Thread: Napolitano, "Get Tough With Employers"

Napolitano outlines immigration policy

by John Yaukey - Jan. 17, 2009
Republic Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, the nominee to be Homeland Security secretary, pledged Thursday to get tougher with employers who hire illegal workers.

"You have to deal with illegal immigration from the demand side as well as the supply side," she told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee during her confirmation hearing. The committee is expected to send her nomination to the full Senate for a vote early next week.

"You have deal with what is drawing people across the border, and that is a job," said Napolitano, a former federal prosecutor and state attorney general.

Napolitano, who signed into law Arizona's employer-sanctions bill, didn't elaborate on her plans for dealing with employers who hire illegal workers. Some critics of immigration reform complain that law enforcement has been lax in prosecuting those employers.

Napolitano's comments dealt with aspects of a larger immigration strategy that she said would include fences along the southern border in some places, technology to track human movement and revisiting the controversial Real ID program, which called for national standards for state driver's licenses.

Napolitano also said improving disaster response, enhancing transportation security and tracking emerging terrorist threats would be among her top priorities.

If confirmed, she would be the nation's third Homeland Security secretary, a Cabinet-level position created after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

As secretary, Napolitano could face an early challenge.

President George W. Bush was in office less than eight months before the 2001 terrorist attacks. Shortly after President Bill Clinton took office in 1993, terrorists bombed the World Trade Center.

Napolitano's hearing was cordial, with committee members pledging to back her nomination.

Despite criticism from opponents that she has opposed tougher immigration enforcement, there was no controversy at the hearing.


She was flanked by Arizona's two Republican senators, Jon Kyl and John McCain, who praised her experience, her competence and, for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa and beating cancer, her stamina.

"She will bring a wealth of experience to the department," Kyl said.

Napolitano was peppered with questions on immigration and border security, and she stressed the kind of practical approach that has won her praise from governors and national lawmakers.

She said she would meet with the nation's governors and look for ways to improve the concept behind the Real ID program and lighten the burden it imposes on states.

She has opposed the program's tamper-proof, more secure driver's licenses out of concerns they would cost Arizona too much.

"We need to rethink, revisit and re-consult here and then come back to this committee if necessary," she said.

Southern border fences, she said, could be valuable near urban areas. But she said a barrier spanning the entire southern border would be impractical and ineffective in remote regions where technology would work better.

Napolitano was not questioned about the politically charged issue of work-site raids conducted by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. President-elect Barack Obama has been highly critical of the raids.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said recently that Napolitano "will be looking very closely at what ICE has done."

It's not clear whether Congress will take up major immigration reform soon. If it does, Napolitano would be sure to play a central role. The debate died last year without resolution, and lawmakers now have a crashing economy to worry about.

Other major issues Napolitano may face include:


• Weapons of mass destruction. A bipartisan commission created by Congress issued a recent, chilling report that predicted an attack using a weapon of mass destruction is "more likely than not" in the next five years, unless the international community acts.


• Ground transportation and port security. Aviation has received most of the federal government's attention, but huge security gaps remain in other modes.

"Let's go where the gaps are," Napolitano said.


• Communication breakdowns. Local and national disaster response teams often can't communicate because they're using incompatible radios.

"The Department of Homeland Security represents perhaps the most serious management challenge in government today," said Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, a member of the Homeland Security committee.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... o0116.html

Sounds like Nappy wants to get tough but if amnesty passes there won't be any need for the measures she suggests......PLANNED that way???

Most employers will stop hiring illegal aliens the very first time you send them to prison. Without jobs many illegals will return home on their own. They found a way to get here, they will find a way to get home.

Originally Posted by HeartlandPatriot

Sounds like Nappy wants to get tough but if amnesty passes there won't be any need for the measures she suggests......PLANNED that way???

I'll beleive it when I see it, but you have a point, HeartlandPatriot.

She was flanked by Arizona's two Republican senators, Jon Kyl and John McCain, who praised her experience, her competence and, for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa and beating cancer, her stamina.

Ha. Two Republican senators who back "pathways for illegal aliens".

Getting tough with employers is a definite need to happen, however the fact remains that many many illegals are women who don't work; they just keep having anchor kids and collecting the benefits. There needs to be enforcement at every county prenatal clinic in the country. The anchor baby scandal must be stopped!