House Committee Voices Concerns over Mandatory E-Verify
On Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security held a hearing to examine E-Verify and its proposed legislative alternatives. During the hearing, several members of the Subcommittee expressed concerns about the cost to make E-Verify mandatory and its burdens on the Social Security system. With respect to the latter, Chairman Michael McNulty (D-NY) questioned whether mandating use of E-Verify would divert resources away from Social Security's primary mission.

In his opening statement, Chairman McNulty informed the committee of the backlog in Social Security disability claims. He noted that claimants in Atlanta, which has the worst backlog in the country, wait an average of 849 days to have their claim processed. Moreover, he made it clear that he would oppose any program adding to the backlog. (See Chairman McNulty's press release, April 28, 2008)

Among the witnesses present were Representatives Heath Schuler (D-NC) and Ken Calvert (R-CA), both of whom testified in support of E-Verify. In 1996, Rep. Calvert authored the portion of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (P.L. 104-32) establishing E-Verify as a pilot program (originally called Basic Pilot). Since its inception, employer use of E-Verify has grown steadily, but federal law provides that the program will sunset November 30, 2008.

In the hearing, Rep.Calvert explained that to prevent the program from expiring, he has introduced a bill, H.R.19, that would make E-Verify permanent and phase in its mandatory use over seven years. Rep. Schuler told the committee that he supports making E-Verify permanent and mandatory for all employers. He explained that the SAVE Act (H.R. 4088), which he authored, would do just that. (To see an analysis of the SAVE Act, click here) When pressed about the cost of E-Verify by Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Rep. Schuler responded, "Well, the most important thing is what is the value of security in America?"

Rep. Dennis Moore (D-KS) and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) testified in support of H.R. 5515, the New Employee Verification Act (NEEVA), introduced by the Subcommittee's ranking member Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX). H.R. 5515 is an employment eligibility verification bill endorsed by a number of business interests including the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and conglomeration of business interests called the H.R. Initiative for a Legal Workforce. (Reuters, Human Resource Experts Testify in Opposition to Mandated Use of 'E-Verify' in Kansas, March 4, 2008.)

This bill requires electronic verification of employment eligibility, but allows employers to use one of two systems: The first system would be based on the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) database. NDNH is already in use in the states to assist child support agencies in locating parents and enforcing child support orders. The second eligibility verification system allows employers use a government certified private sector companies to certify employment authorization.  Both systems would interface with Social Security and Department of Homeland Security databases to verify the accuracy of the data.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords testified in support of H.R. 5515 and noted that it would preempt all recently enacted state laws, such as Arizona's, that sanction employers who hire illegal aliens. She argued that preemption of state laws is vital to create a uniform system across the country and relieve employers from increased liability imposed by the states.

Rep. Giffords testified, "…the E-Verify system coupled with draconian sanctions under Arizona law have businesses praying for relief from the federal government." (Statement of the Hon. Gabrielle Giffords, Testimony before the Subcommittee on Social Security of the House Committee on Ways and Means, May 6, 2008)

Richard M. Stana, the Government Accountability Office's Director of Homeland Security and Justice Issues, testified that the Social Security Administration (SSA) estimates the implementation of a mandatory E-Verify would require the addition of 700 new employees and cost $281 million for fiscal years 2009- 2013.

Moreover, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) estimates that a mandatory E-Verify would cost $765 million for fiscal years 2009-2012 if only newly hired employees are queried and $838 million over the same period if newly hired and current employees are queried. Currently, 61,000 employers have registered for E-Verify with about half that number being active users. A mandatory system would need to accommodate an estimated 7.4 million employers. (Statement of Richard M. Stana, Testimony before the Subcommittee on Social Security of the House Committee on Ways and Means, May 6, 2008)

After the hearing, Rep. Calvert told the Orange County Register that while it is unlikely that Congress will pass any major immigration legislation this year, he thinks it is likely that Congress will pass a temporary extension of E-Verify. (Employment Verification Days are Numbered, Orange County Register, May 7, 2008)

One House Committee Hears Testimony on Displaced American Workers; Another Grants 1,000 New Visas for Fashion Models
On Tuesday, the House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing entitled "Do Federal Programs Ensure that U.S. Workers Are Recruited First Before Employers Hire From Abroad?" The Chairman of the Committee, Rep. George Miller (D-CA) opened the hearing with a bit of skepticism wondering why, when unemployment rates are rising, many businesses claim they cannot find U.S. workers. (Opening statement of the Hon. George Miller, Chairman House Education and Labor Committee, May 6, 2008)

The panel heard testimony from the Department of Labor (DOL) about the need for worker visas and its efforts to improve the program in the absence of Congressional reform. While not including specifics, the Department's Assistant Secretary for Policy announced that the DOL is promulgating new rules for the H-2A program for temporary agricultural workers and will do the same for the H-2B program for temporary workers in the coming months. (Statement of Leon R. Sequeira Assistant Secretary for Policy, U.S. Department of Labor, May 6, 2008)

Perhaps the most informative testimony came from Dr. Andrew Sum, Director of the Center for Labor Market Studies, Northeastern University. In his testimony, Dr. Sum linked the decline of employment for younger and older workers to an increase in immigration levels. He said, "A variety of demand, supply, and institutional forces have been at work in reducing young employment opportunities. Unprecedented levels of legal, illegal and temporary immigration have been one of the factors underlying this deterioration in youth labor markets. Declines in youth employment have been matched almost one for one with increased employment of new arrivals over the past 7 years." (Statement of Dr. Andrew Sum before the House Education and Labor Committee, May 6, 2008.)

Two days after this hearing, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law approved H.R. 4080, a bill sponsored by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) to create a new category of temporary worker visas for fashion models. The bill would allow up to 1,000 fashion models to enter the country temporarily. This new classification takes fashion models out of the H-1B visa category and creates a new P-4 non-immigrant worker visa category. These visas would allow a fashion model to work in the United States for up to five years.

Ranking member, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) opposed the bill and attempted to offer an amendment to offset the increase in new visas by reducing the number of visas for unskilled guest workers (H-2B) by 1,000, but Chair Zoë Lofgren (D-CA) ruled that the amendment was not germane to the bill. Rep. King found it incredible that in all of the United States, modeling agencies could not find enough attractive Americans to fill these positions.

House Passes Small Expansion of State Criminal Alien Assistance Program
Thursday the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1512, a bill introduced by Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) to increase the scope of the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP). Under SCAAP, states and localities can apply for and receive federal payments when they incur certain costs for incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens. Under present law, states may apply for the payments when they incarcerate aliens with at least one felony or two misdemeanor convictions. The House bill would expand the language of SCAAP to include aliens charged with a felony or two misdemeanors as well as those convicted. A companion bill, S. 2587 has been introduced in the Senate by Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA).

While the legislation expands the scope of SCAAP, it did not authorize any new funds for the expanded program. Currently, SCAAP is authorized at $950 million for fiscal years 2008 - 2011. Therefore, states and localities will still have the same amount of funds available for expanded program. The Congressional budget Office (CBO) reports that under this expanded program, applications for reimbursement will probably increase, but the formula Department of Justice (DOJ) uses to reimburse the states will not change. DOJ's current policy is to approve reimbursements to states for the costs of persons who have been incarcerated for at least four consecutive days. The CBO expects that few individuals who have not been convicted of crimes would be held for this long. (CBO Cost Estimate for H.R. 1512, December 7, 2007)

Illegal Irish Aliens Working for Special Amnesty
On May 5th, the New York Sun reported that the Irish immigration lobby is working toward a separate agreement with the U.S. government to grant illegal Irish aliens legal status. According to the article, since the collapse of comprehensive immigration reform in the Senate, the Irish lobby has been working closely with lawmakers to forge a separate deal. Bertie Ahern, the outgoing Irish prime minister, told reporters that he was working closely with Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) to accomplish his goal. This strategy has some Hispanic aliens wondering about an apparent racial bias. (The New York Sun, Immigrants Riled by Irish Push for Special Status, May 5, 2008)

All of this follows an address to a joint session of Congress delivered by the Prime Minister Ahern on April 30th. He told the assembly, "We ask you to consider the case of our undocumented Irish immigrant community in the United States today. We hope you will be able to find a solution to their plight that would enable them to regularize their status and open to them a path to permanent residency," (The Irish Echo Online, Back on track, Ahern Raises Plight of Undocumented before Congress, May 7, 2008 )

One special interest organization in particular has been working hard to affect an amnesty program for illegal aliens from Ireland. The group, the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR), was created in December 2005 for the purpose of "fighting for the voice of the estimated 50,000 undocumented Irish in the immigration debate." (See http://www.irishlobbyusa.org/)

In an op-ed piece in the Irish Echo Online, ILIR Executive Director Kelly Fincham argued that the organization seeks "legality," not amnesty for Irish illegal aliens. She stated that the need for legalization becomes more pressing as the Irish economy declines. "Unemployment in the Republic is higher than it has been in a decade, while the first quarter's increase in unemployment was the worst since 1975. Thousands of construction jobs are also at risk in the North because of the downturn in building activity. This is all the more reason to seek a legal pathway for Irish immigration." She explained that when comprehensive immigration reform failed, the ILIR started working toward a new visa program based upon the Australian E-3 program. (The Irish Echo Online, ILIR seeks legality, not amnesty, for undocumented Irish, April 23, 2008) The E-3 Visa is available to Australian nationals and their families to travel to the U.S. solely to work in specialty occupations.

Recent FAIR Releases
Remittances to Mexico (May 06, 2008)
African Americans: the Forgotten Minority (May 06, 2008)

Recent Floor Statements

Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO) commented on Providing For Compensation To States Incarcerating Undocumented Aliens (May 8, 2008)
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) commented on Providing For Compensation To States Incarcerating Undocumented Aliens (May 7, 2008)
Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) commented on Providing For Compensation To States Incarcerating Undocumented Aliens (May 6, 2008)
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) commented on Agricultural Temporary Workers (May 6, 2008)
Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) commented on Providing For Compensation To States Incarcerating Undocumented Aliens (May 6, 2008)

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SOURCE: Fair Legislative Updates