Post by admin on Sept 14, 2007 12:34:15 GMT -5
This might belong in another thread, but some local names are mentioned so I put it here.
www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070914/NEWS/709140417
U.S. target: employers that hire immigrants
COURT CASE STALLS CRACKDOWN
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 09/14/07
BY NICK PETRUNCIO
STAFF WRITER
Post Comment
A stalled federal plan to keep illegal immigrants off payrolls is drawing a mixture of praise and criticism from Shore area immigration activists, politicians and business owners.
The plan, which was to go into effect today, is now on hold because of a federal judge's ruling on a lawsuit in California against the U.S. government.
The plan outlined a procedure for employers to follow if they receive a letter from the Social Security Administration stating that the Social Security number of an applicant or employee doesn't match administration records. The final step in the process could be job termination.
Ruling Aug. 31 in the lawsuit filed by the AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. federation of labor unions, U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney in San Francisco granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting the no-match letters from going out as planned starting the week of Sept. 3. She said the plaintiffs had raised "serious questions" that need to be examined by the court about whether the new rules run afoul of the law.
The next hearing has been set for Oct. 1.
"Anywhere the government can tighten up on enforcement is key to dealing with problems which amount to identity theft," said Freehold Councilman Marc Le Vine, whose town has a significant population of immigrants.
However, critics of the plan foresee the creation of a rotating labor pool in which workers will simply move from one company to another, an expansion of the nation's "underground economy," and increased prices for goods and services.
"The whole policy is a joke; it's a travesty," said Frank Argote-Freyre, the director of the Monmouth County chapter of the Latino Leadership Alliance. "Anyone paying attention to this issue has a right to be angry."
The alliance is a Latino-rights activist group. Most of New Jersey's immigrants come from Latino backgrounds and many are in the state illegally.
Sees negative impact
Louis Rodriguez, executive director of the Latino Chamber of Commerce of Monmouth Inc., said the initial impact will not be significant until six months after the policy becomes effective. After that, the agriculture, construction, food service, hotel, house cleaning and landscaping industries will be hardest hit. That will be especially true in California, Rodriguez said.
"A lot of things that are done at a low cost will now have to be done at a higher cost," he said.
Moreover, Rodriguez said, millions of undocumented workers pay taxes after obtaining a Tax Identification Number, or TIN. If those people are dismissed from jobs, they're likely to be driven toward toiling off the books for cash, he said.
In the California lawsuit, the plaintiffs argue that the Bush administration could inadvertently harm legal U.S. workers and law-abiding businesses in its quest to punish employers who are knowingly breaking the law by hiring illegals.
More than 70 percent of the 17.8 million discrepancies in the Social Security Administration's database, according to a 2006 report by its own Office of the Inspector General, involve native-born U.S. citizens, the lawsuit notes.
Chesney said the court needs "breathing room" before making any decision on the legality of new penalties aimed at employers of illegal immigrants.
Collaboration
The Department of Homeland Security and the Commerce Department announced in early August their decision to send out the letters to enforce the existing policy in the wake of the Senate's failure to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill earlier in the summer.
"Now it's just more of an issue because we're at war, and the immigration issue has risen to the forefront," said Koleen Singerline, an executive with a staffing agency. "It's a heated issue right now. I'm sure it will disrupt some businesses if they have a large number of these no-match letters and they find themselves needing to replace these individuals."
Singerline is senior vice president of the Wyckoff Group in Eatontown, a group of franchise businesses that operate under the national Snelling temporary and career staffing agency name.
In New Jersey, companies such as the Wyckoff Group have been voluntarily cooperating with the federal government to weed out illegal immigrants. Singerline said Wyckoff, with six offices and hundreds of employees locally, already submits its payroll to the government to check Social Security numbers, names and dates of birth.
Part of the problem was that there was no mechanism in place for businesses to verify Social Security numbers, says Lakewood Mayor and businessman Raymond Coles. His community also has a large immigrant population. When a job applicant filled out a form, employers had to assume the number was accurate, he said.
"To have a method to verify Social Security when somebody applies would be wonderful," said Coles, who runs a medical equipment repair business of eight employees in the Lakewood Industrial Park.
Employer's own policy
Some local businesses say they won't be affected by the stalled federal rule.
For Lakewood businessman Mardonio Marroquin, who owns three restaurants and a jewelry store in the Clifton Avenue area, and in the vicinity, the new policy won't change much for him, either, because all his employees are legal, according to his consultant, Henry Narvaiez of Houston. Narvaiez, a dry-waller by trade and native Texan, is visiting New Jersey and helping immigrants.
"He has to, because he cannot take chances," Narvaiez said of Marroquin. "Once you get a (green) card you cannot do things you're not supposed to because you'll lose your residency. You have to walk a straight line, you know," Narvaiez said.
Marroquin did not want to talk to a reporter. Speaking for him, Narvaiez said Marroquin came here from Mexico, worked hard, got a green card, established businesses and is now on a path to become a U.S. citizen within a few years.
Narvaiez said if he himself had the authority he would give everyone a Social Security number so they could do things such as open bank accounts and get drivers' licenses, and he said he would establish a guest worker program.
"They are not asking for more; they just want a chance to prove themselves," Narvaiez said.
Argote-Freyre and Rodriguez agree that rounding up and deporting the country's estimated 10 million to 15 million illegal immigrants is impossible. Once you get past that, Argote-Freyre said, then you can examine ways to fix the problem.
He said ways include providing people with a path to citizenship, fining people, increasing border security or investing in Latin American countries to people there don't have to flee to this country in search of economic opportunity.
"We can insult each other indefinitely, but when is there finally going to be a compromise on this thing?" Argote-Freyre asked.The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Nick Petruncio: (732) 308-7752 or npetruncio@app.com
www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070914/NEWS/709140417
U.S. target: employers that hire immigrants
COURT CASE STALLS CRACKDOWN
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 09/14/07
BY NICK PETRUNCIO
STAFF WRITER
Post Comment
A stalled federal plan to keep illegal immigrants off payrolls is drawing a mixture of praise and criticism from Shore area immigration activists, politicians and business owners.
The plan, which was to go into effect today, is now on hold because of a federal judge's ruling on a lawsuit in California against the U.S. government.
The plan outlined a procedure for employers to follow if they receive a letter from the Social Security Administration stating that the Social Security number of an applicant or employee doesn't match administration records. The final step in the process could be job termination.
Ruling Aug. 31 in the lawsuit filed by the AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. federation of labor unions, U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney in San Francisco granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting the no-match letters from going out as planned starting the week of Sept. 3. She said the plaintiffs had raised "serious questions" that need to be examined by the court about whether the new rules run afoul of the law.
The next hearing has been set for Oct. 1.
"Anywhere the government can tighten up on enforcement is key to dealing with problems which amount to identity theft," said Freehold Councilman Marc Le Vine, whose town has a significant population of immigrants.
However, critics of the plan foresee the creation of a rotating labor pool in which workers will simply move from one company to another, an expansion of the nation's "underground economy," and increased prices for goods and services.
"The whole policy is a joke; it's a travesty," said Frank Argote-Freyre, the director of the Monmouth County chapter of the Latino Leadership Alliance. "Anyone paying attention to this issue has a right to be angry."
The alliance is a Latino-rights activist group. Most of New Jersey's immigrants come from Latino backgrounds and many are in the state illegally.
Sees negative impact
Louis Rodriguez, executive director of the Latino Chamber of Commerce of Monmouth Inc., said the initial impact will not be significant until six months after the policy becomes effective. After that, the agriculture, construction, food service, hotel, house cleaning and landscaping industries will be hardest hit. That will be especially true in California, Rodriguez said.
"A lot of things that are done at a low cost will now have to be done at a higher cost," he said.
Moreover, Rodriguez said, millions of undocumented workers pay taxes after obtaining a Tax Identification Number, or TIN. If those people are dismissed from jobs, they're likely to be driven toward toiling off the books for cash, he said.
In the California lawsuit, the plaintiffs argue that the Bush administration could inadvertently harm legal U.S. workers and law-abiding businesses in its quest to punish employers who are knowingly breaking the law by hiring illegals.
More than 70 percent of the 17.8 million discrepancies in the Social Security Administration's database, according to a 2006 report by its own Office of the Inspector General, involve native-born U.S. citizens, the lawsuit notes.
Chesney said the court needs "breathing room" before making any decision on the legality of new penalties aimed at employers of illegal immigrants.
Collaboration
The Department of Homeland Security and the Commerce Department announced in early August their decision to send out the letters to enforce the existing policy in the wake of the Senate's failure to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill earlier in the summer.
"Now it's just more of an issue because we're at war, and the immigration issue has risen to the forefront," said Koleen Singerline, an executive with a staffing agency. "It's a heated issue right now. I'm sure it will disrupt some businesses if they have a large number of these no-match letters and they find themselves needing to replace these individuals."
Singerline is senior vice president of the Wyckoff Group in Eatontown, a group of franchise businesses that operate under the national Snelling temporary and career staffing agency name.
In New Jersey, companies such as the Wyckoff Group have been voluntarily cooperating with the federal government to weed out illegal immigrants. Singerline said Wyckoff, with six offices and hundreds of employees locally, already submits its payroll to the government to check Social Security numbers, names and dates of birth.
Part of the problem was that there was no mechanism in place for businesses to verify Social Security numbers, says Lakewood Mayor and businessman Raymond Coles. His community also has a large immigrant population. When a job applicant filled out a form, employers had to assume the number was accurate, he said.
"To have a method to verify Social Security when somebody applies would be wonderful," said Coles, who runs a medical equipment repair business of eight employees in the Lakewood Industrial Park.
Employer's own policy
Some local businesses say they won't be affected by the stalled federal rule.
For Lakewood businessman Mardonio Marroquin, who owns three restaurants and a jewelry store in the Clifton Avenue area, and in the vicinity, the new policy won't change much for him, either, because all his employees are legal, according to his consultant, Henry Narvaiez of Houston. Narvaiez, a dry-waller by trade and native Texan, is visiting New Jersey and helping immigrants.
"He has to, because he cannot take chances," Narvaiez said of Marroquin. "Once you get a (green) card you cannot do things you're not supposed to because you'll lose your residency. You have to walk a straight line, you know," Narvaiez said.
Marroquin did not want to talk to a reporter. Speaking for him, Narvaiez said Marroquin came here from Mexico, worked hard, got a green card, established businesses and is now on a path to become a U.S. citizen within a few years.
Narvaiez said if he himself had the authority he would give everyone a Social Security number so they could do things such as open bank accounts and get drivers' licenses, and he said he would establish a guest worker program.
"They are not asking for more; they just want a chance to prove themselves," Narvaiez said.
Argote-Freyre and Rodriguez agree that rounding up and deporting the country's estimated 10 million to 15 million illegal immigrants is impossible. Once you get past that, Argote-Freyre said, then you can examine ways to fix the problem.
He said ways include providing people with a path to citizenship, fining people, increasing border security or investing in Latin American countries to people there don't have to flee to this country in search of economic opportunity.
"We can insult each other indefinitely, but when is there finally going to be a compromise on this thing?" Argote-Freyre asked.The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Nick Petruncio: (732) 308-7752 or npetruncio@app.com
