One of our U.S. Congressmen from North Carolina, Bob Etheridge, is pitching a jobs stimulus bill. He wants to give a tax credit to employers to hire workers - but would they need to be legally here?
You can tell Congressman Etheridge whether you like tax dollars going for such purposes or not, but I encourage you to also tell him that whether job stimulus or not, our government should be requiring all businesses to use the federal government's on-line E-Verify System to make sure only citizens / legal residents can hold a job. The E-Verify System is simple to use, takes less than two minutes to enter the new employees name and data required, and costs less than a small bottled water to use per verification.
We have over seven million illegal immigrant adults working in America. In North Carolina we have approximately 300,000 illegal immigrants working and our state borrowed over $2 billion [yes, billion] in 2009 alone from the federal government to pay unemployment claims because so many folks are out of work the unemployment insurance fund in North Carolina was in deficit that much. Note the $2 billion is the amount borrowed and spent after the money already in the unemployment fund was spent. Our state expects to borrow another $2 billion this year again due to not enough funds available to pay unemployment claims. Guess who will be paying this back?
I'd like to invite you to join us at NCFIRE-North Carolinians For Immigration Reform and Enforcement-www.NCFIRE.info You will be joining over 5,000 other fellow NC Citizens who are fed up with the status quo in Raleigh and Washington, DC. We simply can't afford illegal aliens' tremendous costs any longer. The damage incurred, both financially and emotionally, is too big of a weight to bear.
It is important that your Legislators hear from you. The "pro-illegal" crowd is well financed and well organized, leading our Representatives to get a slanted view of public sentiment over the illegal alien issue. If we speak loud enough, our leaders will listen to us.
Below is the text of an e-mail alert I received from NCListen regarding the recent vote by the NC State Board of Community Colleges to begin accepting illegal aliens. Before the text of the letter, I wanted to share this quote from Senator Phil Berger:
“Today, the community college board – over half the members of which are appointed by the governor and the rest by her Democratic allies in the legislature – voted to admit illegal aliens. This action is a slap in the face to legal North Carolina residents that desperately need access to the job training provided by our community colleges during the worst period of unemployment since the Great Depression.
“Either Governor Perdue is not telling the truth and is unwilling to try to influence the Board members or she is totally ineffective. Either way, the people of North Carolina lose.”
E-Verify- the online government-run program that allows employers to check the work eligibility of their employees- is considered by many immigration reform activists to be the first step to ending illegal immigration in the country. Despite the program's overwhelming popularity (over 100,000 businesses use the program), immigration reformers have struggled against special interest and ethnic groups to see the program permanently authorized by law.
This week, E-Verify supporters scored two victories in the Senate's debate over the DHS Appropriations Bill: Amendment 1371 by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Amendment 1415 by Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA).
The Sessions Amendment, which ultimately passed by voice vote, provides for the permanent authorization of the E-Verify program. The amendment would also require all contractors to use the E-Verify program before doing work for the federal government. (NOTE: Senator Kay Hagan voted yes for a procedural motion that would have killed the amendment. Senator Burr voted no on the motion to table.).
The Grassley Amendment, which also passed by voice vote, allows employers to use the E-Verify program to check the work eligibility of existing workers- under current law only new hires are allowed to be checked.
I received this action alert from NC Listen today and wanted to pass it along for those of you who may be interested in the E-Verify debate. This is regarding State Senate Bill S.32.
The text below is copied directly from the e-mail:
Concerned Citizens and Immigration Reformers,
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IS COSTING NORTH CAROLINA TAXPAYERS OVER $1.3 BILLION PER YEAR [recent FAIR study], AND WE KNOW THAT THE PRIMARY WAY TO STOP ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IS TO CUTOFF THE ILLEGAL WORKER MAGNET. The federal E-Verify System has been in place for three years and gives employers an on-line database and simple process to verify legal worker status.
State Sen. John Snow of the North Carolina General Assembly introduced legislation three months ago (State Senate bill S.32) that would require city/county governments and most contractors who bid on state and local government contracts to use the federal E-Verify system to check the workplace eligibility of new hires.
So much for Southern hospitality. On Tuesday, a group of “open-minded” liberals once again proved the oxymoron by completely disrupting an attempted speech by former U.S. Congressman Tom Tancredo on whether illegal aliens should be granted in-state tuition. As the former Representative tried to address the audience at UNC, students in the hall and outside the building shouted profanity, erupted into riot, and broke a window of the classroom where the Congressman was speaking. The event became so out of control that university police were forced to use pepper spray and threaten the students with taser guns.(You can see the video here).
This new ad from NCListen highlights the growing cost burden of illegal immigration to North Carolina. Take a look and pass it on. You can learn more about NCListen at NCListen.org.
E-Verify- the online government-run program that allows employers to check the work eligibility of their employees- is considered by many immigration reform activists to be the first step to ending illegal immigration in the country. Despite the program's overwhelming popularity (over 100,000 businesses use the program), immigration reformers have struggled against special interest and ethnic groups to see the program permanently authorized by law. 
