NumbersUSA - WH Budget Calls for Mandatory E-Verify

Image from New American Media

This Issue: Trump budget requests call for increased enforcement and lay the groundwork for national E-Verify

Fri, Mar 17^th

Pres. Trump called for making improvements to the E-Verify system in order to support a nationwide mandate in his 2018 budget request to Congress. Requiring all employers to use E-Verify is the top step in our 'Ten Steps to Fixing the Broken Immigration Enforcement System'.

Pres. Trump will need help from Congress, though, in making E-Verify mandatory for all employers. First, his request to set aside $15 million to make improvements to the system is just that -- a request. Congress would need to make it official by including it in its FY18 DHS spending bill. Furthermore, requiring all employers to use the employment verification system would require legislation from Congress.

But budget requests tend to be clues to what an administration's legislative priorities are, and it appears that mandatory E-Verify is a priority for the Trump administration.

In addition to his 2018 budget request, Pres. Trump also issued a spending request for FY17. The current continuing resolution expires on April 28, so Congress will need to pass another bill to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30.

Both of Pres. Trump's proposals include increases for the Department of Homeland Security. While DHS has areas of operation aside from immigration, much of the increase does go towards enhancing border security and strengthening interior enforcement. Pres. Trump has requested $44.1 billion in DHS funding for FY18. By comparison, Pres. Obama requested $44 billion for DHS in his first budget in 2011.

Here's an overview of Pres. Trump's other spending requests:

Additional ICE and Border Patrol Agents -- The FY17 supplemental request calls for the hiring of 10,000 ICE agents and 5,000 Border Patrol agents. The FY18 budget calls for the hiring of an additional 1,000 ICE agents and 500 Border Patrol agents.

Interior Enforcement -- The FY17 supplemental spending request includes $1.2 billion for ICE. Some of this funding will go towards the hiring of of additional ICE agents, but much of it will go towards the implementation of DHS Secretary John Kelly's February memos. The funding would allow for expanding the 287(g) program and supporting the expedited removal of criminal aliens.

Border Enhancements -- The FY17 supplemental spending request includes $1.4 billion for border enhancements, and the FY18 budget request includes $2.6 billion. Many critics are saying that funds will go towards building the "wall", but that's not true. While some of it does go towards building physical barriers along the southwest border, it also goes towards improving technology and infrastructure in the border region to make it easier for Border Patrol agents to do their job. And while there's no specific earmark for the implementation of a biometric entry-exit system, Pres. Trump has called for its expedited implementation in his executive orders, so some funding may go to that as well.

Enforcement Statistics -- Pres. Trump's FY17 spending request also sets aside funding to improve enforcement statistics. This may sound like an insignificant request, but these stats have been inconsistent over the years. By developing a more consistent and transparent record, we'll be better able to keep an eye on the Trump administration and get a better picture of the enforcement efforts of past administrations.

AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ACT

We're continuing to track the GOP health care bill as it moves through Congress. The House Budget Committee cleared the bill on Wednesday, so it only has one more committee to go through -- Rules -- before it reaches the House floor.

In its current from, the AHCA would leave in place the same failed verification system used by Obamacare to prevent illegal aliens from accessing taxpayer benefits.

Roy issued the following statement earlier this week:

NumbersUSA is opposed to forcing American taxpayers to subsidize public benefits, including health insurance, for illegal aliens. Furthermore, such benefits act as magnets for future illegal foreign labor migration that disadvantages American workers. These are key reasons why we opposed the verification provisions in the Affordable Care Act. Even though that law nominally makes illegal aliens ineligible for health insurance subsidies, the verification system fails to identify and exclude illegal applicants. We are disappointed that the authors of the American Health Care Act are relying on the same failed verification system to exclude illegal aliens from getting tax credits under the new plan. We look forward to working with Congress to ensure that taxpayers no longer have to foot the bill for illegal aliens seeking access to our health care system.

CHRIS CHMIELENSKI

Action Visit your Action Board to send faxes urging your Senators to cosponsor Sen. Tom Cotton's RAISE Act (S. 354) which would immediately reduce annual immigration by 40% by ending Chain Migration and the Visa Lottery. We have also posted faxes urging your Members of Congress to pass E-Verify. Action Board Account Have you established a full account with NumbersUSA, so you can access all of our activism tools and features? If not, click on the following button to create a password and establish a full account. Set a Password With a full account, you can access many more faxes, including faxes tailored specifically for you individual Members of Congress. Feature Order Free Cards -- Bring Numbers Out of Hiding These cards are really effective at events, such as townhalls, to visually show the numbers that make so many Americans passionate about the mission of NumbersUSA to reduce total immigration to a level that serves the national interest. If you would like to receive half of dozen of these foldover cards email Fritz and let him know. If you have already received these cards please reach out to Fritz with feedback on experiences and conversations that these cards have helped initiate. Twitter? With Pres.-elect Donald Trump's fondness for Twitter, we expect the Social Media tool to play an integral role in our activism efforts in the upcoming year. During a television interview over the weekend, Trump's press secretary, Sean Spicer said the President-elect's Twitter usage will be an "exciting part" of his presidency. We've already used Twitter in past activism efforts, but we're trying build our "Twitter army" for future efforts! If you're interested in using Twitter as an activism tool, and don't already have an account, you can sign up for a free one here. If you're already on Twitter, or are just getting started, be sure to follow @NumbersUSA for all the latest immigration news stories and activism efforts. We also encourage you to follow NumbersUSA President Roy Beck @RoyBeck_NUSA who often offers his perspective on the latest immigration news, Policy Analyst Andrew Good @Drewbueno, and Director of Content & Activism Chris Chmielenski @cchmielenski.

NumbersUSA Activist Calls on Congress to Pass RAISE Act in Op-ed Mon, Mar 13th As an IT professional who used to work for the AFL-CIO, NumbersUSA activist Deena Finchum is well aware of the impacts of mass immigration on American workers and their wages. She recently wrote an op-ed for a Virginia newspaper calling on Congress to pass Sen. Tom Cotton's RAISE Act.

32 Senators Sign Letter Asking DHS to Conduct an Audit for Unused H-2B Visas Mon, Mar 13th Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Mark Warner (D-VA) were joined by 30 other senators in sending a letter to DHS Secretary John Kelly asking that he conduct an audit of the H-2B visa program to determine how many of the H-2B visas were unused in the first part of the fiscal year. Then they request that any unused visas be made available to employers.

Tennessee Lodges 10th Amendment Challenge to Refugee Resettlement Program Tue, Mar 14th Tennessee is challenging the constitutionality of the federal refugee resettlement program, claiming that the state's sovereignty is violated by being forced to spend taxpayer dollars on a program in which it does not participate. Thomas More Law Center, a non-profit public interest law firm, will represent Tennessee in the lawsuit.

New Study Shows Sanctuary Jurisdictions Risk Losing $870 Million Wed, Mar 15th A new study by The Center for American Progress has identified five major programs and grants totaling around $870 million that the federal government can withhold from jurisdictions who refuse to work with ICE. Pres. Trump's Jan. 25 executive order instructed DHS to identify sanctuary jurisdictions and federal funding that could be cut off to these jurisdictions.

Economic Study Shows H-1B Visas Hurt American Tech Worker Wages Thu, Mar 16th A study by three economists from the University of Michigan and the University of California found that the increase in skilled foreign labor through H-1B visas have led to lower wages and employment for U.S. tech workers.

Copyright © 2017 NumbersUSA. 1400 Crystal Drive, Suite 240, Arlington, VA 22202. All Rights Reserved.