Border Hawks Call on Abbott to Expand E-Verify
GOP gov looks to wall, but activists say citizenship work requirements needed to curb border crisis
Joseph Simonson and Jack McEvoy • June 17, 2021 12:50 pmImmigration hawks are calling on Texas Republican governor Greg Abbott to mandate E-Verify for private employers in the Lone Star State, a move they say could potentially solve the border crisis overnight.
In response to the record-breaking number of illegal immigrants crossing into his state from Mexico, Abbott announced that Texas would build its own border wall, which he said "will help all of us to work on ways to stem the flow of unlawful immigration and to stem the flow of illegal contraband." Although many on the right say a large barrier could deter future migrants from entering the country, border hawks and Abbott critics say the most promising solution is requiring companies to verify citizenship status for all workers.
Eight states, all with GOP governors, have taken up mandatory citizenship verification for most employers. Neighboring Arizona passed the mandate in 2007, but no state has passed such a law since 2012. Texas adopted E-verify for the public sector and government contractors in 2015 but does not require private employers to perform such background checks. Several high-level Republicans in the state, including Commissioner of Agriculture Sid Miller, are pushing Abbott to crack down on businesses that give migrants the incentive to risk illegal border crossings.
"We certainly need to have mandatory E-Verify, there's no reason not to do that, but our leadership obviously doesn't want that to happen or it would happen," Miller told the Washington Free Beacon. "They haven't ever, not the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, even the Speaker, none of them have ever really pushed that."
Abbott spokeswoman Renae Eze blamed the Biden administration for causing the border crisis while insisting that Texas law adequately polices citizenship verification.
"President Biden's reckless open-border policies have led to a crisis along our southern border, with a 20-year record-high influx of migrants flooding into Texas. Delivering on a campaign promise in his first run for Governor, Governor Abbott signed a law in 2015 requiring all state agencies to use E-Verify—just one of many tools used to combat this immigration crisis," Eze told the Free Beacon. "The State of Texas continues to place the appropriate checks on the hiring of persons not lawfully present in the United States by public institutions."
In May, immigration authorities apprehended more than 180,000 illegal aliens as the nation experiences levels of illegal immigration not seen in at least 20 years. Meanwhile, Abbott has issued disaster declarations for at least 34 Texas counties, providing assistance for law enforcement struggling with illegal border crossings.
Run through the Department of Homeland Security, E-Verify allows businesses to determine the work eligibility of their employees and flag their immigration status. Results from a 2016 study suggest that E-Verify reduces the number of illegal immigrants in states that have mandated its use for all employers and that the program may deter overall illegal immigration to the United States. The study also found that the number of illegal arrivals fell by nearly 50 percent when a state implemented a mandatory E-Verify law.
"E-Verify is a necessary program that helps eliminate the jobs magnet for illegal aliens. While the state of Texas should be applauded for requiring public employers to use the program, it must also require it for private employers," Matthew Tragesser, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, told the Free Beacon. "With Texans needing jobs and record numbers of illegal immigration occurring at the southern border, mandating E-Verify in both the public and private sectors is vital more than ever."
E-Verify has garnered bipartisan support, with Rep. Henry Cuellar (D., Texas), telling the Free Beacon he supports "mandates on an E-Verify program for employers in the United States, including both public and private entities."
"I understand that many migrants cross over to the U.S. in search of work and to make an honest living, but it's important that they do so legally," Cuellar wrote in a statement. "That is why I also support modernizing and reforming our immigration system as well as securing permanent protections and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who are key to the economic recovery of our nation."
ANCHOR BABY OF CORRUPTION ALEX PADILLA HAS SPENT HIS POLITICAL LIFE ATTEMPTING TO TURN AMERICAN INTO ANOTHER MEXIFORNIA.
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) suggested this week that President Joe Biden is on board with slipping an amnesty through Congress via the filibuster-proof reconciliation maneuver.
Open Borders Lobby Begs for Amnesty After DACA Ruled Unconstitutional
Open borders activists are decrying Judge Andrew Hanen’s ruling that declared former President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program unconstitutional, stating that amnesty for illegal aliens is now more important than ever.
On Friday, Hanen ruled that the Obama administration had illegally implemented the DACA program to shield hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens from deportation. The program, Hanen ordered, must be effectively shut down to new, illegal alien applicants.
In response, the nation’s leading open borders organizations are blasting the ruling and demanding that Congress pass an amnesty to keep millions of illegal aliens enrolled and eligible for DACA in the United States.
“This ruling is wrong and is subject to appeal. But Dreamers’ futures shouldn’t be in the hands of the courts,” the American Civil Liberties Union’s Omar Jadwat said in a statement:
It is absolutely urgent that Congress acts now through the budget reconciliation process to provide Dreamers and other undocumented members of our communities with reliable status and a pathway to citizenship. [Emphasis added]
CASA’s Gustavo Torres said in a statement that his group “is furious that Judge Hanen has once again attacked the immigrant community from the bench” and vowed to “fight back against this terrible decision.”
“Nothing should be more urgent than for Congress to move on citizenship for all, including DACA holders, immediately,” Torres continued.
United We Dream, an open borders group linked to billionaire George Soros, wrote in a statement that Hanen’s ruling is “vindictive and cruel” and pleaded with Senate Democrats to pass amnesty through a filibuster-proof maneuver known as reconciliation that would only require majority support in the Senate.
“Just this week, Senate Democrats included a pathway to citizenship for millions in their proposed budget resolution, which was a direct result of our movement’s power,” United We Dream’s Greisa Martinez Rosas said. “Democrats must act now to make citizenship a reality.”
The American Immigration Council, a powerful mass migration lobbying organization, said Hanen’s ruling only underscores the necessity that Congress pass amnesty:
Despite the fact that the legality of DACA has already been settled by multiple courts, Judge Hanen has now done what the Trump administration tried unsuccessfully for years. Congress has a unique opportunity to finally do what is right, not just for DACAmented youth, but also for the millions of people who have been forced to live in the shadows for far too long. The time is now. [Emphasis added]
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) suggested this week that President Joe Biden is on board with slipping an amnesty through Congress via the filibuster-proof reconciliation maneuver.
Should Democrats try to sneak an amnesty into a budget via reconciliation, it will be up to Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough to halt the plan on the grounds that the measure is not budget-related but actually alters federal immigration law. MacDonough previously stopped Democrats from increasing the federal minimum wage via reconciliation.
A DACA amnesty would put more U.S.-born children of illegal aliens — commonly referred to as “anchor babies” — on federal welfare, as Breitbart News reported, while American taxpayers wouldpotentially be left with a $26 billion bill.
Additionally, about one-in-five DACA illegal aliens, after an amnesty, would end up on food stamps, while at least one-in-seven would go on Medicaid.
At the southern border, a DACA amnesty has the potential to trigger a border surge that could triple the number of illegal aliens pouring through the border. Since DACA’s inception, more than 2,100 recipients of the program have been kicked off because they were found to be either criminals or gang members.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
Former CBP Chief: GOP Must Thwart Biden’s Open Borders ‘At Every Turn’
Former Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Mark Morgan says elected leaders must thwart President Joe Biden’s open borders policies “at every turn.”
On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed that more than 178,000 border crossers were encountered by federal immigration officials in June along the southern border. This total does not include illegal aliens who successfully crossed into the United States, undetected by federal immigration officials.
Now, analysts project that nearly 1.7 million illegal aliens could arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border by the end of 2021 — a figure that would make this year the worst year for illegal immigration in American history.
Morgan, a Heritage Foundation visiting fellow and FAIR senior fellow, says that the Biden administration’s facilitating illegal immigration to the U.S. via an expansive Catch and Release operation coupled with the elimination of vital border controls “has sparked a constitutional crisis in pursuit of what it perceives to be a political benefit.”
“It is time for the people’s representatives to take meaningful steps to hold this administration accountable for its blatant and willful disregard for our laws,” Morgan said:
Federal, state, and local leaders should use their considerable authority to thwart this administration’s open-borders agenda at every turn. Texas is already leading the way here, and I’m glad to see other states stepping up to support them. [Emphasis added]
Leaders in Congress are also not powerless. They can withhold funding that is directed only at facilitating the crisis instead of truly stopping it, refuse to approve any nominees who will implement this agenda, and support states forced to respond to the Biden administration’s inaction. It cannot be “business as usual” when the White House is violating its most sacred duty to protect this country. Every point of leverage, whether directly immigration and border-related or not, should be used to force the Biden administration to end this constitutional crisis. [Emphasis added]
While enticing border crossers, the Biden administration is also coordinating their release into the U.S. interior.
This week, Fox News’s Tucker Carlson revealed that Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is using the U.S. Armed Forces and military bases to help release border crossers into the U.S. interior. Military staff was asked in private emails to keep quiet about the operation.
For months, Breitbart News has chronicled the Biden administration’s expansive Catch and Release operation through which at least tens of thousands of illegal aliens are being briefly detained, put up in migrant hotels, then bused or flown into the U.S. interior with only the promise that they will show up to their asylum hearings months, or a year, later.
In June, Breitbart News reported that it is not only border crossing family units that are being resettled via the Catch and Release operation. The Biden administration is busing and flying single male adult border crossers into U.S. cities that remain undisclosed to American citizens.
The latest available data, from February 19 to April 22, reveals that the Biden administration has flown about 7,200 border-crossers into the U.S. interior on domestic commercial flights. Border crossers are allowed to bypass photo identification requirements, boarding flights without a photo ID, and do not have to prove they are negative for the Chinese coronavirus.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
EXCLUSIVE: ICE Will Issue Cell Phones to Released Migrants
A law enforcement source within U.S. Customs and Border Protection says ICE Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers are ramping up their release or “Alternatives to Detention” capabilities. Cell phones with tracking apps will eventually replace ankle monitoring bracelets, according to the source.
The source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, says the phones will allow for GPS tracking and check-ins using facial recognition. The available supply of ankle bracelets will be issued until depleted–at which time the phones will circulate.
The source notes the ankle monitoring efforts have proven expensive and, in many cases, the devices are discarded. The bracelets cost between $400 and $800, depending on the model. In many cases, ERO officers are tasked with tracking and recovering the discarded devices from dumpsters. The cost of a cell phone unit is currently unknown.
The 2022 Homeland Security funding bill advanced by the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday allocates $475 million to enhance ICE’s Alternatives to Detention Program. This amount is $34.5 million above the agency’s request–a sign the “catch and release” stance of the current administration will continue.
Further complicating the situation along the southwest border is the anticipated end to the existing CDC Title 42 COVID-19 emergency order. As reported by Breitbart Texas, a target date of July 18 has been set for the expiration. The move is expected to result in an immediate surge of migrants across the southwest border.
According to a spokesperson from ICE, there are several technologies used to monitor released migrants. Those methods include ankle bracelets, phone applications, and telephonic reporting. In 2021, $440 million was allocated to conduct the Alternatives to Detention program, a steep increase from the $149 million in 2020.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.
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