BushCo. SUSPENDED immigration-enforcement sanctions against Companies

[Pirate Smile]

doing the rebuilding in the Gulf.

This didn't seem to get much attention in the press. It is the twin to the suspension of Davis Bacon - low wages plus no immigration enforcement sanctions. Who were they planning on hiring right from the start?

I posted it when I first heard about it a day or so ago and was asked to post it again. So here it is:

Illegal aliens build new life among ruin

By JAY ROOT and AARON C. DAVIS
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS

-snip-
Welcome to the post-Katrina Gulf Coast, the nation's latest immigration magnet.

Lured here by the promise of fat paychecks and an emergency federal decree temporarily suspending immigration-enforcement sanctions, they sleep in tents, crowded hotel rooms and sometimes even in parking lots. They're hauling trash and cutting trees, fastening tarps to damaged roofs and tearing out wet Sheetrock from thousands of soaked buildings.

It started out as a trickle. But over time, Hurricane Katrina has unleashed a flood of immigrants - some legal, some not - into coastal communities from Florida, Texas, California, North Carolina and other immigrant-rich states.

Many are natives of Mexico or Central America, but some come from as far away as Brazil. Hundreds of Latino immigrants could be found last week crammed into the Best Western in downtown New Orleans, where LVI Services, an environmental remediation company based in New York, was packing them in three and four to a room.

Hundreds more LVI workers were staying at a Shoney's Inn in nearby Metairie, said company representatives in New Orleans, who didn't want to be identified for fear of losing their jobs for talking to reporters. Calls placed to LVI weren't returned.

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/12887684.htm

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5109439

edit to add: I know Sen. Landrieu and Gov. Blanco were unhappy with it. They said it is exacerbating the problem of unemployment in the state - a big problem right now.

I've seen a few news segments showing how the companies refuse to let any of the employees speak to the news media.

One segment on CNN showed that at first the business managers said the media couldn't speak to the employees because of the language barrier. When the reporter said he speaks spanish, the Company guy just said - "you aren't talking to them".


edit to add another article:

A mixed blessing for immigrants

By Jay Root
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

-snip-
"Already, some people say they're losing work to cheaper, imported labor, even as immigrant advocates say the foreign workers are being exploited.

At a recent seminar about the rebuilding efforts, New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin asked the crowd, "How do I ensure that New Orleans is not overrun by Mexican workers?"

In one recent instance, 75 union electricians held a news conference to show off their termination letters from a job site at the Louisiana National Guard's Naval Air Station in Belle Chasse, south of downtown New Orleans. They said a contractor had replaced them with 120 immigrant workers from Houston. A spokesman for the Louisiana National Guard, Neal Martin, said he hadn't heard of any such incident.

Gary Warren, the political director for the Louisiana Regional Carpenters Council, said his group is regularly getting complaints from union members laid off by contractors and replaced with immigrant workers.

"Nobody wants me to say this because it's not politically correct, but they are calling them 'Texans.' What they are really using is a lot of illegal labor," Warren said. "It's an issue of people who lost everything being laid off in favor of people from out of state."'

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/12917697.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

bugmenot gave me a password to access it if this link doesn't take you straight in.

[Nothing Without Hope]

1. This is EXTREMELY important and it is another facet of the profiteering

by Bush cronies in the huge areas devastated by the hurricanes.

Another of the pieces is the Bush action to lower the minimum wage paid to Katrina cleanup workers. The GOP said sanctimoniously that this was to ensure that more local residents could find paying jobs - but of course it is feeding at the trough at the EXPENSE of the local residents, who not only would get less than a living wage, but are standing in line behind imported illegal workers.

This is a cesspit.

The Dems are fighting the lowered minimum wage, but I've heard basically NOTHING about the order to weaken illegal immigration enforcement sanctions. This is zooming right under the radar, just as the Bushies and their corrupt corporate cronies want it to.

Here is a current thread on the Dems fighting against the lowered minimum wage for Katrina reconstruction/cleanup workers. (I've linked to older threads on this story in one of the replies.)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1866104
thread title: Democrat forces US House vote on Bush wage order

[Nothing Without Hope]

2. We need to get more info here - let's build this thread into a resource

and get the word out!!!

For example, how about the text and any published commentary on the GAO report cited in the OP article:
A report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office in August found that the number of fines issued to employers for knowingly hiring illegal workers has plummeted, from 417 in 1999 to just three last year. Arrests of unauthorized workers dropped 84 percent from 1999 to 2003.

And the text of the executive order itself,

And the actual comments by Mayor Nagin, who according to the article is concerned about the influx of illegal Mexican workers into NOLA.

[Pirate Smile]

8. I added an additional article to the OP that includes some of

Nagin's comments and additional info from local workers unions, etc.

[Nothing Without Hope]

3. Related thread: Halliburton subcon hired illegals for Katrina work

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1866425
thread title: Illegal workers allegedly hired for recovery work at naval base

Excerpt:

Immigration agents detained a large number of illegal immigrants working for a Halliburton subcontractor hired to do Hurricane Katrina recovery work, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu's office said on Thursday.

The workers - numbering possibly more than 100 - were involved in setting up a tent city at a Navy base just outside New Orleans when they were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Wednesday, according to Landrieu's office.

The Birmingham, Ala.-based subcontractor, BE&K, was awarded the work by Halliburton, which won contracts after Katrina to repair several military bases in the hard-hit Gulf Coast region, said Adam Sharp, a Landrieu spokesman.

"It is a downright shame that any contractor would use this tragedy as an opportunity to line his pockets by breaking the law and hiring a low-skilled, low-wage and undocumented work force," Landrieu said in a statement.

Believe it: this is the merest, tiniest tip of the iceberg.

[nickyt]

4. Just read this at WWLTV site:

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWL102105illegal.117e89fa1.html
Illegal immigrants found doing Katrina cleanup work

02:58 PM CDT on Friday, October 21, 2005

Cain Burdeau / Associated Press

Ten illegal immigrants were found in a subcontractor's work force on a Navy base but were not detained, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman said Friday.
The 10 were denied access to the Belle Chasse Naval Air Station by military authorities, said Jamie Zuieback, an ICE spokeswoman in Washington, D.C.
Asked why there were no arrests, Zuieback said the investigation was continuing. She would not identify the company that employed the workers.

<snip>


The office of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said late Thursday that immigration agents on Wednesday detained a large number of illegal immigrants -- possibly more than 100 -- who were working for a Halliburton subcontractor building a tent city for Hurricane Katrina recovery work.
Landrieu's office claimed that illegal workers were employed by BE&K of Birmingham, Ala., and the Democratic senator issued a statement saying it was a "shame" for a contractor to "line his pockets by breaking the law and hiring a low-skilled, low-wage and undocumented work force."
<snip>
BE&K was awarded the work by Halliburton, which won contracts after Katrina to repair several military bases in the hard-hit Gulf Coast region, said Adam Sharp, a Landrieu spokesman.



'Catch and release' policy
Chertoff also pledged to end the "catch and release" policy that has allowed tens of thousands of non-Mexican illegal aliens to disappear within the United States.

"Return every single illegal entrant -- no exceptions," Chertoff said in prepared testimony to the committee.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/10/18/congress.immigration.ap/

---these last few weeks have completely demolished what's left of my brain...so uh, are we HIRING these folks, or are we going to RETURN every single one of them, even if they're werking for Halliburton?---

[babylonsister]

5. Here's an earlier thread, from TuscaloosaNews originally:

Illegal workers allegedly hired for recovery work at naval base

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1866425

[cosmicdot]

6. are 45 days up?

according to this version:

"On Sept. 6, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it would "refrain from initiating employer-sanction enforcement action for the next 45 days for civil violations ... with regards to individuals who are currently unable to provide identity and eligibility documents." The department said it would review the policy and make further recommendations at the end of that period."

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/12917697.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp




Press Releases


Notice Regarding I-9 Documentation Requirements for Hiring Hurricane Victims

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
September 6, 2005

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced today that it will not sanction employers for hiring victims of Hurricane Katrina who, at this time, are unable to provide documentation normally required under Section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act. DHS will not bring sanction actions against employers for hiring individuals evacuated or displaced as a result of Hurricane Katrina otherwise eligible for employment but who currently lack personal documents.

U.S. employers are responsible for completing and retaining Employment Eligibility Verification (I-9) Forms for individuals they hire for employment. This form requires employers to verify employment eligibility and establish identity through original documents presented by the employee. For victims of Hurricane Katrina, many individuals lack these documents as a result of being evacuated from their homes, loss or damage to personal items and records, and ongoing displacement in shelters and temporary housing. Additionally, as a result of the widespread damage and destruction to government facilities in the area affected by the hurricane it can be expected that many victims will be unable to apply and receive new documents in the period of time required by the employment verification rules.

Therefore, the Department of Homeland Security will refrain from initiating employer sanction enforcement actions for the next 45 days for civil violations, under Section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act, with regard to individuals who are currently unable to provide identity and eligibility documents as a result of the hurricane. Employers will still need to complete the Employment Eligibility Verification (I-9) Form as much as possible but should note at this time that the documentation normally required is not available due to the events involving Hurricane Katrina. At the end of 45 days, the Department of Homeland Security will review this policy and make further recommendations.

###
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?content=4788


List of Government Waivers and Dispensations Authorized for Hurricane Katrina Response

The following is a list of waivers and dispensations authorized by government agencies in response to Hurricane Katrina as of October 6, 2005.
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/editorial/editorial_0718.xml

[Nothing Without Hope]

11. "At the end of 45 days, the DHS will review this policy and make further

recommendations"

You're so right - we need to find what is happening now. You KNOW they will not rescind this order, but what are they doing? Whatever it is, this all seems to be going right under the radar of most Dems.

[madrchsod]

7. every union hall in the usa already knows about this

republican or democrat union members are pissed off about this. i don`t think any union member is voting republican in 2006

[Maestro]

9. Cheap labor conservatives

Don't hate the immigrants, hate the people that exploit them just to earn a buck.

[Nothing Without Hope]

10. Of course we shouldn't hold this against the immigrants - it's the fat cat

bosses who are beneath contempt. Like the lowered minimum wage, this is all a disaster for the local resident workers throughout the hurricane zone that is currently being turned into a Compassionate Conservative :sarcasm: Model Living Zone.

[Pirate Smile]

14. Of course. I don't blame the immigrants - not at all. I probably should

have included that in the OP.

[Maestro]

17. Sorry if I sounded like I was aiming that statement at you.

It was really just a general statement.

[Pirate Smile]

19. I understand. I completely understand why the immigrants want the jobs

and have always thought if I was in their situation I'd probably do the same thing. People are just trying to survive and make a decent living for their families. These Corporations want to pay the workers nothing and make gigantic profits. It is truly disgusting.

They are exploiting the immigrants and screwing over the American workers at the same time.

[Nothing Without Hope]

21. Exactly. This is a situation where no one wins except the employers

of the illegal immigrants, who get what is basically a form indentured servants with no rights or protections at all.

[Maestro]

27. Yep! -nt

[Maestro]

28. Your last sentence says it all.

:hi:

[Nothing Without Hope]

12. This goes hand in hand with Bush's LOWERED MINIMUM WAGE ORDER:

current thread on Dems fighting this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1866104
thread title: Democrat forces US House vote on Bush wage order

Some back story on this sorry, greedy Bush order to lower minimum wages for Katrina workers and an earlier effort to fight it:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1866104&mesg_id=1868652

The GOP is claiming this is to "help local people get jobs," but of course it is just more feeding at the trough at the EXPENSE of the local workers. Just like the suspension of the illegal immigration sanctions. The employers are profiting, everyone else is suffering, and the labor unions are helpless to fight the abuse of the labor force. That's just the way the Bushies like it.

[newswolf56]

13. The reason for the sad Democratic silence on this matter is that...

that too many Democrats are locked by political correctness and residual class-hatred into tacitly supporting illegal immigration.

The underlying political motive for the bourgeois (and therefore anti-labor) Democrats is nearly as obscene as the Republican motive: for the GOP it's bigger profits through cheaper labor; for the bourgeois/Democrats it's that more illegal immigration automatically means more jobs for social workers -- a major sub-constituency among the academic elite -- never mind illegal immigration also automatically means less work (and lower wages) for American workers in general.

Moreover, many of these same bourgeois/Democrats secretly regard the wound so inflicted on American working families as a delicious bonus -- like the Party's war on gun ownership, another expression of the unprecedented class-hatreds that grew out of the Vietnam Era and divide us to this day.

[lateo]

15. Remember prior to 9/11...

Bush wanted to give all Mexican illegal immigrants amnesty? I always thought that was odd...

[Nothing Without Hope]

16. Not odd at all. It's part and parcel of this union-bashing, profiteering

corrupt scheme. The amnesty would be a kindness to the illegal workers themselves, but it is very destructive to the cause of labor and a great boon to the profits of Bush cronies. And it encourages MORE illegal immigration.

Illegal immigrants, especially from Mexico, are endemic throughout the South - and in fact all over the country - picking fruit, laboring in fields, doing the dirtiest imaginable work in the Katrina areas, doing everything they are told and often living in terrible conditions and being paid almost nothing. When I was a child in Texas, my own uncle had a little group of cabins on his ranch (we were the poor relations; we had nothing to do with this and lived far away) where his illegals lived. He considered it just part of his business plan, as did basically all the other ranchers in the area. "His" immigrants were actually treated quite well, furnished with these homes with running water and toilets and medical care, but they are truly at the mercy of the people who hire them and many are not as kind as my uncle was.

[Nothing Without Hope]

20. As I recall, that deal was stacked to favor the businessmen who wanted

the cheap, union-free labor. It wasn't like they were offering them citizenship or any kind of decent benefits or protection.

[leesa]

18. Of course. The right wind hires the illegal immigrants for cheap labor

and then they whip up the bigots to try to gun em down at the border for coming to get the jobs they offer. It's always been this way.

[alfredo]

22. Wasn't it just a few days ago bush was hyperventilating over

illegals?

[Pirate Smile]

23. Yes. The "we will send them all back, no excuses" from Chertoff and

Bush. What a friggin joke. Their gall knows no bounds.

[Nothing Without Hope]

24. So true. GAO: number of fines to knowing employers went from 417 to 3 !!!

The actions of the Bushies are 180 degrees from their sanctimonious statements - AND WE MUST DEMONSTRATE THEIR LIES FOR ALL TOO SEE.

The numbers from the OP article:

A report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office in August found that the number of fines issued to employers for knowingly hiring illegal workers has plummeted, from 417 in 1999 to just three last year. Arrests of unauthorized workers dropped 84 percent from 1999 to 2003.

We need to get the text of that GAO report and also any published commentary on it in major media or by knowledgeable analysts.

[alfredo]

25. Beneath contempt.

Oh well, next week we will see if pay back is coming.

[Nothing Without Hope]

26. kick n/t

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

29. The Gulf Coast has become Iraq............ eom

[Nothing Without Hope]

30. kick to keep it visible n/t

[cosmicdot]

31. Smirk needs only 1 backdrop ..

'You're on your own'


http://home.comcast.net/~freshlaundry/bush.html?bs=5Zpv%28sf%21Po%21Zpvs%21Pxo

:kick:

[Nothing Without Hope]

32. kick n/t