Immigration bill dismantles enforcement, increases pressure on American workers

JURIST

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Immigration bill dismantles enforcement, increases pressure on American workers
4:39 PM ET

Dan Stein [President, Federation for American Immigration Reform]: “Reading through H.R. 4321, Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity (CIR ASAP), what is immediately evident is that the bill will deliver neither reform, nor security, nor prosperity for Americans.

The legislation introduced December 15 by Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) would dismantle whatever vestige of meaningful immigration enforcement that the Obama administration has been unable to eviscerate by executive fiat. While calling for enforcement against employers who hire illegal aliens, CIR ASAP would eliminate the only existing – and highly effective – employment eligibility verification system, known as E-Verify. E-Verify would be replaced by some yet to be developed system that could take decades to implement. Also eliminated by CIR ASAP would be the ability of state and local law enforcement to assist in immigration enforcement, except in extenuating circumstances.

With some 25 million Americans unemployed or underemployed, CIR ASAP would also make millions of illegal aliens immediately eligible to compete for every available job in the United States. Introduced one week after the Washington Post presented alarming evidence that the children of recent immigrants not only aren’t prospering, but are falling farther behind other Americans, CIR ASAP would add countless millions more people who are likely to be mired in poverty.

In addition to amnesty for many millions of illegal aliens, H.R. 4321 would vastly increase both family-based and employment-based immigration in the future. These increases are designed to meet the demands of immigrant advocates and business interests, irrespective of the impact these policies might have on American workers, taxpayers, or any other consideration important to the American people.

Americans have grown distrustful of their government because much of what goes on in Washington often seems to put the interests of the American people as an afterthought. In CIR ASAP, the interests of the American people are given no thought at all.”

Opinions expressed in JURIST’s Hotline are the sole responsibility of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of JURIST’s editors, staff, or the University of Pittsburgh.

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