Harry Reid is completely out of touch with the reality of the employment/unemployment situation in his state.
He is on the record saying that no ILLEGAL immigrants are working construction jobs in Nevada, attempting to justify his opposition to E-Verify, a system that "allows businesses to determine the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States."
Sen. Jeff Sessions introduced an amendment last year that would have made E-Verify permanent and mandatory for construction companies working on stimulus projects.
Reid was against it.
Video
REPORTER: So why didn't you allow it for a vote?
HARRY REID: That's the reason we need to [do] comprenhensive immigration reform. You cannot do it piecemeal.
REPORTER: You go to the unemployment office though and there's many U.S. citizens who are unemployed construction workers and they don't have specific jobs because right now construction companies find it easier to hire undocumented workers.
REID: I think that any information you have in that regard is absolutely without foundation.
When Reid was told that a Pew Hispanic Center study showed that 17% of all construction workers are here illegally, he dismissed it.
REID: That may be someplace, but it's not here in Nevada.
What planet is this guy living on?
Nevada is the state with the highest number of unauthorized immigrants in the labor force.
Reid's office claims that E-Verify is inaccurate, but the federal government's own contracted accountant found the E-Verify program worked 99% of the time.
Construction workers, American citizens, want protection now. They can't wait for comprehensive reform.
Harry Reid is using the goal of comprehensive reform as an excuse to keep from taking steps to help American workers now. It's inexcusable.
4 comments:
Reid did not say there were no illegal immigrants working in construction in Nevada. He doubted that that the illegal immigration problem in construction was as bad as 17%.
It all depends on what the meaning of 17% is, right?
Parsing is so much fun!
The fact is Reid is hurting American workers by enabling ILLEGAL immigrants.
Why block E-Verify?
Reid's actions are indefensible.
I'm not parsing. Parroting Real Clear Politics, you said:
"He is on the record saying that no ILLEGAL immigrants are working construction jobs in Nevada..."
and that is simply not true. I just thought you might want to correct the error.
As far as E-Verify goes, I am all for attacking the problem (yes, I think it's a problem) from the demand side. I guess I'm just a little surprised that it's the conservative side that is pushing government intervention in business, rather than letting them police themselves.
And just so I'm clear on my position here, if we could snap our fingers today and have all illegal workers and their families back in Mexico, the already fragile U.S. economy would collapse tomorrow. Let's find a solution, but just be aware that any solution will likely satisfy no one and p*** off everyone.
Then again, I realize the "new right" is not big on compromise these days.
I'm not "parroting" Real Clear Politics. If something on Real Clear Politics is similar to what I wrote it's coincidental.
What "new right"? What do you mean? I'm not very familiar with libspeak.
Government intervention in business?
This isn't about government intervention in business. It's about upholding the law on immigration and securing our borders.
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