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Inside . Obama Immigration Policy Begins to Take Shape: Around the Country Amnesty by Administrative Inaction PAGE 3 ver the coming months Ameri- beginning to show a positive effect, and il- Harry Reid Feels the Heat cans will find out if the Obama legal aliens were starting to return home, in Nevada Oadministration and the congres- the actions of the new administration are PAGE 4 sional leadership are preparing another at- likely to undo that progress. tempt to pass a comprehensive amnesty Based on the administration’s actions bill in 2009. But, with or without legisla- during their first two months in office, New Illegal Immigration tion, the administration is sending unmis- certain patterns are becoming evident: Cost Study: Nevada PAGE 4 takable signals to illegal aliens that they will Review of worksite enforcement not vigorously enforce laws against illegal policies. On February 24, Immigration immigration. Just as increased worksite en- and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents Hispanic Caucus’s forcement during the past two years was raided the Yamato Engine Specialists Com- Pro-Amnesty Tour PAGE 5 CONTINUED on page 2 Senate Rejects Five-Year FAIR Los Angeles Times Reauthorization of E-Verify, Opts for Op-ed PAGE 6 Six Month Extension or the second time in as many months, the Help FAIR Spread U.S. Senate passed up an opportunity to the Word F reauthorize the highly successful E-Verify pro- PAGE 8 gram for five years. Instead, Congress opted for a six-month extension through September 30, the end of the current fiscal year. An amendment to the $410 billion Om- CONTINUED on page 7 Visit us on the web at www.fairus.org FAIRIMMIGRATIONREPORT Immigration Policy continued raid. “I want to get to the bottom of statements since taking office, Secretary this,” said Napolitano. Napolitano has hinted that her depart- The secretary’s statement to Con- ment’s enforcement efforts will focus gress came in response to howls of on tracking and removing terrorists and protest from pro-illegal alien activists criminal aliens from the country. While who demanded that ICE enforcement no one can argue with the objective of cease immediately. The decision to re- removing foreign terrorists and crimi- view ICE enforcement efforts, rather nals, the administration’s statements in- than offer unqualified support for the dicate that those who entered the U.S. Rather than support the ICE agents people enforcing U.S. immigration illegally will not be pursued unless they in the field for doing the job the laws, indicates that the Obama admin- are terrorists or felons. taxpayers are paying them to do, istration is likely to curtail worksite en- The first target may be 287(g) en- Homeland Security Secretary Janet forcement. forcement. The provision, established Napolitano called for a review of Ironically, the raid was carried out in 1996, allows state and local police to worksite enforcement policies. on the same day that the president ad- receive training in immigration law en- dressed a joint session of Congress dur- forcement for the purpose of supple- ing which he vowed to fix the econ- menting limited federal law enforce- pany in Bellingham, Washington, and ar- omy and get unemployed Americans ment resources. It provides an rested 28 illegal alien workers. This was back to work. Hundreds of American important and necessary tool to help the first worksite enforcement action car- workers immediately applied to fill the law enforcement officers protect their ried out by ICE since the new administra- 28 jobs left vacant by the arrest of ille- communities. Under the 287(g) pro- tion took power. gal alien workers at the Yamato Engine gram, which FAIR fought to include Rather than support the ICE agents in Specialists Company in the town about in the 1996 legislation, 67 police and the field for doing the job the taxpayers are 20 miles from the Canadian border. sheriff’s departments across the country paying them to do, Homeland Security Nationwide, an estimated 7.7 mil- have received training to identify and Secretary Janet Napolitano called for a re- lion U.S. jobs are now held by illegal detain suspected illegal aliens. Last year, view of worksite enforcement policies. Tes- aliens. In case after case in which en- 43,000 illegal aliens were arrested by tifying before Congress the next day, forcement actions have removed illegal 287(g) trained officers. Napolitano told lawmakers that she had workers, legal workers have almost im- This highly effective enforcement not been informed about the Bellingham mediately lined up to fill the vacancies. tool is now under attack by the defend- American DO want these jobs. These ers of illegal aliens because some of are jobs that can and should be available those apprehended are not violent to U.S. workers at a time of rising un- felons, according to a review by the employment, without spending $800 Government Accountability Office billion. (GAO). Based on these findings, House If you’re not a terrorist or a felon, Homeland Security Committee Chair- there is no need to worry. In other man Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) in- CONTINUED on next page PAG E 2 APRIL 2009 Immigration Policy continued AROUNDTHECOUNTRY dicated that the program may come under review. INDIANA “[T]he record is incomplete, at best, as to whether this By a 37-13 vote on February 24, the Indiana State Senate program is a success,” Thompson said. approved a bill that would impose stiff penalties against The legislative language creating 287(g) did not Indiana businesses caught employing illegal aliens. The specify that it be used exclusively, or even predomi- Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), FAIR’s public interest nantly, to apprehend criminal aliens. Rather, the GAO law affiliate, worked closely with State Senators Mike Delph report notes, “its legislative history do[es] not detail the and Dennis Kruse to craft legislation that would hold exact responsibilities to be carried out” by local law en- employers accountable and stand up to legal challenges from pro-illegal alien advocates. Senate Bill 580 is now headed to forcement. The report also states that “ICE has the dis- the Indiana State House. Gov. Mitch Daniels has pledged to cretion to define the 287(g) program objectives in any sign the legislation if the House approves the measure, manner that is reasonable,” thereby playing into the hands of the Obama administration by suggesting it MARYLAND can decide to use the program solely to identify and re- In an important breakthrough for immigration reform move terrorists and criminal aliens. advocates in Maryland, Gov. Martin O’Malley has indicated What is taking shape is a hands-off policy for all his support for legislation that would require driver’s license illegal aliens, except those engaged in violent crime or applicants to prove legal U.S. residence. Maryland has been terrorism. Even without a formal amnesty, the Obama one of a handful of states that issues licenses and state IDs administration appears to be moving in the direction to illegal aliens. According to Maryland’s Motor Vehicle of allowing all but the most incorrigible illegal aliens administration (MVA), more than 20,000 driver’s licenses to remain and work in the United States. Moreover, were issued to people not lawfully present in the U.S. in the president did not demand inclusion of E-Verify 2008. MVA admits that it cannot authenticate many foreign protections in his economic stimulus package, aimed documents, and that the fraud rate increased 478 percent at creating or preserving some 3.5 million U.S. jobs. between 2003 and 2007. Leaders of the legislature expect FAIR will continue to press for vigorous enforce- the bill to be enacted this year. FAIR has worked closely with Maryland-based immigration reform groups, which have been ment of U.S. immigration laws — especially at a time instrumental in pushing for the legislation. of economic crisis — in spite of the administration’s apparent obstructionism. Working with allies in Con- NORTH CAROLINA gress, the media, and a dedicated core of committed While the leadership of the U.S. Congress took the activists across the country, FAIR will challenge every extraordinary step of stripping provisions that would require effort by the administration to ignore its responsibil- companies that receive money from the economic stimulus ities to law-abiding workers and taxpayers. bill to verify that their workers are legal U.S. residents, The refusal by the Obama administration to carry members of the North Carolina legislature are attempting to out enforcement efforts also provides a powerful ar- adopt those protections in their state. Rep. Wil Neumann gument against future amnesty legislation. It is an introduced legislation that would require any North Carolina early indication that any enforcement promises made employer receiving federal stimulus money to use the E-Verify in exchange for amnesty legislation are likely to be system to ensure that workers are eligible for the jobs. worthless and the failures of the 1986 amnesty law re- Without this validation, as many as 5,000 jobs in the state peated. could be filled by illegal aliens. PAG E 3 FAIRIMMIGRATIONREPORT Reid Feels Heat from Back Home Illegal Immigration Costs Nevadans $630 Million a Year enate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was singlehandedly responsible Sfor blocking both the inclusion of a reauthorization of E-Verify in the Sen- The latest in FAIR’s series of state ate’s version of the massive economic stimulus bill and a requirement that com- impact studies finds that illegal panies benefiting from stimulus money use the system to ensure that they hire immigration costs Nevadans $630 only legal U.S. workers.

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