Posted on 06/14/2007 11:16:52 AM PDT by 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
‘100% agree with you. As President of a company with 375 employees, I know WE have the capability to verify and comply with the law in this respect. If we can do it, so can the construction contractors, hoteliers and meat packers. THEY JUST DON’T WANT TO.’
Yep. Now, consider what you know is FACT, and note what the Whitehouse keeps saying - ‘Its not possible’.
They are lying about this, or too dumb to be in the positions they currently hold.
One of the two.
Great letter, Jeff.
I think many, many people are beginning to realize this. It is no longer merely about differences in opinion regarding policy issues. Coulter touched on it briefly in a recent column when she alluded to Kennedy's outright disdain & hatred of America.
They want to destroy everything this county stands for and believes in. When it dawns on you that our most dangerous enemies aren't practicing Islam, but are actually our elected leaders, what do you do after you mutter "Uh oh"?
LOL!
Love your tagline. ;o)
Oh, I don't know. Seems like we can elect a Republican President and at the same time fire the Republican Congress.
And may I add, encourage the Judiciary Committee to allow Sen Inhofe's bill, ENFORCE, to get out of Committee and on to the floor.
The current bill needs defeated because it loosens Border Security instead of tightens it. Not keeping track of who leaves this Country is a major flaw among the rest.
Kindly convey to Mr. Nicholas Thompson that the President’s bill has too many moving parts, too many provisions as to be manageable and that the current USCIS is not funded or qquipped to handle an iota’s worth of what this monstrosity is aiming to do.
This bill will expand like an income tax code with amendments upon amendments driven by $$$ from K Street.
Tell this renegade Prez to read up on Eisenhower to get a clear clean way to solve this crisis.
The President and Congress are so insulated from the reality of having to deal with the consequences of illegal immigration, that they either 1) have no clue what life is like for those of us without huge ranches or estates 2) don't care.
Once the country has been sold out, Mr. President, we have no place left to go!
1) Build the fence
2) Enforce existing laws
3) No amnesty, and YES, THIS IS AMNESTY!
I would like to agree 100% with:
1) BUILD THE FENCE
2) DEPORT ALL ILLEGALS
3) FINE / PROSECUTE EMPLOYERS BREAKING THE LAW
4) INCREASE BORDER PATROL
5) CONTINUE LEGAL IMMIGRATION
This is the job we expect you to do. Thank you.
Kudos
Give me someone’s phone number and I can tell you within 20 minutes what kind of car they drive, their criminal background, where they work, if they are married, how many times and to whom, and a butt load of other info and it won’t cost me a dime. Any citizen can do it. You can find it out if you want to. These employers don’t WANT to. It’s all a load of crap and the administration is protecting them. Let’s just call it what it is.
I’ve actually taught courses on how to do what you just posted many times over the years. And I used that technique in hundreds of workers comp cases over the years.
Which is why I NEVER answer my phone unless I know the caller ID info....(chuckle)
Thanks. see this reply:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1849470/posts?page=147#147
Thanks for clarifying. I couldn’t remember for sure.
Bump that!
FREE SEN. INHOFE’S BILL!
WSD actually has some substantive meaning now, doesn’t it? (LOL)
Facncy seeing you here dixiechick!
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