Below are notes taken from the December 16 conference call organized by Tamar Jacoby – of the open borders AMERICAN WORKER: DROP DEAD! Jacobys’. She runs a pro amnesty group called “Immigration Works USA” www.Immigrationworksusa.org As always, there is a great deal of very useful info in the links. dak

Call invitation:

IW NATIONAL CALL

Friends,

Please join us on Wednesday, December 16th, at 1 p.m. EST, for an ImmigrationWorks USA nationwide call.

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

Presenters will include:

Dan Brown, former director of the office of policy and planning at ICE, who will discuss the ongoing DHS audit initiative.

Jenna Hamilton, assistant vice president of government affairs at the National Association of Home Builders and co-chair of EWIC, who will report on Senate progress crafting a comprehensive reform bill.

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

Please plan on joining us December 16th.

NUMBER: 800 868-1837
PASSCODE: 615263
Please rsvp to Angelena Bradfield, abradfield@immigrationworksusa.org, if you plan on joining the call.

All best, Tamar

P.S. Please pass this announcement on to your members and associates and any employers you think would be interested in joining us.
Tamar Jacoby
President
ImmigrationWorks USA

www.immigrationworksusa.org

CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR E-MAIL LIST!

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ImmigrationWorks Conference Call Notes

December 16, 2009

Tamar Jacoby hosted the conference call, which included discussions by:

– Dan Brown, the former director of ICE’s office of policy and planning;

– Lynden Melmed , the former USCIS chief counsel and a former staffer for Sen. Cornyn; and

– Jenna Hamilton, the asst. VP of gov’t affairs at the National Association of Home Builders and co-chair of the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition.

Brown: Here to discuss ICE’s new enforcement initiative. The I-9 audit strategy started on April 30. The companies were mostly selected based on leads, e.g., tips from terminated or disgruntled employees, information from DOL or state labor departments, etc. An emphasis also was placed on businesses considered part of the “critical infrastructure.”

Employers received a notice of inspection and within days ICE came to pick up I-9 forms. These were reviewed for errors and omissions and anomalies were run through the databases. Employers were either cleared or sent two types of subsequent notices – a notice of suspect documents or a notice of technical or procedural errors. ICE required businesses to quickly fire those employees who could not resolve documentation problems.

ICE also imposed fines. One employer I know is facing millions in fines even though there was no evidence of undocumented workers. Fines for paperwork violations ranged from $110 to $1,100 per I-9 while undocumented-worker fines ranged from $375 to $16,000 per worker.

Tamar: I’ve heard of cases where ICE found paperwork violations but said it would forego taking action to the next level if the employers signed up for E-Verify.

Brown: I don’t know if this occurred but it wouldn’t surprise me.

Under ICE’s efforts, fines have increased substantially over the previous year, but workers arrests are down. From July to November, ICE reviewed 85,000 I-9 forms and identified more than 14,000 suspect documents where workers must be fired. Overall, I would say that this Administration’s enforcement strategy has been a little more effective than the last one’s. They are touching more employers and, now, more employers are focused on I-9 compliance. E-Verify also is better than it used to be. Although concerns have been floating around about E-Verify, there is no evidence that a business increases its risk of having an audit by signing up for E-Verify.

Melmed: Here to discuss CIR ASAP. With respect to enforcement, the bill provides more oversight as opposed to more fencing or personnel. It contains significant protections for vulnerable populations. The undocumented get six-year conditional visas, which are then converted to green cards. These are not counted against overall green-card limits. They can obtain citizenship in eleven years. Not many undocumented would be disqualified under the bill. It includes AgJOBS and adds significant family-based green cards. A lot on unused visas would be re-captured. It is not friendly to employers who want H-2B workers because it seeks to prevent the exploitation of foreign workers and requires more recruitment of U.S. workers.

The situation is not good with respect to future workers because a labor commission would recommend visa numbers, although Congress would have the final say. Business wants the market to determine the numbers.

The bill also creates a stopgap visa program that is meant to increase visas for three years until the commission is put in place. 100,000 PUM visas would be distributed each year for three years in a lottery.

It’s unlikely that this particular bill will be debated. It’s my understanding it was important to introduce this bill before recess for political reasons.

Tamar: Is this a message bill? A marker?

Melmed: Yes, it’s a left wish list, but it’s good that it’s out there.

Hamilton: Here to discuss CIR status in the Senate. At this point, parties are working on a regular basis to produce a bill, but not much text has been drafted. They’re really just developing a detailed outline that may be introduced in January. They’re working in a bi-partisan manner but progress in January is crucial.

Tamar: Who’s in the back room?

Hamilton: Schumer and Graham and, in many cases, they’re having member-to-member meetings.

Tamar: Does business have a champion?

Hamilton: It’s pretty much as you would expect. Schumer is running things past Labor while Graham is updating employers. Graham said he feels strongly that business must support the bill. He will not stand at the podium next to Schumer if business won’t support the bill. As this moves forward, we can rely on Graham to interject business’ concerns.

Over the last two weeks, they have really ramped up discussions on the future workforce. This had been pushed off because it is controversial. Business is trying to offer ideas. The most controversial element under debate is whether a commission will decide numbers or the market will decide. Obviously, Schumer supports the commission and Graham supports the market.

Schumer and Graham have asked Labor and Business to sit in a room and write a compromise on future flows. That is difficult but possible to accomplish. The fact that this is an election year will determine a lot. We absolutely have to have progress in January or we have a problem. They could continue to come up with real ideas for compromise or could begin to posture. Anyway, it’s helpful to see the Gutierrez approach because it tells us what Labor really wants.

Tamar: Are you handicapping whether we’ll see a bill or debate?

Hamilton: Much depends on how they feel about the election. The debate on health care is very telling. It shows you how hard the White House will work. I think the White House is committed to this and will ramp up efforts. If it’s April and we don’t have language yet, we’re in trouble. If it’s May or June and it hasn’t cleared the Senate yet, it’s not likely to happen at all. It’s just too controversial for Members of Congress close to an election.

Melmed: When health care is off the table, leadership will look at the immigration issue and map out a couple of scenarios for how it could play out with respect to the election. That will determine how a bill gets floor time. How a bill might fail is as important as anything for post-election efforts on immigration.

Tamar: The next four weeks or so are crucial to what our sections of the bill will look like and whether there will be a debate. Keep working on your end.
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IW NEWS ALERT

Dear friends –

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus unveiled a comprehensive immigration reform bill today – the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity (CIR ASAP) Act of 2009.

A detailed outline and some early news stories are attached.

We haven’t seen the legislation yet, and there may be surprises.

But much as we welcome any effort to jumpstart the debate about immigration, the bill outlined here is only part of the fix that’s needed. And some provisions, including the proposed changes to existing worker-visa programs, would be unworkable for many employers.

The good news: this is only the first move in the immigration debate likely to play out in Congress over the next several months. Sens. Schumer (D-NY) and Graham (R-SC) continue to work to craft a bipartisan bill, and we look forward to working with them to advance legislation that works for all Americans – employers, immigrants, US workers and the US economy.

Stay tuned – we’ll be sending more news and analysis of CIR ASAP as the bill is introduced in coming days.

All best, Tamar

CIR ASAP outline

DOW JONES House lawmakers unveil immigration bill

WASHINGTON TIMES Immigration reformers try again

Tamar Jacoby
President
ImmigrationWorks USA

CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR E-MAIL LIST!

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Jacoby’s (unapproving) press release on the AMNESTY-ASAP bill HERE