Federation for American Immigration Reform Action Alert
One Last Chance to Include a Long-Term E-Verify Extension in the
Omnibus Appropriations Bill. Call Your Senators NOW!!

Late last night, Senate Leadership announced they would postpone a final vote on the Omnibus Appropriations Bill to allow more Republican amendments. FAIR has learned that one of these amendments may be Senator Sessions' Amendment reauthorizing E-Verify for five years. Please call your Senators now and tell them to support this amendment!

All week, the Senate has been debating a $410 billion Omnibus Appropriations bill (H.R. 1105) to fund the federal government until September 30, 2009. While the bill contains a short-term, six-month extension of E-Verify, true immigration reformers want a long-term extension of the program to keep it from being used as a political football. Senator Sessions has introduced an amendment to the Omnibus bill (#604) that would extend the program five more years until September 2014. On Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) asked to pull up the Sessions' Amendment for debate. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), however, blocked the amendment. This is the fourth time in four weeks Senator Reid has blocked a long-term extension of E-Verify.

While this appeared to be a setback, our friends in the Senate did not give up. Republican Leadership continued to demand more votes on amendments, and on Thursday night β€” not having enough votes to end debate (cloture) β€” Senator Reid finally agreed to allow Repubicans to offer additional amendments. WE BELIEVE THAT THE SESSIONS E-VERIFY AMENDMENT WILL BE ON THIS LIST!

Please call your Senators IMMEDIATELY and tell them:

1. You demand that the Senate allow a vote on Senator Sessions' E-Verify Amendment reauthorizing E-Verify for five years (Amendment #604);
2. Tell them E-Verify is a critical program that protects American jobs by ensuring that employers hire only workers authorized to work in the U.S.;
3. You insist that your Senators vote in favor of the Sessions' Amendment; and
4. You will not be fooled by a mere six-month extension of the program. E-Verify, already used by over 100,000 employers, has been proven effective and deserves long-term (if not permanent) reauthorization. It does not deserve to be held hostage to amnesty legislation.

There is no time to waste! The Senate will likely hold a final vote on the Omnibus Appropriations Bill late Monday evening. That gives us only a few days to make a difference.

Learn more about E-Verify by reading FAIR's Talking Points.

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