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Skriven 2007-06-25 23:31:02 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0706254) for Mon, 2007 Jun 25
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Fact Sheet: Only Enforcing Our Ineffective Current Law Leaves the Nation
Vulnerable
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary June 25, 2007

Fact Sheet: Only Enforcing Our Ineffective Current Law Leaves the Nation
Vulnerable Bipartisan Immigration Reform Bill Necessary To Strengthen
Enforcement Laws

ÿÿWhite House News

ÿÿÿÿÿ In Focus: Immigration

The Bipartisan Immigration Reform Bill Puts Enforcement First

The Bill Includes Meaningful Border Security And Worksite Enforcement
Triggers That Must Be Met Before Other Components Of Reform Are Put In
Place. To show the government is serious about meeting these benchmarks,
the bill provides $4.4 billion in immediate additional funding for securing
our borders and enforcing our laws at the worksite.

The Bipartisan Immigration Reform Bill Will Strengthen Our Ineffective And
Insufficient Laws

Current Law

If Bipartisan Immigration Reform Bill Is Passed

The civil fine for employers who hire illegal workers is between $275 and
$2,200 per alien for first-time offenders; between $3,300 and $11,000 per
alien for four-time offenders.

The civil fine for employers who hire illegal workers will be raised to
$5,000 per alien for first-time offenders; to $75,000 per alien for
four-time offenders.

The maximum criminal fine for employers repeatedly engaged in hiring
illegal workers is $3,000 per alien.

The maximum criminal fine for employers repeatedly engaged in hiring
illegal workers is $75,000 per alien.

Immigrants caught crossing the border illegally may reenter the country
legally as soon as 10 years after the offense.

The crime of illegal entry is a misdemeanor for the first offense, subject
to a maximum sentence of only six months, even for aliens with serious
criminal records.

There is no mandatory minimum for illegally reentering the United States
after having already been removed.

Immigrants caught crossing the border illegally after the new law passes
will be permanently barred from receiving work or tourist visas from the
U.S.

The crime of illegal entry will be punishable by sentences of up to 20
years, depending on the person's criminal history.

There is a mandatory minimum of 60 days for illegal reentry, with higher
mandatory minimums of a year or more for criminal aliens who illegally
reenter the United States.

Dangerous criminal aliens who cannot be removed from the U.S. because no
other country is willing to accept them must be released into society after
just six months.

The government will be given authority to detain dangerous criminal aliens
as long as it takes to deport them.

There is no legal basis for the Departments of Justice and Homeland
Security to deny admission to aliens solely on the basis of their
participation in a criminal gang.

The Departments of Justice and Homeland Security will be given new
authority to deny admission to or remove aliens solely based on their
participation in a criminal gang.

Employers have only a limited ability to determine whether the
documentation provided by workers is authentic.

A reliable Employment Eligibility Verification System (EEVS) will provide
employers with access to identification photographs available in government
databases in order to verify the authenticity of documents presented by
workers.

Workers are allowed to present more than two dozen documents to prove their
identity and authorization to work.

Workers will present a limited range of secure government-issued or
government-authorized IDs including:
  þ U.S. Passport issued by the State Department (for U.S. citizens only).
  þ Document issued by the State Department or DHS containing photo, along
    with other biometrics and additional personal identifying info needed
    to ensure identity (for non-citizens).
  þ State-issued, REAL ID Act-compliant license presented along with a
    Social Security card.
  þ For a limited period before implementation of the REAL ID Act, a
    State-issued license with a photograph that can be verified by DHS,
    presented along with a birth certificate and Social Security card.

The Social Security Administration currently has access to tax return
information indicating which businesses are employing the largest numbers
of illegal aliens, but is legally prohibited from sharing that information
with DHS, severely hampering DHS's ability to investigate and prosecute the
worst offenders.

Upon request, DHS will receive information from SSA about workers whose
Social Security Numbers do not match their names and about Social Security
Numbers that are used by more than one worker.

The current criminal provisions do not fully cover passport trafficking and
immigration practitioner fraud. Offenders are not automatically
inadmissible and removable.

ÿ

The bill contains clear and broad criminal penalties for passport and visa
trafficking, practitioner fraud, and other forms of fraud. In addition,
many of these offenders are made inadmissible and removable.

DHS must prove that employers "knowingly" hired an unauthorized alien
before the employer is liable for civil penalties.

Employers who hire unauthorized aliens with "reckless disregard that the
alien is an unauthorized alien" are liable for civil sanctions. This
tougher legal standard makes it easier to hold liable businesses that hire
and continue to employ illegal aliens.

The Bipartisan Immigration Reform Bill Will Build On The Administration's
Current Enforcement Efforts

In FY 2006, The Border Patrol Caught And Sent Back Nearly 1.2 Million
Illegal Immigrants. So far in FY 2007, more than 600,000 illegal immigrants
have been removed.

Since The President Took Office In 2001, The Administration Has More Than
Doubled Funding For Border Security  From $4.6 Billion In 2001 To $10.4
Billion In 2007. As a result of this investment and other deterrence
factors, the number of people apprehended illegally crossing our Southern
border is down by more than 25 percent in 2007 from this point in 2006.

Immigration And Customs Enforcement (ICE) Has Replaced The Old Approach Of
Administrative Hearings And Fines For Employers Who Knowingly Hire Illegal
Aliens With A Much Tougher Combination Of Criminal Prosecutions And Asset
Forfeitures.
  þ Arrests for criminal violations brought in worksite enforcement actions
    have increased from 49 in FY 2000 to a record 716 in FY 2006  a nearly
    15-fold increase.
  þ During the first half of FY 2007, ICE obtained criminal fines,
    restitutions, and civil judgments in worksite enforcement
    investigations against egregious violators in excess of $29 million.
  þ The Administration requested funding for nearly 1,300 additional ICE
    personnel in FY 2007 and another 515 in FY 2008 to support enforcement,
    including investigations.

The Administration Has Expanded The Border Patrol From Approximately 9,000
Agents In 2001 To More Than 13,000 Agents Today. By the end of 2008, there
will be a total of more than 18,000 agents, doubling the size of the Border
Patrol under the President's leadership.

The Administration Has Effectively Ended The Practice Of "Catch And
Release" At Our Borders.
  þ Since 2001, The Administration Has Provided Funding For 7,798 New Beds
    To Accommodate Apprehended Illegal Immigrants  A 40 Percent Increase.
  þ The Administration Has Expanded The Use Of Expedited Removals. The
    number of expedited removals has nearly doubled in the last two years,
    from 41,968 in 2004 to approximately 90,000 in 2006.

Enforcement Alone Will Not Work To Secure Our Borders And Meet The Needs Of
Our Economy

The Bill Will Better Secure Our Nation By Providing A Mechanism For Illegal
Immigrants With Clean Records And Steady Jobs To Come Out Of The Shadows
And Be Accounted For In A Regulated System, On A Probationary Basis. This
will let law enforcement officials know who is in the country and allow
immigration enforcement officers to focus their resources on apprehending
violent criminals and terrorists.
  þ This Proposal Is Not Amnesty Because Illegal Workers Must Acknowledge
    That They Broke The Law, Pay A $1,000 Fine, And Undergo Criminal
    Background Checks To Obtain A Z Visa. To apply for a green card at a
    date years into the future, Z visa workers must wait in line behind
    those who applied lawfully, pay an additional $4,000 fine, complete
    accelerated English and civics requirements, and compete in the merit
    system based on the skills and attributes they will bring to the United
    States.

The Bill Also Provides A Temporary Worker Program To Help Reduce The Number
Of People Trying To Sneak Across Our Borders. This program will provide a
lawful and orderly channel for foreign workers to fill the jobs that
Americans are not doing.

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