Thread: J. Brent Olmstead: A guest worker program would reduce illeg

J. Brent Olmstead: A guest worker program would reduce illegal immigration

The Idaho Business Coalition for Immigration Reform is a coalition of Idaho businesses and trade associations dedicated to advocating for sensible reform of the U.S. immigration systems. We are small businesses, manufacturers, agri-businesses, farmers and service providers. We are the backbone of the Idaho economy.

America's immigration crisis has gone on for far too long. Its disruptions and distortions are too serious to allow extreme special interests to continue looking for scapegoats and blocking meaningful solutions.

As a coalition we feel that neither amnesty nor mass deportation is the answer. Amnesty unfairly rewards those who broke our laws, and mass deportation is unrealistic. Current enforcement policy is centered on undocumented workers who are contributing to our economy. The enforcement priority should target those engaged in criminal activities.

That is why we support a sensible guest worker program that takes undocumented workers off the black market and legitimizes their economic contributions without providing an expedited pathway towards citizenship status. This type of a program in conjunction with increased enforcement at the border will more readily allow the government to know who is entering our country.

A guest worker program that provides foreign workers with a worker ID removes the incentive for millions of people to illegally enter our country. It adds workers to our tax base, generates revenue for needed social services and it satisfies the need that employers have for a reliable labor pool.

Those who are here illegally and want to stay should be assessed a fine, pay any owed back-taxes and submit to and pass a criminal background check. When all of that is completed the individual should be given a renewable work permit that is valid as long as the individual stays employed.

This approach is much more logical than forcing employers to be the enforcement arm of our nation's immigration policy. Punishing employers for hiring improperly documented workers will not only further damage our economy but will prove to be a deterrent for future economic growth.

States and local jurisdictions have a role to play - maintaining order at the local level. But national security, national economic needs and our national understanding of citizenship require that immigration and citizenship be handled by the federal government. Ultimately, only the federal government can fix what's wrong with the immigration system.

The role of state government in this issue should be one of assisting businesses to find qualified workers to keep the wheels of commerce turning - not looking for ways to punish an employer and stifle economic growth.

We encourage the Idaho legislative leaders to work with the Congress and the president to craft an immigration policy that allows for employers to hire workers who are in our country legally and provides a sensible workable process for immigrants seeking work to not only enter our country legitimately but to also contribute to our society and economy.

J. Brent Olmstead is the state coordinator for Idaho Business Coalition for Immigration Reform.

THERE IS A COMMENT SECTION AT THE LINK.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/106/story/660124.html

Originally Posted by PatrioticMe

As a coalition we feel that neither amnesty nor mass deportation is the answer. Amnesty unfairly rewards those who broke our laws, and mass deportation is unrealistic. Current enforcement policy is centered on undocumented workers who are contributing to our economy. The enforcement priority should target those engaged in criminal activities.

I guess this coalition doesn’t consider document fraud a criminal act.

Olmstead has enlisted the help of IACI (Idaho Association of Commerce & Industry) to help him on his campaign to shove cheap illegal alien labor down the throats of the Idaho people. His group, the Idaho Business Coalition for Immigration Reform, is made up all the business owners of IACI. Olmstead is whining in all the newspapers that they need a guest worker program. He's been told that there are already 23 of them, but his excuse is that many of these dairy and produce farms are out in the sticks and can't get good internet service to use E-Verify. How does he think he's going to check the legal status of these workers with an additional guest worker program then? He says most of these business pay $14.00 an hour with benefits, yet he says he can't find enough American workers here who can pass a drug test or have a CDL license to drive their trucks. Gee, to hear him talk, we're all drunks and druggies here in Idaho.

Originally Posted by dragonfire

I guess this coalition doesn’t consider document fraud a criminal act.

Juan Hernandez said that "no one gets hurt" and LA Mayor Tony V. even said that fake documents that look like the real thing should be accepted as proof of citizenship, and who was it that said we should be politically correct and called "identity theft" "identity formation"?

Can someone tell me: is this the United States or the last days of the Roman Empire? I sure as Hell cannot tell the difference anymore.

Old stories but still relevent

One Social Security Number, 81 People
California Woman's Identity Hijacked In 17 States; Officials Do Little

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/ ... rchStories

| Page 1 of 2
DUBLIN, Calif., June 17, 2006 | by Lloyd de Vries

(AP) One woman's Social Security identification number has been used by at least 81 people in 17 states. Though impossible to verify in every case, information gleaned from criminal investigations, tax documents and other sources suggest most of the users were probably illegal immigrants trying to get work.

Audra Schmierer, a 33-year-old housewife in this affluent San Francisco suburb, realized she had a problem in February 2005, when she got a statement from the IRS saying she owed $15,813 in back taxes — even though she had not worked since her son was born in 2000. Perhaps even more surprising, the taxes were due from jobs in Texas.

Schmierer has since found that her Social Security number has been used by people from Florida to Washington state, at construction sites, fast-food restaurants and even major high-tech companies. Some opened bank accounts using the number.

The federal government took years to discover the number was being used illegally, but authorities took little action even then.

"They knew what was happening but wouldn't do anything," said Schmierer. "One name, one number, why can't they just match it up?"

Her case is an example of an increasingly common problem: Many thieves are able to steal personal information because employers do not have to verify Social Security numbers or other documents submitted by job seekers.

The situation has long drawn fire from anti-illegal immigration groups, but Congress has only recently moved to fix it. Both the Senate and House of Representatives have passed immigration-reform bills that call for employers to verify Social Security numbers in a national database.

Homeland Security officials have taken it a step further, calling on Congress to allow the Social Security Administration to share information with immigration-enforcement agents at work sites.

Under current law, if the Social Security Administration or the Internal Revenue Service find multiple people using the same Social Security number, the agencies send letters informing employers of possible errors.

The IRS can fine employers $50 for each inaccurate number filed, a punishment that companies often dismiss as just another cost of doing business.

"Sending letters is the limit to what can be done," Social Security spokesman Lowell Kepke said. "We expect that will be able to fix any records that are incorrect."

The information on mismatched names is seldom shared with law enforcement agencies.

When Schmierer called the IRS, she learned that numerous people were using her Social Security number. Officials said the erroneous balances would be eliminated, but the agency would have to correct the problem again in future years.

"They told me they couldn't do anything else," Schmierer said.

IRS officials declined to talk about Schmierer's case, citing privacy laws.

Schmierer has done a little investigating of her own, combing through tax bills sent to her for names and locations of employers who hired people using her number.

She has also obtained more than 200 W-2 and 1099 tax forms that contained her Social Security number but different names. Schmierer provided copies of the records to The Associated Press.

Most of the people who used her identification number worked multiple jobs in the same year, though some remained at the same company for several years. The top wage earner made $39,465, but most reported income of less than $15,000.

Schmierer filed a police report after learning one man had used her information in 2003 at janitorial and landscaping companies near Haltom City, Texas.

Investigators found the man, who told officers he had bought a fake Social Security card at a flea market, according to a police report. He was not arrested.

Schmierer tracked down other people, finding that her number had been used to get work but not to access her credit card or bank accounts.

What started as a hassle turned into a major headache earlier this year when she sought work through a temporary agency that learned her Social Security number had been used by a woman in Texas two years earlier. The agency could not hire Schmierer for more than a month while the situation was clarified.

"How do you prove that you are you?" Schmierer said. "It's like you are guilty until proven innocent."

While returning from a trip to Mexico with her husband last year, Schmierer was detained for four hours in a Dallas airport by immigration officials. The reason: a woman using her Social Security number was wanted for a felony.

Schmierer never determined how her number became so widely used. Sellers of fake documents often make up numbers and use them repeatedly.

Schmierer's number became so compromised that Social Security officials finally took a rare step used only in extreme cases: They gave her a new one.

Schmierer hopes that will end her frustrations, but she suspects her old number will continue to be misused.

"It's clear to me that because my number has been used for so long, it's not going to stop," she said.


Story 2

Some ID Theft Is Not for Profit, but to Get a Job

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/04/us/04 ... 27&ei=5070

For Ms. Lybbert and her husband, Tyson, the call was the beginning of a five-month scramble trying to clear up their daughter’s credit history. As it turned out, an illegal immigrant named Jose Tinoco was using their daughter’s stolen Social Security number, not in pursuit of a financial crime, but to get a job.

“From what I’ve picked up, he wasn’t using it maliciously,â€

Here's one of my comments to this jerk, Olmstead.


Illegal aliens are costing Idaho taxpayers $200 million dollars a year. Let's get one thing straight, Mr. Olmstead. You flaunt cheap foreign labor in the faces of the Idaho workers, then tell them they have to pay for them and their families. Illegal alies are not the taxpayer's responsibility. It's yours, and those like you who insist on cheap foreign labor. Any foreign worker who comes into this country, legal or illegal, should be the responsibility of the employer. He should have to pay their health care, schooling, and any criminal cost they accrue. And it should be the responsiblity of the employer to see that the worker goes back home after his job is done, and not be let loose on American streets. All people like you want to do is line your pockets, and you want the Idaho taxpayer to foot the bill. I don't think so, Mr. Olmstead. This party is about over because the American people are fed up.

As a coalition we feel that neither amnesty nor mass deportation is the answer. Amnesty unfairly rewards those who broke our laws, and mass deportation is unrealistic. Current enforcement policy is centered on undocumented workers who are contributing to our economy. The enforcement priority should target those engaged in criminal activities.

A guest worker program must NOT include anyone who is or has ever been here illegally. Otherwise it IS amnesty. E-verify everyone, let SSA and DHS look at each others records, make it impossible for illegal aliens to get ANY job or benefits and they will have no choice but to self-deport. GET RID OF BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP!

A guest worker program should never lead to a path to citizenship. Guest workers are not immigrants. When you start blending the two, you cause problems.

Dixie

Originally Posted by Dixie

A guest worker program should never lead to a path to citizenship. Guest workers are not immigrants. When you start blending the two, you cause problems.

Dixie

In Olmstead's case, he's just making excuses why he shouldn't hire legal workers. He's insisting on needing a guest worker program with worker ID, yet in another newspaper article he said E-Verify was too hard for some of the businesses to check the workers because they live way out in the sticks and don't have good internet service. Well, how in the hell are they going to check workers on a new program then?

Originally Posted by tinybobidaho

Olmstead has enlisted the help of IACI (Idaho Association of Commerce & Industry) to help him on his campaign to shove cheap illegal alien labor down the throats of the Idaho people. His group, the Idaho Business Coalition for Immigration Reform, is made up all the business owners of IACI. Olmstead is whining in all the newspapers that they need a guest worker program. He's been told that there are already 23 of them, but his excuse is that many of these dairy and produce farms are out in the sticks and can't get good internet service to use E-Verify. How does he think he's going to check the legal status of these workers with an additional guest worker program then? He says most of these business pay $14.00 an hour with benefits, yet he says he can't find enough American workers here who can pass a drug test or have a CDL license to drive their trucks. Gee, to hear him talk, we're all drunks and druggies here in Idaho.

Olmstead is a liar as are all his Treason Buddies in his organization. If he advertised those jobs to Americans instead of through illegal alien labor networks, he'd have all the legal help he needs. He might even have to pay $15 an hour or even $20 an hour and pay some moving expenses. Well, "welcome to America", Olmstead. If you don't like it, pack up your cows and head down to Mexico or Guatemala and milk them there and sell your milk there, too, Traitor!

Average wages in Idaho:

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/200 ... 147083.txt

"Social workers in south-central Idaho are seeing a new kind of poverty - one where both parents work but still do not earn enough to pay their bills and feed their families.

"They say the rising cost of living and low regional wages are squeezing families, which are now applying for state programs such as food stamps.

"Furthermore, they say the number of people applying for food stamps in south-central Idaho is growing at an alarming rate.

"The number of people in south-central Idaho who applied for food stamps increased more than 18 percent from August 2007 to August 2008, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

""We were projecting an increase, but we didn't expect anything like this,"said Tom Shanahan, spokesman for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. "This puts us at an all-time high."

"He said the increase in applicants has less to do with the national economy and more to do with regional wages.

"The median wage for all occupations in south-central Idaho rose 2.3 percent from 2006 to 2007, according to the Idaho Department of Labor. However, inflation swelled more than 4 percent during the same time period.

"Shanahan said that when families' paychecks cannot cover the cost of living, they turn to the state for assistance.

"Federal law requires that people earn 130 percent or less than the federal poverty level - $21,200 for a family of four - to qualify for food stamps.

"But some people earn more than the minimum requirement and still cannot make ends meet - it's a class of poverty that social workers have come to know as the Working Poor.

""That's the major difference this year that we haven't really seen in the past," Shanahan said. "A lot of people who are applying don't qualify."

"Social workers in local offices say they are turning more people away than in previous years.

""We helped 30 applicants in August, but we had to turn away 10 applicants during the same month," said Leanne Trappen, the community service director for South Central Community Action Partnership in Twin Falls.

"She said most of the applicants that are turned away barely exceed the minimum requirement.

"The state estimates that a single mother with two children would need to earn $23 an hour or more to support her family, but the average wage in south-central Idaho is only about $13 an hour.

""We just don't have many jobs here with wages that can support families," she said.

"State officials say things could get worse as the financial crisis on Wall Street trickles down to communities in Idaho.

""What we know is that our food stamp program generally precedes what will happen in local economies by about two months,"Shanahan said.""

__________________

People like Olmstead are imprverishing our nation and turning us into a working socialist banana republic asking the government to underwrite the needs of their workers instead of paying them wages that will sustain employees and their families, all to line their pockets at the expense of taxpayers and US citizens, because the price of milk certainly hasn't gone down, now has it?! Nope, it sure hasn't.

Kick these Traitors to the curb.