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Wednesday, October 3, 2007
GOP lawmakers decry “activist judge” in no-match rule case, compare him to dictator
Members of the House Immigration Reform Caucus, which seeks stronger immigration controls, lashed out at a federal judge for putting on hold a federal effort to crack down on companies that hire illegal immigrants.
Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas (pictured), said: “A judge who ignores or violates the law under the pretense of enforcing it places himself or herself in the same camp as leaders from the most corrupt, dictatorial, or backward countries in the world.”
He later added: “It is unconscionable that some well educated jurists have not yet grasped the superlative and enlightened concept of that separation of powers.”
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., said: “The liberal left movement in this country, whether legislatively or through the judicial system, is doing everything it can to encourage an illegal alien invasion of our country…It may not be treason, but it certainly does not reflect loyalty to the American people.”
And Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Calif., who chairs the caucus, said: “We cannot allow this unholy alliance of big labor, big business and activist judges prevent us from enforcing our immigration laws.”
The federal judge in San Francisco extended a hold on a Department of Homeland Security rule for 10 days until he decides on the legality of the program.
Under the rule, a company that ignores warning letters about employees with potentially fake Social Security numbers could be fined up to $10,000 per employee or face criminal prosecution.
The judge’s ruling resulted from a lawsuit brought forth by the AFL-CIO, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Immigration Law Center and other groups
The lawsuit says that the rule “will threaten jobs of U.S. citizens and other legally authorized workers simply because of errors in the government’s inaccurate Social Security earnings databases,” according to a press release.
In addition, it says that the rule “violates workers’ rights and imposes burdensome obligations on employers who receive ‘no-match’ letters that inform an employer of alleged discrepancies between employee records and the Social Security Administration database.”
Border city mayors refusing to let feds work on fence
Mayors along the Texas-Mexico border have begun a quiet protest of the federal government’s plans to build a fence along the border by refusing to give access to their land, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
Mayors in Brownsville, Del Rio and El Paso have denied access to some parts of their city property, turning away federal employees assigned to begin surveys or conduct other preliminary work on the fence meant to keep out illegal immigrants, the story said.
“This is exercising our rights. This is our property. We are not going to make it easy for them,” said Brownsville Mayor Pat Ahumada (pictured), who refused last month to sign documents granting government workers permission to enter city property.
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