If you ever needed an example of how awfully predictable and beholden to the special interests both parties are, you only need to look at the debate and subsequent bill being proposed in both Houses of Congress to curb illegal immigation.
The Senate recently added a new a provision where employers would face fines as high as $20,000 for hiring undocumented workers and have to screen all new hires as part of legislation that would grant legal status to millions of illegal immigrants.
The first problem with the bill is that it rewards lawbreakers. Sure illegals, you may have broken our immigration statutes but not to worry, all will be forgiven if you follow this new law.
And, isn't that a paradox unto itself? If the illegals disregarded the last wave of immigration policy, why does the Congress think they will be listened to this time?
Do our Southern amigos really care that 9/11 changed the way we view these practices? In the end, it all boils down to one fundamental inquiry - why is this immigration bill different from all other immigration bills?
This provision does have a "been there-done that" feel to it. Maybe it is because Congress passed employer sanctions as part of the 1986 amnesty law, but they were never fully enforced and workers and employers got around them with fraudulent documents.
Why weren't they enforced the last time? Was it because there was a Democratic Congress? Will things really be different this time with the GOP at the helm? You can almost close your eyes and see Big Business at the drafting table with the Congress, promising lavish Abramoff-style gifts in exchange for some lax enforcement here, and some look the other way there.
And if illegal immigrants were able to forge documents in the 80s, won't new digital technology make it even easier now? We are 4.5 years removed from 19 hijackers having multiple valid U.S. drivers licenses yet the Congress has not passed one meaningful piece of legislation that would give the government the advantage over criminals in fraud.
Adding $10,000 to an already unenforced piece of legislation will do little to substantially reduce the number of illegal aliens entering our borders every day. Companies that desire and/or depend on these folks to work below the minimum wage and without comporting with workplace regulations will not be deterred by this increase. Plus, it won't take Al Qaeda very long to figure out how to fly into Mexico and cross our poorly guarded and protected borders with weapons and all other types of goodies.
The measure also provides employees opportunities to contest the system's determination and to correct information that may be incorrectly flagging them as illegal workers. It also protects employers from liability if the screening system makes a mistake.
This is giving way too much credit to the federal government to make an accurate determination. Remember when Ted Kennedy accidentally showed up on a terrorist watch list? If you think racial profiling was pervasive before, you ain't seen nuttin' yet!
If the IRS can't even keep track of the Employer Identification Numbers it grants to business entities, how are they going to cooperate with the DHS and SSA to keep track of millions of people?
They won't. See me in twenty years when we raise this issue again and propose to double the fines to $40,000.