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Press Release

Bush Administration Flip-Flop on Immigration.

Immigrants that would have benefited from failed Senate bill are targets of harsh new measures .

August 14, 2007

Contact:
Lizette J. Olmos, 202-833-6130 ext. 16
Javier Dominguez 202-833-6130 ext.17
 

Washington, DC – The League of United Latin American Citizens, the largest and oldest Hispanic membership organization, is outraged by the series of immigration measures that the Bush Administration has introduced. At a time when the Administration was making progress on comprehensive immigration reform, they have now turned their backs on immigrants, and will explore deplorable measures aimed at enforcement-only tactics. LULAC is considering joining other national organizations and challenging these new rules in court.

Some of the provisions include an array of enforcement tools such as delegating border search and seizure authority under Title 19, further militarization of the border, implementing the flawed Basic Pilot employment verification program, and reducing access to immigrant court hearings and appeals.

Even more appalling, the measures will convert the Social Security Administration “No Match” letters into an immigration enforcement tool. If an employer cannot resolve a difference between their worker’s documents and the government’s records in 90 days, they will be forced to terminate their employee. This measure could put millions of workers jobs at risk. In less than thirty days, the SSA plans to send 140,000 letters to employers that have 10 or more employees with no-match names. This constitutes at least over 1.4 million workers that will be affected.

“Its adoption will lead to massive layoffs of both legal and undocumented workers whose records may not match,” said LULAC National President Rosa Rosales. “These heinous measures will lead to more people working in the shadows, as well as to more discrimination cases, given that most no-match cases involve authorized employees and naturalized citizens.”

LULAC calls on the President to come back to the table and not forget his commitment on immigration. We must not forget the eloquent words the President used during his 2004 State of the Union address “…Every generation of immigrants has reaffirmed the wisdom of remaining open to the talents and dreams of the world. And every generation of immigrants has reaffirmed our ability to assimilate newcomers - which is one of the defining strengths of our country.” If we are to value President Bush’s commitment to ‘remaining open to the talents and dreams’ of future generations of immigrants, then the President must recommit to his own set of values and beliefs.

The League of United Latin American Citizens, the oldest and largest Hispanic membership organization in the country, advances the economic conditions, educational attainment, political influence, health and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community-based programs operating at more than 700 LULAC councils nationwide.

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