janitor in a restaurant."
However, the anti-immigration lobby is unhappy with this list of priorities - Rep. Tancredo (R-CO) is quoted in the Rocky Mountain News article implying that terrorists could hide in the "flood" of undocumented immigrants. Mr. Tancredo's solution to this problem? "You have to go after employers who are hiring these people because then you will dry up demand." The obvious alternative solution of mass legal immigration with full security controls does not appeal to the anti-immigration lobby. The reason is equally obvious. The anti-immigrationists' priority is to restrict immigration, and they will use any fig-leaf - including national security - to achieve their aims. We believe that the correct direction for the country is to increase legal employment-based immigration, and that by fits and starts, Congress is moving in that direction. With Congress back in session, the Fall session will likely see some action on the immigration front. Immigrant's Weekly will bring you the action as it unfolds.
We welcome readers to share their opinion and ideas on this topic
with us by writing to mailto:weeklyeditor@ilw.com.
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