Thread: Immigration scare tactics, OPINION

Immigration scare tactics

Michele Waslin, Senior policy analyst, Immigration Policy Center - Washington, D.C.

It is disappointing that USA TODAY's article "Stimulus law may allow illegal workers to take jobs" relied so heavily upon data from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). There are other experts doing credible research who would have presented a more balanced story.

CIS' estimates of the number of undocumented workers who will take stimulus jobs rely upon mischaracterizations of government projections and outdated estimates of the undocumented workforce. More important, the center's magic solution is E-Verify, an electronic work verification system that the government has found to be problematic. Government studies and independent audits have found that E-Verify is error-prone, costly and vulnerable to employer misuse.

Perhaps the biggest problem is that E-Verify does not effectively prevent unauthorized workers from obtaining jobs. Also, because we have so many undocumented immigrants, E-Verify is simply not enough. Right now, anyone with "good" fraudulent documents can get through the system, and any unscrupulous employer can simply go around the system to hire exploitable labor. E-Verify must be significantly improved before we can consider expanding it as part of a larger immigration reform.

Yes, undocumented immigration is a problem. But simply slapping an expensive Band-Aid on the problem is not a solution. In order to ensure that U.S. citizens and legal immigrants get the jobs they deserve, we must address the broken immigration system, legalize our workforce and enforce labor laws against bad-apple employers who take advantage of the broken system. Scaring us with big numbers is not a solution.

Posted at 12:09 AM/ET, March 13, 2009 in Immigration
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Perhaps the biggest problem is that E-Verify does not effectively prevent unauthorized workers from obtaining jobs....E-Verify must be significantly improved before we can consider expanding it as part of a larger immigration reform.

Not sure how someone can argue with a +99% accuracy rate in E-Verify (source: uscis.gov). I wish people like this would stop LYING.

we must address the broken immigration system, legalize our workforce and enforce labor laws against bad-apple employers who take advantage of the broken system. Scaring us with big numbers is not a solution.

What broken immigration system? What is broken is the reluctance to enforce our laws as they exist just to be politically correct. And legalize our workforce? Our workforce has been legal until lately. Migrant workers came here legally at the request of employers; so did the Braceros. At the end of their stint in this country, they went home, as did visitors on visas, until the amnesty under Reagan in 1986.
Scaring us with big numbers? No one, including you, distinguished author, has any clue of what the actual numbers are, so this is more OBL blather as far as I am concerned; either that or a war starting between your institute and CIS.

I agree that no one really knows how many illegal aliens there really are in this country. We really need to give much harsher penalties to those who employ illegals and those who make and sell fraudulent or stolen ID. That would be a good start as there are too many for ICE to handle and deport. If there are no jobe they will go bakc home as many have already.

Perhaps the biggest problem is that E-Verify does not effectively prevent unauthorized workers from obtaining jobs.

What kind of BS is this? Doesn't e-verify now show the persons picture? So even if an illegal has a stolen social security number they will need to look like that person in order to get a job.

Bowman: They busted an fake ID place in Ft. Lauderdale and they not only had SSNs but also provided Florida photo ID cards for the buyers. They looked very professional. Illegal aliens will not stop breaking the laws of our land and yet are allowed to get away with it. This is darn well frustrating.

"Yes, undocumented immigration is a problem. But simply slapping an expensive Band-Aid on the problem is not a solution."

For Whom is E-Verify expensive?

It is free to employers who use it and it certainly is far less costly to U.S. taxpayers to operate than the public schools and hospital emergency rooms which we have been required by our courts and Congress to open to illegal aliens for their use.

Originally Posted by Texas2step

"Yes, undocumented immigration is a problem. But simply slapping an expensive Band-Aid on the problem is not a solution."

For Whom is E-Verify expensive?

It's expensive for Michelle Waslin's Corporate supporters who will no longer be able to hire cheap illegal labor!!