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
Fancy too
Thanks for your post, but I’m not the President and I didn’t trick you...lol
bttt!
Ditto
And may I add English only please! The #2 button on my phone is worn out...
No problem at all glad to be of help!
What crackerjack box did you open that said that saying this was a good idea?
“At least Nick had the balls to identify himself, and not hide behind a stupid screen name like Hemingway’s Ghost or something.”
lol.
I think we should honor the open attempt to woo us with a
“Rove, you magnificent b***t**d” pic.
Havent seen those on FR since early November, 2006.
The bill also contains the DREAM act, which would give in-state tuition to illegal aliens, yet it offers no such discount to American citizens.
This alone is sufficient reason to kill the bill.
Not just the fence — after the fence is built use all the technology available to make a virtual fence so that INS can view the whole length and get agents to areas where they have broken through the fence. We need two fences — one to the north and one to the south.
TRUE!!!
President Bush ~
If we truly have your ear,
then how about your heart?
Enforce ALL existing laws,
not just a la carte.
We need your spine,
your thicker skin ~
Conviction with some teeth.
Will this be the legacy of shame
that you bequeath?
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,………………….. (my emphasis)
Why should the Secretary be able to reduce or mitigate the amount of fines?
Why is the amount listed as “maximum” if it isn’t intended to be misleading as in, “up to”?
These fines are meaningless because the employers have saved many times that amount in not having to pay their share of FICA and are probably writing them off as business expenses. This whole thing is a mockery and an insult to the intelligence of the American people!!!
Lookee!
The “political left” will end up existing as a political majority forever all over the U.S. if the Democrats win everything in ‘08! You are seriously fooling yourself if you really do believe that a “conservative minority” will exist for only up to the next sixteen years and no more! The political left at every political level throughout the U.S. will always make finite numbers of illegals quickly become legal, and then, they would also allow them to register to vote in the U.S.-forever! Grrr!
Ditto what F15Eagle said. Please forward this simple but eloquent message that says all that needs to be said.
We need immigrants for our economy
*^*^*^*^*^
Now, I’m not sayin’ you’re not right, but this strikes me as the very same argument the “south” used in the slavery debate.
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