News Update - August 17, 2007
By Alan Lee, Esq.†‡
Administration and DHS to Step Up Immigration Enforcement Despite
Comprehensive Immigration Reform Failing in Congress
The Bush Administration is on record as connecting both the need
for comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) with stricter enforcement
of the immigration laws. Yet despite the recent collapse of CIR
legislation, the Administration has elected to play to its conservative
Republican base and to set out measures to make life immeasurable
harder for illegal immigrants.
On August 10, 2007 DHS Secretary Chertoff and Commerce Secretary
Gutierrez released a laundry list of reforms they claim “represent
steps the Administration can take within existing law to secure
our borders more effectively, improve interior and worksite enforcement,
streamline existing guest worker programs, improve the current immigration
system, and help new immigrants assimilate into American culture.”.
The list included increased border security personnel and equipment,
increased funding for detention space for illegal aliens and maintenance
of the “catch and return” policy. The Secretaries also
stated that they expect the US-Visit exit requirement to be enforced
by the end of 2008. In addition, the DHS is looking to work more
aggressively with State and local law enforcement.
The DHS has already begun workplace enforcement having issued a
no-match regulation placing the burden on employers to verify social
security numbers and check with a national database “E-Verify”
and promises to release a list reducing the number of acceptable
identification documents for employment. The administration is also
directing the DHS and Social Security to work together to ensure
illegal aliens do not accrue Social Security credits.
This latest move shows an Administration with no plan trying to
listlessly finish its term in office and having no regard for the
health of the U.S. economy, which will be adversely affected by
the lack of essential workers in the workplaces of America.
The new list was released on August 10, 2007, 11 days after large
increases in USCIS fees took effect and after criticism from some
in Congress and some advocacy groups that the fee increases were
not justified given agency performance and backlogs.
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