Lawmakers draw battle lines. Reid suggest E-verify for Dream Act..

WASHINGTON - Congressional Republicans are poised to press forward with legislation requiring all U.S. employers to use an electronic worker verification program penned by Inland Rep. Ken Calvert.

The bill, meant to stop illegal immigrants from taking American jobs, is likely to pass the House, thanks to the GOP's majority. But some Senate Democrats are citing potential ill effects from a mandatory E-Verify program, and vow to oppose passage in the Senate unless it is paired with other immigration-related measures long championed by their party.

E-Verify is an electronic system that allows companies to check potential hires against Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security to see whether they are eligible to work in the country.

It was created as a voluntary pilot program by a 1996 Calvert bill and has been reauthorized several times since, as the number of employers who use it has grown steadily. As of January, more than 240,000 registered employers, representing more than 830,000 hiring sites, used E-Verify, according to a March report released by the Congressional Research Service.

It is also mandatory for employees who work on federal government contracts.

Several cities -- including Murrieta, Temecula, Hemet, Menifee and Lake Elsinore -- and a handful of states have adopted ordinances and laws through which they deny a business license to firms who refuse to participate in the E-Verify program.

Late last month, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld one such law, ruling in a 5-3 decision in favor of an Arizona law that says businesses could have their licenses suspended or revoked for hiring illegal immigrants

Calvert, R-Corona, and Texas Republican Rep. Lamar Smith , the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, hailed the ruling as evidence the time has come to make E-Verify permanent and mandatory for all U.S. companies.

The two lawmakers plan to introduce legislation in the coming days that Calvert predicted would garner 300 votes in the House, a total that would include at least 60 Democrats.

Passage in the Senate, where Democrats enjoy majority status, would be more difficult.

Some have suggested the bill would be more politically viable if it were coupled with the DREAM Act, a proposal that would allow illegal immigrants who were brought into the United States as children to become U.S. citizens if they enroll in college or enlist in the military.

DEMOCRATIC RESPONSE

During a news conference last month at the U.S. Capitol, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., suggested that the Smith-Calvert bill could find its way to the Senate floor if the DREAM Act language were attached.

"I'll be happy to look at their bill, and it may be a vehicle we need over here to get this done," Reid told reporters.

Sen. Barbara Boxer said the package should also contain a provision known as AgJobs, which would give temporary resident status to illegal immigrants working in the agriculture industry.

"I think it's a very good opportunity for us to attach Ag Jobs and the DREAM Act to E-Verify," said Boxer, D-Calif. "That is a package that I would feel good about."

But Calvert lashed back, threatening to vote against his own bill if any other provisions get added on in the Senate.

"I always believe that legislation should pass or fail on its own merits," Calvert said. "I would not support pairing the DREAM Act with mandatory E-Verify." E-Verify, like the Dream Act and AgJobs, has seen bipartisan support in past years. The two parties' reluctance to entertain one another's proposals now underscores the harsh political landscape that has rendered President Barack Obama's goal of comprehensive immigration reform all but dead -- at least until after the 2012 elections.



http://www.pe.com/politics/goad/stor...3.3e9ad8f.html

These repubs will never agree on anything so I have no hope of passing it even King and smith both said that they will not give anything for E-verify no matter what.

So yeah we benefit from this, but it also makes almost impossible for our parents to get jobs :\ I know you can't have it all, but there a lot who depend on their parents for now.

How many of you think that the Repubs would kill this bill if it had DA attached to it?

Would it survive the house?

Nic89 King and smith are bad examples those are the two exceptions that will never compromise... Don't use them for any type of reference ever again..

Mnrunner this is about us! Not our parent's they made their choice stop worrying about them and start worrying about your self...

I have a feeling the hard core repubs will do a big show again to stop E-verify if Dream Act is attached..They might succeed but then again they might not guys..

yeah, the parents are the ones who put us in this mess. I think they should be a lower priority than us.

I agree with this.


If we are ever supposed to have any reform. It has to be piecemeal (lets face it people, we all want it, but a all-in-one CIR is not getting anywhere), if DA is to be added to the E-verify bill, it has to be amended in the committee, not on the floor. (If you want to amend a bill, it has to break a filibuster, and then the amendment has to break another one, but once the bill cleared the filibuster, it only need 51 votes to get through, something the republicans, with help of the assholes who voted no on DA can get).

Tooootally agree with the whole parent thing. My mom admits she doesn't deserve to become a citizen herself, but she also doesn't think it's fair to punish Dreamers because we were brought here as children.

Even if she can't work, I don't see that as a problem. I plan to take care of my mom's finances as soon as I am able to work. I will have to work my ass off, but I honestly don't mind. Parents give everything for their children, so I don't see why I wouldn't give back.

These jerks might not. But, other Republicans might :- ). You never know.

This is where Obama needs to step in and pressure for compromise when the issue seems so polarized. He has done it before on other things. He needs to step in with all of his political clout on this.