| Siskind's Legislative Update
The content in Legislative Update is crossposted from Greg Siskind’s blogs, and follows the federal and state laws, regulations, and legislative proposals that impact the lives of immigrants. Click on any of the articles’ links for similar stories.
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A few days ago I said this would be an indicator of whether we might see a more immigration-friendly GOP in the new Congress. Yesterday, the House passed by a 2 to 1 margin the SCHIP children's health insurance bill. A key provision in the bill changes the law to allow all legal immigrant children to access the program. To date, only children who have been permanent residents for five years can use the program. An estimated 4,000,000 new children will have access to health care and many of them are the immigrant kids previously excluded. Democrats voted overwhelmingly for the bill - 249 to 2. Republicans voted 137 to 40 against. The fact that the bill passed easily is important. And the fact that Republicans didn't make a big deal out of the immigration provisions in the bill is also noteworthy.
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The Bush Administration has announced that they are postponing the implementation date of the E-Verify mandate for federal contractors until February 20, 2009 after negotiations with various parties to a lawsuit challenging the new law. Here is the US Chamber's press release.
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Senate Bill 9 has been introduced by Harry Reid and has not much more than a title at this point - The Stronger Economy, Stronger Borders Act of 2009. The bill's stated purpose:
A bill to strengthen the United States economy, provide for more effective border and employment enforcement, and for other purposes.
The fact that the bill has been introduced is the important thing. It shows immigration reform is a priority for the new Senate. This may be an indicator that immigration reform is going to be taken up quickly rather than pushed off until 2010 or later.
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Representative Bill Sample, Republican of Hot Springs, has proposed a bill that would create a harboring law similar to Oklahoma's and would require public employers to use the E-Verify system.
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WIBC-FM reports that Senator Mike Delph will re-introduce his employer sanctions bill in this legislative session.
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State and local government agencies must use E-Verify as of January 1st. Contractors with those agencies also must use the system if they have contracts worth more than $,000, receive state loans or tax benefits or who have been found to have previously hired illegally present immigrants. And firms that violate immigration law face the threat of having their business licenses revoked.
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The AP reports on a survey of legislators in the state and most are indicating their support for a bill which mandate use of E-Verify for the state's employers.
But employers in the state are pushing back.
In the mean time, the bill has now been introduced.
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The 10th Circuit is still considering a case challenging the constitutionality of Oklahoma's employer sanctions law and officials in the state are growing anxious.
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Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. has told a radio station that the decline in the number of illegally present immigrants in the country due to the recession has reduced the need to implement SB81, the state's new employer sanctions law. Huntsman also warned his fellow Republicans:
'Before we rush headlong into anything, first of all listen very carefully to what the federal government is going to do.' Huntsman said, adding that one reason national Republicans took a beating in the 2008 elections is because they lost the Hispanic vote by 2-to-1 to Democratic candidates, and the 'critical' tone of Republicans on immigration was a big factor in those numbers.
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The Times and Democrat in Orangeburg, South Carolina discusses fears business owners in the state have regarding the new employer sanctions law in that state.
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Nebraska's unicameral legislature is considering Legislative Bill 34, a bill that mandates all employers begin using E-Verify in 2010 and also calls for the revocation of business licenses for employers knowingly employing unauthorized workers.
Wyoming House Bill 103 is somewhat broader. It has a harboring statute like the Oklahoma and Utah laws. E-Verify would be mandated for all employers and will be phased in over three years starting with state and local agency employees as well as employers contracting with those agencies, then large employers and eventually the smaller ones as well.
The bill also imposes fines on employers knowingly hiring unauthorized workers, something that seems an obvious violation of IRCA which only permits states to use their license laws in enforcing immigration rules (and even that is debatable).
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