Posted on 01/06/2005 12:32:58 AM PST by nanak
WASHINGTON -- Rep. David Dreier said Wednesday that President Bush's plan to grant temporary legal status to undocumented workers should go "hand-in-hand' with his own sweeping proposal to ensure employers only hire legal U.S. residents. "I believe a guest worker program is essential. We have between 8 and 14 million people here illegally. Identifying them is in our national security interest,' Dreier, R-Glendora, said at a Capitol news conference.
The Republican lawmaker has proposed creating a national employment card that anyone seeking a new job would be required to present to employers. The card would be issued by the Social Security Administration and include a digitized photo as well as an encrypted identification strip that contains a person's status in the U.S.
Employers would then be able to confirm a prospective employee's identity and legal status in a federal database operated by the Homeland Security Department. Anyone who knowingly hired an undocumented worker would face a $50,000 fine and up to five years in prison.
Dreier also said the front of the card will feature in bold letters the phrase "This is Not a National Identification Card.'
Dreier has called the bill the "Bonner Plan' after T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council. On Wednesday Bonner accompanied Dreier and co-sponsor Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, and asserted the proposal would reduce illegal border crossings by 98 percent.
Acknowledging the employment card would send scores of illegal immigrants who have long made the United States their home out of the country, Dreier added he believes "we have to have some kind of guest worker program that goes hand-in- hand with this.'
The bill calls for $100 million to enforce compliance and authorizes $50 million over five years to help states improve border protection technology. Dreier and Reyes acknowledged the key to making the proposal work is by having Congress properly fund enforcement measures.
"I believe the stars are aligned' to pass the bill, Dreier said. "We want to put together a strong bipartisan coalition to tackle this problem.'
And Social Security numbers were never to be used as identifiers...
If I paint "This is not car" on the side of my car does that mean it's not a car?
Don't know how old you are, but I remember when I got my Social Security card, in 1955, that it said right across the front of it "Not to be used for identification purposes" or words to that effect. Seemed pretty comforting at the time!
Yeah he won re-election by a landslide.(snicker)
ping
It is an alert to John and Ken's radio show....
How long will it take before the "guest workers" demand the right to vote?
About 1 nanosecond.
Right after they demand to be included on our Social Security system. This ties hand in glove with Bush's desire to put the illegals all on Social Security.
STFU. You'll never identify anyone of interest with a guest worker program. Those that want to stay hidden will stay hidden.
WE NEED DRUG TESTING IN CONGRESS IMMEDIATLY.
Dreier also said the front of the card will feature in bold letters the phrase "This is Not a National Identification Card.'
Oh, it is bold letters, I guess it must be okay. BOLD!
$100 million for 18 million illegal aliens? I'm impressed!
That's over five bucks per head, yep W is taking border security series.
Let's see: $100 million for enforcement... 18 million illegal aliens to be processed...
Yep, that's over five bucks per head, I'm impressed (not)
"There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism...The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin...would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities."
Teddy Roosevelt, Republican President (Speech, New York, 1915)
We are being played by Rove on this issue and from what I see he is doing rather well and we are not. He is getting us sidetracked into talking about amnesty this and amnesty that, but what needs to be addressed is this "guest worker program." This scheme will in the end make what has happened seem like the good old days. Every country will send their poor just like Fox and Mexico send theirs.
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