New immigration rule targets employer records

June 10, 2006 in Border Security, Congress, Crime and Justice, Democrats & The Left, House of Representatives, Illegal Immigration, Republicans & The Right, Senate, U.S. Domestic Policy

WASHINGTON — As a massive immigration overhaul remains hung up in Congress, the Bush administration continues to highlight a new, tougher approach to border security and immigration law enforcement.

Following last month's announced crackdown on employers who hire illegal workers, the administration on Friday said it was proposing a new rule that would hold employers more accountable for investigating workers whose Social Security numbers do not match government records.

As many as a tenth of the 250 million wage records yearly include names and Social Security numbers that do not match the names and numbers in Social Security Administration records, the department said.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the rule would "help us to identify and prosecute employers who are blatantly abusing our immigration system."

Putting the Rule in place is one thing, I want to see the rule enforced before I believe they are serious about it.

The proposed rule appears to be aimed at showing the hardliners among House Republicans that the administration is serious about enforcement as the House and Senate prepare to negotiate the stark differences between their bills.

The House version increases border security and interior enforcement efforts only. The Senate version also includes a guest worker program and a citizenship process for illegal immigrants already here, a provision the House GOP rejects.

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As much as I firmly believe that the whole immigration system needs a complete overhaul, I just as firmly believe the Senate version of the bill is not anything close to what this nation needs. The first step in addressing the illegal immigration problem must be to secure the borders. This is a National Security issue and in the age of global terrorism this issue trumps all others. The second step is to enforce Laws already on the books. The proposed rule change provided it is aggressively enforced is a good step in that direction. After those two steps are completed or at least significant progress towards their completion is made, then and only then can we implement other immigration policies with any hope of their being successful.

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let me know at what level you would like to participate.**