E-Verify program removed from 'stimulus' package
Chad Groening - OneNewsNow - 2/13/2009 7:15:00 AM
On January 28, when the U.S. House passed its version of the economic stimulus package known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, it included two important safeguards. One was an amendment that would reauthorize the E-Verify program for four years, while the other would require all companies receiving stimulus funds to verify that their employees are legally authorized to work in the United States.
However, following the Senate's passage of its own version, the Senate-House Conference Committee eliminated those safeguards from the final version of the bill. Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, explains the actions of two Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill.
"Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader [Harry] Reid came into the room and basically pulled the plug on the E-Verify provisions that were in the House bill," he notes. "Nancy Pelosi, who was there representing the House in the version that was passed by the House, basically told the conferees that it's coming out, no questions asked."
Mehlman says the omission of the E-Verify provisions is a major disappointment to millions of Americans, especially those who are out of work.
"We are going to be spending billions, maybe even trillions of dollars to try to create jobs in this country," he adds, "and doing absolutely nothing to ensure that Americans actually fill these jobs."
Final Senate and House votes on the package are expected to come later today.
