Thread: A Reminder Of Our Immigration Laws

I just wanted to remind everyone of the language in the 1996 Immigration bill which was the last bill to pass Congress and was signed into law by the President. For those open borders advocates who may be reading these posts and are screaming racial profiling by the passing of the Arizona bill, I would remind them that it was designed after the interpretation of this bill. Pay attention to the language which is already federal law, especially the part in bold below:

"Any person who . . . encourages or induces an alien to . . . reside . . . knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such . . . residence is . . . in violation of law, shall be punished as provided . . . for each alien in respect to whom such a violation occurs . . . fined under title 18 . . . imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both."
Section 274 felonies under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act, INA 274A(a)(1)(A):
A person (including a group of persons, business, organization, or local government) commits a federal felony when she or he:
* assists an alien s/he should reasonably know is illegally in the U.S. or who lacks employment authorization, by transporting, sheltering, or assisting him or her to obtain employment, or
* encourages that alien to remain in the U.S. by referring him or her to an employer or by acting as employer or agent for an employer in any way, or
* knowingly assists illegal aliens due to personal convictions.
Penalties upon conviction include criminal fines, imprisonment, and forfeiture of vehicles and real property used to commit the crime. Anyone employing or contracting with an illegal alien without verifying his or her work authorization status is guilty of a misdemeanor. Aliens and employers violating immigration laws are subject to arrest, detention, and seizure of their vehicles or property. In addition, individuals or entities who engage in racketeering enterprises that commit (or conspire to commit) immigration-related felonies are subject to private civil suits for treble damages and injunctive relief.
Recruitment and Employment of Illegal Aliens

It is unlawful to hire an alien, to recruit an alien, or to refer an alien for a fee, knowing the alien is unauthorized to work in the United States. It is equally unlawful to continue to employ an alien knowing that the alien is unauthorized to work. Employers may give preference in recruitment and hiring to a U.S. citizen over an alien with work authorization only where the U.S. citizen is equally or better qualified. It is unlawful to hire an individual for employment in the United States without complying with employment eligibility verification requirements. Requirements include examination of identity documents and completion of Form I-9 for every employee hired. Employers must retain all I-9s, and, with three days' advance notice, the forms must be made available for inspection.

Employment includes any service or labor performed for any type of remuneration within the United States, with the exception of sporadic domestic service by an individual in a private home. Day laborers or other casual workers engaged in any compensated activity (with the above exception) are employees for purposes of immigration law. An employer includes an agent or anyone acting directly or indirectly in the interest of the employer. For purposes of verfication of authorization to work, employer also means an independent contractor, or a contractor other than the person using the alien labor. The use of temporary or short-term contracts cannot be used to circumvent the employment authorization verification requirements. If employment is to be for less than the usual three days allowed for completing the I-9 Form requirement, the form must be completed immediately at the time of hire.

An employer has constructive knowledge that an employee is an illegal unauthorized worker if a reasonable person would infer it from the facts. Constructive knowledge constituting a violation of federal law has been found where (1) the I-9 employment eligibility form has not been properly completed, including supporting documentation, (2) the employer has learned from other individuals, media reports, or any source of information available to the employer that the alien is unauthorized to work, or (3) the employer acts with reckless disregard for the legal consequences of permitting a third party to provide or introduce an illegal alien into the employer's work force. Knowledge cannot be inferred solely on the basis of an individual's accent or foreign appearance.

Actual specific knowledge is not required. For example, a newspaper article stating that ballrooms depend on an illegal alien work force of dance hostesses was held by the courts to be a reasonable ground for suspicion that unlawful conduct had occurred.

IT IS ILLEGAL FOR NONPROFIT OR RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS to knowingly assist an employer to violate employment sanctions, REGARDLESS OF CLAIMS THAT THEIR CONVICTIONS REQUIRE THEM TO ASSIST ALIENS. Harboring or aiding illegal aliens is not protected by the First Amendment. It is a felony to establish a commercial enterprise for the purpose of evading any provision of federal immigration law. Violators may be fined or imprisoned for up to five years.

Encouraging and Harboring Illegal Aliens
It is a violation of law for any person to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection in any place, including any building or means of transportation, any alien who is in the United States in violation of law. HARBORING MEANS ANY CONDUCT THAT TENDS TO SUBSTANTIALLY FACILITATE AN ALIEN TO REMAIN IN THE U.S. ILLEGALLY. The sheltering need not be clandestine, and harboring covers aliens arrested outdoors, as well as in a building. This provision includes harboring an alien who entered the U.S. legally but has since lost his legal status.

An employer can be convicted of the felony of harboring illegal aliens who are his employees if he takes actions in reckless disregard of their illegal status, such as ordering them to obtain false documents, altering records, obstructing INS inspections, or taking other actions that facilitate the alien's illegal employment. Any person who within any 12-month period hires ten or more individuals with actual knowledge that they are illegal aliens or unauthorized workers is guilty of felony harboring. It is also a felony to encourage or induce an alien to come to or reside in the U.S. knowing or recklessly disregarding the fact that the alien's entry or residence is in violation of the law. This crime applies to any person, rather than just employers of illegal aliens. Courts have ruled that "encouraging" includes counseling illegal aliens to continue working in the U.S. or assisting them to complete applications with false statements or obvious errors. The fact that the alien is a refugee fleeing persecution is not a defense to this felony, since U.S. law and the UN Protocol on Refugees both require that a refugee must report to immigration authorities without delay upon entry to the U.S.

The penalty for felony harboring is a fine and imprisonment for up to five years. The penalty for felony alien smuggling is a fine and up to ten years' imprisonment. Where the crime causes serious bodily injury or places the life of any person in jeopardy, the penalty is a fine and up to twenty years' imprisonment. If the criminal smuggling or harboring results in the death of any person, the penalty can include life imprisonment. Convictions for aiding, abetting, or conspiracy to commit alien smuggling or harboring, carry the same penalties. Courts can impose consecutive prison sentences for each alien smuggled or harbored. A court may order a convicted smuggler to pay restitution if the alien smuggled qualifies as a victim under the Victim and Witness Protection Act. Conspiracy to commit crimes of sheltering, harboring, or employing illegal aliens is a separate federal offense punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 or five years' imprisonment.

Enforcement
A person or entity having knowledge of a violation or potential violation of employer sanctions provisions may submit a signed written complaint to the INS office with jurisdiction over the business or residence of the potential violator, whether an employer, employee, or agent. The complaint must include the names and addresses of both the complainant and the violator, and detailed factual allegations, including date, time, and place of the potential violation, and the specific conduct alleged to be a violation of employer sanctions. By regulation, the INS will only investigate third-party complaints that have a reasonable probability of validity. Designated INS officers and employees, and all other officers whose duty it is to enforce criminal laws, may make an arrest for violation of smuggling or harboring illegal aliens.

State and local law enforcement officials have the general power to investigate and arrest violators of federal immigration statutes without prior INS knowledge or approval, as long as they are authorized to do so by state law. There is no extant federal limitation on this authority. The 1996 immigration control legislation passed by Congress was intended to encourage states and local agencies to participate in the process of enforcing federal immigration laws. Immigration officers and local law enforcement officers may detain an individual for a brief warrantless interrogation where circumstances create a reasonable suspicion that the individual is illegally present in the U.S. Specific facts constituting a reasonable suspicion include evasive, nervous, or erratic behavior; dress or speech indicating foreign citizenship; and presence in an area known to contain a concentration of illegal aliens. Hispanic appearance alone is not sufficient. Immigration officers and police must have a valid warrant or valid employer's consent to enter workplaces or residences. Any vehicle used to transport or harbor illegal aliens, or used as a substantial part of an activity that encourages illegal aliens to come to or reside in the U.S. may be seized by an immigration officer and is subject to forfeiture. The forfeiture power covers any conveyances used within the U.S.

RICO -- Citizen Recourse
Private persons and entities may initiate civil suits to obtain injunctions and treble damages against enterprises that conspire to or actually violate federal alien smuggling, harboring, or document fraud statutes, under the Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO). The pattern of racketeering activity is defined as commission of two or more of the listed crimes. A RICO enterprise can be any individual legal entity, or a group of individuals who are not a legal entity but are associated in fact, AND CAN INCLUDE NONPROFIT ASSOCIATIONS.

Tax Crimes
Employers who aid or abet the preparation of false tax returns by failing to pay income or Social Security taxes for illegal alien employees, or who knowingly make payments using false names or Social Security numbers, are subject to IRS criminal and civil sanctions. U.S. nationals who have suffered intentional discrimination because of citizenship or national origin by an employer with more than three employees may file a complaint within 180 days of the discriminatory act with the Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices, U.S. Department of Justice. In additon to the federal statutes summarized, state laws and local ordinances controlling fair labor practices, workers compensation, zoning, safe housing and rental property, nuisance, licensing, street vending, and solicitations by contractors may also apply to activities that involve illegal aliens.

Also, here's a reminder of how Obama has undermined our immigration laws by the changes he made in policy without Congressional approval.


"MOA", this states, stands for the "Memorandum of Agreement" entered into between ICE and the participating local law enforcement agency.

The Obama Administration’s 287(g): An Analysis of the New MOA

By Jon Feere
October 2009
Backgrounders and Reports

Download a pdf of this Memorandum
"http://www.cis.org/articles/2009/undermining287g.pdf"

Jon Feere is the Legal Policy Analyst at the Center for Immigration Studies.

The Obama administration may have begun to undermine one of the most successful immigration enforcement programs in the country. Known as 287(g), the program allows trained state and local law enforcement officials to assist federal immigration agencies in carrying out immigration enforcement. Since the beginning of 2006, state and local law enforcement officials have identified over 120,000 illegal aliens for removal. As of this writing, 77 jurisdictions in 25 states have signed on to the program.

But it seems the program is working too well. According to Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), two authors of the 287(g) program, the Department of Homeland Security has made changes to the program that may slow the program’s growth and endanger community safety by providing a free pass to many illegal aliens in the country. A revised Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) template has been issued by DHS and all current and future participants in the 287(g) program will have to sign it despite the fact that it advances legal inaccuracies, affirmatively makes some illegal aliens a low priority, suggests a distrust of local law enforcement, and arguably embraces a pre-9/11 mentality. A number of local 287(g) agencies are trying to negotiate modifications to the new DHS template agreement, but it remains unclear to what extent they will be successful.

The following is an analysis of some of the potentially problematic changes. A number of earlier MOAs are available online, and the new MOA is available on our website.

"http://www.cis.org/articles/2009/moa-final.pdf"

New 287(g) MOA Language Misinterprets Statutory Law. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is contradicting statutory law and congressional intent by redefining and narrowing the scope of 287(g), and by claiming it is designed to only support local law enforcement’s identification of “dangerous criminal aliens.â€

Thank you I sent a copy of this to my family and friends...

Kathyet

AMERICANS ARE ALWAYS NICE. AMERICANS ALWAYS HELP OTHER NATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS. BUT NOW I AM TIRED OF BEING NICE WITH ILLEGAL ALIENS. THEY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR GOOD HEARTS. NEVER AGAIN. I AM TIRED OF BEING MR. NICE. NEVER AGAIN. THAT IS WHY I DO NOT SUPPORT AMNESTY FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS. THEY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR COUNTRY. ILLEGALS RAPE WOMEN; ILLEGALS KILL PEOPLE; ILLEGALS DO NOT RESPECT OUR LAWS. I AM TIRED OF BEING NICE. ONE DAY I WOKE UP AND REALIZED THAT I WAS NOT GOING TO ACCEPT THIS SITUATION ANYMORE. NOW I OPPOSE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AND I SUPPORT LAWS LIKE THE ONE JUST SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR OF ARIZONA. NO TO AMNESTY. ENFORCE CURRENT IMMIGRATION LAWS.

Thanks so much for this...I printed it out...

State and local law enforcement officials have the general power to investigate and arrest violators of federal immigration statutes without prior INS knowledge or approval, as long as they are authorized to do so by state law. There is no extant federal limitation on this authority. The 1996 immigration control legislation passed by Congress was intended to encourage states and local agencies to participate in the process of enforcing federal immigration laws. Immigration officers and local law enforcement officers may detain an individual for a brief warrantless interrogation where circumstances create a reasonable suspicion that the individual is illegally present in the U.S. Specific facts constituting a reasonable suspicion include evasive, nervous, or erratic behavior; dress or speech indicating foreign citizenship; and presence in an area known to contain a concentration of illegal aliens. Hispanic appearance alone is not sufficient. Immigration officers and police must have a valid warrant or valid employer's consent to enter workplaces or residences. Any vehicle used to transport or harbor illegal aliens, or used as a substantial part of an activity that encourages illegal aliens to come to or reside in the U.S. may be seized by an immigration officer and is subject to forfeiture. The forfeiture power covers any conveyances used within the U.S.

Just for my FYI...is this a copy past of the bill or someones interpretation...just want to be correct on this...

There lies the problem. We have plenty of good laws, it's just now one enforces them.

By the way here is a link to Bill Number H.R.2202, The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.

The above is the "Immgration Nationality Act" of 1986 and 1996, not Tinybobs words....these are the promises and laws passed, and made to the American people so they could get the last two amnesties passed, but were never enfoced.

Here is what the laws says for our little "Dream Act" students Sen. Durbin keeps trying to give amnesty too and several states give in-state tuition too, which is aiding and abetting.

Sec. 1623. Limitation on eligibility for preferential treatment of
aliens not lawfully present on basis of residence for higher
education benefits

(a) In general Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a State (or a political subdivision) for any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit (in no less an amount, duration, and scope) without regard to whether the citizen or national is such a resident.

Subtitle A—Eligibility of Illegal
Aliens for Public Benefits
PART 1—PUBLIC BENEFITS GENERALLY
SEC. 601. MAKING ILLEGAL ALIENS INELIGIBLE FOR PUBLIC ASSISTANCE, CONTRACTS, AND LICENSES.

(a) FEDERAL PROGRAMS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, except as provided in section 603, any alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible for any of the following:

(1) FEDERAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
(2) FEDERAL CONTRACTS OR LICENSES

(b) STATE PROGRAMS.— Notwithstanding any other provision of law, except as provided in section 603, any alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible for any of the following:

(1) STATE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
(2) STATE CONTRACTS OR LICENSES

(c) REQUIRING PROOF OF IDENTITY FOR FEDERAL CONTRACTS, GRANTS, LOANS, LICENSES, AND PUBLIC ASSISTANCE.—

(2) PUBLIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS COVERED.—

(A) SSI
(B) AFDC
(C) SOCIAL SERVICES BLOCK GRANT
(D) MEDICAID
(E) FOOD STAMPS
(F) HOUSING ASSISTANCE

*Note s state driver’s license/ID with social security card is accepted for proof of identity. How many illegal aliens have both?


PART 3—PUBLIC EDUCATION BENEFITS
SEC. 616. AUTHORIZING STATES TO DENY PUBLIC EDUCATION BENEFITS TO ALIENS NOT LAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES.

‘‘SEC. 601. (a) Because Congress views that the right to a free public education for aliens who are not lawfully present in the United States promotes violations of the immigration laws and because such a free public education for such aliens creates a significant burden on States’ economies and depletes States’ limited educational resources, Congress declares it to be the policy of the United States that—

‘‘(1) aliens who are not lawfully present in the United States not be entitled to public education benefits in the same manner as United States citizens and lawful resident aliens; and

‘‘(2) States should not be obligated to provide public education benefits to aliens who are not lawfully present in the United States.

bttt