Archive for July, 2009
If You Want Something Done Right…
Friday, July 31st, 2009
Source: http://www.fairus.org/site/PageNavigator/issues/fair_irli_win_legal_victory
FAIR, IRLI Win Important Legal Victory Supporting Local Immigration Enforcement Ordinances
Because of the ongoing failure of the federal government to enforce immigration laws, states and communities all across the country are increasingly enacting local policies to protect themselves from the consequences of large-scale illegal immigration. Many of these local governments have turned to FAIR and the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) to help them craft local ordinances that both discourage illegal immigration and conform with federal laws.
One such town is Valley Park, Missouri, which enacted local ordinances that require businesses to sign up for a worker verification program known as E-Verify to keep a business license. City officials worked closely with FAIR and IRLI in drafting the ordinances.
Predictably, the Valley Park law was challenged in court by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) on behalf of a coalition of plaintiffs they assembled. In a precedent setting decision in June, a three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the challenge to the Valley Park ordinances and reaffirmed the right of local jurisdictions to pass laws that discourage illegal immigration. This ruling follows a 2008 decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upholding statewide policies designed to discourage the hiring of illegal aliens.
The city of Valley Park was represented in court by Kris Kobach, who serves of counsel to IRLI. In addition to the unequivocal ruling in support of local ordinances aimed at discouraging illegal immigration, the appellate court said it was “puzzled” as to why the ACLU even brought the case without any evidence that the law had caused any harm to their clients.
The Valley Park decision is a vindication of FAIR’s efforts to work with state and local governments to address the problems of illegal immigration. The mounting case law upholding the right of state and local governments to enact laws that discourage illegal immigration also clears the way for other jurisdictions to adopt this approach. The court victories also demonstrate the value of the expertise that IRLI has developed in crafting local ordinances.
The growing number of state and local governments requiring the use of E-Verify increases political pressure on Congress and the Obama administration to reauthorize the program for the long-term. Even as many jurisdictions find that E-Verify is an invaluable tool in their efforts to discourage illegal immigration, the U.S. Senate has repeatedly balked at extending it beyond six months.
July 2009
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FAIR is Fair
Friday, July 31st, 2009
Source: http://www.fairus.org/site/PageNavigator/issues/census_and_illegal_immigration
The Census and Illegal Immigration
A national organization of Latino religious leaders is currently calling on illegal aliens to boycott the 2010 Census. They assert that the participation of illegal aliens in the Census may be used to identify them for deportation, and they argue that only if “legalization,” i.e., amnesty, for illegal aliens is adopted this year can the fear of deportation be eliminated.
This intriguing twist on an old controversy reminds us that the Census counts all residents—including illegal residents. FAIR has tried repeatedly to stop this practice. We challenged that interpretation with 30 members of Congress in a lawsuit in 1990—only to have the court toss the case on a technical argument that ignored mountains of evidence demonstrating adverse impacts on voters’ right to a fair apportionment. When illegal aliens are included in the apportionment count, states with slower population growth and fewer illegal aliens lose House representation to those states with the fastest growth and the highest number of illegal residents.
In addition to the allocation of House seats, the Census is used by the federal government for distributing funding to the states, and it is used within a state for both redistricting state legislative seats and for distribution of state funding. Thus, the Census determines how and where federal and state tax dollars are allocated for the coming decade.
It is too late in the 2010 Census preparations to change the current ground rules. There is no pending legislation in Congress on this issue. Nevertheless, FAIR continues to articulate that it is a serious distortion of our mode of governance to include illegal aliens in the Census-based formula for distribution of political representation in the House. The composition of the House also influences the composition of the Electoral College that decides the presidency, so the count of illegal aliens also may decide the presidency.
FAIR has advocated eliminating the illegal alien population from the Census count in allocating political power and federal funding. For 20 years, we have been urging the Census Bureau to ask about legal status. Alternatively, the Census Bureau could define a resident as someone who both resides in the U.S. as their “normal place of abode” and, if a non-citizen, is present in the U.S. with the consent of the federal government. So far, these suggestions have been rejected by the agency.
The decennial Census is one more example of how mass illegal immigration affects not just jobs and tax dollars, but ultimately the voice that American citizens have in determining their own future.
July 2009
Tags: Democracy
Posted in Crime, Democracy, Immigration, law | No Comments »