E-Verify | VivirLatino

Posts Tagged ‘E-Verify’

In Mississippi, Promise of Immigration Changes Does not Equal Lessening of Immigrant Fears

9:44 am By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|Labor|Mississippi · 2 Comments

21 Sep 2011

While reports are written urging an end to Secure Communities and while the Obama administration and the Department of Homeland Security make announcements promising change to the “good & hardworking” undocumented immigrants, a months ago ICE audit in Ecru and Ripley (Northeast Mississippi) casts a long shadow over a community. This so-called kinder, gentler “raid lite” which took place in April at Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc. resulted in the firing of hundreds because of “irregularities with I-9 forms.”

IC from the Mississippi Immigrants’ Rights Alliance (MIRA) in Jackson, MS shared with me that many of the undocumented immigrants who lost their jobs after this event found other jobs in other factories, a few decided to leave the country, and a few decided to start small businesses, but none of them have filed suits with the EEOC or Department of Labor regarding back pay for wage theft they endured over the years because they are afraid.

What happened at Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc. is a prime example of some of the problems that mandatory E-Verify cause and how widespread the impact can be. Inside the company supervisors, employees, managers and HR personnel encouraged identity theft. From the MIRA Newsletter:

One supervisor, Ricardo* and one HR Supervisor Jeff* collaborated in selling identities for anywhere from $400-600, and in selling jobs for anywhere from $300-1200, depending on the wages of the job involved. Ricardo went to jail for six months for his crime, but when he was released, the company gave him his old job back. During that time, various female employees accused him, of sexual harassment, while male employees often complained that he forced them to pay weekly quotas.

Certainly none of the displaced workers have been able to get their jobs back and workers that remain employed at Ashley have complained of lowered starting wages.

Today, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) is pushing a bill in the House Judiciary Committee to make E-Verify mandatory nationwide. Given the current economic crisis and unemployment numbers, the focus on how E-Verify drives down wages and actually increases job instability for U.S. workers is understandable. However, the immediate impact on the lives of the undocumented workers shouldn’t be swept under the rug in the name of political expediency.

E-Verify Returns to Congress

2:04 pm By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|Politics · Comments Off

15 Jun 2011

Yesterday, Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced H.R. 2164, the Legal Workforce Act of 2011, that would dramatically expand and make E-Verify,a government internet-based work authorization system, mandatory for all employers within two years (three for agriculture). It is expected that today, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement will hold a hearing on the Act.

E-Verify is a web-based technology that allows employers to check federal databases to determine whether their employees—U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and other foreign-born workers—are authorized to work in the U.S.

The problem is that the system has proven itself to be less than accurate; it raises issues of privacy and due process, and would be extremely costly to implement and run.

Attacks on Immigrant Workers Cross Party Lines

7:50 pm By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|Labor|Politics · 10 Comments

9 Feb 2011

Just last month, I wrote about how I.C.E., a division of the Department of Homeland Security announced that it was stepping up so called “silent raids” or audits of companies suspected of hiring undocumented workers. This announcement, which really was just an official announcement of what I.C.E. has already been doing (besides “loud” raids in communities), certainly can be related to the mass firings and investigations into the employees of faux Mexican chain Chipotle.

Fact : Department of Homeland Security is run by Janet Napolitano, Democrat, appointed by Democrat President Obama. In fact here is what Napolitano had to say about E-Verify on C-Span.

Workplace Raids Targeting Employers or Employed?

10:58 am By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|Labor · 16 Comments

20 Jan 2011

This morning U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E) is set to announce the creation of a new office with the express job of auditing companies suspected of hiring undocumented workers. While the alleged purpose of these efforts to is to insure that companies use workers eligible to the work in the U.S. and to find those that don’t, the effects increase the number of unemployed overall.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Morton [head of I.C.E] said the new center would have the “express purpose” of providing support to regional immigration offices conducting large audits. “We wouldn’t be limited by the size of a company,” he said.

The audits, which have affected garment makers, fruit growers and meat packers, result in the firing of everyundocumented immigrant on a company’s payroll. Companies say this has hurt them, especially as they can’t attract American workers even during an economic downturn.

Last year, for example, Gebbers Farm, an agricultural concern in Brewster, Wash., dismissed an estimated 550 workers—about a quarter of the local population—after ICE told the company a number of its employees’ hiring documents were suspect.

Immigration Reform Trade Offs or Sell Outs?

9:56 am By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|Obama|Politics · Comments Off

10 Jul 2009

A conversation I had recently with some amigos reaffirmed the fact that pushing legislation is not a game I want to get into. Legislation within the corrupt U.S. political system requires not compromises, but selling people out. I don’t mean to use the word selling figuratively. Within the chambers of Congress and the White House walls the highest bidder wins and moves legislation. And yet many liberals and progressives call these sell outs trade-offs, part of the game in which the people lose.

Take the moves on immigration reform that have gone down this week, approval from the Senate of a Bush started fence on the U.S. Mexico border and E-verify, a system that requires any federal contractor to use this particular system to ensure that employees have legal immigration status to work in the United States, a system that is hugely flawed and inaccurate. The people are being told to calm down, take these moves with a grain of salt. The problem is that while these amendments are being pushed by Republicans, what Democratic senators, hailed as leaders in the push for immigration reform, are pushing doesn’t look much better.
Read more…

E-Verify to be Extended Until End of September

7:49 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Immigration|Labor · Comments Off

11 Mar 2009

Yesterday, after my post on the latest scapegoating efforts of anti-immigrant forces, Mario asked a good question about E-Verify, a voluntary internet-based program intended to allow employers to electronically verify the information that workers present to prove their employment eligibility by accessing information in databases maintained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA).

As we told you earlier this year, E-Verify is expensive and not accurate. One test of the program by Intel Corporation in 2008 had 13% of the employees unverifiable by the system even though all the employees were legally eligible to work. Despite the problems, a spending bill approved yesterday would extend it’s use through September 30th.

What a waste of much needed money.

Via / Feet in 2 Worlds

vikki: I'm so sorry for your loss. Warm wishes, vikki [...]

Scrying Nicki Minaj, Stupid Hoe, and #Afrofutures | Nuñez Daughter: [...] forest of things that seem to matter a lot–like fingers waving in presidential faces� [...]

Karen: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/01/09/120109fa_fact_auletta [...]

Karen: I just read this about Rubio. Let's see the GOP make him a VP nominee. LOL http://www.democraticu [...]

Martes Media Minute : Roe v. Wade Anniversary, Medicaid Mama y Midwife Victory, Cervical Cancer Awareness month, & Mala’s Mami Closeup, | VivirLatino: [...] last week’s liveblog of a conversation on cervical cancer and Latin@s, Bianca Laureano s [...]

VivirLatino