Columns
E-Verify is Dead, Long Live the Florida Plantation
Around the State
Kenric Ward
We hate to say we told you so, but, "We told you so."
As predicted in a Sunshine State News story back on Jan. 18, Florida's Republican leaders figured out a way to kill immigration legislation this year.
For those keeping score, that's 31 dead immigration bills in the last four sessions.
Each year, GOP politicians' tough campaign talk about illegal aliens turns to warmed-over mush in Tallahassee.
Church, state and business groups combined this year to dilute and derail a common-sense E-Verify bill. Republican leaders -- confronted daily by bands of roving, praying migrants -- simply dithered until the clock ran out.
It was a slow death that tea party groups and others say they will not forget at the 2012 elections. After perennial bait-and-switch promises from Republicans, citizen anger is reaching critical mass.
Much of the disgust was directed at Senate President Mike Haridopolos and Budget Chairman J.D. (rhymes with "shady") Alexander, who honchoed the E-Verify bill into oblivion.
Haridopolos, who is seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, can say he voted for the ill-fated measure. Yet that claim doesn't hold much water because he strategically placed Alexander and Anitere Flores in key committee chairs, where they could fiddle with the bill until it was too late.
Also on the hit list are 10 other Senate Republicans who voted against SB 2040 -- and they didn't say "nay" over concerns that it had been watered down.
Led by Alexander and Flores, this herd of RINOs fell into line with lockstep Democrats: Ellyn Bogdanoff, Charlie Dean, Nancy Detert, Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, Rene Garcia, Dennis Jones, Jack Latvala, Jim Norman, Garrett Richter and Steve Wise.
Little noted but equally culpable were House Republican leaders who just ran out the clock on HB 7089, a tougher E-Verify and enforcement measure authored by Rep. Will Snyder. In a session-ending stare-down with the Senate, the House didn't even bother to take up its bill or the Senate's -- completing the twin killing.
Harried by a coalition of corporate-cozy Republicans and open-borders left-wing Democrats, even a free, widely used employee-screening program as efficient and accurate as E-Verify ran into a political buzz saw.
As CEO of the Big Ag company Alico Inc. that has employed illegal workers (see report here), Alexander had a direct conflict. In its 2010 report, Alico stated:
"Alico engages third parties to provide personnel for its harvesting operations. Alico communicates to such third parties its policy of employing only workers approved to work in the United States. However, Alico does not specifically monitor such compliance and the personnel engaged by such third parties could be from pools composed of immigrant labor.
"Changes in immigration laws or enforcement of such laws could impact the ability of Alico to harvest its crops."
Alexander could have -- and should have -- recused himself. But he did quite the opposite, spreading misinformation about E-Verify's costs after praying with immigrants.
"I never met a bunch of people that were more hard-working, more family-oriented people," the Lake Wales Republican gushed during last week's perfunctory floor debate.
Then, to the surprise of no one except the Tallahassee press corps, he voted against "his" own E-Verify bill. (Alexander did not respond to Sunshine State News' requests for comment.)
Fact is, thousands of U.S. businesses routinely use the E-Verify database to check employees' eligibility to work. Companies like Chipotle Mexican Grill that have been heavily fined for hiring illegal workers have switched to E-Verify as the surest way to steer clear of future problems.
With more states, including neighboring Georgia, enacting E-Verify laws, Florida has set itself as a magnet for illegals, critics say.
"The Legislature has decided to make Florida a sanctuary state," groused Charlotte County tea party activist Robin Stublen.
Henry Kelley, of Fort Walton Beach, said the tea movement was betrayed by Republican lawmakers.
"You just wrecked that trust that we provided you in a sweeping mandate last fall," Kelley wrote to state GOP leaders. "We will pray that President Obama acts in his second term in accordance with our Constitution, because you just ripped the heart out of the very group that would drive Florida in the 2012 election cycle."
But giving cover to politicians on the left and right, "faith" leaders repeatedly conflated legal and illegal immigration -- and blurred the line between church and state.
If the Christian Coalition sang, prayed and remonstrated at the Legislature like these bused-in "social-justice" stooges, its members would have been mocked by the media, dismissed by Democrats and perhaps even taken to court by the ACLU.
Yet, wrapped in pseudo-religious trappings of political correctness, the business-labor alliance prevailed again at the 2011 Legislature. And that strikes immigration-control advocate George Fuller as more than a little ironic, historically speaking.
"Schoolchildren are taught the slaves were freed from their shackles," Fuller said, noting that this year marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. "The fact is, economic slavery did not end then and has continued to this day.
"As one Florida grower put it, 'We used to own them, now we just rent them,'" Fuller related.
And so it goes. While businesses "rent" undocumented workers for "slave" wages, Floridians foot the bill for educating, medicating and incarcerating illegal aliens at an estimated cost of nearly $5.5 billion annually ... and the politicians say wait till next year.
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
Comments (31)
The best response is to use all of our anger to a useful purpose---pass mandatory E-Verify in Congress. Get registered at www.numbersusa.com to apply pressure on those Florida representatives who claimed on the campaign trail they supported anti-illegal alien benefits. Guess what? A number including Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Steve Southerland have yet to co-sponsor any of the 5 Great Solutions bills.
See you in hell Joyce!
Signed, Margaret Sanger
Did the Legislators forget about these?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gAYUfrF0Lw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDjZ6gzo0C4&feature=related
Maybe Florida is lucky in one respect. As other states pass their laws, all the illegal aliens will come to Florida and you can become another California.
I am for all immigrates from wherever, but they must be legal immigrates. Our country needs the skills of all people-all legal immigrants, for all of us in all nations have been immigrants at some point in history. If people come here for asylum, they need to become citizens of our great nation and contribute to the good of all citizens.
I am ashamed of our legislature for not passing an E-verify bill. These representatives are not upholding their pledge of office.
By the way, here are the real numbers:
$659 million: Cost of undocumented immigration on education and corrections
$4.5 billion: State and local taxes GENERATED by undocumented immigrants (Yes, that is money put INTO the system by undocumented immigrants)
Mr. Ward, you can pretend to be a journalist but that doesn't mean you can make up pretend numbers.
Instead of bashing Kenric for reporting on a study go yourself and check it out at FAIR.
Rancid and visceral seem to be your poor attitude about the issue of costs this country bears for illegal, or undocumented workers. This may apparently mess with your small mind, but I am a liberal and have worked in the immigration field. The costs to this country are enormous...you are not kidding anyone, even us liberals. I have had to go through many security checks, scrutiny of my birth documents, drug testing, etc., to gain even minimum wage employment in this country. It's the corporations that are USING undocumented and illegal workers to increase their profits, while at the same time, shifting the burden of their medical care, education and housing to the American taxpayer. "Fast tracking" illegal and undocumented workers who are already here is an insult to those who have WAITED YEARS for the legal processing of their immigration petitions!! How do you rationalize that people who are willing to ignore this laws of this country should SUDDENLY become first in line? Both sets of my grandparents immigrated here from different countries, and yes, they did it legally. What part of LEGALLY offends you? I'm sure you realize that remittances from illegal workers here from Mexico account for a substantial part for the Mexican economy. While on the other hand, low wage American workers do not qualify for many of the programs that undocumented or illegal workers are able to take advantage of. Medical care, education and food stamps are prime examples. Undocumented workers can have their medical care provided and best of luck trying to collect on those costs. Meanwhile, the middle class of American is squeezed out of these programs because their incomes are too high, or medical claim liens will be filed against any property they own.
Please Craig, get real. Look around you. I have lived in states with high numbers of undocumented/illegal workers and the cost to us, as US citizens is outrageous. Outside of the obvious, stated here, try dealing with the realities of these people not having drivers license when they hit your car, or any verifiable identity if they commit a crime against you. I've been there. I am proud to be a Liberal, but there is fair/legal and then there is just plain stupid. Not supporting E-verify is JUST PLAIN STUPID. A boom for corporate profits and a set up for the bankruptcy of middle income Americans.
Otherwise, we may need a better guestworker program but we'll have to leave it as we disagree about the rest. There is no way I would support a path to citizenship for guestworkers simply because they're willing at this time to pick our crops. Nor do I support a path to citizenship for the approx. 12 million illegal immigrants. (Though I'd be okay with temporary legal status for some until we know who they are, what they're doing and how best to go about the change in an orderly fashion.)
$659 million: Cost of undocumented immigration on education and corrections
$4.5 billion: State and local taxes generated by undocumented immigrants
$15 million: Estimated decline in hotel revenue, by Arizona’s Hotel and Lodging Association, in first four months after Arizona enacted SB 1070
$141 million: Estimated revenue lost in Arizona in 2010, per the Center for American Progress, due to the enactment of SB 1070
Source: Florida Chamber
Are you aware George Soros funds 25 open borders groups? That makes sense since Soros is pushing for a one world government......
Are you comprehending all this Craig?
Are you aware George Soros funds 25 open borders groups? That makes sense since Soros is pushing for a one world government......
Are you comprehending all this Craig?
Where Kendric is mistaken is there was NO acceptable E-verify bill in the Legislature, at least not to anti-Invasion activisits. The one he's apparently referring to in a positive vein (though he fails to mention it by number or author in this piece) is Rep. Snyder's 7089 which only applies to new hires and leaves the 800,000 illegals who've taken American's jobs in Florida alone! That's hardly "a tough E-verify bill"! A tough E-verify bill--which Rep. Snyder knows darned well isn't his own 7089--is Arizona's 1070 which takes AZ's Prop 100 law (from 2007 upheld by the courts) mandating E-verify for ALL Arizona businesses and made it mandatory for CURRENT employees in Arizona hired since 12/31/07. 1070 forces employers--assuming it's being enforced by the state of AZ--to use E-verify on current as well as new employees, weeding out the hundreds of thousands of illegals working for a paycheck in Arizona. That is NOT Rep. Snyder's 7089 which is considerably weaker than 1070.
Note that Kendric says "the opposition" is religious groups, the Farm Bureau and the Chamber of Horrors (IE business interests) but he failed to mention anti-Invasion activists in Florida who aren't happy with ANY anti-illegal immigration bill including 7089. 7089 wouldn't do jack to the illegal alien population in Florida. Lawbreakers and their lawbreaking employers (it's illegal to knowkingly hire illegals) will continue to "game" the system until tough laws are enacted as the Feds will never do their jobs. Until that happens, the 1 million or so illegals in Florida (probably closer to 5 or 10 million) will continue to drop their anchors, making it harder to deport them. Note how the pro-illegal alien advocates pull out their violins when they talk about "breaking up families".
WE CAN WIN THIS WAR, IF WE ALL JOIN TOGETHER. WE CANNOT IMPORT POVERTY ANYMORE.
An amnesty is a reward to those breaking the law. Issuing an amnesty to illegal aliens only encourages more illegal aliens enter the United States. The amnesty of 1986 was supposed to be a "one time only" amnesty promised by deceased Democrat Ted Kennedy yet since 1986, Congress passed a total of 7 amnesties for illegal’s: Yet this type of leniency benefits neither our social order nor those being amnestied. An earlier (INS) Immigration and Naturalization Service study established that after living in the United States for 10 years, the average amnestied illegal alien had only a seventh grade education and earned less than $9,000 a year. This detrimental to all Americans, as already subsist on a lowest of incomes with illegal aliens stealing jobs from our own class of people, who have been displaced by businesses for profit. Amnestied illegal aliens have no guarantor to support them financially.
Instead, by enacting a mass amnesty, Congress places a shocking financial weight on American taxpayers to maintain those amnestied. The 1986 immigration bill has been a failure, not because it’s—BROKEN--but for the reason that the laws were never obligatory? By granting amnesties, Washington has set a dangerous precedent that threatens homeland security. Our normal immigration procedures involves screening to block potential criminals with foreign crime records, people with communicably diseases, anarchists and terrorists from entering the United States. Yet millions of illegal aliens have avoided this screening process by authorities and a volume amnesty would allow them to permanently bypass such screening, that was a serious oversight of the 1986 ICRA.
It’s like Christmas daily as I receive around 300 E-Mail responses, with the majority of the public entirely positive to my commentary and blogs. The community who write to me feel disenfranchised by both political parties, because they see pandering to illegal aliens as future votes or importing cheap labor. They comprehend Republicans, inflexible Liberals and Democrats are responsible for this immigration agenda, displaying complete indifference to the American people’s interests. My correspondents are a reaction of disillusioned people from every segment of our culture, including legal Hispanics who are furious at being allied to the illegal alien chaos. Like me, I have informed them to join the millions of people of the rising civil insurrection of the TEA PARTY. The TEA PARTY is not true Republicans, but a splinter group of Centralist Independents, which are the moderate Conservatives in our society, who believe in the "Rule of Law.
The TEA PARTY will not serve activists in the open border organizations, the Special Interests or money lobbyists and nor are they subservient to the Republicans, Democrats or Liberal zealots. The Tea Party has its own measure of patriotic Americans, who are sick of unremitting pandering by most States, federal government that are catering to an invasion of foreign nationals. It is the TEA PARTY'S intention to bring together and focus the power of the millions of angry citizens and permanent residents, with many small groups who will no longer remain silent. America is being invaded and slowly colonized. It is our duty, just as the 1776 revolutionist did; the People will resist.
Taxpayers are astronomical paying a heavy price in welfare and public services without severing access. The Tea Party leaders will attempt to thrash any path to citizenship, giving no tolerance to illegal aliens being accepted for any Amnesty; now or in the future. Sanctuary States should not be allowed to exist, as this like putting fuel to already raging fire..As American (TEA PARTY) patriots we must unite to take back an America, which has allowed the Rule of Law” to be lost on which it was founded. Our country that is nearly unrecognizable from only 3 decades back. We lift our voices in one common language to claim that our borders are protected, our laws be enforced, and that our US Constitution be honored.
Illegal aliens have discovered a fraudulent avenue to aid President Obama predominantly become a strong contender in the 2012 election. Using forged absentee ballots illegal aliens in four States as Colorado, Texas, New York, so far have discovered, but how deep in previous election has this deception gone? In States as California and Nevada that are soft on election oversight, was the absentee ballot forgeries go undetected in huge populace States of nationwide? It's apparent that President Obama considers Americans, who want to restrict illegal immigration laws in America, to be the enemy.
It’s utterly dubious that government would not make trespassing on our lands a felony, which goes against our fundamental rights to defend America from enemies domestic and foreign. It’s equally questioning why E-Verify, Secure Communities, is not the law of the land? To me shows further the governments disturbing inaction to control our border, no matter the consequences of criminal invasion. The TEA PARTY is resolute in upholding the 1986 Immigration Control and Reform Act, not trying to pass another law, to favor illegal aliens already here. If you are of legal standing the TEA PARTY has a place for you, to invite highly skilled technical workers, who will not take advantage of the US entitlement safety net. Businesses who hire illegal immigrants must be prosecuted to the full exemplary harshness the law will exercise. Find out more at NumbersUSA. Every prudent Taxpayer must take their Politicians to task whether federal or State, by calling their offices as soon as possible at Senate—202-224–3121/ House—202-225–3121 or locate these lawmakers in your phone directory blue pages.
I too want to thank you for your timely, fair and accurate reporting.
The legislation was doomed from the start when the stand alone mandatory e-verify bills were hijacked and put into committee omnibus bills with red meat crime portions so e-verify became a subset. The coup de Grace was when Haridopolos chose Flores then Shady Alexander to
shepherd the bill through. That's like appointing Hitler to head a Jewish Human Rights Council.
The legislature forgot the legislation was a JOBS BILL. In the past 12 months unemployment has dropped by only 9939 workers and we remain 26% above the National Average. At this rate it would take 50 years to reduce the unemployment rate down to 5%
So, life on the Florida Plantations will continue on just as they have for centuries except they just rent their slaves now and it saves on maintenance costs......
HARIDOPOLOS IS TOAST!.....AND CANNON IS RIGHT BEHIND......SCOTT BECAME LEADERLESS....
The rich elite will do anything to get richer. They believe they are gods and can do whatever they want.
You have dairy farm owners, who are legislatures in state governments, who are writing laws to protect them from being punished for their crimes. In Utah there is Representative Bill Wright, owns a farm, hires illegals, and he gets to pass laws to keep his willing slaves. Republican Utah Governor Herbert, Republican Utah legislators and even, the Utah Republican AG Schurtleff, passed laws to legalize their willing slaves, ILLEGAL ALIENS. Now, you have Slavemasters in Indiana and N.Y. wanting to do the same exact thing.
Utah Attorney General Schurtleff is working with Billionaire N.Y. Mayor Bloomberg to try to push this plan, for all states. Bloomberg has made it clear, after he finishes being Mayor of N.Y. his pet project is to be the number one overseer of all Slavemasters in the U.S. He has made it publicly clear, he will use his own media to push his Anti-American Pro-Illegal Alien agenda.
It is just like it was before the American Revolutionary War. The regular working Joe, up against the most arrogant rich elite. Guess what? We won that war. We can and will win this. We have to fight and fight hard. ILLEGALS HAVE TO LEAVE. NO MORE AMNESTIES. WE DO NOT WANT TO SEPARATE THEM FROM THEIR FAMILIES. WE WANT THEM TO TAKE THEIR FAMILIES WITH THEM.
The rich elite will do anything to get richer. They believe they are gods and can do whatever they want.
You have dairy farm owners, who are legislatures in state governments, who are writing laws to protect them from being punished for their crimes. In Utah there is Representative Bill Wright, owns a farm, hires illegals, and he gets to pass laws to keep his willing slaves. Republican Utah Governor Herbert, Republican Utah legislators and even, the Utah Republican AG Schurtleff, passed laws to legalize their willing slaves, ILLEGAL ALIENS. Now, you have Slavemasters in Indiana and N.Y. wanting to do the same exact thing.
Utah Attorney General Schurtleff is working with Billionaire N.Y. Mayor Bloomberg to try to push this plan, for all states. Bloomberg has made it clear, after he finishes being Mayor of N.Y. his pet project is to be the number one overseer of all Slavemasters in the U.S. He has made it publicly clear, he will use his own media to push his Anti-American Pro-Illegal Alien agenda.
It is just like it was before the American Revolutionary War. The regular working Joe, up against the most arrogant rich elite. Guess what? We won that war. We can and will win this. We have to fight and fight hard. ILLEGALS HAVE TO LEAVE. NO MORE AMNESTIES. WE DO NOT WANT TO SEPARATE THEM FROM THEIR FAMILIES. WE WANT THEM TO TAKE THEIR FAMILIES WITH THEM.
I think we should be looking at Col. Mike McCallister for U. S. Senate.
Thank you for this bold and factual column; especially thank you for exposing the names of the politicians most responsible for this bill's failure. That they could continue to burden the good and hard-working, legal citizens of Florida with this gross violation of law is infuriating.
Tea Party Fort Lauderdale is holding its very first straw poll today and the people will be heard. My guess is that their voices will reflect the disgust with, not only those who actively worked against the passage of the E-Verify bill, but also those who were in a position to help us but remained silent.
My heart and thanks go out to Jack Oliver, Dave Caulkett, George Fuller, Bill Landes, et al who have worked relentlessly since 2007 to find sponsors for an E-Verify bill, written letters and made phone calls to representatives on a daily basis, traveled to Tallahassee numerous times -- some of whom in addition, work full-time, night-time jobs. Thanks team -- you're the brightest and best.
Thanks also to the tea parties across Florida who supported us.
Danita Kilcullen
Tea Party Fort Lauderdale
That estimated $5.5 billion (sure to grow now that we're a sanctuary state) that illegal immigrants cost us doesn't take into account the multiplier effect spending money earned locally, nor the long term costs. Or how paying a little higher wage to Floridians could have made taxpayers out of people who currently qualify for tax dollar support. (Also how it could benefit the "rich" by sharing their tax burden.) Among other things.
Not passing E-verify is such a big disappointment! Hopefully, it's big enough for us to remember it at the next election. (For the first time I'm ready to vote against a candidate instead of voting for one- and I'm not going to worry if I'm voting for the bigger evil.)
Long Live the Florida Plantation- and long live the struggling middle class subsidizing labor for businesses while subsidizing the Americans they're displacing. And those who profit the most are the ones complaining about high taxes and entitlements...
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