Spokesman for President Bush Posts on Free Republic About Immigration Bill

Thursday, June 14, 2007 | Kristinn

[kristinn]

A spokeman for the Bush administration sent an e-mail to Jim Robinson and myself confirming the authenticity of a post on Free Republic this afternoon regarding the immigration bill currently before the Senate as having been posted on behalf of the White House.

The spokesman, Nicholas Thompson, works for the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives. The Politico reported yesterday that Thompson and Kerrie Rushton, associate directors in the Office of Strategic Initiatives who work under Karl Rove, would be engaging the blogosphere on the immigration bill.

Thompson's post is on the thread titled Penalty Mitigation in the Immigration Reform Bill, a vanity posted by philman_36. Thompson posted at comment #53.

Thompson's e-mail to Free Republic included a brief introduction and the text of his posted comment:

Hi,

I just wanted to let you know that I just posted a response to the post "Penalty Mitigation in the Immigration Reform Bill."

The White House appreciates the opportunity to respond on Free Republic.

Response:
I would like to point out that the Secretary is authorized to reduce or mitigate penalities against employers who in good faith are trying to comply with the law. Certainly, we understand that not all employers knowingly hire illegal immigrants; this will remain the case, especially before the bill’s new secure documentation requirements are fully phased in. We do not seek to wrongly penalize honest employers who unknowingly hire illegal immigrants, therefore we reserve the right to reduce or mitigate their penalties if the employer can show good faith compliance in following the law.

For those employers who do knowingly hire illegal immigrants, please know that we intend to penalize these employers strongly, and the Administration has already stepped up these penalties in the last couple of years. For example, a 2005 program, “Operation Rollback,” assessed $15,000,000 in civil fines to employers, an amount greater than the sum of administrative fines collected in the previous eight years and was the largest worksite enforcement penalty in US history. In the first quarter of FY07, criminal and civil forfeitures have totaled $26,700,000 for employers.

As a reminder of what’s in the bill, fines for hiring an illegal worker are $5,000 maximum per illegal worker for the first offense, $10,000 maximum per illegal worker for the second, $25,000 maximum per illegal worker for the third , and $75,000 maximum per illegal worker for the fourth. In addition, the bill increases the maximum criminal penalty for a pattern or practice of unlawful hiring twenty-five-fold, from $3,000 to $75,000, and would impose a prison term of up to six months. This represents a significant increase in fines for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

Nicholas Thompson
White House Office of Strategic Initiatives

[Yankee Dutch]

WOW. Statistics to prove a point. Never seen that before. Asked any questions about those numbers? Or just using your tin foil hat?

[wtc911]

In all honesty I believe that this new freeper is here as either a bush-bot for hire or a disruptor from the dark side. Her posting history consists mainly of insults to long-timers.

I also genuinely believe she is not alone.

[dixiechick2000]

Bumping your post and your tagline!

[jedward]

So do you want the bill to be signed into Law?

[Sergio]

When you walk into you kitchen and discover that you have a clogged sink and that running water is spilling out onto the floor, the first reaction is not to start mopping the spilled water. The first reactions should be to turn off the faucet. You can mop at your leisure as long as there is not further water pouring in.

Mr. Thompson, I appreciate you taking the time to communicate with us, but any bill that would grant illegal aliens with any type of legal status is simply unacceptable.

To put it into terms that politicians tend to understand.

Know amnesty, no campaign contributions.
No amnesty, know campaign contributions.

Thanks for listening.

[dixiechick2000]

Whoa!

That’s some graph!
Very telling...

[txhurl]

LOL, the American Builders Association paid for her?
Or the American Produce Coalition?

[EternalVigilance]

I consider people who verbally assault our President without just cause to be TREASONOUS. WE ARE AT WAR.

What could be a more just cause, when, in that war, he has chosen to keep the southern border open to all comers?

Yesterday and today, enough manpower crossed from Mexico to provide the manpower for an entire army division. Been that way since the President took office. Dereliction of duty writ large.

[dixiechick2000]

You noticed that, too? lol

[Travis McGee]

I consider people who verbally assault our President without just cause to be TREASONOUS.

Sorry Tony, but when I swore the oath to defend the Constitution, I specifically DON'T recall taking a "Führer Oath." (Is that a special ceremony these days in the Whitehouse basement?)

(You gave yourself away, Tony, with "nutter." I remember that being one of your unique pet words, along with "snarky" etc.)

But as far as treasonous goes, since you mentioned it.....

U.S. Constitution, Article 4 Section 4:

"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,

and shall protect each of them against Invasion;"

---

Invasion: \In*va"sion\, n. [L. invasio: cf. F. invasion. See Invade.] [1913 Webster]

1. The act of invading; the act of encroaching upon the rights or possessions of another; encroachment; trespass.

[free_life]

What good are fines if all the illegal workers become legal workers under this bill?

Ah yep..i is dumber than a bag of hammers where do i sign up!

[Travis McGee]

Back before Tony Snow’s posts all disappeared from FR a year ago, he was talking about setting up a “blog war room” for the White House. Now in fact, they call it something like “Strategic Communications.” I wonder how many paid trolls and shills are on duty tonight, carrying water for the shamnesty sellout?

[jedward]

crickets...

[EternalVigilance]

WOW. Statistics to prove a point. Never seen that before.

Pretty stark, ain't they.

Asked any questions about those numbers?

Sure. But none of the answers coming from your crowd are credible.

Or just using your tin foil hat?

Around here, we use kevlar. Too bad you didn't know that.

[RJL]

“First, just to be clear: Any former gang member (or other applicant) convicted of a wide range of criminal conduct or otherwise determined to be a danger to the security of the United States is not welcome in the Z-visa program

And the feds will have a whole 24 hours to prove they're criminals or it's full speed ahead.

[wtc911]

How about either the DNC or the RNC. She’s carrying water for both on this issue, and how pathetic that Conservatives have become the enemy of both.

[dixiechick2000]

Bump.

[Alaphiah123]

An attempt to redirect the conversation...didn’t work.

[Dr.Zoidberg]

I wonder how many paid trolls and shills are on duty tonight, carrying water for the shamnesty sellout?

Put me down for over 10, but less than 20.

[tarheelswamprat]

Don’t give Pedro any ideas... /grin