Source for info and quotes above: CNN – Lou Dobbs Tonight – June 9, 2008 HERE

President Bush signed an executive order Friday designed to crack down on government contractors employing illegal aliens. The order requires federal government contractors and subcontractors to use the E-Verify system. E-Verify checks social security numbers of newly hired employees against government databases and is now a vountary program..

Michael Chertoff admits that it is embarrassing to find out that tax payer money is being used to pay illegal aliens working on government projects, such as airports and even military bases such as Fort Bragg. Department of Homeland security claims that E-Verify has been a huge success and Chertoff estimates hundreds of thousands or even millions of employees would be impacted by this order. More than 69,000 employers have already registered for E- Verify voluntarily. Arizona presently requires the use of E-Verify.

(Georgia has been requiring state contractors to use E-Verify since July 2007.)

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) claims this order will disqualify legal residents from being able to work. Their examples sited are those who change names due to marriage or divorce, and clerical errors. E Verify was recently upgraded to better insure the accuracy of reporting on naturalized citizens.

DHS reports that 99.5% of those entered into the system are instantly cleared, and the other .5% have 2 days to clear up any problems. But E-Verify has its critics and is scheduled to expire this November. Business groups and the American Civil Liberties Union say the program will disqualify legal residents and citizens from working.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, 99.5 percent of legal workers whose names are run through the system are confirmed instantaneously and that the other .5 percent are able to resolve their issues within two days.

The ACLU claims to be checking into the legality of the President’s powers to make a voluntary program mandatory without going through Congress. CNN’s Lou Dobbs says “the ACLU is simply — they’re no longer a civil rights watchdog group or activist group. I mean, they basically are involved in advocacy. They are pro illegal immigration, pro open borders, and they are fighting at every quarter to stop enforcement of U.S. immigration law. It’s really a remarkable situation, isn’t it?”.

Starting June 9th, there is a 60 day public comment period before the final ruling will take effect this fall, unless there are legal challenges. Lou Dobbs points out that since comprehensive immigration reform has failed in congress, that now, seven and half years into this presidency, they are finally deciding to enforce immigration laws.

The Mexican government says more than 450 law enforcement officers have been killed in the past 18 months by drug cartels who are operating on both sides of the border. The Mexican government is concerned with the flow of weapons smuggling from the US into Mexico.

Asst Secretary of ICE, Julie Meyers claims that illegal arms smuggling has swelled from a drip to a tidal wave at our southern border with Mexico. The level of gun related violence on both sides of the border is at a record level.

The weapons -fifty-caliber sniper rifles capable of piercing armor from a mile away, machine guns, and hand grenades- are being purchased with profits made from sales to illegal drug users in the United States.

Senator Charles Grassley (R) of Iowa claims that we owe it to our neighbors to help cut down on the arms smuggling from our country into Mexico.

Rep Henry Cueller (D) of Texas states that there are Mexican drug cartels here in the US, naming places like Laredo, San Antonio, and Houston.

Mexico has announced that they will be stepping up their inspections of vehicles traveling into Mexico. Both the US and Mexico plan to share intelligence and Mexico plans to form a specially trained and vetted group of law enforcement agents. There are also plans to create a weapons tracking database, and to educate weapons dealers.

The Bush administration, Congress, and the Mexican government are working on the Merida Initiative, in which the US tax payer would give $1.4 billion in military aid to the Mexican government, in hopes that the money would be used to fight these drug cartels.

The US government claims that the rise in violence at the border is a direct result of success in beefing up the border.

South Carolina is cracking down on illegal aliens with the passage of a new law requiring all employers to verify the legal status of their workers. Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina states that the reason illegal immigration is not being dealt with is due to the amount of people who profit from the system the way it is now. Sanford also explains that we are a nation of laws not men, and the laws can not be “wink and nod laws,” and what we have now is a “wink and nod system.”

Michael Chertoff says that “Only by promoting the legal workforce can we reduce the incentives for people to come in illegally in order to do work in this country.”