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| Welcome to the Federation for American Immigration Reform. FAIR is the largest and most-experienced immigration nonprofit in the United States, made up of concerned citizens like you who share a common belief that our nation’s immigration policies must be reformed to serve the national interest. We are delighted with your interest in our organization. Below is the latest issue of our weekly Legislative Update. I hope that you will find this publication useful in keeping you informed on the many immigration-related issues taking place on Capitol Hill and throughout the country. Thanks again for your support and I look forward to your feedback and future participation.
Dan Stein, President | |||||||||
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Monday, April 18, 2011
Maryland Passes Own Version of DREAM Act
Last Monday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Arizona District Court’s injunction of key provisions of S.B. 1070, Arizona’s new immigration enforcement law. U.S. v. Arizona, No. 10-16645 (9th Cir. 2011) The ruling is the result of the Obama Administration’s lawsuit against the State of Arizona, filed by the Justice Department, which sought to prevent the law from taking effect last July. Monday’s ruling by the Ninth Circuit’s three-judge panel upheld the District Court’s injunction, ruling that Section 2(B)—the provision requiring law enforcement officers to verify the immigration status of individuals lawfully stopped if there is a reasonable suspicion that the person is an illegal alien—was preempted by federal law.
The House Social Security Subcommittee held a hearing Thursday to challenge the E-Verify system and question the Social Security Administration’s role in verifying the legal status of workers. Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (R-TX) and his carefully selected witnesses used the hearing as an opportunity to discredit the successful E-Verify program and push an alternative employment eligibility system based on the National Directory of New Hires, which is used to withhold income from individuals who fail to pay child support. (See H.R. 2028) “To build on the successes of E-Verify while making needed adjustments to ensure successful implementation, last Congress I introduced the ‘New Employee Verification Act’ or NEVA … It’s time the Congress gave the American people an employment verification system that works, while protecting Social Security’s ability to serve the public,” Chairman Johnson stated in his opening remarks.
In a lively hearing on Capitol Hill last week, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement focused on employers’ complaints regarding H-2A guest worker program. The H-2A program allows U.S. employers to import foreign guest workers to work in agricultural jobs on a temporary or seasonal basis. (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) The petitioning employer is required to show that there are not enough American citizens willing to do the agricultural work being offered, and that the guest workers will not adversely affect wages for American workers. (Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986) There is no cap on the number of H-2A visas the government may issue.
As the year’s session came to a close last Thursday, Georgia legislators passed a bill cracking down on illegal immigration. “It's been a lot of work but we think we have done our job that our constituents asked us to do to address the costs and the social consequences that have been visited on our state by the federal government's failure to secure our nation's borders," said the bill’s sponsor, Representative Matt Ramsey.
In an eleventh-hour move, Maryland’s General Assembly passed a bill Monday which will allow illegal aliens to attend state schools at the in-state tuition rate. The legislation, which cleared Maryland’s Senate earlier in the year, provides in-state tuition to illegal aliens who attend a Maryland high school for at least three years. The student or his parents must also have paid income taxes for three consecutive years.
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