Yesterday’s ImmigrationWorks Conference Call on the push for amnesty -notes (Haven’t heard of Tamar Jacoby and her open borders big business amnesty machine? HERE )
10/13/09

(“CIR” = Comprehensive Immigration Reform”…a repeat of the 1986 amnesty that produced the current threat to our nation THE answer is enforcement and secure borders)

CIR update hosted by Tamar Jacoby. Speakers included: John Gay, formerly with the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition; Craig Regelbrugge with the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform; and Lynden Melmed, former USCIS general counsel and now chair of ImmigrationWorks advisory committee.

Tamar: a lot of powerful people are preparing for the CIR debate. The White House and DHS are conducting an outreach campaign with stakeholders. Some have been conducted by Napolitano herself, most by her chief of staff for policy

Gay: WH/DHS asked biz groups what they wanted and didn’t want in reform; why 2007 failed; how politics have changed since 2007; and what items are deal breakers.

Tamar: Told the WH that she was skeptical about whether they were serious and that she was concerned about biz becoming a political football in the debate. WH said this is not a political feint. The prez said he would do this and will. They know there will be tough votes for Dems and they don’t want to leave them hanging out to dry.

Gay: Ceceila Munoz said the prez looked her in the eye and promised to get CIR done in January or February. WH/DHS said effort had to be bipartisan. Biz groups needs in reform: future flows (guestworkers) and no legal immigration commission. Also said they needed to get verification done the right way. He didn’t get a sense of where WH/DHS was on most issues but it was clear that future flows were going to be included.

WH/DHS says legislation will be “framed as a law and order bill.” No one from biz asked if WH/DHS would pull back on enforcement. Assumption was that they wouldn’t. Need street cred. DHS is putting together the necessary infrastructure for handling a huge flow of applications. He doesn’t think WH/DHS is planning a piecemeal approach now. CIR would fall apart if people knew that.

Regelbrugge: He was in a meeting with Napolitano that mostly included immigrant-rights groups and unions. One attendee criticized DHS for going after American Apparel. How could they do it? Napolitano said they did it and enforcement would continue. They would lose credibility for CIR otherwise.

He said Napolitano sees only a small window of opportunity and advised people to have their game ready. Napolitano said Schumer’s bill will likely be the starting point and will include future flows/future workforce provisions. He said citizenship was mentioned in the meeting but thinks they’ll focus on an earned path to legalization with no guarantees for, but the possibility of, citizenship.

He’s working with a cross-sector biz coalition informally called the Biz Working Group that has been meeting since July to try to find common ground. It includes high-tech, agriculture, and seasonal employers. It’s important to work together and focus on the common thread. They’re now looking for congressional champions, almost entirely in the Senate and among Republicans. They’re trying to find someone who is interested in the future-flows part of the debate. Most are saying they have other priorities but some say they might help if the issue is engaged.

Tamar: Helping to draft a letter to the leadership of the Immigration Subcommittees that could be signed by Ag, high-tech, seasonal and other biz groups concerned about future flows. Message: don’t cherry-pick the groups you’re going to help. Help all.

Regelbrugge: Schumer and Graham are talking in preparation for CIR. They understand the political dynamics and are trying to build momentum. It’s hard for biz to make the case now that they need 400,000 guestworkers like in the 2007 bill. He suggested motivating businesses to help, including finding influential people to write op-eds.

Melmed: Prepared a policy brief for the ImmigrationWorks advisory committee. Businesses should be concerned about the changes DHS is making in the different visa categories. For example, DHS axed the employer attestations under H-2A, which will make hiring more burdensome. H-2As, H-2Bs and H-1Bs are under attack by labor unions and their Hill allies.

Regelbrugge: H-2As now fill only 3 percent of job opportunities. If Obama’s regs become final, that will be the end of the program. Biz groups want to write reforms in statute, as well as legalization.

Melmed: What threats are on the horizon? H-1B and L1 reform legislation sponsored by Grassley and Durbin. Beyond the hiring changes, the penalties go beyond simply penalizing mistakes. They make an example of bad actors. The legislation also removes the “good faith” defense. For H-2Bs, no legislation is pending yet. He has heard it will include new filing fees and a private right of action for employees which will scare away users.

Q: Winery employee – Is the Admin really prepping for legalization or setting up an enforcement control process?

Gay: It’s prepping. This is not cover to just increase enforcement.

Tamar: The Admin doesn’t need cover for enforcement. Most of the public wants to see increased enforcement.

Regelbrugge: Schumer has committed to including AgJOBS in his bill. Murray and Cantwell have committed to pushing AgJOBS.

Randy Johnson (US Chamber): DHS has new polling data that will be revealed soon that show the chances of succeeding in CIR are much greater than thought.

Regelbrugge: Businesses don’t want to have to be immigration police but some groups (e.g., meatpacking industry) recognize the legislation has to include verification and are working to refine mechanisms. E-Verify is a major problem because of ID theft. Two things they absolutely need are federal preemption (no state/local mandates) and a safe harbor.

Tamar: We want to be able to say in public that we support E-Verify and want it to work, but it needs changes.

Our list of Senators is considerably shorter this time. Some Republicans like Graham have decided not to be do-nothings, so they are picking a few issues and trying to play ball. The allure of reform for the GOP is that they would like to finally be done with this issue. At this point, businesses are not setting the timetable for reform, but we have to make sure it comes out right. If the GOP “just says no” on health care reform and finds that’s ok with the public, they may become emboldened.

——– Below is the e-mail asking for participation in the call. IF you get on their list, you too can listen in! Handy, si?

Friends,

Please join us on Tuesday, October 13th, at 2 p.m. EDT, for an ImmigrationWorks USA nationwide call.

This is the latest in our series of regular national calls where we share updates, intelligence and strategy.

On October 13th, we will be joined by John Gay, former co-chair of the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition, Craig Regelbrugge, co-chair of the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform and Lynden Melmed, former chief counsel of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

They will discuss recent developments in Washington and what they mean for a congressional debate about immigration in the months ahead.

There will be time for Q&A and the opportunity to discuss.

Please plan on joining us today.

NUMBER: 800 868-1837

PASSCODE: 358832#

Please pass this announcement on to your members and associates and any fellow employers you think might be interested in joining us.

All best, Tamar

Tamar Jacoby
President
ImmigrationWorks USA

www.immigrationworksusa.org

CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR E-MAIL LIST!

Note from D.A . I hope that you will join their email list to keep up and gain knowledge to share with your Congressman and local paper, also please see below:-

“It is vital that we all realize that the American elite will never stop trying to open American borders to the free flow of labor.

On controlling immigration and protecting American labor, the founder of the American Federation of Labor, Samuel Gompers, said it very well in 1924: “Every effort to enact immigration legislation must expect to meet a number of hostile forces and, in particular, two hostile forces of considerable strength. One of these is composed of corporation employers who desire to employ physical strength at the lowest possible wage and who prefer a rapidly revolving labor supply at low wages to a regular supply of American wage earners at fair wages. The other is composed of racial groups in the United States who oppose all restrictive legislation because they want the doors left open for an influx of their countrymen regardless of the menace to the people of their adopted country.”

With our nation taking in more legal immigration than any other nation in the world – an unreasonable and unsustainable million-plus legal immigrants per year – Americans watching the current presidential campaign should not allow candidates to ignore the border security crisis – or the immigration issue, legal or illegal.

Another thing to remember: On amnesty, the open borders lobby only needs to win once. The American people must prevail in every battle.”

D.A. King Marietta Daily Journal September 11, 2008 HERE