Free Republic

Massive border security and E-Verify are central provisions of the Senate immigration bill, and they are supported by many in the House. Both provisions signal how wrong-headed much of the immigration-reform effort has become. E-Verify is the real monster. If this part of the bill passes, all employers will be forced to use the government-run, Web-based system that checks potential employees' immigration status. That means, every American will have to obtain the federal government's prior approval in order to earn a living. E-Verify might seem harmless now, but missions always creep and bureaucracies expand. Suppose that someone convicted of viewing...

A new billboard in Canton, Ga., says South Carolina welcomes illegal aliens. A brand-new Georgia billboard proclaiming South Carolina’s alleged affinity for illegal aliens is raising eyebrows this week. The sign, posted in Canton, Ga., declares: “South Carolina welcomes the undocumented. Sen. Lindsey Graham says his state has a labor shortage and wants more immigrants. For job tips, call his office at (864) 646-4090. Located in Pendleton, S.C. Only 2 hours from Atlanta!” Sen. Graham, R-S.C., sits on a bipartisan committee that just passed a sweeping immigration-reform bill. “These people must have been off the planet for the last five...

From massive NSA spying, to IRS targeting of the administration's political opponents, to collection and sharing of our health care information as part of Obamacare, it seems every day we learn of another assault on our privacy. Sadly, this week the Senate took another significant, if little-noticed, step toward creating an authoritarian surveillance state. Buried in the immigration bill is a national identification system called mandatory E-Verify. The Senate did not spend much time discussing E-Verify, and what little discussion took place was mostly bipartisan praise for its effectiveness as a tool for preventing illegal immigrants from obtaining employment. It...

Immigration reform is notoriously contentious. Yet it's hard to find anyone who doesn't think employers should be barred from hiring illegal immigrants — and sharply penalized if they do so. When President Obama last week endorsed what he called the "common-sense, bipartisan" immigration package now before the Senate, he praised it for getting tough on "shady employers" who "knowingly hire undocumented workers." The White House website devotes an entire page to workplace enforcement of immigration restrictions. It leads off with the president's call for "cracking down more forcefully" on companies that employ undocumented aliens, and boasts that his administration has...

Yet another glitch seems to be popping up in the immigration reform debate, and I’ll confess that I really didn’t see this one coming. One portion of the proposal regards expanding – and making mandatory in a variety of cases – the use of the E-Verify system. This would ensure that employers were making use of the system to screen out illegal immigrants when hiring. But if it applies to immigrants, in the opinion of some observers, it winds up applying to everyone. And that could lead to the equivalent of a national ID database. “Over time, this could become...

Whether or not you admire the bold individualistic leadership of Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on other issues, I know you will be disappointed and maybe even shocked by the immigration platform he outlined this morning before the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. KEY POINTS OF THE RAND PAUL AMNESTY The 11-19 million illegal aliens would get to live permanently in the United States. One year after passing the amnesty, illegal aliens can start getting work permits to compete directly in the legal job market with Americans. New illegal aliens who are enticed by the amnesty will continue to have a relatively open...

Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.) has introduced the Keeping the Promise of IRCA Act. The bill would fulfill the border security promises, workplace verification promises, and interior enforcement promises that were never fulfilled by the 1986 amnesty bill. The bill serves as an alternative to the Gang of Eight's amnesty bill, S.744, and is a response to public opinion that's been evident in poll after poll that the border needs to be secured before dealing with other aspects of immigration reform. The Keeping the Promise of IRCA Act would: •Require all employers to use E-Verify within 2 years •Require all employers...

Above: Georgia's House passes the SB 160 crackdown on illegal aliens in the furious last half-hour of the 2013 session. - by John HillStand With ArizonaWebsite | Facebook | Twitter Way to go, Peach State! Georgia’s Legislature has approved a tough expansion of the state’s 2011 Arizona-style crackdown on illegal aliens, and it now awaits the Governor's signature (please contact him to do so - contact info below after the article). Passed in the final hours of the General Assembly’s 40-day session - and despite fierce lobbying against it by La Raza groups, the Chamber of Commerce, ACLU and...

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) gave a full-throated endorsement on Tuesday for comprehensive immigration reform that would allow undocumented immigrants to become citizens but not expand the employment verification system, putting him at odds with members of his party. . . . . . . . . .. But Paul differs from many Republicans, and some Democrats, on employment verification. Paul singled out E-Verify, an already-existing federal effort to check employment status. It's considered necessary by many to ensure businesses aren't hiring workers they shouldn't, but it's also criticized as cumbersome for employers and too likely to give false...

On January 10, 2013 the Washington State Supreme Court fined Linda Jordan almost $13,000 because she legally challenged Barack Obama's use of forged identity documents: A fake birth certificate and phony Social Security Number. Jordan wanted the original records to be produced for comparison. Why did Jordan want to see Obama’s real ID? • The Maricopa County Sheriff Department has presented credible evidence that the birth certificate Barack Obama posted on the White House website on April 27, 2011 was forged. (Maricopa County Sheriff Department 602.876.1801) • Jordan’s own research confirmed that Hawaii law requires signatures on birth certificates to...

Supermarket Chain That Joined E-Verify Part of Immigration Probe Disclosure of the audit comes six weeks after San Jose-based Mi Pueblo Food Center joined a controversial computerized system that screens the immigration status of new employees. By Lee Romney October 6, 2012 SAN JOSE — A Northern California-based supermarket chain that caters to Latino immigrant shoppers and was founded by an undocumented schoolteacher from Mexico announced Friday that the company is being audited by federal immigration officials. Disclosure of the audit, which could result in a mass firing, comes six weeks after San Jose-based Mi Pueblo Food Center joined E-Verify,...

His rags-to-riches immigrant journey and good business sense crowned Juvenal Chavez the king of Latino supermarkets in the Bay Area, but now the CEO is fighting a harsh attack on the reputation of his 21-store Mi Pueblo Foods grocery chain. Mi Pueblo stunned some of its more than 3,000 employees last month when it told them it had joined E-Verify, a Department of Homeland Security program that screens the immigration status of new hires. Now, with union activists accusing Chavez of betraying his own undocumented immigrant roots and threatening a consumer boycott if he doesn't pull out of E-Verify by...

by John HillStand With Arizona Way to go, Keystone State!Americans who oppose illegal immigration and its devastating impact on unemployment got something to smile about this week in Pennsylvania, as Governor Tom Corbett (R) signed into law the Public Works Employment Verification Act (Act No.127), which requires all public works contractors and subcontractors with the state to enroll in and use E-Verify for newly hired employees.  The law - patterned after Arizona's landmark 2009 law  - will take effect January 1, 2013. As a precondition of being awarded a contract for a public work, a public works contractor and its subcontractors...

In order to challenge the status quo on Houston's sanctuary policy and require the use of E-Verify for City contracts, we will need volunteers to help us collect signatures. Early Voting will run for 12 days starting May 14.The name of the game is 20,000 City of Houston voters signing both petitions. We will provide training for you and equipment. Please e-mail: volunteer@stopthemagnet.com to sign up. our scheduler will work with you on a suitable schedule and location. Thanks for stepping up to the plate.

Candidate for Senate Dan Liljenquist (left) pledged to The New American that should he be elected to the U.S. Senate he will offer legislation explicitly repealing the indefinite detention provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). In a press conference held on April 24 at 2:00 p.m. (MDT), the former Utah State Senator and current GOP challenger to six-term Senator Orrin Hatch described the indefinite detention provisions of the NDAA as “an overreach and a violation of the Bill of Rights.” He said that had he been in office when Congress voted to pass the NDAA he would have...

Petition drive under way in Houston to stop sanctuary policy and institute E-Verify for City of Houston contracts using taxpayer dollars. Stop the Magnet needs 20,000 registered City of Houston voters in short order.Please visit www.stopthemagnet.com and download,print,sign and mail in your petitions.We also need help gathering signatures at a variety of civic events. Let's take back our country one city at a time!

A billboard "welcoming" illegal aliens to Florida and sarcastically thanking Gov. Rick Scott appeared on Interstate 75 Wednesday. Produced by Floridians for Immigration Enforcement, the billboard calls out Scott for the state's failure to adopt an E-Verify law. "This is a wake-up call for Governor Scott, who promised Floridians he would work to get mandatory E-Verify in the state to protect our legal workers," said Jack Oliver, legislative director of the group that goes by the name FLIMEN. The 40-foot-by-10-foot illuminated billboard is along I-75's southbound lanes between the Georgia border and I-10. Georgia, along with neighboring Alabama and South...

If you walk up to a barn, you might say, “Something stinks in there.” If you talk to today’s teenagers, you might hear, “Hey dude, what smells?” In Shakespeare’s time, “Something is rotten in Denmark.” Hamlet Act 1, scene 4, 87–91: The character Marcellus, and not Hamlet, is the one who coined the phrase. There's a reason he said the "State of Denmark" rather than just Denmark: the fish are rotting from the head down—all is not well at the top of the political hierarchy. In 2012, you might say, “Something is rotten in the U.S. Congress.” At this time,...

In the upcoming presidential election, two issues are more important than any others: repealing Obamacare and halting illegal immigration. If we fail at either one, the country will be changed permanently. Taxes can be raised and lowered. Regulations can be removed (though they rarely are). Attorneys general and Cabinet members can be fired. Laws can be repealed. Even Supreme Court justices eventually die. But capitulate on illegal immigration, and the entire country will have the electorate of California. There will be no turning back. Similarly, if Obamacare isn't repealed in the next few years, it never will be.

This is not going to be a Merry Christmas for many of the workers at Pacific Steel. After a recent crackdown by the Department of Homeland Security, 200 workers who could not provide a valid social security number are being laid off. Those let go from the third largest foundry in the United States include many highly skilled workers who have been at the company for decades. “It’s very sad,” said spokeswoman Elisabeth Jewel from the firm Aroner, Jewel & Ellis Partners. “The employees who are being terminated now have the most seniority. Many have been there 20 to 30...