Thread: Battle Of The Idaho Immigration Bills

This is a follow up from a story published yesterday, but I wanted to explain what is going on here. Senator Mike Jorgenson introduced enforcement legislation last year to hold employers accountable for hiring illegal aliens. The bill was voted unanamously in Committee for the bill to be printed. However, Senator McKenzie shoved the bill in the drawer and said, "This bill is going nowhere" and refused to let the bill be heard on the Senate floor. When Boise got flooded with calls and emails over this, McKenzie promised to bring up Senator Jorgenson bill first thing this session. Instead, he is playing political games by sponsoring weaker bills written by big business that won't hold water in court, knowing it will be business as usual and the flow of cheap, illegal alien labor will continue for the Dairymen and Ag businesses. There is another bill being introduced by another Senator who is playing the same games. This bill below is a joke and so full of holes, it's looks like swiss cheese. There is a comment section at the bottom of the article if you would like to respond.


Canyon lawmakers sponsor illegal immigration crackdown
Mike Butts
mbutts@idahopress.com
Updated 17 hours 16 minutes ago

TREASURE VALLEY — Canyon County's four state senators have introduced legislation meant to crack down on illegal immigration.

Senate Bill 1271 would make it illegal to produce false identification when applying for employment and also for employers to knowingly hire employees that produce false documents at the time of employment.

One of the bills sponsors, Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, said legislators are working with law enforcement officials on how the law would be enforced. He said illegal immigrants cost state and local governments "tens of millions" of dollars based on a national study.

"We want to make sure that Idahoans get first shot at employment," McGee said. He said the bill has a good chance of passing "especially in light of the economy."

The Idaho Community Action Network released a statement to the Idaho Press-Tribune in opposition to the bill. ICAN, based in Boise, advocates for the rights of immigrants and the poor.

"Idaho residents should be disappointed that Canyon County senators are wasting time introducing legislation that the federal government should be dealing with," the statement reads in part. "In a recent poll conducted in Idaho (including Canyon County) residents overwhelmingly support immigrant workers to register for legal immigration status, pay back taxes and learn English in order to be eligible for U.S. citizenship. In the same poll residents do not support a crackdown on immigrants but rather a push for comprehensive immigration reform."

Proposal sets penalties

The bill would make using false identification to apply for employment a misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in the county jail and up to a $5,000 fine. Knowingly hiring someone who uses false documents could draw up to a two-year jail sentence and up to a $50,000 fine.

Sen. Melinda Smyser, R-Parma, another of the bill's sponsors, said public hearings on the legislation would give lawmakers a better idea of what people and businesses thought of the bill.

"This is an issue that my constituents have been concerned about for awhile," Smyser said. "This will provide a vehicle for full hearings about the illegal alien movement in this country."

Sens. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, and Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa, also sponsor the bill.

Lodge said fruit growers in the valley support the legislation.

"The idea is to make it more difficult for these people to be hired in the state of Idaho and partake of our education and our social services," Lodge said.


McGee eyes education cost

In the prepared statement, McGee said the cost of illegal immigration to the state's education system is also high. But he said in an interview that this bill would not affect illegal immigrants under 18 years old.

McGee sponsored legislation in 2007 — which became law — that requires people to verify their residency in the U.S. before receiving public assistance supported by taxpayers. He said it's difficult to say how much impact that law has had.

"We're hopeful that people are taking a second look before they try to receive benefits that are provided by Idaho taxpayers," McGee said.

http://www.idahopress.com/news/?2010-01 ... -crackdown

"In a recent poll conducted in Idaho (including Canyon County) residents overwhelmingly support immigrant workers to register for legal immigration status, pay back taxes and learn English in order to be eligible for U.S. citizenship. In the same poll residents do not support a crackdown on immigrants but rather a push for comprehensive immigration reform."

This is a bald face lie! This is propaganda put out by the open borders, amnesty crowd. The truth is that almost 80% of Idahoans are fed up with illegal aliens here and want something done about them, and that doesn't mean giving them legal status. We are in for a big battle on this one, folks.

The phrase "knowingly hire" is a loophole so big a Mack truck could drive through. The employers can easily claim they are not document experts and get off free.
And the illegal can claim they had no idea the papers they bought were fraudulent, because they can't speak English.
Amazing how often these scenarios have already played out, and these guys still don't have a clue what they are doing. Or perhaps, the dangling of campaign contributions are a lot more important than doing right by their constituents.

residents overwhelmingly support immigrant workers to register for legal immigration status, pay back taxes and learn English in order to be eligible for U.S. citizenship.

They (illegal aliens) are not going to do this. They did not do it when they had the open chance of doing it so they sure are not going to do it when told or forced to. And pay back taxes? What a JOKE!

We already have millions of "now" legal Hispanics in this country that are only legal because someone in Washington saw fit to give them AMNESTY from their crime.

The Immigration and Reform Control Act (IRCA) Amnesty of 1986 - the "one-time only" blanket amnesty for some 2.8 million illegal aliens.
Section 245(i) The Amnesty of 1994 - a temporary rolling amnesty for 578,000 illegal aliens.
Section 245(i) The Extension Amnesty of 1997 - an extension of the rolling amnesty created in 1994.
The Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) Amnesty of 1997 - an amnesty for nearly one million illegal aliens from Central America.
The Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act Amnesty (HRIFA) of 1998 - an amnesty for 125,000 illegal aliens from Haiti.
The Late Amnesty of 2000 - an amnesty for approximately 400,000 illegal aliens who claimed they should have been amnestied under the 1986 IRCA amnesty.
The LIFE Act Amnesty of 2000 - a reinstatement of the rolling Section 245(i) amnesty to an estimated 900,000 illegal aliens.

http://www.theamericanresistance.com/is ... nesty.html

E-Verify them.

Senator Jorgensen's bill mandates the use of E-Verify and puts hefty fines on employers, and repeat offenders get their licenses snatched. Also in his bill is the law that you have to show an Idaho ID or driver's license to receive social services. Right now people are getting benefits by showing an out of state driver's license. I expect to see Jorgenson's bill in the next few days. His is the one we want to pass.

Vote his butt out of office, on the next election.

These people are the idiots that support their friend Labrador who is running for Miinnick's U.S. house seat...he is an immgration lawyer who defends criminal illegal aliens and fights to keep them from being deported.

This bill is a joke, we ARE going to fight for Jorgensons bill which Kris Kobach helped him to write....Koboch is the one who wrote AZ's immigration bill that held up in the 9th circuit court. We want mandantory e-verifiy in Idaho and will settle for nothing less, not without a fight.

-------------------------

Professor Kobach received his bachelor of arts degree with highest distinction from Harvard University in
1988. He graduated at the top of his class in the Harvard Government Department. In 1988, the British
government awarded him a Marshall Scholarship, which took him to England for post-graduate study. In 1992
he received his doctorate in Political Science from Oxford University. In 1995 he
received his J.D. from Yale Law School. While at Yale, he taught undergraduates in the
Yale Political Science Department, and in 1994 he won the Prize Teaching Fellowship,
an award based on student nominations and faculty review. He also served as notes
development editor on the Yale Law Journal.
Professor Kobach was admitted to the Kansas Bar in 1995 and served as a law clerk to
Judge Deanell Reece Tacha of the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in
1995-1996. He joined the UMKC School of Law faculty in 1996. He has published two
books, The Referendum: Direct Democracy in Switzerland (Dartmouth, 1994), and
Political Capital: The Motives, Tactics, and Goals of Politicized Businesses in South Africa (University Press of
America, 1990). He has also published numerous articles in political science, constitutional law, immigration
law, and legal history.
In 2001, Professor Kobach was awarded a White House Fellowship, which took him to Washington, DC, to
work for the Bush Administration in the
office of U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. After his fellowship year ended, the Attorney General asked
Kobach to stay on as his Counsel. In that capacity, Professor Kobach served as the Attorney General’s chief
adviser on immigration law and border security.
After the 9/11 attacks, Kobach was put in charge of Department of Justice efforts to tighten border security and
return the rule of law to immigration. He led the team that designed and implemented the National Security
Entry-Exit Registration System, which registers and fingerprints high-risk visitors to the United States. Within
its first year of operation, the registration system resulted in the apprehension of numerous suspected
terrorists. Professor Kobach also led Department of Justice reforms of the immigration court system, resulting
in the reshaping of the Board of Immigration Appeals in 2002. He left the Justice Department and returned to
teaching law in July 2003.

Originally Posted by tinybobidaho

"In a recent poll conducted in Idaho (including Canyon County) residents overwhelmingly support immigrant workers to register for legal immigration status, pay back taxes and learn English in order to be eligible for U.S. citizenship. In the same poll residents do not support a crackdown on immigrants but rather a push for comprehensive immigration reform."

This is a bald face lie! This is propaganda put out by the open borders, amnesty crowd. The truth is that almost 80% of Idahoans are fed up with illegal aliens here and want something done about them, and that doesn't mean giving them legal status. We are in for a big battle on this one, folks.

You got that right! I know MANY people from SoCal and NorCal who moved to ID to GET AWAY from the IA's!

Please keep us updated on this...

I just got this newsletter from Mike. Yeehaw! And the battle begins.

This morning I presented my immigration legislation to Senate State Affairs. This is the committee that exclusively deals with matters affecting the constitution of Idaho as well as the major policy issues that may affect our great state.

I am pleased to report that my colleagues in the Senate agreed to print this proposed legislation and now it is officially a bill. I have been here before; last year the same committee voted to print my previous bill, but it was never given a hearing afterwards. I very much believe that this year will be different.

In crafting this legislation I was helped in great part by University of Missouri-Kansas City law professor Kris Kobach, a former member of the US Attorney General John Ashcroft's team during the Bush administration. Professor Kobach was instrumental after 9/11 in crafting systems and legislation that helped protect our country from any further attacks under President Bush. He has become an expert in illegal immigration and therefore his assistance in writing this Idaho-specific bill cannot be underestimated. Professor Kobach will fly to Idaho at my personal expense to testify on behalf of this legislation in the coming weeks.

My bill, if enacted, will do far more than simply punish the employers in Idaho who refuse to stop the practice of hiring undocumented workers to replace Americans workers. I do not wish to pick on the dairy industry, but suffice it to say that the Europeans have an immense dairy industry and they do not nor have they ever relied on illegal aliens to do the work of producing their milk. They use their own citizens and they pay them living wages.

My bill will also end the practice of Idaho honoring the drivers licenses of other states which knowingly and happily issue drivers licenses to illegal aliens. Last year in northern Idaho we had a young family man murdered in cold blood by an illegal alien who was able to register his vehicle in Idaho legally by using a Washington driver's license which was issued to him despite him having absolutely no ability to prove he was an American citizen. Practices such as this need to stop.

My bill will also make it mandatory that the written portion of a driver's license test be administered in English-without the benefit of a translator. Goodness, if they cannot read the test how will they read the traffic signs, particularly when they warn of ice, storms or accidents ahead?

Finally my bill will make mandatory the use of the Department of Homeland Security's E-Verify program. To prove how well this program operates I intend to call for testimony the Idaho Department of Health & Welfare which has used this program to check the employment status of more than 1,000 employees the past three years. If the state of Idaho can use this free program, why can't private employers?

In closing I commend my Canyon County colleagues for bringing a companion bill that will stamp down on illegal aliens using false documentation and identity fraud in order to claim jobs that rightfully belong to American citizens.

Please visit my website to read my bill and other items pertaining to this issue.

I invite you to read my blog, has now been updated. This can be done by clicking visiting: http://www.mike4idaho.com/blog.php

As always, I invite your comments. Thank you for the privilege of representing you.

Sincerely yours,
Mike

mnjorgen@senate.idaho.gov