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Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, this morning introduced sweeping legislation aimed at punishing Idaho employers who knowingly employ undocumented immigrants, along with other measures including denying recognition of out-of-state driver’s licenses to those without legal immigration status. “The key language is ‘knowingly hire,’” Jorgenson said. He’s proposed versions of such legislation repeatedly without success, but said this year he worked with University of Missori-Kansas City law professor Kris Kobach to draft Idaho-specific legislation. Jorgenson said if his bill gets a full hearing, Kobach will come to Idaho to testify at Jorgenson’s personal expense.
Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, looking through the 16-page bill, asked Jorgenson, “If this type of conduct is already unlawful under (federal law) is it necessary for Idaho to even have this statute?” Jorgenson responded that if the federal government isn’t adequately enforcing immigration laws, a state has “every right to use whatever means it has available to protect itself.” Under his bill, employers who knowingly employ undocumented aliens would face fines, jail time, and license suspensions. Idaho cities that declare themselves “sanctuary cities” to protect illegal immigrants would be ineligible for state funds. Also, no state or local public benefit could be provided to anyone who’s undocumented; lawmakers already passed legislation along those lines several years ago.
Another measure, SB 1271, already has been introduced by Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, to make it a misdemeanor for an employer to knowingly hire someone based on false immigration documents. Jorgenson said he considers that measure a “companion bill” to his legislation. “That bill addresses none of the issues that I addressed. I certainly would support that bill as well,” he told Eye on Boise.
Betsy Z. Russell covers Idaho news from The Spokesman-Review's bureau in Boise.
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LarrySpencer on January 29 at 11:08 a.m.
Mike's bill is badly written. My guess is that he can't even get this dog out of committee. Why he doesn't stick with what he knows like pushing the Tribe's agenda is beyond me.
Oh, that's right, it's an election year.
/sigh
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LarrySpencer on January 29 at 11:38 a.m.
“Jorgenson said if his bill gets a full hearing, Kobach will come to Idaho to testify at Jorgenson’s personal expense.”
So since he is unable to get a bill out of committee himself, he is now trying to buy some credibility by having an expert come and testify about the bill?
Is this for real?
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tinybobidaho on January 29 at 3:40 p.m.
Larry, you don't even know what you're talking about. I wonder what your personal agenda is here. Jorgenson's bill is the only one offered at the moment that has some teeth in it, and it will hold up under the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals because of the help of Kris Kobach, as proven in Arizona. I think you're going to be surprised how far this “dog” goes, because if it doesn't, there are enough of us here in Idaho that will clean house come November because 80% of Idahoans want something done about the illegal aliens here. Either help or get out of our way.
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OliverC on January 29 at 3:59 p.m.
Larry Spencer are you for real???
I do not appreciate your racist comments about the Tribes one bit. In fact, it turns my stomach!
Onto the issue at hand:
Senator Jorgenson's bill was printed last session, but because of a decision by the Republican leadership, the bill was 'put in the drawer' or killed without an up or down vote on the floors of the legislature. That will not be allowed to happen again. The citizens are awake and aware.
Professor of Constitutional Law at Missouri Kansas City School of Law, Kris Kobach wrote the Senate Bill 1303. He is one of the leading experts, if not the leading expert on state enforcement of immigration law in the United States. He writes inviolable, or bulletproof, legislation using a Department of Homeland Security program E-Verify. E-Verify is being used successfully across the United States by states, localities, contractors for the federal government, the Idaho state government for the past 5 years, and many employers voluntarily.
For any legislation to be effective, it must contain mandatory E-Verify. This is what the good Senator Jorgenson's bill will do—force the businesses in Idaho, along with the biggest abusers of Idaho tax dollars, the dairy industry, to hire American workers or legal immigrants.
There are no jobs Americans won't do according to the Dept of Labor states—that is if they are paid a living wage and benefits.
Unemployment is around 10% in Idaho and that does not include all of the people out of work. Idaho families need jobs and will be willing to be trained for positions now held by illegal immigrants.
With Idaho taxpayers paying over $200,000,000 per year in taxes to support the social costs of illegal slave labor in dairy, ag and businesses.
Larry, you should be shaking Senator Jorgenson's hand for his courage to stand up to special interests and the legislators that choose to represent them over the citizens of Idaho who elected them.
The Idaho State Legislature better get on board because we may find a lot of lost seats in the next election if they don't. The Republican leadership cannot keep protecting the pockets of their legislators at the expense of Idaho citizens.
Call your Senators and demand SB 1303 reach the floors of the legislature for an up or down vote. Contact them at http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/howt…
Enough is enough!!!
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Scotts on January 29 at 4:32 p.m.
Larry, do your home work, Kris Koback helped write AZ immigration law that was up held in the 9th circuit court, which by the way incase you are unaware, Idaho is under the jurisdiction of.
It is about time if the federal government will not do something to stop the flow of illegals and protect Americans jobs, the states have no choice.
There has been 2 amnesty, 1986 and 1996, 23 years later and still nothing being done, the states are going to have to help themselves because the feds don't have the guts…and if our state legislatures don't have the guts this year, we are going to do all we can to throw out anyone who does not support this bill…we expect changes, meaning full changes not just rhetoric and nothing getting done.
Great Job Jorgenson!!! Thank you!
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Sisyphus on January 29 at 4:37 p.m.
LOL. It ain't the law yet boys. And it likely won't be because of the politics, not its legal underpinnings. There's no political stomach for taking on Idaho's primary industry particularly when it imposes severe criminal sanctions. Nah-gah-hah-pen. But it shore will be fun to watch. ;-)
Clean house? I'm looking forward to that too.
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OliverC on January 29 at 4:49 p.m.
Hey if you want to find out about the bill and the opposition and their real agenda go to:
www.mike4idaho.com
The following document will provide you with information on why mandatory e-verify is necessary to enforce immigration law and who the groups opposing inviolable enforcement legislation really are and what their agenda is for Idaho and the USA: http://www.mike4idaho.com/docs/ILLEGA…
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DelawareBob on January 29 at 5:38 p.m.
You Go, Idaho! Get the illegal immigration bill passed!
Illegal aliens are destroying this Country, and one would have to be almost blind not to see this. How much longer do we have to support these illegal aliens? How much longer do we have to school their illegal alien children? How much longer are we going to let them have our jobs? How much longer are we going to put up with all the crime, stolen identities, forged documents, fake green cards? How much longer are we going to allow these illegal aliens to send money out of this Country and bring our Country down? Oh, amnesty will correct all this. WRONG! Nothing will change except we wouldn't be able to call them illegal aliens any more. Let's get rid of these illegal aliens! Let's get them back to their own Country where they belong!
I'm from Delaware, and we are pressing to get the Oklahoma State Illegal Immigration Law, HR 1804. passed here in Delaware. Three years ago we had about 32,000 illegal aliens here. Today we have about 68,000 illegal aliens here. We have had it! We want out State back!
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LarrySpencer on January 29 at 7:37 p.m.
Well, well, well…
First, when I point out that Mike is the go-to guy for the Tribe, you say I turn your stomach because it was a racist remark? Wow. Really… WOW!
Then you say I should shake his hand, and then I realize that the last time I told people the truth about Mike and who he was working for instead of his constituents, he refused to shake my hand for a year. Suddenly it clicks who you are!
Is that you, Mike? Of course not… right.
My agenda that you were wondering about is to tell the truth about how Senator Jorgenson has let our district down. He was stripped from the powerful State Affairs committee position so he is trying to sell it to Senators he once sat with in that committee. The leadership replaced him because he was out in left field swinging his bat for all kinds of special interests instead of working for his constituents. The fact that he is known as “number 35” (there are 35 Senators) is perhaps the best way to describe how low his standing is and why we need to send someone with more credibility to Boise to represent the Third District.
The fact that Senator Jorgenson is paying an expert to help him convince his own colleagues that they should vote to lob this bill over to the other side of the rotunda is perhaps the best testament to his lack of credibility, as well as his understanding of his shortcomings in that area.
But then, you know this, don't you, Mike?
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OliverC on January 29 at 8:21 p.m.
And, yes your remarks about the Tribe have racial overtones and it is disgusting. With every offensive comment you dig yourself in deeper, so please stop.
Do you really think this is the venue to air your personal issues with the Senator. How tacky!
“My agenda that you were wondering about is to tell the truth about how Senator Jorgenson has let our district down. He was stripped from the powerful State Affairs committee position so he is trying to sell it to Senators he once sat with in that committee. The leadership replaced him because he was out in left field swinging his bat for all kinds of special interests instead of working for his constituents.”
Let's have a bit of the truth instead of your lies:
When Mel Richardson retired, Mike Jorgenson, because of his qualifications and legal background, was tapped to become Vice Chairman of the Judiciary and Rules Committee.
That is why he left the Senate State Affairs Committee for one of the highest ranking positions in the Idaho State Senate.
More lies:
“The fact that Senator Jorgenson is paying an expert to help him convince his own colleagues that they should vote to lob this bill over to the other side of the rotunda is perhaps the best testament to his lack of credibility, as well as his understanding of his shortcomings in that area.”
I am sure Kris Kobach would be offended by your comments. He is the head of IRLI and works non gratis. He does not have the money to fly out and testify on his legislation and E-Verify. Makes sense, Senator Jorgenson would fly in people to testify on behalf of his bill. That is the way it is done and it simply shows how dedicated Senator Jorgenson is to the citizens of Idaho that he would fly in witnesses—at his own expense—to refute the powerful illegal alien employers in this state.
Let's see…let me guess, you are Raul Labrador's stooge!!!
I can tell by your spinning of the facts. He couldn't tell the truth if it knocked him upside the head. You might sound a little more competent if you quit listening to him.
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tinybobidaho on January 29 at 9:36 p.m.
Larry said:
The leadership replaced him because he was out in left field swinging his bat for all kinds of special interests instead of working for his constituents.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––
The only one out in left field is you if you believe that. The only special interest Senator Jorgenson represents is the people because he cares about this state. You think he's out in left field because he wants to save the taxpayers the $200 million a year the illegal aliens cost us here so big Ag and the Dairymen can line their pockets? If he's all alone on this like you say, it tells me a whole more legislators are bought off than I thought. If you do represent Labrador, that tells me a lot about you, seeing he fought in court to try to stop an admitted human smuggler from being deported even though he knew the guy was wanted for murder in Mexico. You apparently have a personally beef with Senator Jorgenson, but the people should have a real big beef with Labrador for representing illegal aliens instead of the people who voted him in.
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Scotts on January 30 at 7:34 a.m.
Maybe Larry is Labrador??????
The fact that Jorgenson got Kris Koback to help him write the bill speaks of Mikes intelligence as far as I'm concerned, he has a record of writing a bill that was upheld in the 9th circuit court. who would you get to write the bill Mickey Mouse?
Believe it or not most Legislatures are not qualitied to write bills that can hold up in the especially in the 9th circuit court, this does not mean they they are stupid, it means they are smart enough to bring in someone who know what they are doing and also tells me they are serious about getting a good bill and not a piece of crap like McKenzie is suppporting, with no teeth.
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LarrySpencer on January 30 at 9:03 a.m.
Mike, let’s look at your “miracle” solution, e-verify. It is not only a joke, but has earned the nickname “e-fail” You can read more by googling “e verify doesn't work immigration impact”
The page you find there explains how legislators trying to “look tough on immigration” are pushing mandatory participation in a bungled federal program that in many cases results in American citizens being denied employment or fired without being told why shortly after they had been hired because E-fail sent back a false alert.
A bigger problem is that your bill puts our nation into the mentality that freedom is a failed principal, and we are going to need to get used to the idea that “Show me your papers” is somehow a good thing.
Also, your claim that you voluntarily gave up your vice-chairman seat on State Affairs (the most powerful committee in the Senate, other than perhaps JAFAC) to take a position on Jud and Rules is laughable. Since we are on that subject, would you tell us all that your removal from your position as vice-chairman of the Education Committee to a basic membership seat on Local Government and Taxation was also a promotion? We need more spin around here.
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OliverC on January 30 at 9:18 a.m.
Larry/Labrador/The Idaho Dairymen's Association wrote:
“Mike, let’s look at your “miracle” solution, e-verify. It is not only a joke, but has earned the nickname “e-fail” You can read more by googling “e verify doesn't work immigration impact”
Your ignorance of the facts on E-Verify is appalling. E-Verify is used by over 500,000 businesses across the United States, has illegal aliens fleeing from states with E-Verify, and most importantly is used by Federal government contractors. Really you should stop listening to your alter egos, they are making you look even more stupid.
If you or anyone else wants to educate themselves on E-Verify please go to http://www.mike4idaho.com/docs/ILLEGA…
Larry/Labrador/Hart wrote:
“A bigger problem is that your bill puts our nation into the mentality that freedom is a failed principal, and we are going to need to get used to the idea that “Show me your papers” is somehow a good thing.”
Open borders language…
Larry, you are too ignorant of the facts and too disinterested in the welfare of the citizens of Idaho to continue this. I have bigger fish to fry. Bye
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tinybobidaho on January 30 at 9:43 a.m.
Larry, you're peddling propaganda. E-Verify is 99.7% accurate and when a no match comes up, the employee has 90 days to correct the information as in some cases people do not change their marital status. But I would say the 3% that comes up more than likely means they are using false identification,huh? It's funny how people like you say immigration enforcement is the federal government's job, yet you fight tooth and nail against a successful federal program that does just that.
The only people who would be against Senator Jorgenson's bill or E-Verify are the ones who, a: are an illegal alien or have family members they want to keep here, b:an employer who wants a continuous flow of cheap labor, c:an immigration attorney who makes big bucks defending illegal aliens, or d: somebody who just doesn't care about the health and well being or the sovereignty of this country. Which one of these do you fall under, Larry?
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LarrySpencer on January 30 at 9:46 a.m.
Mike, you say that not wanting to give up liberty and become like the former Soviet Union or Germany under Hitler when everybody needed to have papers to get a job is supporting open borders? Really? You just don’t get that pushing more reliance and integration to a failed federal program that the federal agencies (as I linked to above) don’t even use correctly is NOT a good thing for Idaho. If you were a conservative, you would understand that your district doesn't want more ties to the federal government.
You are trying to buy credibility by bringing your expert because last year you couldn’t even answer questions about the bill because you didn’t write it and didn’t understand it. This year you contracted the authorship of the bill, and are bringing in the author to explain it, because you don’t even understand “your” bill!
You have called me a racist for pointing out that you spend what little clout you have left pushing the Tribes agenda, then you claim I am ignorant about E-fail when the fact is that you can’t even get a bill out onto the Senate floor without help because you don’t understand your own bill? Who is the ignorant one again, Senator?
PS, we are still waiting for your explanation about your reassignment issues and how they are “promotions”
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tinybobidaho on January 30 at 9:59 a.m.
Hey, Larry, I don't think you have the good senator on here answering your questions, but I'll ask you some. You think it's a government intrusion to show legal documents to get a job? How about when you get a driver's license, or get a bank loan, or register your kid in school, or get on a plane, or even enter your kid in Little League? Or how about when you get stop for a traffic violation? Tell that cop you don't want to show him any documents and see how far you get. Like I said, there must be something in it for you to fight so hard against this bill. Well, battle on, o' wise one, because you're fighting against the majority of the Idaho people.
I notice you never answer any of my questions, but continue on with your personal vendetta against the Senator. You're beginning to look foolish.
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LarrySpencer on January 30 at 10:06 a.m.
Bob, E-fail puts up “alerts” about 4% of the time. When an alert goes back to the employer, the employer often finds a way of firing or not training the employee because the headache of trying to deal with e-verify is too costly and it is easier to just find a different worker. I know this is a violation of the program, but it happens regularly.
Remember all the problems we have with the “no fly list?” The E-fail program is far from perfect, as most federal programs are, and the results are disastrous to many American citizens. Because of federal screw-ups Americans will and do get flagged without cause and then are not able to have a job.
As I don't fit any of your categories, I will suggest a new one.
(e) Conservatives who understand that understand that E-fail is a way for weak Senators to look tough on illegal immigration in an election year, even though the program doesn't work and hurts legitimate citizens and makes the federal government a bigger part of our lives.
PS….are you the Bob that I am considering running again for the Region Chair position of the Republican Party of Idaho? I ask because that Bob lives just down the lake from the Senator, and you sound like him.
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LarrySpencer on January 30 at 10:13 a.m.
Bob, none of the activities you list require federal approval or federal ID. Idahoans are not in the mood to get deeper in bed with federal programs or become inextricably linked to or dependant on a federal “mother-may-I-have-a-job” program.
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tinybobidaho on January 30 at 11:03 a.m.
Larry, Larry, Larry, where do you get your information? E-Verify is not “costly”, it's free program and is used successfully across this country. Results are submitted within 5 minutes or less, and usually the only ones who have trouble are the ones who are using false documents to start with. As for the Senator doing this in an election year, there wasn't one last year or the year before when he tried to get this legislation heard, so that's garbage. The reason it hasn't been allowed on the floor before now to be heard is not for any of the reasons you stated, but because some of our legislators are beholden to big Ag and the Dairymen instead of the people who voted them into office.
As for me, I'm not the Bob part of that name, I'm the Tiny part, and I'm not running for any office. I'm just a concerned citizen who has spent many years studying the problem of illegal immigration in this country. And when someone like me hears your pathetic arguments on why we should not enforce our immigration laws in this country, I get a little testy because I am fighting this issue to make sure my grandkids have a decent country to live in after I'm gone.
Excuse me if I'm not sympathetic to the illegal aliens. They cost this state over $200 million a year and cost us $346 billion a year nationwide. According to a study done by our own Government Accountibilty Office, illegal aliens make up 27% of the inmates in our federal prisons and using this study, Rep. Steve King assesses that illegal aliens kill about 25 American citizens a day with a 50/50 split between violent crimes and drunk driving accidents. Now if you want to quibble over whether E-Verify is a workable program or not, you go right ahead, but I would submit to you that by doing that, you are part of the problem, not the solution.
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Scotts on January 30 at 11:21 a.m.
Nothing is ever going to be 100% full proof, so if 3 or 4% suffer, to save jobs for the other 97% so be it!!
Every business that I know that uses it is happy with it, unless they are employing illegal aliens, then it puts a cramp on their agenda for cheap labor…TUFF!
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tinybobidaho on January 30 at 11:30 a.m.
And Larry, maybe I should remind you that crimes by illegal aliens have not missed Idahoans. Remember a few years ago when that little 9 year old girl was raped by her mother's illegal alien boyfriend and had a baby by him? This was not a gang member, but somebody who says he just came here to work. And let's not forget Timothy Wolfe who was shot last year. Again, killed by somebody who just came here to work. These are just a couple of examples. There are many more, believe me. But these crimes were 100% preventable if only their legal status had been checked. Why don't you tell the victim's family about your petty argument over E-Verify and see what they tell you. Timothy Wolfe's killer used a driver's license from Washington, (which is one out of only four states who still issue licenses to illegal aliens), to get an Idaho license. The Senator's bill will stop this practice. People also come here and use Washington licenses to get social benefits they are not entitled to. The Senator's bill will stop that, too.
Apparently you have a personal vendetta against Senator Jorgenson, but is it worth cheating the Idaho people out of a good piece of legislation that will help clean up this mess?
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LarrySpencer on January 30 at 12:52 p.m.
Bob @ “As for the Senator doing this in an election year, there wasn't one last year or the year before when he tried to get this legislation heard, so that's garbage.”
Actually, what happened last year is that after Rep. Hart got his bill passed in the house and sent it to the Senate, Senator Jorgenson made a bunch of changes to it and introduced in in the Senate committee. His changes were not authorized by the author and they made the bill nonsensical. He was then unable to defend the bill because it no longer made sense and even contradicted itself in places. That is why we didn’t have anything passed last year. Senator Jorgenson gets the credit for that fumble.
@ “And when someone like me hears your pathetic arguments on why we should not enforce our immigration laws in this country…
Whoa, there cowboy! I completely support enforcing the laws, I just don’t think we should add new laws that won’t work and will hurt Idaho citizens trying to get jobs. Scotts then says the he is OK making it hard for 25,000 Idaho citizens to get a job if it means we get to pass bungled legislation! Does the Senator agree on that point?
I don’t have a vandetta against anyone, I just think we deserve to have our Senators making good decisions based on real solutions, rather than what makes the best headlines for them. A few weeks ago the editor of the CdA press asked me what I have against Mike. I told him that I want good representation in Boise, and all Mike seems to be good for is making good headlines, but that he can’t seem to understand the difference between good solutions and bad ideas.
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ratbstard on January 30 at 1:18 p.m.
From what I understand 99% of the E-verify mistakes are basically typos and are easily corrected. My first name is spelled a bit different than most people with the same name so when some one other than myself types it in the chances are they will use the other spelling.
Oops mistake! Yet the anti E-verify crowd insists on including such an error in their stats.
“I don’t have a vandetta against anyone” Kind of like Larry's vAndetta. Oops was that a typo? Perhaps we shouldn't allow his computer to be used.
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LarrySpencer on January 30 at 2:05 p.m.
Ratbstard, you are correct when you say that most of the mistakes are typos, but you are wrong in saying that they are easily corrected. Keep in mind that it is the federal government we are talking about here, and an “easy fix” in this case can take weeks if not months. What happens way too often is that the new hire is not trained or is even pushed out the door so the boss doesn't have to deal with the HUGE hassle of fixing the simple typo that has now launched an investigation.
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tinybobidaho on January 30 at 2:28 p.m.
Larry, Hart's legislation didn't have any teeth in it until Senator Jorgenson tried to help him with it. But of course that's exactly what Hart intended and that's why he was mad, because he has the interest of big business at heart instead of the Idaho people. And so do the legislators supporting the other so-called immigration bill that's been introduced. Both of those bills are not worth the paper they are written on and if we want to make meaningful changes, we need Senator Jorgenson's bill.
Senator Jorgenson's bill has been written with the help of the best and will hold up under the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals if it is challenged, so I don't know what your arguement is. And I might remind you that the laws in Senator Jorgenson's bill are already the law. Except for making E-Verify mandatory, it is already in violation of federal law to hire illegal aliens, which big business is ignoring as they aid and abet these illegal workers for profit. Aiding & abetting is also already against federal law. Unfortunately, under Obama, the enforcement of those laws have been gutted because he wants an open border, therefore it's up to the states to enforce the laws themselves, which they are entitled to do under the 1996 Illegal Immigration & Immigrant Responsibility Act. Senator Jorgenson's legislation will see that those laws are enforced here in Idaho.
I am baffled why you seem to have such a problem with that, unless of course there's a political agenda for you in there somewhere.
And I'd like to know where you get the figure that 25,000 workers will be denied a job under this bill unless you're talking about the illegal aliens who already have jobs here. We currently have almost 70,000 Idahoans out of work. If you are talking about them and using a figure from a percentage of the applicants who have trouble with E-Verify, your numbers don't compute.
I'm having a hard time here believing that there isn't more to you than meets the eye, and exactly which ones of our untrusty legislators you are supporting, but let me tell you how it's going to be, not how you think it's going to be. We are going to get this legislation passed because 80% of the Idaho people want something done about this problem so our own citizens can go back to work, and stop paying needless taxes for people who are not even supposed to be here in the first place. This state cannot afford to keep taking a $200 million loss every year.
If our legislators do not do what the majority in this state want them to do, they'll be out of office, some of them this coming November. Now, you go right ahead and you keep bashing Senator Jorgenson's bill and we, the people of Idaho will show you how we do things, by cleaning house until we get legislators in there who will represent OUR interersts instead of special interests.
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LarrySpencer on January 30 at 3:04 p.m.
From the Wall Street Journal
“E-Verify's vulnerability to identity fraud is also problematic. A person using a valid Social Security card that doesn't belong to him would go undetected by the system. Mandating use of E-Verify could provide a nice boon to an already thriving document-fraud industry.”
In other words, as long as the name and ssn that are provided match, the e-fail system gives a green light. How hard is it going to be for the illegals to get around that one?
But as I have been saying, this legislation is not about fixing something as much as it is about the Senator looking tough on crime.
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tinybobidaho on January 30 at 4:33 p.m.
You know, you really need to get over yourself. Sometimes there are things in life that don't center around you. Senator Jorgenson's bill is one of them. He's doing it for the people, not to aggravate you. I doubt he has the time or the inclination to worry about what you think.
As for E-Verify, there are no federal programs that are 100% accurate. I'll guarantee you that there is more fraud and abuse in medicare and medicaid than there is in E-Verify. Over 500,000 employers use E-Verify nationwide because it protects them against penalty in just such cases that you mention where the SS no. matches the name, yet it's false. Document fraud is alive and well, but we cannot stop enforcing our laws just because we don't have a 100% foolproof system, so I'll ask you. What would you do different to ensure that employers hire legal workers? Unless you can offer something different, maybe you ought to back off.
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magyart on January 31 at 6:02 p.m.
Typically, employers don't KNOWINGLY hire illegal aliens. False or counterfeit documents are used to secure a job.
Employers to not check of verify these documents. So they “unknowingly” hire illegals. Some employers don't care and others are afraid of a lawsuit.
AZ and ten other states are forcing employers to use E-Verify. Not a single citizen or legal resident has ever lost his job due to E-Verify. It's working in AZ and will work in Idaho. The E-verify program is a free resource to all employers and highly effective.
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magyart on January 31 at 6:12 p.m.
New statistics on E-Verify suggest that keeping illegal aliens out of U.S. jobs is a goal increasingly within reach.
The Center for Immigration Studies has made available updated Department of Homeland Security numbers that make plain the effectiveness and growing use of the federal electronic system, through which employers can distinguish illegal aliens from legitimate job applicants.
Though its use still is voluntary at the federal level and required by only 12 states, E-Verify:
• Is now being used for one in four new hires nationwide, up from one in 19 in 2007
• Has already handled as many queries in 2009 as it did in all of 2008, twice as many as it did in 2007 — and at the current rate will handle nearly 12.3 million inquiries by year's end
• Is in use at more than 511,000 work sites, up from 400,000 in January, with almost 135,000 employers participating.
And more than 96 percent of E-Verify uses automatically confirm a legitimate applicant's job eligibility in seconds. That's a good yardstick of accuracy because E-Verify's approximately 4 percent non-confirmation rate closely mirrors the percentage of illegal aliens in the U.S. work force.
E-Verify still has work to do in reducing “false positives.” But the system clearly is working well. The more employers who use it, the better off the U.S. — and its citizens seeking work — will be.
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magyart on January 31 at 6:17 p.m.
What do Continental Airlines, the Houston Ballet, the city of Dallas and Sen. John Cornyn all have in common?
They all use the federal government’s E-Verify program to check if their employees are authorized to work in the U.S. legally.
A Department of Homeland Security database of the more than 118,000 public, private and government employers enrolled in E-Verify as of May 1 shows companies big (Tyson Foods) and small (the Ballard Street Café in Wylie) are signed up for the program.
Enrollment has grown exponentially in recent years, with about 1,000 employers signing up each week for the free Web-based program, according to DHS statistics. More than 6,100 Texas employers have enrolled as of May 1, including at least 60 city, county and state agencies.
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