Feinstein says job crackdowns 'don't work'

San Diego Union Tribune ^ | 03/31/06 | Jerry Kammer

[RS]

"Sen. Dianne Feinstein said yesterday that it would be pointless to couple the legalization of immigrants with a crackdown on U.S. employers who hire unauthorized workers.

“I don't think it makes any sense,” Feinstein said. Federal immigration officials, she noted, have backed off in the past when faced with opposition in communities where work sites are disrupted. "

“What has been shown is that employer sanctions don't work,” Feinstein said.

“You go into a field and you cite an agricultural grower, and the whole community erupts because everybody knows that grower has to harvest his crop or the crops lie dead and dormant,” she said. “So the employer sanctions program has been basically unenforceable.”

[cripplecreek]

I suspect it means that some of her wealthy corporate campaign contributors told her that it wouldn't be cost effective for her to support nailing them to the wall.

[headstamp]

Yes, or simply use the current "Walmart" model on steroids.

Tax each employer for each illegal worker. Find the amount to tax by figuring the cost of taxpayer subsidized health care, schooling, and all other related costs on average for public services used by each illegal.

We'll see how cheap it is to hire them then.

Heck if Walmart can be required to cover their employees by the same rationale so can the employers of illegals.

[muawiyah]

The overwhelming majority of people "on welfare" are children. You'd best get after the child labor laws first.

Double dare you to try that one.

Now, about what growers pay ~ Capitalism suggests that a laborer is worth his hire ~ hey the Bible says that too.

So, let them try paying enough to attract Americans to do this work.

BTW, my sympathies are really not with the growers who used illegal aliens at substandard wages to drive my farmer ancestors off their land.

[muawiyah]

Certainly jail the grower ~ and quite possibly everybody else on his deed to his land, and possibly even the USDA employees who knew about this but didn't report it to ICE.

We can use Butler buildings to house all these miscreants.

[RobbyS]

If California can't grow strawberries without the use of Mexican labor, then let California stop growing stawberries.

[muawiyah]

Oh, yeah, forgot to add, you got the names and addresses of some of those guys hiring illegals?

You might post them here ~ just among friends of course, or send me a Freepmail. I'm curious about who these people whose a$$e$ I'm supposed to kiss by ignoring the law might be.

[KittyKares]

Someone called a talk show today. Naturally I can't verify that what he said is true, but he claimed that he is an undocumented worker who uses a fake SS# on his tax form, that he was audited one year, but that the IRS didn't say anything about his fake SS#. I wouldn't be surprised if that is true. The government probably doesn't care as long as they get money out of it.

[cripplecreek]

If California can't grow strawberries without the use of Mexican labor, then let California stop growing stawberries.

Yep. It's amazing how fast supposed capitalists can throw out the laws of supply and demand when it doesn't benefit them.

[goldstategop]

We've NEVER enforced employer sanctions. That's NOT the same as concluding they don't work. You can't say that if you've never seriously tried to enforce the law. DiFi would be right only if we did enforce employer sanctions AND employers still hired illegal aliens. So there's a huge difference here.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[RS]

If the problem of illegal immigration were to magically go away tomorrow, we would still have to find a way to end welfare.

I don't think there's any support for the idea that they are coming up simply to jump on welfare, it's more a byproduct of the worker sneaking in and not being able to make enough to support the family that he brought up after him.

As the border has gotten tighter, this has actually caused more of this, since the workers cannot go home and return as easily, so they sneak their families up here to live instead.

Stop the job incentive, and deport every illegal.

[RobbyS]

Capitalists don't really believe in a free market. That's why they have lobyists in every capital trying to get federal and state money and legislation that gives them an advantage over the competition.

[cinives]

I'd like to know when this was ever tried. I've never heard of any employer prosecuted for hiring illegals ... how about you all ?

[P-40]

All the current proposals involve mandatory checking of documentation against a government database.

I hope it is a good database. I'm happy knowing that a given name matches a given social security number...but I sometimes wonder if there are forty people with that name and number combination.

[Fee]

I have a counter proposal for her. Keep the guest worker program, but she has to accept shuting the border off and closing the loopholes for anchor families and timed births on US soil. In addition we need to make up for other groups who tried to come to the US legally and are still waiting in line because the Mexicans/Central Americans cut in front of the line. I would add a moratorium on new immigrants from that region for 20 years. That would be my price if the Senate want guest workers.

[Malesherbes]

The logic of this mess is simple: (1) our politicians have turned a blind eye while the country was invaded by 11,000,000 illegal aliens; (2) now they say that number is too large to do anything about; and (3) that the only "solution" is to sign them up as citizens.

[buoybob]

Even better is that silly notion the senate (I refuse to capitalize the s) is entertaining fining the illegal aliens. What, $1000 dollars now, and a $1000 later, like after they learn to speak english. Como se dici en espanol,
"Can I pay my fine with my welfare or my SSI check?", i.e. who really gets to pay the fines. Just another tax increase smokescreen. Some would say the guvment would be getting their money back. I doubt it. These "senators" really need to go. House sends them up a bill wanting illegal aliens to become felons. senate took care of that in the first half hour.

[xarmydog]

Wife filed income tax last year and was told someone other than her had been working in San Antonio using her ssn.What a hassle she had from the IRS.She had to prove it wasnt her.Im sure she probably has been 'tagged' by the IRS.Ill bet nothing was done to the perp.

[stopem]

Would it be okay if I were to say to her and all democraps....Shut Up?? oh I just did.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Almost right...

Capitalists Multi-national corporations don't really believe in a free market (being quasi-governmental organizations themselves). That's why they have lobbyists in every capital trying to get federal and state money and legislation that gives them an advantage over the competition.