Stimulus "Loophole" Gives 300,000 Jobs to Illegals

[rushmc 18]

Monday, March 9, 2009 6:09 PM

By: David A. Patten

An estimated 300,000 construction jobs paid for by the stimulus plan will go to illegal workers after leading Democrats removed a provision requiring verification of citizenship, a leading immigration expert tells Newsmax. <emphasis mine>

The House version of the $787 billion stimulus bill required verification of the legal residency of anyone put to work by its spending. But that provision was removed from the bill before members of Congress met to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the bill.

Steven Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), tells Newsmax the verification provision was deleted by Democratic leaders even before the bill reached the conference committee, where differences between House and Senate legislation are normally ironed out.

“When it got to conference, the top people -- not just the conference members, but the top people: Reid, Pelosi, and Obama -- chose to kill the provision and not include it,” Camarota says. “This was a purposeful decision.”

The provision would have required that workers’ names to be vetted through the Internet-based E-Verify system. E-Verify, a joint project of the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration, gives employers a quick means of verifying employee eligibility.

“E-Verify is our most effective tool for preventing illegal immigrants from getting jobs, and they chose not to use it,” says Camarota.

The estimate of 300,000 construction jobs is based on U.S. Census and other studies showing that approximately 15 percent of U.S. construction workers are illegal immigrants.

Construction projects funded by the stimulus bill are expected to generate 2 million jobs. Assuming 15 percent of those workers are illegal, 300,000 illegal aliens would be employed. The actual number could be higher, however, because many of the projects are in states with high immigrant populations, such as Texas, California, and Florida.

The CIS estimates are accepted by the conservative Heritage Foundation, and even groups that advocate on behalf of illegals don’t quibble with them much. One activist for illegals, however, told USA Today that the CIS report amounts to “fear tactics.”

Some sources suggest Democrats opened up stimulus money to illegals to placate activists who may have to wait for the outright amnesty they covet. Others say it reflects the influence of pro-business interests who want a vast workforce of reasonably priced labor.

Whatever the motivation, Camarota says it’s no accident the verification measure was stripped out. “This was not just a careless oversight that can sometimes happen in the legislative process,” he says.

One economic concern generated by the CIS report: A significant portion of illegal workers’ income is shipped out of the United States to support their families. That money would no longer be available to support economic activity in the United States.

The Council on Foreign Relations, for example, estimates that in 2004 Mexican nationals pumped $22.2 billion back into Mexico’s economy via remittances sent back home. How well U.S. taxpayers tolerate the export of stimulus dollars given the rapidly rising unemployment at home remains to be seen.

“In general construction jobs are reasonably good paying jobs for working class people, and we’re talking about perhaps 300,000 of them going to people who aren’t supposed to be even in the country,”

Camarota says. “And this is money coming from taxpayers. The whole point of the stimulus is to put Americans back to work. And by not including E-Verify, it’s a terrible slap in the face to U.S. construction workers, who are currently experiencing a 10 percent, sometimes even 15 percent unemployment rate.”

Before leaving office, former President Bush signed an executive order requiring all federal contractors to submit employees’ names to E-verify. President Obama has delayed implementation of that directive until at least May 21.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has filed a lawsuit to prevent making the use of E-Verify mandatory. The organization says Congress approved it strictly as a voluntary initiative.

© 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[marks2065 0]

this is a loophole purposly made available to keep illegal imagration flowing. The Obama administration has already shown this by allowing medical coverage to illegal children by removing the "must show legal status" when appliing for child health care.

[wayneflorida 0]

Good.
This will prevent 600,000 to 900,000+ children from starving.
(300,000 workers with jobs X two or 3+ dependents here or in another country.)

[Capt.Slog 0]

1. Newsmax

2. "Estimated"

[Capt.Slog 0]

Quote

this is a loophole purposly made available to keep illegal imagration flowing. The Obama administration has already shown this by allowing medical coverage to illegal children by removing the "must show legal status" when appliing for child health care.

Of course, the biggest beneficiaries are the small business owners who hire illegals for sub-standard pay and no benefits.

The contractors can always hire citizens if they choose to.

[Unstable 8]

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The Obama administration has already shown this by allowing medical coverage to illegal children by removing the "must show legal status" when appliing for child health care.

I'm a good conservative, and I'm all for this one too. Look, if we are going to have illegal kids in the US, we at a BARE MINIMUM need to make sure they are healthy - not to, as you say, keep the illegal flow coming in, but to maintain a level of public health. You don't want kids, legal or illegal, coughing with TB or taking cold medicine for Pneumonia. As an extreme exaggeration, you don't want to have mexican leper colonies in the rockies...

=========Shaun ==========

[BikerBabe 0]

i have to wonder how much the average "kick em all out" believer would be willing to pay for a head of lettuce. Or a tomato. Or how much for a night out at their favorite restaurant.

What about those of you with no job at the moment? Willing to spend all day in the fields for minimum wage or less picking vegetables? washing dishes or cooking at a restaurant?

Obama is not to blame for illegal immigration. It's hard to place blame when there's so much to go around. How about educators, who have stressed "self-esteem" in schools to the point where american kids are unwilling to "settle" for unskilled labor. Heck, most skilled labor positions are hurting right now because who wants to be a welder? that's waaaaay too lower class for us!

Or how about blame the business owners who hire illegals because they'll work for less than minimum wage, thus driving costs down and profits up? Isn't that the capitalist ideal?

Or as i mentioned before, how about the average american who is so used to paying $1.29 per pound of tomatoes that any sort of price increase would drive them screaming out of the supermarkets?

AHHH, but it's so much easier to blame the immigrants themselves, right? yeah.

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

[marks2065 0]

Quote

i have to wonder how much the average "kick em all out" believer would be willing to pay for a head of lettuce. Or a tomato. Or how much for a night out at their favorite restaurant.

What about those of you with no job at the moment? Willing to spend all day in the fields for minimum wage or less picking vegetables? washing dishes or cooking at a restaurant?

Obama is not to blame for illegal immigration. It's hard to place blame when there's so much to go around. How about educators, who have stressed "self-esteem" in schools to the point where american kids are unwilling to "settle" for unskilled labor. Heck, most skilled labor positions are hurting right now because who wants to be a welder? that's waaaaay too lower class for us!

Or how about blame the business owners who hire illegals because they'll work for less than minimum wage, thus driving costs down and profits up? Isn't that the capitalist ideal?

Or as i mentioned before, how about the average american who is so used to paying $1.29 per pound of tomatoes that any sort of price increase would drive them screaming out of the supermarkets?

AHHH, but it's so much easier to blame the immigrants themselves, right? yeah.

Quote

I never said I blame the immigrants. I saud we have a terrible broblem with illegal imigration and the abuse of the systems to their benefit that we all pay for. I have no problems with them being here as long as they are here legally, pay taxes, don't suck off the system or commit crimes.

[skydiver30960 0]

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i have to wonder how much the average "kick em all out" believer would be willing to pay for a head of lettuce. Or a tomato. Or how much for a night out at their favorite restaurant.

Probably about as much as I lose to those same immigrants in government support and free healthcare at your friendly neighborhood emergency room.


Elvisio "dunno for sure, but one way to find out" Rodriguez

[dreamdancer 0]

Quote

I never said I blame the immigrants. I saud we have a terrible broblem with illegal imigration and the abuse of the systems to their benefit that we all pay for. I have no problems with them being here as long as they are here legally, pay taxes, don't suck off the system or commit crimes.

the answer is to increase the minimum wage to a level where us workers are willing to do the dirty work again

stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

[skydiver30960 0]

Quote

the answer is to increase the minimum wage to a level where us workers are willing to do the dirty work again

...OR let the economy sink to the point that U.S. workers realize that dirty work is their only choice. Then just watch the attitude of "honor" return to manual labor.

I was spoiled early: I worked as an engineer in a plant in Kentucky and had the pleasure of working with some of the hardest-working people I will ever meet. I hope they're doing OK right now.

Elvisio "if you aren't dirty at the end of the day, you haven't done your job" Rodriguez

[marks2065 0]

Quote

Quote

The Obama administration has already shown this by allowing medical coverage to illegal children by removing the "must show legal status" when appliing for child health care.

I'm a good conservative, and I'm all for this one too. Look, if we are going to have illegal kids in the US, we at a BARE MINIMUM need to make sure they are healthy - not to, as you say, keep the illegal flow coming in, but to maintain a level of public health. You don't want kids, legal or illegal, coughing with TB or taking cold medicine for Pneumonia. As an extreme exaggeration, you don't want to have mexican leper colonies in the rockies...

Quote

send them home with thier parents, let their government pay for the care they need

[dreamdancer 0]

Quote

...OR let the economy sink to the point that U.S. workers realize that dirty work is their only choice. Then just watch the attitude of "honor" return to manual labor.

you think just like a banker - uncanny

stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

[Muenkel 0]

Quote

The Obama administration has already shown this by allowing medical coverage to illegal children by removing the "must show legal status" when appliing for child health care.

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



I'm a good conservative, and I'm all for this one too. Look, if we are going to have illegal kids in the US, we at a BARE MINIMUM need to make sure they are healthy - not to, as you say, keep the illegal flow coming in, but to maintain a level of public health. You don't want kids, legal or illegal, coughing with TB or taking cold medicine for Pneumonia. As an extreme exaggeration, you don't want to have mexican leper colonies in the rockies...

I'm with you on this, Shaun. I don't care what the circumstances are, I do not want to see kids suffer due to the decisions the adults who care for them make.

Most illegals in the country are truly hard working good people. Yes, they have broken the law by coming in illegally but atleast their intentions are not nefarious. We as a nation need to find a humane way of dealing with this problem. The scum that comes across the border needs to be dealt with also. As more and more legal Americans lose their jobs and healthcare, the resentment toward the illegals is going to build.

_________________________________________
Chris

[DZJ 0]

[devil's advocacy] From a purely economic standpoint, surely 300,000 illegals in work is preferable to 300,000 illegals out of work? [/devil's advocacy]

[billvon 2,384]

>the answer is to increase the minimum wage to a level where us workers are
>willing to do the dirty work again

(pssst - most illegal immigrants don't eevn make minimum wage)

[Capt.Slog 0]

Quote

Or how about blame the business owners who hire illegals because they'll work for less than minimum wage, thus driving costs down and profits up? Isn't that the capitalist ideal?

.

from the article:

"The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has filed a lawsuit to prevent making the use of E-Verify mandatory. The organization says Congress approved it strictly as a voluntary initiative".

Seems business owners like having illegals around to hire on the cheap.