Immigration + H1B

A new issue has suddenly taken over the immagination of the American people. "How to protect our borders and jobs from illegal aliens," really. The laws are on the books from "the 1996 immigration and antiterrorism laws" but the enforcement isn't.

There are civil and criminal penalties for hiring illegal aliens. Sec. 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and 8 U.S.C. 1324a, makes it unlawful for any person knowingly to hire, recruit or refer for a fee any alien not authorized to work. An employer that violates these laws can face penalties of:

· $250 to $2,000 fine for each unauthorized individual;

· $2,000 to $5,000 for each employee if the employer has previously been in violation; or

· $3,000 to $10,000 for each individual if the employer was subject to more than one cease and desist order.

The employer could also be fined $100 to $1,000 for each individual “paperwork” violation.

The criminal penalties for a pattern and practice violation can be up to $3,000 for each unauthorized alien, imprisonment up to six months, or both.

Illegal aliens are here, they are not going to storm the country taking over , as Dubya would say "jobs Americans just wont do."
It would be impossible to put 20 million people on busses and take them back to Mexico, just look at Katrina. We couldn't put 50 thousand people on busses to save there lives, and these people wanted to go.
It would be equally impossible to name them all felons. That would require a court hearing, lawyers, trials, jails and other thing we will not fund.
The present congress, which is owned by business, will never be able to come out with a workable bill. Combine this with Presidents Bush and Fox attempting to solve anything. When each country has an intelligent president, an immigration policy can be worked out along with a plan to help the Mexican economy grow so they can use American immigrants. You think the difference between rich and poor is getting bad in this country, look south.
The real kicker in immigration is not the farm worker trying to make a living for his family, it is the H1B worker that comes into the country for conciderably less compensation than their American counterparts, thus driving down wages from top to bottom (excluding Haliburton and Oil Company employees.)

Senator Arlen Specter wants to double the number of H1B visas with built-in, automatic, no debate, no discussion 20 percent increases every year thereafter that the new limit is reached. Ask your congressmen how H1B visas help the unemployed computer specialists. What cannot be outsourced can be done here with imported labor.

Not familiar with H1B? here is recommended reading.