Thread: Landscape co. owner whines about E-verify plan.....

THis woman, probably got loans etc. based on being a "minority/women owned" business and the like...and she most llikely hires illegal aliens and now is whining that using E-verify will shut her down. Boo-hoo.

http://www.fresnobee.com/business/story/368774.html

RANDALL BENTON / THE SACRAMENTO BEE
Kimberly Rhoes runs a landscaping business in Sacramento and fears that hers and other small businesses would be put in jeopardy by a Bush administration immigrant plan.




Immigrant plan unites labor, business
Unusual partners fear the effects of using Social Security data to penalize employers.
By Susan Ferriss / The Sacramento Bee
02/02/08 21:09:11
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Kimberly Rhodes is a Sacramento landscaper who usually votes Republican, and Sharon Cornu is a Democrat and prominent Bay Area labor organizer.

They're partners in an unusual alliance trying to kill a Bush administration plan that would use Social Security data to force U.S. employers to fire suspected illegal immigrants.

Federal judges in San Francisco sided last fall with the labor-business alliance, temporarily freezing the plan by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for immigration enforcement. By March, Homeland Security intends to unveil a second version of the plan that it hopes will pass legal muster. The idea is to pressure employers to fire any worker who can't explain discrepancies between their names and Social Security numbers.

Seventy percent of Social Security discrepancies involve U.S. citizens and stem from database errors -- one reason the plan should not be considered a solution to tracking down illegal immigrants, Rhodes, Cornu and the federal judges agreed.

"I've never been so disappointed in my government before in my life," said Rhodes, who runs Rhodes Landscape Design Inc.

Because so many false documents look authentic, she believes business people can't be sure they haven't hired an illegal immigrant. She disagrees with calls to resolve the problem now with "enforcement only" measures.

If Homeland Security's "no-match" plan goes forward and mass numbers of employees are fired, Rhodes predicts mass closures of small businesses in California.

"This isn't just me. It's the California economy," Rhodes said. "We already could be in a recession."

She's waiting anxiously to see what the government proposes next. Homeland Security isn't revealing what might be different about its second plan. The agency has filed an appeal with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, hoping to convince that court its original plan was legally sound.

In the meantime, Rhodes said, she's searching for a presidential candidate she believes will tackle illegal immigration without pushing to eject all undocumented workers.

Cornu is the secretary-treasurer of the Alameda County Central Labor Council, which joined the American Civil Liberties Union, the AFL-CIO, and six other national and Bay Area unions to file the lawsuit last year against Homeland Security's plan.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce later joined the suit along with trade groups representing roofers, farmers, restaurants and landscapers, including the Sacramento-based California Landscape Contractors Association. Rhodes serves on that group's immigration task force.

In anticipation that Homeland Security's plan might eventually go through, Cornu said the Central Labor Council began training its leaders last month on workers' rights and immigration law.

"We didn't have to explain to our members much why we were taking on the Bush administration," Cornu said.

Like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Cornu's federation favors offering an avenue to legal residency for undocumented workers who already are here.

Unions also oppose Homeland Security's plan because they believe employers may dismiss legal workers out of panic -- or fire immigrant workers who are not compliant, Cornu said.

Businesses, she said, have used immigration rules before to exploit immigrant workers. She said the owner of an Alameda hotel last year requested an audit of its own employee records during a drive to increase wages. Immigration officials detained some workers involved in the campaign.

Since 1994, the Social Security Administration, as a courtesy, has advised employers of discrepancies between employees' names and Social Security numbers by periodically mailing out so-called "no-match" letters.

Social Security tells employers they should not fire these workers.

Rhodes said she filled out and returned the required paperwork when she has received the advisories.

"I never heard another word from them," she said. Business went on, employees kept working.

Homeland Security now wants to convert "no-match" letters into an indirect immigration enforcement tool by attaching its own instructions to employers, warning them that they could face prosecution if they don't dismiss workers who can't explain a discrepancy within 90 days.

So far, Congress has refused to grant Homeland Security's request for access to lists of employers who receive confidential "no-match" letters.

The Social Security Administration is waiting, meanwhile, to mail out an estimated 140,000 "no-match" letters affecting an estimated 8 million employees.

In December, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff issued a statement labeling opponents of the "no-match" plan "employers who would rather close their eyes to cheap and profitable labor than obey the laws of our country."

Seventy percent of Social Security discrepancies involve U.S. citizens and stem from database errors -- one reason the plan should not be considered a solution to tracking down illegal immigrants,




Really? Then this is exactly why the plan should be considered a solution.

If this is really the case, then 70% of the population will have no difficulty clearing up the discrepancies and do not have to fear losing their jobs.

As for the other 30%......oh well.

Originally Posted by azwreath

Seventy percent of Social Security discrepancies involve U.S. citizens and stem from database errors -- one reason the plan should not be considered a solution to tracking down illegal immigrants,




Really? Then this is exactly why the plan should be considered a solution.

If this is really the case, then 70% of the population will have no difficulty clearing up the discrepancies and do not have to fear losing their jobs.

As for the other 30%......oh well.

This is one where you have to parse words carefully.
The quote in the above is rather misleading.

Facts:

The [presumed] error "rate" has been whittled down to about 3-4% overall. That is, out of every 100 people whose SSNs are run through the system about 3 or 4 are flagged as not valid.

What the OBL in the article is suggesting is that about 70% of the 3 or 4 numbers input which are flagged (per 100) involve US citizens - not 70% of those numbers input to the system! (big difference). I haven't seen that segment of cases as representing that large a proportion of those checked (eg. the % may be exaggerated here... ).

Now, what happens when someone/some number is flagged? Is that really an 'error', or could it be flagged because it is actually a problem (yet another detail that goes under-recognized). Believe it or not folks, sometimes the numbers are flagged, well, because they are errors! Viola!

Further, any time there is a government database that relies upon self-reported information there will be a minority of citizens that report bogus information in order to obfuscate tracking that person, and... there will be people that, for whatever reason, don't provide timely updates to marriage/name changes, divorces, etc. That is not an error with the information maintained by the system - it is an error by the person involved in the change.

There are very few GOOD reasons NOT to use E-Verify at this point in time. I'd be willing to guess that at least 50% of all the discrepancies that arise could be easily verified (or not) by greater cooperation with another government agency - namely, the IRS.

Anyone lobbying NOT to use it should be investigated promptly and without notice by ICE (IMHO)

Ditto Pherd...and I think all citizens should be glad to find out if there is a problem with their SS #, I know I would and it should not be that hard to fix at your local SS office..So someone is full of crap!


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You can bet your bottom dollar that if we get a president that grants amnesty (God forbid) Kimberly Rhodes and her illegal labor using ilk will be sceaming bloody murder when they find themselves forced compete with all the new businesses...that will be owned by their former employees.

If Homeland Security's "no-match" plan goes forward and mass numbers of employees are fired, Rhodes predicts mass closures of small businesses in California.

No, these aren't small businesses, just criminal enterprises run by traitors.