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Law and BorderFrom the July 4, 2011, issue of NR. On May 26, for the first time in 35 years, the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion on whether states may take action to stop illegal immigration. In Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting, the Supreme Court upheld the Legal Arizona Workers Act of 2007 against multiple challenges claiming that it was preempted by federal law. This act requires all employers in the state to use the E-Verify Internet system to check the work authorization of new hires, and it penalizes employers who knowingly hire unauthorized aliens by suspending their...

Georgia's Arizona-style immigration law HB87 takes effect today, July 1st. Although much of the focus has been on the two parts of the Georgia immigration law that were blocked by Judge Thomas Thrash on June 27th, there is still much to celebrate with 21 of the 23 sections remaining intact. Judge Thrash has enjoined the sections of the law that would have empowered law enforcement to investigate immigration status, if a suspect were involved in another crime, and also the provision criminalizing the "transporting or harboring" of illegal aliens. Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has vowed to push forward through the...

Republicans in Congress have launched a major offensive to force several million undocumented immigrants to leave the United States with a bill that would make it mandatory for U.S. employers to electronically verify workers’ legal status. It sounds like a reasonable idea, but the way they want to do it would hurt all involved. Last week, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith , R-Texas, and 11 fellow Republicans introduced the so c-called E-Verify bill, which would require employers to use an existing Homeland Security Department database to check the legal status of newly hired employees. According to Congressional sources, it...

One way to judge the likely effectiveness of Chairman Lamar Smith's national mandatory E-Verify bill is the panic it has caused among the nation's biggest promoters of illegal immigration. They attack Rep. Smith's bill because they say it will take the incomes away from large swaths of America's illegal population. Well, I guess that's the point isn't it, because those incomes will now go to unemployed American citizens and legal immigrants who already are here. The big pro-amnesty coalition called Reform Immigration FOR America screamed in its mass email: Mass firings, mass deportations

One of the central points of focus for the illegal immigration debate recently has been the use by employers of the federal government’s E-Verify system for checking the immigration status of potential or existing employees. Now Lamar Smith, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has introduced a bill, H.R. 2164, which purports to mandate E-Verify use for all American employers. The merits of this legislation are pretty obvious, and have been cited by immigration enforcement and reform groups like FAIR in support of Smith’s bill. Getting corporations and businesses that have resisted the implementation of E-Verify for years to...

History is threatening to re peat itself. Twenty-five years ago, Congress passed the Simpson-Mazzoli Act (better known among conservatives as the 1986 illegal-alien amnesty), which gave a path to citizenship to illegal aliens already here in exchange for prohibiting the hiring of illegal workers -- a provision that has been enforced only sporadically. It was a raw deal for conservatives. On Tuesday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced a bill (HR 2164) to require nationwide use of the E-Verify system, which checks a job applicant's citizenship and immigration status, via the Internet, to see if he or she...

The errors in National Public Radio's coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-3 decision to (uphold Arizona's E-Verify law) were so blatant and verifiable that the segment would have made a good candidate for one of NPR's famous April Fools Day reports. But the falsehoods that listeners heard in the (Top Court Upholds Arizona Employer Sanctions Law) are no joke. There has been no correction in the story online, which would indicate no one within the organization caught the errors. I don't believe that "All Things Considered" intentionally lied to listeners. Supporters of unchecked illegal immigration spend millions of dollars...

Alabama's new law cracking down on illegal immigrants will likely survive legal challenges from advocacy groups that say it is unconstitutional and racist, analysts told Fox News. The law, which takes effect Sept. 1, empowers police to arrest people suspected of being an illegal immigrant if they are stopped for another reason and requires businesses and schools to verify whether workers and students are in the country lawfully. It also makes it a crime to knowingly transport or shelter illegal immigrants. As soon as Republican Gov. Robert Bentley signed the bill into law Thursday, the ACLU and Southern Poverty Law...

Republican Governor Robert Bentley on Thursday signed into law a crackdown on illegal immigration in Alabama that both supporters and critics consider the toughest in the nation. Under the new measure, police must detain someone they suspect of being in the country illegally if the person cannot produce proper documentation when stopped for any reason. It also will be a crime to knowingly transport or harbor someone who is in the country illegally. The law imposes penalties on businesses that knowingly employ someone without legal resident status. A company's business license could be suspended or revoked. The law requires Alabama...

A new poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports found that 82% of likely voters think businesses should be required to use E-Verify. The poll also found that 61% of likely voters would favor a state law that shuts down businesses that repeatedly hire illegal workers. The poll was conducted after the Supreme Court's ruling last week that upholds an Arizona law that suspends a company's business license if found repeatedly hiring illegal workers. Only 12% of likely voters would oppose a nationwide mandatory E-Verify law.

Alabama Passes Mandatory E-Verify & Immigration Enforcement Bill Friday, June 3, 2011, 1:25 PM EDT An Alabama House and Senate conference committee agreed on a new bill, which both chambers have already passed, that requires the use of E-Verify by all businesses in the state and includes several immigration enforcement provisions. Should Gov. Robert Bentley sign the bill into law, it would become one of the largest state crackdowns on illegal immigration in the country. The bill requires all businesses, public and private, to begin using E-Verify effective April 1, 2012. Businesses that do not comply face suspension of its...

After it passed a robust immigration-enforcement measure last year, Arizona was practically expelled from the union. The great and good denounced the state for its Gestapo tactics. The Obama administration sued it. The professionally outraged announced boycotts. Arizona stood condemned before the world, a byword for hatred and defiance of federal law. And yet the Supreme Court last week implicitly ratified Arizona’s leadership role on immigration enforcement. It’s everyone else who is out of line, not Arizona. The Supreme Court upheld the state’s requirement that businesses use the federal E-Verify system — a database accessible through the Internet — to...

Immigration: In a victory for states' rights, the Supreme Court has upheld the state law requiring businesses to verify immigration status of employees and revoking their business licenses if they knowingly hire illegal aliens. Yes, we can control our borders, and states do have the right to protect their citizens and their own borders. That was the meaning of a 5-3 decision last Thursday by the U.S. Supreme Court validating Arizona's 2007 law requiring businesses to use E-Verify, a voluntary federal program to determine if workers are eligible to work here. The Obama administration has argued that immigration and border...

COLUMBIA — Gov. Nikki Haley said today that two dozen of South Carolina's illegal immigration enforcement agents were blocked by the Obama administration from enforcing the state's law. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, part of President Barack Obama's Cabinet, told the state it could not use E-Verify documentation to enforce South Carolina's immigration law. But Thursday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a similar law in Arizona upheld a state's right to rely the online system that uses Social Security numbers to screens new workers to see if they are legally in the country. Haley said Obama is getting in...

Conversely, you could say that the Chamber of Commerce and ACLU have lost, and lost big-time. Overall, it was a very good day for the Supreme Court of the United States, or as law nerds like to call it, SCOTUS. However, it was an even better day for Arizonans, and for those of us who sympathize with their struggle to combat illegal immigration almost single-handedly. Not only did the Supreme Court majority reject the specious arguments advanced by those who want to retain a class of indentured servants from foreign countries in perpetuity, it affirmed the right of state legislatures...

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld Arizona’s 2007 law requiring all employers in the state to use the federal E-Verify system for screening out illegal aliens and revoking the business licenses of firms that knowingly hire them. The court split 5–3 along party lines: Breyer, Ginsburg, and Sotomayor (Kagan recused herself) ignored the plain meaning of the federal law empowering states to use their licensing power to address the employment of illegal workers. Chief Justice Roberts, on the other hand, found “no basis in law, fact, or logic” for the argument that Arizona should be stopped from doing so in...

(CNSNews.com) – In an early test of state immigration reform laws, the Supreme Court ruled on the side of enforcement regarding an Arizona immigration law that allows penalties up to revocation of business licenses for employers that knowingly hire illegal aliens. The Arizona law in question in this case required employers to use E-Verify, an electronic federal system that is currently voluntary that allows employers to determine the legal status of job applicants and employees. The court ruled 5-3, with Justice Elena Kagan not participating, to reject the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s argument that the Arizona law pre-empted federal control...

ATLANTA - Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has signed a bill that cracks down on illegal immigration by increasing some enforcement powers and requiring many employers to check the immigration status of new hires. Deal on Friday signed the bill that has some similarities to a controversial bill enacted last year in Arizona. Most parts of the Georgia law are set to enter into effect July 1. But opponents have said they plan to file lawsuits seeking to block it.

Indianapolis— Five students arrested at an immigration protest at the Indiana Statehouse Monday will not face deportation. Federal authorities lifted detention orders against the illegal immigrants Tuesday evening. The detention was lifted shortly after the five declared a hunger strike Tuesday. The students say the hunger strike will last until Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (R) vetoes the immigration bill he has previously promised to sign. The students were part of a protest that went all the way to the front door of the governor's office. Senate Bill 590 would make illegal immigrants pay much higher tuitions. The cost would be...

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton won't revive a directive from his Republican predecessor requiring the state to participate in enforcing federal immigration law, a spokeswoman told The Associated Press Thursday. Spokeswoman Katie Tinucci said the Democratic governor decided against reviving the 2008 executive order from former Gov. Tim Pawlenty because it wasn't necessary. The directive, which expired last week, had required state cooperation with federal authorities in areas such as customs enforcement and fraudulent documents. Tinucci said the directive wasn't needed to enable state law enforcement agents to cooperate with federal authorities, so Dayton made a practical decision not to keep...