Last weekend, the United States Senate voted not to proceed to a final vote on the House-passed Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. This bill would have given legal permanent resident status to illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. before the age of 16 and who…
The United States was established on principles that support the welcoming of new residents to its shores to learn and embrace American civic culture and political institutions through the processes of immigration and naturalization. Over the past several decades, however, immigration policy has become skewed, falsely presented as an uncompromising…
On September 8th, the rule requiring E-Verify for federal contractors went into effect. A positive step forward for workplace enforcement, this rule shows that the federal government is dedicated to enforcing its own immigration laws. However, E-Verify's pending expiration -- September 30th -- threatens this new rule. Consequently, Congress should reauthorize the E-Verify program. Uncertainty over…
This week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it plans to kill some responsible, reasonable workplace verification rules. As a result, the department will perform less--not more--workplace checks. This announcement undercuts the claim that the department is interested in "smart and tough" immigration enforcement.Effective workplace enforcement is vital, as employment is…
On March 11, E-Verify will expire. This program gave employers a method by which to confirm the eligibility of employees to work in the U.S. Letting E-Verify expire was a mistake and a step backward in efforts to enforce America's immigration laws. Later today, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) will introduce an amendment to…
Legislative efforts in immigration reform have died off since the debate on the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1348), but for the past several years, the Bush Administration did considerable work in advancing immigration reform outside the legislative process. One such effort was to enhance internal enforcement of immigration laws. The new emphasis…
If enacted, the Senate stimulus bill would fund over $100 billion in new government construction projects with the goal of providing additional jobs to unemployed Americans. The House-passed stimulus bill contains explicit language to bar employment of illegal immigrants in these construction projects. However, the Senate bill deliberately omits this language. If the Senate…
(Delivered July 26, 2006) The U.S. economy includes a significant number of unlawfully present workers who are undocumented and unaccounted for. Research by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) indicates an alarming degree of collaboration on the part of employers…
A recent article by Fox News led with a quote from the Department of Homeland Security: "We are not engaged in a...…