DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR FEDERAL CONTRACTORS TO HIRE UNDOCUMENTED WORKE

[Omaha Steve]

http://gangbox.wordpress.com/2008/11/17/department-of-homeland-security-to-make-it-easier-for-federal-contractors-to-hire-undocumented-workers/

Posted in Uncategorized by gangbox on the November 17, 2008

from the WASHINGTON POST:

New Immigration Regulation Eased After Firms Complain
Homeland Security Measure Requires Checks of New Hires
By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 15, 2008; A02

In a concession to business groups, the Homeland Security Department will significantly scale back its planned crackdown this winter on federal contractors that hire illegal immigrants.

Under a rule published yesterday, the agency said only contractors that do more than $100,000 in federal work will be required to use an electronic government system to check the work documents of new hires. Originally, officials had proposed that companies doing $3,000 in federal work must comply.

The agency also said it would require federal contractors to check only laborers used on specific contracts, instead of their entire workforce.

The revisions significantly reduce the number of companies that will be subject to the program, which will apply to federal contracts and solicitations issued after Jan. 15. The Bush administration had hoped to make the work eligibility system, called E-Verify, mandatory for nearly 200,000 government contractors, covering about 4 million U.S. workers over 10 years.

The government did not say how many companies would be exempted, but stated that it awarded 2.8 million new contracts last year at or below the $100,000 threshold. The contracts, mostly set-asides for small businesses, were worth $9 billion, or less than 3 percent of federal obligations.

In any case, the program will usher in a new degree of employee scrutiny in a wide swath of corporate America that does federal business, including industrial giants with household names such as General Electric, Lockheed-Martin and Boeing, as well as Beltway mainstays such as computer services firms CACI, ManTech International and SRA International.

FULL story at link.

[aquart]

1. Will Lou Dobbs' head explode?

[spin]

2. I hate to say it but illegal immigrants are illegal...

we may call them undocumented workers to be politically correct, but they are still illegal.

Do I blame them for crossing the border to achieve a better life? No. Do I feel all illegal immigrants are criminals or bad people? Of course not. Do I want to build a huge fence on all of our borders to deter illegal entry? No, because it wouldn't work.

So where to I stand and where is my problem?

Illegal immigrants often cross our borders and risk their lives to serve as a new underclass for the wealthy corporations or businesses to exploit for profit. All too often they become a new slave class. I am more familiar with Cuban immigrants then Mexican immigrants but I will make an assumption that they work equally as hard and are also valuable additions to our society.

We need to change our immigration system to allow more Mexicans to come to our country to do "the jobs Americans refuse to do". They deserve at least a minimum wage promised to American workers and also the same protection American workers would receive.

I, as an American and a member of the Democratic Party, am totally disgusted by our treatment of workers from Mexico. We can change our immigration policy to allow workers to cross our borders legally. We can offer them the opportunity to become American citizens.

We will become a better country if we do this. We will live up to our vision of a "shining city on a hill" if we push the people we elect to change our immigration policies so as to benefit our country not merely the greedy businesses and corporations that apparently run it.