Thread: Out-of-work Undocumented Migrants Seek End to Crackdown

Out-of-work Undocumented Migrants Seek End to Crackdown

Sept. 8, 2009
Ivan Mejia--EFE

Hundreds of undocumented workers who recently lost their jobs are asking the government to stop taking a "hard line" on immigration policy and to offer a solution to the desperate situations of many of them.

"We're demanding that (President Barack) Obama stop the application of a hard line on existing immigration laws," Nativo Lopez, the head of the Mexican American Political Association, told Efe.

Lopez said that more than 2,200 undocumented workers recently have been fired from several manufacturing firms in Los Angeles.

"The majority of the people don't know it, but Obama has the executive discretion to put a stop to the verification of employment documents, E-Verify, and the sending of letters of Social Security discrepancies," the activist said.

The E-Verify system compares the information on the Employment Eligibility Verification Form, or I-9, against government databases to confirm that a prospective employee has the legal right to work in the United States.

Unions, business groups and defenders of immigrants' rights say that despite improvements, E-Verify is still prone to errors.

Among the companies that laid off workers is American Apparel, a clothing manufacturer that is pushing a campaign supporting immigration reform on T-shirts with the message in English "Legalize LA" and which this month will lay off 1,500 workers from whom the government is demanding proof of the validity of their documents.

Marina Andrade, American Apparel's representative, told Efe that "the workers are like our family and it affects us greatly to think that they're not going to have (money) to pay the rent or for food. Therefore, we're asking President Obama to quickly approve immigration reform."

"What the government is doing is as if it were cutting off our arms," Esther Hernandez, 32, one of the workers dismissed by American Apparel, told Efe.

Olga Casta??eda, 39, said that the firings are a sign of "the oppression of the labor that the country needs by the government."

"We're asking the government if, for the moment, it's not going to approve immigration reform to stop pressuring employers to throw out workers," she said.

Alexander Auerbach, a member of the board of directors for frozen food packing firm Overhill Farms, in southern Los Angeles, told Efe that the Internal Revenue Service conducted an audit of payrolls for 2006 and found that out of 1,000 workers 260 had inconsistencies in their documents.

Because of that, last April the Social Security Administration sent letters to the employers informing them that some of the Social Security numbers of their workers were invalid.

"The government was telling us that these people are not here legally and, therefore, we, the company, like the workers, were going to face legal action," Auerbach said.

"Many of the people have been with us for many years and have experience in the job that's to the countries advantage, but the lawyers recommended that we fire them because if we did not do that we would have had to pay millions of dollars in fines or go to jail," he said.

Marcelino Arteaga, one of the Overhill Farms workers who was laid off, told Efe that one day a week a number of the firm's former employees protest in front of the packing plant.

"We know that this fight is not against this or other companies, but that it's a fight against the policies of Barack Obama that focus on punishing employers," he said.

Artega said that this situation, for firms like Overhill Farms, is an opportunity to lay off people with a certain amount of seniority "without paying them anything, and then hiring people part-time and without benefits, whereby the company saves more money."

"We believe that the only solution is in Obama's hands and the only thing he can do is fulfill what he promised us Latinos in the campaign, that is to say immigration reform," he said. EFE


www(DOt)hispanicbusiness(DOT)com/news/2009/9/8/outofwork_undocumented_migrants_seek_end_to.htm

Tell these IDIOTS this is supposed to be a Government for the people, by the people. AND its the people who DO NOT WANT Illegal Aliens here.

They are demanding that we dont enforce our laws? That is outrageous. We need to work harder to enforce our laws we need to make sure that no illegal alien steals a job or benifits from legal residents. Both the employers and the workers are breaking the law and we need to punish them both.

"The majority of the people don't know it, but Obama has the executive discretion to put a stop to the verification of employment documents, E-Verify, and the sending of letters of Social Security discrepancies," the activist said.

The majority of Americans know all about this back door amnesty and are strongly opposed to it. We contact Obama as well and make OUR demands known.

"We're asking the government if, for the moment, it's not going to approve immigration reform to stop pressuring employers to throw out workers," she said.

And Americans are demanding, not asking, that OUR government neither approve reform or stop enforcement, but to comply with and enforce our current laws.

"Many of the people have been with us for many years and have experience in the job that's to the countries advantage, but the lawyers recommended that we fire them because if we did not do that we would have had to pay millions of dollars in fines or go to jail," he said.

So you've dodged the law for years, and now want sympathy. Uh, NO.

I read this as PROOF enforcement works. Not one of the 260 at Overhill Farms was 'wrongly' identified. If E-Verify is only 96% accurate why weren't there 5-10 'mistakes'?

"The majority of the people don't know it, but Obama has the executive discretion to put a stop to the verification of employment documents, E-Verify, and the sending of letters of Social Security discrepancies," the activist said.

Sure, why not put a stop to ALL law enforcement?

Just what we need, unemployed illegal aliens. There IS a solution, DEPORTATION! Let's get it done!

"We're demanding that (President Barack) Obama stop the application of a hard line on existing immigration laws," Nativo Lopez, the head of the Mexican American Political Association, told Efe.

How dare a bunch of lawbreakers demand anything! How dare these people thumb their noses at our laws. As an American citizen I DEMAND THAT ILLEGAL ALIENS ARE DEPORTED.

This needs to start taking place in every state!!

Until Obama stepped in and stopped deportation of IA's on job sites these criminals would not be marching and protesting on our streets.

Enough is enough the only thing they will be satisfied with is Open Borders so it is time to really clamp down on IA's.

Since our current congress sympathize with IA's instead of jobless citizens I can hardly wait for 2010 elections.

Make it mandatory that every single business, large or small, use E-verify. The taxpayer funded public health departments should be using it to E-verify all the illegals showing up every day for free maternity care as well. If these people were reported and deported before they could ever give birth here in this country, the anchor baby crisis would be gone!