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

[PGalt]

Thanks very, very, very much for the ping HiJinx. I just got home from work and commented (post #358) on the thread that Nicholas Thompson posted to (philman_36’s thread).

Thanks, thanks, thanks.

[Travis McGee]

Midnight to 12:30 is probably change of shift. He needs to bring the night watch up to speed, before he turns over the con.

[wtc911]

btw.....’she’ be gone.

[nicmarlo]

Another thing Bush doesn't seem to give a crap about is his own legacy.

I wouldn't want to be remembered in the history books as the first American president who allowed and actually encouraged the invasion of America by a third world dump.....His legacy will be used as toilet paper in the future.

All true. His legacy has already sunk to the level of people he is helping invade this country....nothing but used toilet paper.

[CindyDawg]

These late posts are so funny. Jim should charge admission:’)

[ClancyJ]

Of course not here. Everyone knows this is a rant posting place.

Maybe one of the blogs like Michelle Makin’s, Little Green Footballs - but not here - people here don’t care about the reputation of the site they just want a place to see their rants in print on the “er......the NET”.

[wtc911]

Ol’ Dutch is takin’ 5 to chop out another line, looks like.

-------------------------------------

Banned but probably already heading back in through the window.

[txhurl]

She had some Gouda to rotate in her lime cave.

[Travis McGee]

I was trying to draw attention to the fact that when a representative of the White House comes to FR for contact with bloggers it is not really wise to use that opportunity to slam the president of the United States.

Sorry, but this is my country he's trying to wreck, and my "polite" is all used up. If he wants to win my respect back, then he has to remember the oath he swore to uphold the Constitution.

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.

[rolling_stone]

This Bush push reminds me of Burr’s Conspiracy (without a physical battle) These closed door meetings and non-enforcement stink of a secret conspiracy. The NAU seems to be the grand plan with obviously a lot of money to be made by the elites at our expense. I believe we are treading closer and closer to a real showdown.

[do the dhue]

I like the idear of putting drones in the air. When a drug dealer, illegal, or terrorist is spotted, border patrol agents get the location and arrive in Bradley fighting vehicles. Might have to build more of them Strikers. We could use them too.

Of course, if I wasn't a kinder, gentler, compassionate conservative, I would find a way to mount daisy cutters on drones (maybe build a bigger drone), make a video game out of flying the drones and dropping the bombs on targets of opportunity; and I would have teenage kids sitting around all day and night protecting our border by playing a "video game". ;-)

[txhurl]

She’s the same person as that Nancee Lynn Cheney we were all like ??? about last Christmas. Identical speech, monotone, totally following a ‘character’.

[do the dhue]

Maybe our Doctor bills will offset and we wont have to sue each other then.

[wtc911]

This forum has a target writ large on its back. I expect many more attempts from both the DNC and RNC to relegate us to the fringe. It’s going to be a tough year.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

HEY...It’s All BLUE In Here...

[Travis McGee]

This Bush push reminds me of Burr’s Conspiracy (without a physical battle) These closed door meetings and non-enforcement stink of a secret conspiracy. The NAU seems to be the grand plan with obviously a lot of money to be made by the elites at our expense. I believe we are treading closer and closer to a real showdown.

Amen. It's what I've been warning about for a few years, in stark terms. And if the OBL Quislings do manage to shove this shamnesty bill down our throats, it will literally be a Pyrrhic victory at most, for it will be literally stoking the fires of a coming CW2.

[txhurl]

Nope. We also belong to the 40 million conservative talk listeners audience. As long as they can’t jack with that, they can’t truly jack with FR.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

LOL,,,I needed a good laff,,,WAR IS HELL...

[BreezyDog]

Thompsons' response is why I have supported those pinheads with these for the past 2 years: BUILD THE FENCE!!

[Dat Mon]

YOU SAID....”It is an illness, by the way, that Osama bin Laden intends to exploit because it erodes our trust of one another.

Just one more example of how & why your general assault on President Bush is pathetic. And treasonous.”

I'm not gonna bug you about that question I asked you earlier...consider it a rhetorical question.

But I cant let this go by.

You see...I really don't care who you are, what you believe, what your politics are, who you work for, or even why you are here on this forum tonight.

None of that is relevant for the points I want to make ....

You see, political dissent, and Free Speech, and critique of our elected leaders, is not a weakness...it is our STRENGTH... it is why we are a free people...in a free country.

But we DO have a critical weakness...one that Osama already HAS exploited...and which he will, if left uncorrected, God forbid...exploit to cause us unimaginable harm...

Right now, we have an unsecured southern border, through which known terrorist elements like MS-13 can freely come and go...at will.

That is our weakness. I have a post up tonight talking about Terrorism in Latin America...check it out.

You see....getting back to who you are...it doesn't really matter if...God forbid...Osama does smuggle a suitcase nuke over the Southern border...and it happens to go off in YOUR city...you are DEAD...same as I am.

Our politics don't matter to Osama...only the fact that we are Americans. Forget about this monstrosity of a bill..urge your Senators to simply do what they swore an oath to do...and secure the border NOW.