Unemployment plummets after crackdown on illegals
Lawmaker: Oklahoma no longer ‘OK’ for undocumented aliens
April 25, 2008

Unemployment rates are rising across the United States, except Oklahoma. That state is experiencing the most dramatic reduction in unemployment since 2007, an improvement many in
Oklahoma attribute to the passage last year by the state legislature of a strong employment-focused immigration reform law.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday reported unemployment in Oklahoma had fallen to 3.1 percent in March, down from 4 percent in March last year, while unemployment nationwide was 5.1 percent, up from 4.4 percent in March last year.

“Oklahoma is no longer ‘OK’ for illegal aliens,” said State Rep. Randy Terrill, who sponsored House Bill 1804 which passed by overwhelming majorities last year in both the House (84-14) and Senate (41-6) of the Oklahoma Legislature.

“The bottom line is illegal aliens will not come here if there are no jobs waiting for them,” Terrill said. “They will not stay here if there is no government subsidy, and they certainly won’t stay here if they know that if they ever encounter our state and local law enforcement officers, they will be physically detained until they are deported.”

HERE

Ira Mehlman — Washington Times

Attempts at censorship

For as long as there has been bad news, there have been people who have wanted to kill the messenger — or at least gag him. — For the Hispanic ethnic advocacy network — an assortment of foundation-funded organizations and even the Congressional Hispanic Caucus — the bad news appears to be the mounting body of evidence that mass illegal immigration is a fiscal drain…

In a clearly orchestrated campaign of intimidation, the ethnic advocacy network is attempting to define any negative reporting about illegal immigration as “anti-Hispanic” at best, and bordering on hate speech at worst. Beginning with the National Council of La Raza, the largest and most lavishly funded of the ethnic advocacy groups, they are demanding what amounts to self-censorship on the part of the news media with regard to unfavorable news about illegal immigration; they are also cynically portraying negative coverage of those who violate our immigration laws as a slur against all people of Hispanic origin.

HERE

XETV — San Diego / Tijuana

Open borders goon bemoans razor wire on border fence

…”It’s a good thing that there’s been a decrease in people getting hurt in a particular sector,” says Enrique Morones, an advocate for immigration rights, who also heads the group “Border Angels.” But not at the expense of more people getting hurt in another area.”

Three layers of razor wire called concertina were temporarily added to the secondary fence in certain sections along the San Diego border. But Border Patrol agents say the wire’s been so effective, it will not only stay up, but even more will be added.

HERE

Go that? If you oppose bilingualism, illegal immigration and illegal employment…you are a “Gringo”

General Assembly 2008 – God, Guns & Gringo Rights
Written by GRUS
Posted on 2008-05-19

HERE

English-only constitutional amendment – HR 413 Would have asked voters to approve an amendment making English the official language of Georgia. Would prohibit laws that require the government to use other languages for documents. Included changing drivers license written test to English Only. Would allow lawsuits by anyone who speaks English and feels discriminated against when other languages are used. Sponsor: Rep. Timothy Bearden (R-Villa Rica) DEFEATED when floor vote failed to achieve a Constitutional Majority

No birthright citizenship – HR 127 Urged Congress to deny automatic citizenship to children born of illegal immigrants. This proposal would have just been sending a mean-spirited message because Congress would have to amend the U.S. Constitution to make this happen. Georgia legislators have no authority to act on this issue. Sponsor: Rep. Bobby Reese (R-Sugar Hill) DIED at end of session after multiple hearings delayed movement out of committee.

Urge Gwinnett County to Fund Training for Jail Staff to Speed Up Deportations (HR 1483) Introduced as a challenge to the Gwinnett County Commission, who at the time of introduction, had resisted approving a plan and allocation of budget for the jail training program. Sponsor: Rep. Bobby Reece (R-Sugar Hill) DIED at end of session without a committee hearing.
Out-of-state driver’s licenses – HB 971 It would be a misdemeanor for an undocumented immigrant to drive in Georgia using a license from another state. Would crack down on immigrants who go to other states to get a license because those states are not as strict as Georgia. Sponsor: Rep. Ben Bridges (R-Cleveland) DIED at crossover day.

Seize vehicles of illegal immigrants – HB 978 At any traffic stop or accident, if the police find that the vehicle driver is driving without a license, then police can impound the vehicle. The bill began as a vehicle seizure penalty for DWL and subsequently went through many changes. The final version mandated the impoundment (and possible sale of vehicle) in the hands of towing companies. Sponsor: Rep. James Mills (R-Gainesville) VETOED by the Governor.

Fees on wire transfers – HB 1028 Would have added a 2 percent fee on wire transfers. Allows a transfer company to keep a 20 percent fee to cover their record-keeping costs. To make the bill sound like a reasonable proposal, the bill proposed that the fees collected be spent on trauma care programs, such as Grady Hospital. The author of the bill stated that he thought this would be a good way to get money from undocumented residents who he thinks do not pay any taxes. Sponsor: Rep. Tom Rice (R-Peachtree Corners) DIED at end of session.

Proof of Citizenship Required for Voter Registration – HB 1175 Currently a person signs an oath that they are a citizen and eligible to vote. There have not been any cases where non-citizens have been found to be secretly conspiring to vote. This is a bill that just sends a mean message. A solution in search of a problem. Sponsor: Rep. Roger Williams (R-Dalton) DIED at crossover day, author failed to pursue.

Punishment for illegal immigrants applying for license plates – SB 25 Would have established jail time of one to five years and a fine of up to $5,000 for anyone who lies when applying for a license plate or anyone who helps them. Tag agencies sometimes fill out tag renewal forms for clients who are perhaps undocumented immigrants because there’s a loophole in current law that lets anyone renew their tag via mail. This bill may make tag agents and friends of someone getting a tag do the job of ICE without being trained. Good Samaritans could be in trouble. Sponsor: Sen. John Douglas (R-Social Circle) DIED at crossover day after multiple attempts to get a floor vote rescheduled after it was pulled from the Senate calendar.

No sanctuary – SB 240 Would cut money to public employers and welfare agencies that do not run a new worker or recipient through a federal database to make sure they are here legally. Cuts money to local governments that provide “sanctuary” to undocumented immigrants or who don’t cooperate with federal officials enforcing immigration laws. No one is aware of any Georgia city that has declared itself a sanctuary city, or plans to. Sen. Chip Pearson (R-Dawsonville) DIED on the last day when an additional amendment attached by Sen. Chip Rogers delayed the bill while it moved through the final hours.

English only – SB 325 Would have prohibited state agencies from requiring an employee to speak or take training in another language to get a job or a promotion. Employers could not favor those with additional language skills over those who speak only English. Police departments would not be able to require survival Spanish classes from officers or use such classes as a reason for promotion. Police agencies say officers need to interview crime victims, witnesses and criminals, and Spanish can help. Especially if they do undercover anti-gang or anti-drug investigations. Sponsor: Sen. John Douglas (R-Social Circle) DIED at crossover when multiple attempts to get a vote rescheduled failed after being pulled from calendar.

No license means jail – SB 350 Would make driving without a Georgia license a felony on the fourth conviction within five years. The offense would carry jail time of one to five years. A similar bill was vetoed last year over concern for unintended consequences. This replacement bill is worse than the vetoed bill because it adds arrest and fingerprinting on the first occurrence. This year’s version would dismiss the case against anyone who could get a license before their court date. But this does not help make the bill better because jailing comes first and those who already have three violations on their record would immediately become felons. Sponsor: Sen. John Wiles (R-Kennesaw) Signed by the Governor.

Other bills of interest that may benefit the immigrant, refugee or assylee communities:

HB 942 Temporary Professional Counselors Licenses – Rep. Pedro Marin (D-Gwinnett) Would provide for temporary permits for foreign-born professional counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists for whom English is a second language to practice as professional counselors for a period of one year (and possible renewal). This would allow people who need services get better help because a native speaker would be more effective. DIED without a hearing.

HB 1219 Tax Credit for Completing Citizenship – Rep. Pedro Marin (D-Gwinnett) Would give a person who became a citizen a tax credit of about half the costs of getting citizenship. This would help with the high costs. DIED without a hearing.

SB 488 Reduce Problems With International Drivers Licenses – Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) This proposal would make it easier for those who have an International license to retain it along with getting a Georgia license. Although this bill is an attempt to do something positive, it may not help much. It mainly allows a longer time before renewal and simplifies paperwork and processes necessary, but it has a disturbing requirement that those who take advantage of the bill are listed on a crime database. Not a good trade-off to get a process convenience but then have your name appear on a crime data base when you haven’t committed a crime. SIGNED by the Governor.

It ‘s the open borders…every time.

KCRG-TV — Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Hundreds march for “immigration reform”

Waterloo, Iowa — Last Monday, federal immigration officers raided the Agriprocessors meat-packing plant in Postville. — Most of the 389 people arrested are facing criminal charges. The rest are suspected illegal [aliens]. — Sunday in Waterloo, hundreds gathered at the Queen of Peace Church to pray for the [invaders]…

HERE

My column in today’s AJC.

I wrote in response to a piece last week by editorial board member Mike King, which I include below the text of my column. Letters to the AJC editor should go to letters@AJC.com

The AJC is blogging my column – please take the time to leave your comments. HERE
The crazies in the illegal alien lobby surely will.

Federal database assures a legal work force
Atlanta Journal Constitution
Monday, May 19, 2008

By D.A. King

While political candidates promise “more jobs for Americans”, we shouldn’t dismiss the tools made available by the federal government to attempt to ensure that those precious jobs do not go to black-market, taxpayer subsidized labor.

It is a federal crime to knowingly hire an illegal alien.

With a better chance of being struck by lightning than being sanctioned for violating the law, far too many employers disregard it.

Far too many who will settle for nothing less than a repeat of the failed “one time” illegal alien legalization scam of 1986 as the solution to the current illegal immigration and illegal employment crisis misrepresent the effectiveness of an electronic federal data base – E-Verify – that serves to verify employment information provided by workers.

With documented cases of multiple employees working in the same building using a common Social Security number – either false or stolen from Americans – use of the instantaneous E-Verify electronic system has proven to be far too effective for the open borders gang.

Originally known as the Basic Pilot program and presented as a mandatory method of verifying work eligibility, E-Verify is presently a voluntary system that should be expanded, better funded and made mandatory with the goal of eliminating the magnet that draws illegals to our nation. Few will be surprised to learn that it was a coalition of the business community and the far left ethnic lobby that was successful in making use of the system voluntary.

That relatively few employers have chosen to use the no-cost tool provides alarming, but unsurprising, insight into the intent of those who have not enrolled in the program.

When used to verify work eligibility of newly hired employees, a false negative response does not result in termination of the employee until completion of a lengthy and thorough appeal process. Using scare tactics about Americans losing jobs because of E-Verify is at best, unproductive.

Participating employers have successfully matched more than 90 percent of new hires to Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration database information. Of those who do not match, less than 2 percent contest the result.

This is obvious evidence of the effectiveness of the E-Verify tool and the immigration status of those who then look for illegal employment where the program is not in place.

It is irresponsible to not make it clear that the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act which began to go into effect in July of 2007 requires not only most, and in 2009, all, public contractors in Georgia to use E-Verify. Also all public employers – the state and county and municipal governments – have to do the same.

Voters in coming local elections should know that as of May 1, more than 60 of Georgia’s 159 counties were in violation of state law by not having enrolled in the E-Verify system. Far too many municipal governments show the same disregard for the rule of law as well.

The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act is merely a state law that essentially mandates that in Georgia, we use available tools to comply with federal law.

No law can work unless it is enforced. Georgians should be asking a lot of questions of their local governments about compliance and question all resistance to and criticism of the best tools we have to insure that American jobs – and tax dollars – go only to those who obey American laws.

D.A. King is president of the Georgia-based Dustin Inman Society, which is actively opposed to illegal immigration and illegal employment. The Dustin Inman Society is enrolled in the E-Verify system.

———
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2008/05/15/everifyed.html

OUR OPINIONS

Verifiably mistaken
Error-prone employee database is unworkable and bogs down Social Security Administration

By Mike King
The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPublished on: 05/15/08

If you’ve divorced or changed your name recently, you’d better gird for battle with a computerized bureaucracy. The next time you apply for a job, it may assume you are an illegal immigrant.

Two years ago, the state Legislature proclaimed a crackdown on government contractors who hire undocumented workers. But the federal computer database used by Georgia and other states to enforce that crackdown isn’t up to the task. The system, known as E-Verify, is error-prone, kicking out an alarming number of mismatches for U.S. citizens and foreign nationals who have permission to be in the country. Many are flagged in error because of name changes or change in marital status, and as many as 10 percent of job applicants may be affected.

In most states, use of E-Verify is voluntary. The database is administered by Social Security and the Department of Homeland Security to check the immigration and work status of job applicants; since it was created four years ago, just 61,000 of the nation’s 7.5 million businesses have signed up for it.

You can’t blame them —- the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, unions and trade groups complain the system is a mess, and they’ve joined forces to stop legislation in Congress to make its use mandatory nationwide.

But under the 2006 Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act, most companies with public contracts in this state are already required to use the system. Several local counties, including Cobb and Gwinnett, also have employee-verification rules for contractors.

There’s nothing wrong with requiring employers to use a government database to verify job applicants’ legal status. But E-Verify just isn’t reliable enough to perform that task, and the Social Security Administration isn’t the agency to handle it.

The checkerboard of state employee-verification rules is another result of Congress’ abject failure to enact comprehensive immigration reform. That forced the issue onto state legislators, who saw employment-verification laws —- enforced through the E-Verify system —- as a quick solution.

Rather than spend the money to create a new database that works, the states browbeat the federal government to force the Social Security Administration to do something it was never meant to do —- become an immigration enforcement agency. And as it has scrambled to make quick fixes to E-Verify, Social Security has fallen behind on its real job, determining whether elderly and disabled Americans qualify for social services and benefits they have spent years supporting through payroll taxes.

The backlog for appeals in disability cases is now more than 500 days. If the administration is forced to spend $40 billion over the next 10 years to make E-Verify work, the basic services of Social Security will surely suffer even more.

At some point, the federal government —- not the states —- must accept responsibility to create a national system that works. That system will no doubt be tied into Social Security’s database, but it must be accompanied by checks and balances to assure accuracy and protect workers who fall between the bureaucratic cracks.

And the system cannot be implemented in isolation. A truly comprehensive approach —- one that recognizes the nation’s need for many of the illegal immigrants already here and clears them a pathway toward legal status —- remains the only real solution to the vexing problem.

—- Mike King, for the editorial board (mking@ajc.com)

William Campenni — Human Events

Will congress outlaw local laws?

One has to admire the Sisyphean tenacity of the Congress as it starts to roll another boulder up the mountain of public opposition to the federal encouragement of illegal immigration. The latest attempt, HR 5515, masquerading under the euphemistic label “New Employee Verification Act” (NEVA) is another unworthy successor…

As always when dealing with the political class growing ever more distant from the populace it rules, the NEVA devil is in the details. For all of its noble goals, hidden in the voluminous wording of this legislation is the true agenda of its sponsors, to wit, the section on preemption, Section 101(b)(2)(A), which reduced to simple language* would preempt and ban any and all state or local law for immigration-related issues enacted to impose employer fines or sanctions, or would forbid any laws requiring employers to verify work status or identity for work authorization. It would also prevent any unit of government from verifying status of renters, determining eligibility for receipt of benefits, enrollment in school, obtaining a business or other license, or conducting a background check. HERE

Co-sponsors HERE

Saxby Chambliss forgot to say he was against “amnesty” ( but for legalization of illegal aliens – after the election) at the Georgia GOP convention today.

Below from Jim Galloway’s AJC Political Insider blog.

Last year, Chambliss faced the state GOP convention just as an immigration bill was unveiled in Washington. He and Isakson had participated in the negotiations, and Chambliss received a round of boos from delegates.

On Friday, at a sparsely attended afternoon session, Chambliss took no chance that the farm bill might also provoke the crowd’s displeasure. He made no mention of the farm bill, or immigration.

HERE

How courageous.

Released: May 14, 2008

Zogby Poll: Election of Our Discontent? 48% of Likely Voters Dissatisfied With Current Crop of Presidential Candidates

Survey finds 49% would never vote for Clinton, while 44% would never vote for Obama; 42% said McCain will never get their support

UTICA, New York – Nearly half of likely voters – 48% – are not satisfied with the current candidates for president, with Republicans and conservative voters the most unhappy about their likely candidate choices in November, a new nationwide Zogby Interactive poll shows.

In what could spell bad news for the presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, an overwhelming 86% of self-described “very conservative” voters said they are displeased with the current presidential candidates – and 65% of these voters said they are very unsatisfied. The vast majority of conservatives (76%) and Republicans (76%) also expressed significant dissatisfaction with the current candidates, as did more than half of political independents (55%).

HERE

“We won’t stop organizing until we achieve full rights for all undocumented people and ICE is shut down completely.”

Party of Socialism and Liberation

Open borders extremists demand end of American law enforcement – ( except free bilingual education and medical care)

On May 13, pro-[illegal alien] organizations held a press conference and emergency rally to protest the ongoing raids and deportations targeting [illegal aliens…. criminals] across the US. — Community leaders and organizers demanded that the raids and deportations be stopped and called for immediate and comprehensive immigration reform [aka amnesty]. READ IT HERE AND SHARE

[More HERE from other illegal alien fanatics]