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Monday, May 19, 2008
Sessions blasts Feinstein immigration amendment
Sparks may fly this week as the Senate considers an Iraq spending bill that includes some immigration amendments.
One of them — by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. — would give temporary visas to farm workers who are in the United States illegally.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said on the Senate floor Monday that the Feinstein amendment other immigration-related amendments were an effort to rush through a “back-door amnesty” without full evaluation by lawmakers and the American people.
The Feinstein measure “is very, very bad policy, bad legislation and should not become law,” he said.
Feinstein has said that the measure provides emergency relief for farmers facing a labor shortage.
“Agriculture needs a consistent workforce.Without it, they can’t plant, they can’t prune, they can’t pick, and they can’t pack,” Feinstein said last week, after the measure was approved by a key committee. “The time has come for Congress to step up to the plate.”
Read more about the Feinstein amendment here.
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Wash Post: Immigration raid jars small town
A raid last week at Agriprocessors, Inc., a large meat processing plant in Postville, Iowa has “upended” the community, the Washington Post reported Sunday.
The article also said that the raid’s “disruptive impact on the nation’s largest supplier of kosher beef and on the surrounding community has provoked renewed criticism that the administration is disproportionately targeting workers instead of employers, and that the resulting turmoil is worse than the underlying crimes.”
Read more here.
In a press release Friday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that 306 people in Postville were charged with various criminal offenses including aggravated identity theft, falsely using a Social Security number, illegally re-entering the United States after being deported, and fraudulently using an alien registration card.
“Based on the number of criminal arrests, this is the largest criminal worksite enforcement operation ever in the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Matt M. Dummermuth, of the Northern District of Iowa.
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U.S. companies find legal workers in Puerto Rico
Some American companies — facing a crackdown on hiring illegal immigrants and difficulties in using temporary worker programs — are venturing south to solve their labor woes, to Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico is part of the United States, so its residents are American citizens. It has been the focus of recruiting efforts in the past, especially for bilingual police officers and teachers, but the latest trend includes a greater variety of industries, such as hotels and resorts, hospitals, and meat processing operations.
Luis De Rosa, president of the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce of South Florida, said that requests from mainland companies to find workers on the island have increased significantly in the past three months, especially for seasonal employees.
“We are getting calls here all the time,” he said.
Recent inquiries include those from construction companies, hotels, vacation resorts, and hospitals looking for nurses, he said.
De Rosa said that the recruitment of workers in Puerto Rico will likely escalate as the government continues to crack down on illegal immigration.
Read more here.