E-Verify

If a townhall meeting is being held near you, please attend and ask questions about immigration issues. His website announces: "Senator Merkley will update constituents on his work in Washington, DC and answer their questions and invite their suggestions about how to tackle the challenges facing Oregon and America." Below is the schedule of Senator Merkley’s Town Halls.

This at a time of unprecedented joblessness and economic hardship! Sen. Merkley is inviting suggestions, so please suggest to him that legal immigration levels should be coming down now, not going up.  Ask Senator Merkely to support a mandatory national E-Verify, too, so any newly created jobs go only to US citizens or legal workers, not illegal immigrants. You can Senator Merkley at the Town Halls or by phone or email or at the addresses below. You can call the Senator's office to confirm dates and places of the Town Halls if you wish.

If you get the opportunity to ask Senator Merkley a question, please let OFIR know how he responds.

February 18, 2012 1:30PM - YAMHILL COUNTY TOWN HALL
Sheridan Japanese School
430 SW Monroe St.
Sheridan, OR 97378

February 18, 2012 4:30PM - POLK COUNTY TOWN HALL
Straub Middle School
1920 Wilmington Avenue NW
Salem, OR 97304

February 19, 2012 1:30PM - HOOD RIVER COUNTY TOWN HALL
The Gorge Pavillion, Port of Cascade Locks Marine Park
355 WaNaPa Street
Cascade Locks, OR 97014

February 19, 2012 7:00PM - LANE COUNTY TOWN HALL
Cottage Grove City Hall, City Council Chambers
400 Main Street
Cottage Grove, OR 97424 Read more about Senator Merkley to hold several Town Halls

Outlined below are the the highlights of HB 4052.  Call your Legislator and politely ask that they support and pass this bill during the 2012 Oregon Legislature.  It is unconscienable to think that American citizens and legal workers must compete with illegal aliens for tax funded jobs.

State Representative Kim Thatcher - House District 25

House Bill 4052 - Require E-Verify for State Agencies

2012 Oregon Legislative Session

• Require all state agencies in Oregon to use the federal E-verify employment screening program before hiring new workers after January 1, 2013 to help ensure taxpayer funded services are provided by a legal workforce.

• Requires all state agencies to submit annual reports on use of E-verify based on July 1 fiscal year calendar to Oregon Department of Administrative Services (DAS). A comprehensive report on all agencies use of E-verify will be compiled by DAS and sent to the legislative branch by Oct 1^st each year.

• Establishes 9 member legislative task force, including members of local agencies, to explore use of E-verify by local governments in Oregon. Report back to legislature by October 1, 2012.
   

• E-Verify is an Internet-based system operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) & the Social Security Administration (SSA). E-Verify is free to employers providing an automated link to federal databases to help employers determine employment eligibility of new hires and the validity of their Social Security numbers.
   

• Around a dozen other states currently require the use of E-verify for state agencies, state contractors or both. Arizona’s E-verify law was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court last year.

• A few state agencies in Oregon currently use the program for some or all of their workforce including State Parks, Fish and Wildlife, and Corrections Enterprises.
   

• 15 Oregon Counties currently use E-verify in their hiring process.
   

• DAS believes there would be a minimal fiscal impact to compile the annual report called for in this proposed legislation.
   

• With unemployment still hovering around 9% in Oregon, our state agencies should lead by example, using tools which offer a better chance of hiring people who are in our country legally.

• Since federal law prohibits employers in the United States from hiring illegal immigrants this legislation would help enforce a federal policy.

• View the text of House Bill 4052 on the Oregon Legislative website.

Girls seeking abortions in New Hampshire must first tell their parents or a judge, some employers in Alabama must verify new workers' U.S. residency, and California students will be the first in the country to receive mandatory lessons about the contributions of gays and lesbians under state laws set to take effect at the start of 2012.

Many laws reflect the nation's concerns over immigration, the cost of government and the best way to protect and benefit young people, including regulations on sports concussions.

Alabama, with the country's toughest immigration law, is enacting a key provision requiring all employers who do business with any government entity to use a federal system known as E-Verify to check that all new employees are in the country legally.

Georgia is putting a similar law into effect requiring any business with 500 or more employees to use E-Verify to check the employment eligibility of new hires. The requirement is being phased in, with all employers with more than 10 employees to be included by July 2013. Supporters said they wanted to deter illegal immigrants from coming to Georgia by making it tougher for them to work. Critics said that changes to immigration law should come at the federal level and that portions of the law already in effect are already hurting Georgia.

Tennessee will also require businesses to ensure employees are legally authorized to work in the U.S. but exempts employers with five or fewer workers and allows them to keep a copy of the new hire's driver's license instead of using E-Verify.

A South Carolina law would allow officials to yank the operating licenses of businesses that don't check new hires' legal status through E-verify. A federal judge last week blocked parts of the law that would have required police to check the immigration status of criminal suspects or people stopped for traffic violations they think might be in the country illegally, and that would have made it a crime for illegal immigrants to transport or house themselves.

California is also addressing illegal immigration, but  with a bill that allows students who entered the country illegally to receive private financial aid at public colleges. Read more about Abortion, immigration changes among new 2012 laws