They’re taking the scofflaws to court. This time, it’s not just a meat-packing plant or a construction contractor, or some small business hiring illegal aliens. This time, it’s the whole blooming state of Illinois, which has one of the worst records of looking the other way when illegals take jobs.
Taking the amnesty approach to a new low, Illinois passed a law banning employers from participating in the Basic Pilot Program (aka E-Verify), the successful federal system used to track down phony Social Security numbers and thus detect illegal workers.
Other states, such as Arizona, are mandating that employers use this system. Going the other way is Illinois, the so-called “Land of Lincoln” that henceforth shall be called the “Land of Winkin’” — winking at illegal workers, that is.
In announcing the lawsuit, Chertoff said, “Well, it's very simple. When Congress passes a law, everybody has to abide by it, and that includes the states. And the states don't get a veto over which federal laws they want to have obeyed or not obeyed. In this case, the state's actually gone so far as to prevent people from obeying the law or taking advantage of an opportunity Congress has provided to check your workers. And we just can't allow that to continue.”
Will his department now also sue the states that have granted in-state tuition to illegal immigrant college students, in direct violation of federal law?
And will DHS now sue the cities that thumb their noses at the law with what they call sanctuary policies and the rest of us call amnesty? The Congressional Research Service identified 32 such communities in 2006; others list a larger number. Big cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit, Houston and Seattle top the list.
Would lawsuits against these amnesty policies be successful? They should be, because Congress in 1996 passed a law requiring states and communities to cooperate with immigration enforcement — a law the courts have already upheld.
The left is urging civil disobedience on immigration. Conservatives should urge civil obedience. That requires protecting and defending all patriotic public employees who will report immigration violations, even if their higher-ups object.We cannot sit back and watch the endless waves of amnesty proposals being presented in Congress. Communities are taking a pro-active approach to outflank Washington. The Department of Homeland Security should be praised for challenging Illinois’ counter-move. They should be even more pro-active, and so should the rest of us.
Ernest Istook
YEAH!!!! Go Istook. A former representative from my home state. He, along with Inhofe and Coburn are the top contenders for the Conservative party. They uphold the ideals of law and obedience as well as faithfulness to our country and military.
2 comments:
The "they" who are suing the State of Illinois is the Department of Homeland Security, headed by Michael Chertoff. They should be praised for this, as encouragement to take similar action against other abuses!
Yes, I know. I reserve praise for the DHS because of all the other bungling they have been responsible for of late. My praise was to Earnest Istook. Recall recently that the DHS have been refusing to build the border fence or aggressively go after employers hiring illegals. They need to start taking these people to court as well.
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