October 16th 2009 Edition

Capitol Connection

GR Teams with Field Staff to Score Victory in California

In a great victory for true immigration reformers in California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced on October 11th that he had vetoed Assembly Bill No. 1288. AB1288 was a misguided piece of legislation that would have prevented city and county governments in California from including a provision in their contracts to require businesses paid with local tax dollars to use E-Verify as a condition of the contract. This approach is gaining traction in communities across the country as local governments are becoming increasingly aware that illegal immigration is imposing costs and other burdens on those communities.

AB 1288 would have: (1) allowed illegal aliens to remain employed in California, and (2) done nothing to stem the tide of illegal immigration into the state. Stopping this bill didn't come without a fight, however. Behind the scenes, FAIR's Field, Government Relations (GR), and Support staffs worked together to engage FAIR's activist base in an effort to urge Governor Schwarzenegger to veto AB1288.

On August 31, FAIR National Field Director Susan Tully received word that AB1288 had passed the California state legislature and was awaiting action from Governor Schwarzenegger. Tully contacted FAIR's GR team in Washington immediately. Within two hours, the GR staff had analyzed the bill and drafted an alert to e-mail to our activists in California. After the alert was sent, FAIR's support staff spread the word via The Stein Report, Facebook, and Twitter. Accordingly, the FAIR team was glad to see all of this hard work pay off with Governor Schwarzenegger ultimately vetoing AB1288. But the real credit goes to true immigration reformers in California and across the country who are always willing to contact their elected officials to urge them to do the right thing!

FAIR in Your Community

Immigration reform activists attended a symposium hosted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Indianapolis.

Representatives from an Indiana activist group attended a symposium hosted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Indianapolis. DHS held the meeting to obtain opinions on what should be included in the upcoming push for a new immigration reform bill that could come up next year. The following is a report from Greg Sebon, Indiana State Director Indiana Federation for Immigration Reform and Enforcement.

There were about thirty people in attendance including: Ellert Brown-Gort, a professor of Latino studies from Notre Dame; Esther Barber from Indianapolis who, along with her group, supports and helps illegal aliens in Indiana; Trinidad Alfaro from LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens), a pastor from a Latino church; many members from the Indiana State police; the Attorney General of Indiana; a few immigration lawyers; and me.

DHS staff was seeking answers to the following four questions:

1. How do we protect employees?
2. How do we establish effective enforcement?
3. How should we go about creating a legalization program?
4. How do we create an effective guestworker plan?

Trinidad Alfaro from LULAC, Esther Barber, the Latino pastor and I agreed that E-verify works. However, the other three also stated that E-verify should only be widely enforced after an amnesty is put in place. I consistently drove home the point to DHS staff that removing the job incentive will put a stop to most illegal immigration.

The two Indiana state troopers who spoke were upset that ICE did NOT pick up the illegal aliens they arrested. They should not have to arrest dozens of illegal aliens for ICE to come out and pick up from their jails. The Indiana Attorney General spoke up and agreed with the state troopers that DHS is handcuffing the states by not cooperating with them and taking custody of the illegal aliens being arrested daily.

In addition, the immigration lawyers in attendance both stated only 8% of illegal aliens ordered deported actually leave the country! One immigration lawyer said she was on the border in Arizona and did not like the fact our border was still wide open. She pointed out the new fence (what little has been build) is slotted and the drug smugglers have started packaging the drugs to fit through the slots in the fence!

Although the talk of a guest worker program was commented on by a couple of people in attendance, I stated that, with the unemployment rate as high as it is, we do NOT need more workers at this time. There was not much comment on a guestworker program from the other attendees.

The people from DHS are looking for comments on illegal immigration and an amnesty program. Their e-mail address is immigrationcomments@dhs.gov. We need to flood their comment in box with our opposition to any amnesty program.

P.S. I took the man from LULAC aside after the symposium and told him I thought the worst part of the immigration debate was the labeling of anyone against amnesty as being racist!

Media Interviews Around the Country

This past week FAIR staff gave the following interviews:

• Radio talk shows in Mississippi, Chicago, Maine and Philadelphia discussing Gutierrez’s Amnesty plan/rally and the 287(g) program.
• Television stations Univision, Telemundo and Fox News discussing the Vitter amendment, 287(g), and detention overhauls.
• Newspapers in Wisconsin, Los Angeles, Arizona and the Associated Press discussing 287(g), H2-B Visa abuses and the Gutierrez’s Amnesty plan/rally.
• In addition, FAIR would like to welcome back Chris Plante to WMAL (DC Market) AM 630. His show airs 9:00 am - to Noon.

Kudos

Kudos to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed AB1288 this week, which would have prevented California cities from requiring that contractors use the proven E-Verify system to prevent illegal hiring. FAIR activists were instrumental in bringing attention to this bill, and kudos to Governor Schwarzenegger for listening to the public's demand for immigration enforcement.