Stewart J. Lawrence — Hürriyet

Will comprehensive immigration reform pass in 2010?

One of the big questions emerging in the aftermath of last Tuesday’s Democratic election disaster in Massachusetts is whether the Obama administration will push forward with the rest of its legislative policy agenda. While “cap-and-trade” climate legislation appears to have gone by the boards, at least one other important Obama initiative…

HERE

NRO Online

Monday, February 01, 2010

Stick a Fork in It [Mark Krikorian]

Amnesty advocates are still clinging to the fiction that a “comprehensive” immigration bill is possible this year. The reality is, as a “veteran Senate lobbyist” tells the Post, “immigration is deader than a doornail.” This is why the amnesty crowd is getting testy with their man in the White House. Luis Gutierrez, amnesty’s loudest champion in the House, said of the president’s state of the union speech, “He was very weak on immigration, lackadaisical.” And Frank Sharry, one of the top left-wing amnesty lobbyists, said, “I had very low expectations, but [the president] surprised even me with how little he said.”

I know schadenfreude is an unworthy sentiment, but in the absence of real victory (i.e., reducing immigration), it’ll have to do.

02/01 02:02 PMShare
HERE

Australian Associated Press

Greens want immigration cut
By Cathy Alexander,
AAP February 1, 2010, 4:29 pm

Immigration should be cut to keep Australia’s population sustainable, the Australian Greens say.

Greens leader Bob Brown said most people did not support the federal government’s plan to boost population from 22 to 36 million by 2050.

“Most people think our lifestyle is good, but some of the bigger cities are bursting at the seams,” Senator Brown told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

“We’re at record high immigration and it’s got to be reviewed.

“I think immigration levels should settle down much lower than they are at the moment, without cutting humanitarian immigration.”

Last financial year, 184,000 migrants were granted entry to Australia.

Most gained a visa due to their work skills, while almost a third came on a family visa.

About seven per cent were humanitarian entrants, including refugees.

Senator Brown criticised the amount of skilled migrants.

“You can buy your way into this country if you’re rich or you’re highly skilled.”

He said Australians should live sustainably but a big population increase would threaten the nation’s ability to do that.

The government on Monday released its third intergenerational report, which includes the 36 million population forecast.

Senator Brown was concerned that inadequate efforts were being made to tackle climate change when it came to planning for the future.

A failure to address climate change would sock the economy, he said.

“If we don’t tackle climate change, we not only lose quality of life … but we lose eight per cent of the gross national product,” Senator Brown said.

HERE

Judicial Watch

Court says OK to deny illegal alien public service

In a rare case for a state that has long offered illegal [aliens] sanctuary, an appellate court in Oregon has ruled in favor of a state agency that denied an illegal alien costly public services based on her immigration status. — Oregon’s largest regulatory agency, the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS), rejected a claim to provide and illegal [alien] vocational assistance benefits..

HERE

Blackmon: Dealing with bad law, but no bad blood

Myra Blackmon

Athens Banner-Herald

Published Sunday, January 31, 2010

When I opened my annual business license renewal recently, I – like most business owners in Athens-Clarke County – was stunned to find I now must prove my citizenship. ( Note from D.A. – actually, citizens are not currently required to prove citizenship, only asked the question…but she has a good idea!)

The renewal notice referenced a new state law, and I did recall some recent state legislation designed to prevent government benefits from going to illegal residents. Surely, though, a law that required every business owner in the state to prove citizenship or legal residence to get a license would have garnered headlines, not to mention howls from chambers of commerce across the state. I didn’t recall any of that…

PLEASE READ THE REST HERE

I sent this response to the editor asking that he forward to Ms. Blackmon :

To whom it may concern
ON GEORGIA BUSINESS LICENSES

Requiring everyone who applies for a business license, whether new or renewal, to swear to eligibility is not an “unintended consequence” of anything.

Although this long time American grows weary of explaining this string of facts, here it goes again.

1996 federal law defines both federal and state and local “Public Benefits” in 8 USC 1611 & 8 USC 1621 . The definition, it its entirety is:

c) “State or local public benefit” defined
(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), for purposes of this subchapter the term “State or local public benefit” means—
(A) any grant, contract, loan, professional license, or commercial license provided by an agency of a State or local government or by appropriated funds of a State or local government; and
(B) any retirement, welfare, health, disability, public or assisted housing, postsecondary education, food assistance, unemployment benefit, or any other similar benefit for which payments or assistance are provided to an individual, household, or family eligibility unit by an agency of a State or local government or by appropriated funds of a State or local government.

IF the reader wants to argue that a business license is not a commercial license, please stop reading here. We cannot communicate on a reasonable level. Also that a business license isn’t really a business license, but an “occupational tax certificate.” By any name, it is a condition (“regulation”) put on a business operator to conduct commerce.

This law was designed to stop the administration of finite benefits to people who are present in the USA in violation of our immigration laws and to help insure that we are not rewarding them or encouraging them to remain here. (Both also crimes under 8 USC 1324)

The original state law to mandate compliance with federal law was passed in 2006 (the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act – GSICA ) and became effective July 1, 2007. Giving local governments more than a year to prepare for the required affidavit and federal database (SAVE program) verification.

They ignored it with the help of GMA and ACCG. And when confronted, claimed that a business license isn’t really a business license but an occupational tax certificate…see above.

In 2009, the General Assembly passed HB 2 which clarified the language of the original law and took a list of Public Benefits from the SAVE Website in an effort to remove the claim that no one understood what a Public Benefit really is. That part seems to have worked all too well for some.

For the most part, SAVE is designed to verify immigration status of non-citizens – thus the affidavit asking the question: Citizen or lawfully present alien? If alien, the applicant is required to enter their alien number. The affidavit is the only way we have of separating citizen from alien. We thought about using a valid Georgia drivers license, but that would exclude a business owner who lives in Chattanooga from legally getting a Ga. business license in Dalton …for example.

Also, some states still grant drivers licenses to illegals.

False swearing on the affidavit is a felony – and a deportable offense. Not that may in the federal government are paying attention. But still a deterrent to illegals. Which is another reason for the state law: to protect Georgia jobs and benefits from illegal immigration.

Public Benefits have nothing….zero, nada, do with how many employees anyone has or how long they have been in business…or how long their family has lived in the US.

There is a section of the law that says public employers and their contractors must use another federal database called E-Verify to insure that newly hired employees are eligible to work in the USA. Again, this is not related to compliance with federal law on administering Public Benefits.

Illegal aliens do indeed hold Georgia business licenses and removing that benefit is encouraging many of them to leave Georgia for more hospitable states. Honest.

We have heard from a very few people who regard as a “hassle” swearing on a notarized affidavit that they are eligible for Public Benefits – to apply to renew their business license.

We respectfully direct them to the young Americans who are right now risking their lives in the freezing desert to secure our borders and stop illegal and uninspected entries.

Please tell them what a “hassle” the process is. Choice B is to change the federal law to openly and lawfully reward the illegal crossers who escape capture at the borders – or to simply declare open borders.

Until then compliance with the law is our duty as grown-ups, even immigration law.

A respectful heads up to all concerned: This state law was not thrown together at the last minute or in the waning days of last session. It is carefully thought out, well researched and written with the attitude that each legal method we have of making life hard for illegals is a good idea.

Any uneducated, knee-jerk attempt to dismantle the process of keeping illegal aliens from obtaining Public Benefits – including business licenses, using any reasoning – will be met with very vocal, very educational, very public and very large pointed rallies and protests.

Most Americans, the GOP base included, have “had enough” and are quite angry about watching their jobs, benefits and services decline while we ignore illegals.

D.A. King
Marietta
President, www.TheDustinInmanSociety.org