jobs

It's worse than you can imagine! The TPP - what is it and how will it impact Oregon?

Alert date:

January 5, 2016

Alert body:

Plan to attend - register today!

Salem City Club Luncheon:

The TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP: A Look at the TPP through an Oregon Lens

Friday, January 8, 2016
11:30AM, Lunch; 12 Noon, Program
Willamette Heritage Center at the Mill

There are few programs presented by Salem City Club with a “call for action” national time line for its citizens. This is one of them. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a “trade and investment” pact between the United States and eleven other Pacific-Rim countries, which represented approximately 44% of Oregon’s international trade in 2014. Oregon agriculture and labor interests are said to be significantly impacted by this agreement.
The TPP countries are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States, and Vietnam. China, Oregon’s largest export destination, is noticeably absent. TPP negotiations began in 2008 with little public input and calls for more transparency. WikiLeaks released various sections of the TPP being considered. This was the first public look at possible provisions.

Although the TPP is billed as a trade pact, providing for reduced tariffs on products imported by member countries, the pact also impacts a broad range of issues such as food safety, Internet freedom, medicine costs, financial regulation and more. Congress voted to give the Obama administration Fast Track Authority, which provides for an up or down vote by Congress after a 90-day review period…no amendments allowed.

On January 8, we will be about 60 days into the review period. As of now, members of Oregon’s congressional delegation are still studying the TPP agreement and appear to be split on the subject. The 6,000 page agreement is available on-line from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Additionally, an internet search for TPP Oregon will result in a number of relevant articles.

An hour does not provide enough time for a detailed analysis of the agreement, but we hope to provide you with helpful information as you develop your own analysis of this far reaching trade and investment pact. Public input is critical to this process and the clock is running!

Dr. Russ Beaton, nationally recognized scholar of sustainable economics, will guide us through a summary of the TPP and provisions directly impacting Oregon. Although much of the attention will be given to Oregon-specific products, Dr. Beaton also will address some of the more global aspects of the agreement.

Beaton received his bachelor’s degree from Willamette University and his Master’s and Ph.D. from Claremont University. His original training was in mathematical economics and econometrics, although his doctoral thesis was in location theory and urban land economics, which became a lifetime interest.

After teaching at California State College at Fullerton – now Fullerton State University, and at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Beaton returned to his alma mater, Willamette University, where he taught economics and did research for 33 years, retiring in 2003.

His teaching interests included Microeconomic Theory, Environmental Economics, Energy Economics, and Regional Economics and the Economy of Oregon – all courses which he developed and introduced.
His research interests have always gravitated toward useful policy efforts that have the capability of directly and immediately affecting the lives of people. He has consulted and done policy-based contract research for several State of Oregon agencies in areas such as land use, agriculture, timber, transportation, energy, housing and general economic policy.

Co-author with Chris Maser of three books, all in the area of sustainable development, Russ has also participated in drafting the legislation, passed by the 1973 Oregon Legislature that created Oregon’s widely acclaimed land use planning system.

For Jan. 8 luncheon reservations, register online or call (503) 370-2808
by noon, Wed. Jan. 6.

Letters of frustration continue to flood newspapers across the country

Posted by Cynthia Kendoll on Tue, 01/05/2016

A collection of letters from across the country reveals the growing frustration of Americans with the current administration's lack of regard for the impact of their actions.

It takes just a few minutes to write and submit a letter to the editor. Be concise and to the point with your thoughts. Need help getting started? Check out letters others have written for ideas for your own letter.

Submit letters to your local newspaper or larger regional newspapers. Don't forget the small, weekly papers which are often read cover to cover.

If your letter is published, send it to OFIR and we will post it on our website in our letters section! Get started today!

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The Jamestown Sun

Letter to the editor: OPT expansion damaging to American worker

By Mark Schuttenhelm Today [January 5, 2016] at 7:38 a.m.

Barack Obama’s reign of terror over the American middle class continues. His most recent slap in the face of the American worker is part of his executive order, which attempted to legalize and provide work permits to about 5 million illegal aliens. He doesn’t have the power, legally, to pull any of this off, but why should that stop him?

Part of that executive order is an expansion of OPT, or Optional Practical Training program. This program is so damaging to the American worker even the pro-Democrat AFL-CIO came out against it. OPT is a jobs program that benefits foreign students at the expense of homegrown American students and jobseekers. Currently under this program, about 130,000 foreign students per year are given temporary work permits for one or two years. Obama’s new proposal increases the number to about 700,000 per year and extends the time period to three years.

Why is this so damaging to unemployed Americans seeking to enter the job market? Potential employers pay no payroll taxes for these foreign graduates. That saves the employer about $12,000 per year for each foreign student hired over an American. If that isn’t bad enough, the foreign student gets a pass on his or her portion of the Social Security payroll tax also, which shortchanges the Social Security fund by about a $1 billion a year, a number that will only increase under Obama’s new proposal. That’s a billion-plus dollars not available to pay American retirees.

And these are good STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) jobs, averaging about $50,000 per year. So if your son or daughter has just graduated college with a pile of student debt, or perhaps you yourself are seeking employment, remember, thanks to the current occupant of the White House, a prospective employer has about 12,000 reasons to give that job to a graduating foreign student. Your federal government strikes again.

http://www.jamestownsun.com/letters/3917204-letter-editor-opt-expansion-damaging-american-worker

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WyomingTribuneEagle
WYOMING NEWS.com

Muslims not committed to principles of America

From Mark Roberts, Cheyenne [January 5, 2016] 3 hrs ago

I know that the liberal leftists who we have entrusted our country to have to rely on emotions to advance a forever left-moving agenda in America.

To that end we hear statements like “That’s not who we are” by House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., when asked about halting Syrian refugees until they could be vetted. Even former President George W. Bush had the audacity to refer to Islam as a religion of peace!

Well, let’s forget the propaganda and look at some facts.

Fact No. 1 – On Sept. 11, 2001, 2,752 people were killed in New York City, 184 in Washington, D.C., and 40 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. And since 9/11, 89 people have been killed on U.S soil by Muslims!

The number of Muslims killed on American soil in retaliation? One! A Muslim convenience store owner was killed in Texas by a white supremacist who claimed to be angry after he saw the towers fall on 9/11.

Even the worst president in our history (before Barack Obama) had the good sense to limit immigration from Iran after “students” took more than 60 hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979.

Fact No. 2: Yes, Jimmy Carter not only stopped Iranians from coming here, he also required Iranian “students” who were already here to report for possible deportation.

Religion of peace? Islamic people are governed by the sharia. These peaceful people who want to live in the land of the free have a list of laws that have to be enforced to be a good Muslim.

And let us not forget that Muslims under sharia are required to practice taqiyya, which is to lie to non-Muslims to the advancement of Islam.

In other words, these “peaceful” people are required to lie when asked if they support killing non-Muslims while their leaders make no bones about wanting death to America!

Fact No. 3: In a recent poll of Muslims in America, when asked if they believe that sharia law supersedes the Constitution, 51 percent said yes. I wonder if the other 49 percent were practicing taqiyya?

http://www.wyomingnews.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/article_6fb207ae-b36a-11e5-a949-174d0e7f96e7.html

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The Press-Enterprise

LETTERS: Free speech trumps hate speech

PRESS-ENTERPRISE

Published: Jan. 4, 2016 Updated: 6:29 p.m.

“Google’s dangerous bid to block ‘hate speech’” [Opinion, Jan. 2]: The column rightly says that it is difficult to brand hate speech.

But liberals are desperate. They brand everything Donald Trump says as hate speech. The constitution guarantees the right to free speech. But that applies to everyone, not just the liberals.

Free speech is a valuable thing and should be used wisely. I do not believe that free speech gives one individual the right to say hurtful or disrespectful things about another human being. But it does give you the right to disagree with someone’s actions or positions. That is not hate or racist, which is what liberals constantly accuse Republicans of doing. They are desperate and dead wrong.

This country is waking up to the lies they have been fed for so many years. It is in danger from our enemies, and those enemies are now Islamic. The president and the peaceful Islamic community needs to wake up and condemn the radical Islamists before they destroy the faith.

Donald is right, we cannot allow anyone into our country when they are suspected of terrorism. This applies to everyone, not just the Syrian refugees. This is not hate speech, this is a matter of our safety.

So let’s shut up with the hate and racism rhetoric and protect our country. We do not need anymore refugees, so let them stay home and fight for their country of origin. And while we’re at it, let’s demand proof of citizenship for all employees and jail employers that hire illegal aliens. That would soon solve the illegal alien problem as they would go back home voluntarily if they cannot find work.

The only hate involved in any of these ideas is the hate of government which constantly makes excuses for law breakers and possible terrorists.

Clean up government and enact these ideas and the problem goes away.

Glen Chaffin - Corona

http://www.pe.com/articles/hate-790863-speech-country.html

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BOZEMAN DAILY
CHRONICLE

Immigration analysis missed many points

By Craig Bryant Dec 4, 2015

The Nov. 12 article “GOP divide grows on immigration, threatening election prospects” contains analysis that its author, David Lightman of McClatchy’s Washington Bureau, presumably thinks is knowledgeable and shrewd. It “ain’t.”

Lightman divides Republican candidates into “hard-core conservatives who have had enough of compromises” (Trump and Cruz) and “pragmatists” (Rubio, Kasich, and Bush ). The division is between those who agree that illegal aliens must leave our country, including by deportation -- a strategy that journalist Lightman clearly thinks is “nuts” -- and those who favor amnesty for millions of illegal aliens, the pragmatic approach according to Lightman.

This reveals Lightman’s ignorance, for consider the history: The original 1986 mass amnesty, promised to us citizens as a one-time evasion of the rule-of-law, to fix a long-festering problem, was expected to legalize about one million illegal aliens. The number turned out to be around 2.7 million, and the incidence of fraud was enormous (estimated at 800 thousand concentrated in the Special Agricultural Worker component of the amnesty.) Despite that “one time” promise, there have been six subsequent mass amnesties, aggregating to about another three million illegal aliens gaining legal status.

Yet after all that, there are now well over 11 million illegal aliens in the U.S., far more than when we started down this road to nowhere. So what would be “pragmatic” about yet another mass amnesty?

The only strategy that will actually end illegal immigration is to rigorously enforce the laws so that illegal aliens can’t get jobs, can’t collect public benefits, and will be deported (individually) if they have encounters with police. Then most illegal aliens will leave (“self deport”) on their own, the “attrition by enforcement” approach that’s worked whenever it’s been tried. Trump and Cruz understand this, while Kasich, Rubio, Bush and journalist Lightman choose not to. Militarized mass deportations aren’t needed.

Craig Bryant - Bozeman

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/opinions/letters_to_editor/immigration-analysis-missed-many-points/article_95852e7f-09d8-5b48-851f-79e638792f14.html

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UTICAOD.COM
OBSERVER-DISPATCH The Mohawk Valleys Information Source

YOUR VIEW: Letters to the editor

Posted Jan. 3, 2016 at 3:15 AM

Let’s make English official language of United States

Theodore Roosevelt, our 26th President (1901-1909) once said “Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country.”

Then why in Utica, New York, are over 42 languages spoken in our public high school? People come to America to assimilate into the American Society to become part of a new culture. The naturalization oath completely renounces all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign state and to support and defend the constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Instead they come to America and demand that we adjust to their languages, cultures, values and heritage.

If they want to keep their heritage they have to go back to their own countries. Otherwise they are welcome to stay in United States and keep their heritage at their own expense, but not at the expense of the taxpayer.

When will Congress draft an amendment to the Constitution and make English the official language of this country? English is the glue that keeps America together. We need courageous representatives in Washington to assemble 226 years after George Washington to agree unanimously and make English the official language.

JOSEPH JACOB - Utica

http://www.uticaod.com/opinion/20160103/your-view-letters-to-editor

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Star Beacon

Posted: Sunday, January 3, 2016 12:30 am

Joyce siding with Obama

Once again, Republican Congressman Dave Joyce (Ohio’s 14th District) has failed his constituents. This time, he voted for the $1.1 trillion Omnibus spending bill that gives President Obama essentially a blank check to fund his disastrous agenda to transform America.

But that is not the whole story. Mr. Joyce knew that 86 percent of his constituents were not in favor of allowing a flood of Syrian refugees into our country. However, he disregarded the overwhelming majority’s wishes and chose to fully fund Obama’s Syrian refugee program by supporting this bill. In the same vote, Mr. Joyce also agreed to the funding of illegal alien resettlement, sanctuary cities and Middle Eastern immigration programs.

In doing so, Mr. Joyce has demonstrated his acceptance of Obama’s radical vision of “Hope and Change” while violating his oath of office to serve and protect the citizens of his congressional district. Now, he is clearly in lockstep with the ruling class elites who are determined to change America by literally changing the makeup of our population.

The 2016 elections are crucial to the future of our country and to all of us as individual citizens. We must turn fears of our current transformation into real hope for a brighter, safer future. One way of doing that is to replace those incumbents such as Dave Joyce who no longer believe in the sovereignty of our nation, those who continue to choose the interests of foreign nationals over Americans.

Please check out the website MattLynch.com. You will find an honorable man who will represent your interests and believes in our constitutional rights and our nation’s sovereignty. Mr. Lynch will be part of the conservative coalition in Congress that is needed to eliminate the profound and pervasive government spending and corruption. Mr. Lynch will fight to reverse our current march toward a country we would otherwise soon not recognize.

Brian Massie - Concord Township

http://www.starbeacon.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/letter-to-the-editor/article_df52f033-ecbc-5d9a-981e-83a7e911709e.html

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The Buffalo News

Letter: Trump’s critics need to stick to the facts

on January 3, 2016 - 12:01 AM

Trump’s critics need to stick to the facts

It’s disgusting to see people like the Rev. Richard Malone, Dr. Khalid Qazi and many other so-called community leaders twist and distort statements made by Donald Trump to fit their agenda.

They continually leave out the word “temporarily” from his statement on stopping Muslim immigration. Just as the media and community leaders leave out the word “illegal” when he talks about Mexican immigrants.

They have their right to their opinion, but that should be based on accurate information and not a distorted version of what people actually say to fit a certain narrative or agenda.

Their statement that Trump’s proposals will “bring comfort to the Islamic State and its allies” is similar to Hillary Clinton’s statement that Trump “is becoming ISIS’ best recruiter.” This has been fact-checked and proven to be wrong.

And I would like to ask these people: At what point will the United States be unable to accept immigrants? Because that time will come, and what will they say then?

David Nowak - Amherst

http://www.buffalonews.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/letter-trumps-critics-need-to-stick-to-the-facts-20160103

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TCPALM

Letter: It’s not ‘anti-immigrant’ to oppose illegal immigration

[January 3, 2015] 4:00 a.m.

Diane Greto, Vero Beach

Letter: It's not 'anti-immigrant' to oppose illegal immigration

Nathaniel Osborn (Dec. 23 letter) takes letter writer John Grychak to task for siding with Donald Trump and his plans to "build the biggest, highest wall ever built" to keep out Muslims and Latinos.

Osborn goes on to lecture about "anti-immigrant rhetoric," and mentions the German, Irish, Chinese and Eastern European immigrants who came to this country in the 18th and 19th centuries and who were accused of undermining America at the time.

As a "local high school teacher," Mr. Osborn surely you know the difference between illegal and legal. The bodies coming over our border are illegal and a threat to our national security, plain and simple.

Meanwhile, there are thousands of immigrants-to-be who are waiting patiently and going through the right channels legally to come to this great country. They want to learn the English language and Pledge of Allegiance to our flag and become American citizens in every way, just like those early immigrants. Those are the immigrants I welcome.

Meanwhile, we must protect our borders in every way possible.

http://www.tcpalm.com/letters-to-the-editor/letter-its-not-anti-immigrant-to-oppose-illegal-immigration-2808e9c9-5313-284b-e053-0100007f0f75-363843081.html

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Courier Life’s
BROOKLYN DAILY

January 3, 2016 / News / Letters

Sound Off to the Editor

‘Bravo,’ Sue

To the editor,

Inevitably some will call her racist but I say “bravo” to Sue Smith of Bensonhurst for her letter describing how our borough is being taken over by illegal immigrants, who use our social services and contribute nothing to our society (“Sounding off,” Sound of to the Editor, Dec. 25). Thank you, Sue, for being brave enough to write what you did.

Maureen Abato - Sheepshead Bay

http://www.brooklyndaily.com/stories/2016/1/all-letters-2016-01-01-bd.html

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Tri-City Herald

January 2, 2016 5:28 PM

Letter: Why can’t government use social media posts to screen immigrants?

If I understand correctly, it is OK for employers to use social media posts when making decisions on whether to hire or not to hire an applicant, or to dismiss an employee.

However, under the wise leadership of the current administration, government organizations responsible for approving applications for admittance into the United States are not allowed to use social media as part of the decision-making process. Did I miss something somewhere?

According to a former Department of Homeland Security official, the administration ordered them to terminate their efforts to monitor individuals with potential ties to terrorists who wanted to come into the United States, because it might be considered profiling. Seems to me that all of these terrorists fit one profile. It is not guns that are killing Americans, it is political correctness.

Gerald Sorensen, Richland

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article52558875.html

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TIMES-CALL
Letters to the Editor

William Manion: Government attempting to mold people's attitudes

Posted: 01/02/2016 11:17:45 PM MST | Updated: about 10 hours ago

My 1,700 page dictionary does not list "inclusivity" as being a real word. Same for "sustainability."

It seems to be that the Boulder County commissioners like to come up with some cause they want to promote, then they invent a name for it to try to make it sound important. If it is something truly important, doesn't it deserve a title that makes use of real words?

Here is a heads-up for the county commissioners: It is not your job to try to mold people's opinions or attitudes.

Millions of U.S. citizens are appalled that our federal government has not secured our borders. Our country is inundated with immigrants, many of them here illegally. Those of us who do not want to welcome other immigrants at this time certainly have good reasons for feeling that way.

I believe that we citizens need to be wary of any attempts by government officials to influence citizens' opinions or attitudes to conform to their extremes of "political correctness."

William Manion - Longmont

http://www.timescall.com/opinion/letterstotheeditor/ci_29336525/william-manion-government-attempting-mold-peoples-attitudes

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Your News, Your Way.
Tyler Morning Telegraph

Published on Saturday, 2 January 2016 20:21 - Written by

TRUMP

If Republican leaders keep up their stupid agenda of little or no opposition to President Obama, then Donald Trump will soon be the nominee of the vast hoard of outraged Republicans. Some may not agree with all he says, but much of it is what people want to hear.

Current Republican leadership stinks and is completely lacking in tough opposition to President Obama and his irresponsible policies on virtually everything, including open borders for illegal immigrants, criminals, refugees and terrorists.

History says under today’s conditions and chaos, Trump will emerge as our new president, like it or not.

Citizens are fed up with all career politicians and their false promises and lies. The good will be voted out with the bad when citizens feel betrayed and put upon by abusive government policies, regulations and legislation gushing out of Washington in the trillions of dollars - money we don’t have.

Harry Bergman - Tyler

http://www.tylerpaper.com/TP-Letters+to+Editor/229254/george-will-wrongly-dismissed-creationists-believers

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The
Californian A Gannett Company

Syrian refugees and terrorism

Virgil M. Piper 12 a.m. PST January 2, 2016

When it comes to U.S. Immigration, it appears we are very good at ignoring the law. To begin with, it is offensive, apparently, to use the term “illegal alien.” Instead, it is considered good manners to refer to the millions of persons in this country in violation of our immigration laws as “undocumented immigrants.”

California, desperate for cheap labor, has abrogated or otherwise ignored immigration requirements by issuing driver’s licenses. The state has encouraged local authorities to ignore an agreement with the Obama administration allowing federal immigration agents to review fingerprints under the “Secure Communities Program” in order to track down and pick up every deportable immigrant arrested by local police. Incredibly, San Francisco has opted to be a “Sanctuary City.”

Currently, we have a controversy involving the refugee status for 10,000 Syrians. President Obama claims this process takes two years to complete but he proposes that we do our part by resettling 10,000 refugees by October 2016.

On the other hand, several states have given notice they will not accept Syrian refugees. President Obama claims these states cannot deny entry – but what are the guidelines provided by U.S. Law?

The Refugee Act of 1980 was signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on March 17, 1980. A refugee is defined as “any person outside his or her country unable or unwilling to return to his or her country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” One wonders how many of these 10,000 Syrian refugees actually fall within this defined requirement.

Section (2)(A) of the 1980 Refugee Act: “The Director and the Federal agency administering subsection (b)(1), shall consult regularly (not less often than quarterly) with State and local governments and private nonprofit voluntary agencies concerning the sponsorship process and the intended distribution of refugees among the States and localities before their placement in those States and localities.”

Accordingly, by law the various States do have the right to refuse refugees. Relocation concerns include the availability of employment opportunities, affordable housing, and public and private resources (including educational, health care and mental health services) for refugees in the area. The most important consideration is the likelihood of refugees placed in the area becoming self-sufficient and free from long-term dependence on public assistance.

The obvious question is whether we are granting entry of terrorists among these refugees. On the other hand, how many of the more than 11 million illegals already present in the United States are sleeper terrorists?

According to one senior official, approximately half of the estimated 11-plus million undocumented immigrants crossed the Mexican border illegally; the other half simply stayed beyond the expiration date of their visa or pursued refugee status much like the children lined up on the Mexican border. Additionally, the Cuban Adjustment Act allows Cuban citizens the right to stay in the United States if he or she is able to set foot on American soil.

One wonders why a terrorist would bother with this two-year Syrian refugee process when all they have to do is become a Cuban citizen or simply slip across the Mexican border.

Clearly, this country must make some attempt to enforce existing immigration laws if the threat of terrorism is to be taken seriously.

Virgil M. Piper, a frequent Soap Box contributor, is a Marina resident.

http://www.thecalifornian.com/story/opinion/2016/01/02/syrian-refugees-terrorism/78187808/

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app.com ASBURY PARK PRESS
A GANNETT COMPANY

LETTER: Fixing illegal immigration requires honesty

2:56 p.m. EST January 1, 2016

People who walk across our border illegally have performed a criminal act. Politicians want to give them amnesty. Why?

We have laws, but no one will enforce them. When you give them welfare, food stamps, even a driver’s license, you only encourage more of the same bad behavior: lawbreaking criminal acts.

How about everyone who came here legally? What about the hard work and money they spent to assimilate to the American way of life? Why doesn’t anyone bring up the fact that it’s an insult to these people who came here legally and went through the process to become an American?

Most of us are tired of lawbreakers — that includes politicians. The last seven years have been brutal. The destruction of America led by President Barack Obama, the Democrats and willing Republicans is despicable!

We can fix the illegal problem easily, but we need honest, law-abiding politicians who actually love America and everything it stands for.

Matilda Schafhauser - Westmont

http://www.app.com/story/opinion/readers/2016/01/01/letter-fixing-illegal-immigration-requires-honesty/78181102/
Read more about Letters of frustration continue to flood newspapers across the country

Senator Merkley to hold Town Halls - plan to attend

Senator Merkley has announced a series of town halls in January. Please check the list and plan to attend one of the town halls near you. Invite your neighbors and friends to come along, as well. You can raise many questions about the Senator’s positions on immigration issues. You can view and print out a copy of his voting record to give to him, here:

https://www.numbersusa.com/content/my/congress/1341/reportcard/CONGRESS/

In his announcement, he says: “Senator Merkley will update constituents on his work in Washington, D.C. and answer their questions and invite their suggestions about how to tackle the challenges facing Oregon and America.”

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January 5, 2016 @ 11:00 AM

Jefferson County Town Hall

Central Oregon Community College Open Campus - Community Room

1170 E Ashwood Road, Madras, OR 97741

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January 5, 2016 @ 3:00 PM

Crook County Town Hall

Crook County High School - Auditorium

1100 SE Lynn Blvd, Prineville, OR 97754

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January 5, 2016 @ 6:30 PM

Deschutes County Town Hall

Central Oregon Community College - Wille Hall

2600 NW College Way, Bend, OR 97701

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January 6, 2016 @ 10:30 AM

Lake County Town Hall

Memorial Hall - Lake County Courthouse

513 Center Street, Lakeview, OR 97630

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January 6, 2016 @ 3:30 PM

Klamath County Town Hall

Oregon Institute of Technology - Mazama Room, Student Union

3201 Campus Drive, Klamath Falls, OR 97601

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January 7, 2016 @ 9:00 AM

Jackson County Town Hall

Hanby Middle School - Cafeteria

806 6th Avenue, Gold Hill, OR 97525

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January 7, 2016 @ 12:00 PM

Josephine County Town Hall

Grants Pass High School - Library

830 NE 9th Street, Grants Pass, OR 97526

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January 7, 2016 @ 5:00 PM

Curry County Town Hall

Southwest Oregon Community College - Community Meeting Room

96082 Lone Ranch Parkway, Brookings, OR 97415

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January 8, 2016 @ 9:00 AM

Coos County Town Hall

Myrtle Point High School - Cafeteria

717 4th Street, Myrtle Point, OR 97458

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January 8, 2016 @ 12:30 PM

Douglas County Town Hall

Douglas High School – Cafeteria

1381 NW Douglas Blvd, Winston, OR 97496

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January 9, 2016 @ 10:00 AM

Benton County Town Hall

Monroe Community Library - Large Conference Room

380 N Fifth Street, Monroe, OR 97456

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January 9, 2016 @ 1:30 PM

Linn County Town Hall

Brownsville City Hall - City Council Chambers

255 N Main Street, Brownsville, OR 97327

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January 9, 2016 @ 4:00 PM

Lane County Town Hall

Coburg City Hall - City Council Chambers

91136 N Willamette Street, Coburg, OR 97408

Remember - the good Senator works for us. Attend the meeting, ask questions, get answers. Share your experience with OFIR.
Read more about Senator Merkley to hold Town Halls - plan to attend

Tags:

free trade

jobs

E-Verify

amnesty

Congress

OFIR meeting - this Saturday!

Alert date:

January 22, 2016

Alert body:

Never before has the issue of immigration – both legal and illegal – been such an important topic in the Presidential election. And, never before has our country been in such jeopardy because of our lax immigration policies.

Join OFIR this Saturday - bring your ideas and we will have an open discussion about what we can and should be doing to take advantage of the momentum in the immigration debate.

We'll also bring you up to date on the status of OFIR's two citizen's initiatives that have been winding their way through the ballot title challenge process all the way to the Supreme Court.

And, for all of you that worked so hard to defeat driver cards for illegal aliens, and are following the lawsuit filed in Federal Court to overturn our big 66% win – we will have the latest news to report to you.

And, if that's not enough – it's time to elect NEW Executive Board officers!

2016 promises to be a watershed year and hopefully a turning point for U.S. and Oregon immigration policies. But, voters must step up.

If you have questions please call OFIR at (503) 435-0141 or send an email to ofir@oregonir.org.

Driving directions to Best Western Mill Creek Inn:
From I-5, take exit 253, which is the intersection of I-5 and State roads 22 and Business 99E. Go West on 22 (Mission St.) a short distance to Hawthorne Ave. (Costco will be on your right.) Turn R on Hawthorne Ave. to the first left, which is Ryan Drive. Turn left on Ryan Drive, by Denny’s Restaurant, and proceed to Mill Creek Inn just beyond.

From downtown Salem: Go east on Mission St. (State Rd. 22). Follow 22 just past the Airport and turn left on Hawthorne Ave. Then take the first left (almost an immediate left) into Ryan Drive; you will see the Inn directly ahead.

New Year’s Surprise: Obama Regulation To Give Work-Permits To Foreign College-Graduates

As the nation prepares to ring in the New Year, President Barack Obama is preparing a colossal new executive action that could print-up work permits for a huge number of foreign white-collar graduates every year, above and beyond the levels set by Congress.

This executive action, which directly bypasses Congressional lawmakers, is likely to reverberate across the presidential race, as GOP voters look to choose a nominee they believe will most effectively roll back the President’s still-expanding agenda. And it will certainly raise new security concerns as it covers categories of immigration utilized by migrants from the Middle East and nearby regions.

President Barack Obama’s Department of Homeland Security plans to publish the proposed rule tomorrow, the last day of 2015.

The 181-page rule focuses primarily on giving work-permits to foreign college-grads who will compete against Americans for white collar jobs, despite the large number of American graduates now stuck in lower-wage positions and struggling to pay off college debts. The rule will also make each foreign graduate much cheaper for U.S. employers to hire than many U.S.-born college grads.

“Obama has gone the Full Monty to bust the immigration system,” says immigration lawyer John Miano. “What is going on is he is effectively giving Green Cards to people on H-1B visas who are unable to get Green Cards due to the [annual] quotas… it could be over 100,000.”

The new rules to aid foreign college-graduates are an extension of his earlier efforts to bypass popular laws against illegal immigration, said Miano, the co-author of a new book about the painful impact of the white-collar guest-worker programs, titled “Sold Out.”

This executive action could have been prevented, however, had the bipartisan 2016 omnibus funding included language proposed by Immigration Subcommittee Chairman

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

80%

In April, Sessions proposed language to reduce and cap the number of work-permits — dubbed “Employment Authorization Documents” — that could be distributed to foreign workers each year. Sessions’ recommendation was rejected by GOP and Democratic leaders in Congress, and so House Speaker

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)

56%

’s December omnibus is enabling the president’s new executive action.

In 2012, Obama bypassed laws against illegal immigration by awarding two-year work-permits to at least 800,000 younger foreign migrants who were brought here by their illegal immigrant parents. In 2015, the courts blocked his November 2014 amnesty plan to award work-permits to roughly 5 million resident migrants who have U.S.-born children. From 2009 to 2015, Obama also allowed at least 250,000 Central American migrants into the United States to request asylum or refugee status. In 2013, Obama added roughly 2 million extra foreign workers to the economy, while roughly 4 million young Americans began looking for work.

“The objective here is to strip American workers of their protections from foreign labor embodied in the Green Card quotas” that are set by Congress, not the White House, Miano said.

The annual award of Green Cards — and vital preliminary work-permits — is limited by quotas that mostly impact the many Indian and Chinese graduates who come to the United States as H-1B guest-workers, or who first arrive as students and later start working in the United States via the Optional Practical Training and H-1B programs.

Roughly 650,000 foreign graduates are working in the United States for roughly 5 years each under the H-1B program. Roughly 120,000 foreign graduates of U.S. colleges are working in the United States for two years each via the OPT program, often called the ‘mini-H-1B program.’ Without this new regulation, most of those foreign graduates will return home after several years, forcing companies to hire U.S. graduates in their place.

The foreign graduates typically get entry-level jobs that would otherwise go to new U.S. business graduates, designers, doctors, programmers, engineers and scientists. Also, the foreign graduates are used to replace mid-level American professionals once they seek mid-career pay-raises to help pay for mortgages and child-rearing.

According to the pending regulation, “many of these changes are primarily aimed at improving the ability of U.S. employers to hire and retain [foreign] high-skilled workers who are beneficiaries of approved employment-based immigrant visa petitions and are waiting to become lawful permanent residents (LPRs), while increasing the ability of such [foreign] workers to seek promotions, accept lateral positions with current employers, change employers, or pursue other employment options.”

The new policy also creates a large economic incentive for U.S. employers to hire foreign college-grads instead of new American college-grads.

That’s because the policy will allow U.S. employers to hire foreign college graduates at very low salaries. The foreign graduates will gladly take those low-wage white-collar jobs because the new policy allows them to get deferred payments from the federal government — valuable permanent work-permits that are the first step on the golden pathway to Green Cards and citizenship.

In contrast, employers can’t pay American graduates with this combination of low-salaries plus the federal promise of citizenship — because the Americans already have citizenship.

That means employers must pay more money to hire American college-grads than they would to hire foreign college-grads. That puts a huge disadvantage on American graduates because they need higher salaries to pay off their expensive U.S. college debt.

Miano slammed the new regulations, and said they reflect Obama’s preference for foreigners over Americans.

“Notice that when foreign workers are going to lose their jobs, Obama has DHS make protecting their jobs the agency’s highest priority,” chiefly by minimizing enforcement of immigration laws, he told Breitbart News. But “when American workers lose their jobs to foreign workers, Obama does absolutely nothing,” he said.

“We have a president with a very warped sense of priorities,” he added.

The public can object to the new regulations, according to the DHS document.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before [Insert date 60 days from date of publication in the FEDERAL REGISTER].

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by DHS Docket No. USCIS-2015-0008, by one of the following methods:

Federal eRulemaking Portal: You may submit comments to USCIS by visiting http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

E-mail: You may submit comments directly to USCIS by e-mailing them to:

USCISFRComment@dhs.gov. Please include DHS Docket No. USCIS-2015-0008 in the subject line of the message.

Follow Neil Munro on Twitter, at @NeilMunroDC
Read more about New Year’s Surprise: Obama Regulation To Give Work-Permits To Foreign College-Graduates

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25 years of helping foreigners take US citizens' jobs

Posted by E Van Staaveren on Sun, 12/27/2015

Citizen workers today find themselves in competition with millions of foreign workers, here both legally and illegally. How did this happen? Aren’t Congress and Presidents supposed to work in the best interests of Americans? Unfortunately too many elected government officials do not.

The article below traces how immigration policy has changed in recent decades to the disadvantage of citizens, and names some of those responsible.

Today, when presidential candidates are seeking approval from voters, we have better means of assessing their true positions than in the past. We encourage voters to learn as much as possible about candidates at all levels. NumbersUSA’s ratings for Congress and presidential candidates are an important resource; these ratings are based on voting records in Congress and examination of public statements made by the candidates. The presidential debates are being reviewed and analyzed by NumbersUSA, FAIR’s ImmigrationReform.com, and the Center for Immigration Studies to discover and report candidates’ thinking and intentions on immigration. Pertinent information is reported on their websites.

Twenty-Five Years of Helping Foreigners Take American Jobs

By Ian Smith, December 13, 2015, in PJ Media

https://pjmedia.com/blog/twenty-five-years-of-helping-foreigners-take-am...

Twenty-five years ago, President George H. W. Bush signed into law the Immigration Act of 1990. Instead of reforming the corrosive effects of the Immigration Act of 1965, an act that birthed the mass immigration system we have today, the 1990 act made the situation dramatically worse and make it less likely Americans would fill American jobs.

The act raised the annual immigration ceiling from 530,000 to 700,000 (excluding other types of legal entry like refugee admissions) while creating a coterie of new immigrant and guestworker visas, mostly for semi-skilled and unskilled workers.

Perhaps the most controversial creation of the 1990 act was the H-1B guestworker program. This “grandfather of all American worker sellouts,” according to Michelle Malkin and John Miano in their latest book on the subject, is taken up mostly by bachelor degree-holders from India (where such degrees take only three years) and, according to critics, was really designed not for the “best and brightest” but simply for “ordinary people, doing work.”

Crucially, the 1990 act entrenched U.S. immigration policy with a system completely indifferent to the nation’s general labor conditions. The act’s selected intake numbers were not a product of any careful labor market study and, like now, in no way recognized the actual labor-needs of the country.

The number of immigrant-visas based on employment (rather than family connections) almost tripled from 54,000 to 140,000 while the number and size of non-immigrant guestworker programs increased dramatically.

In a study of the bill years after it was implemented, Cornell labor economist Vernon Briggs noted that between the year of its passage and its implementation there were one million fewer workers employed in the country. As he put it, “[c]ertainly the last thing that the slumping economy needed was an infusion of an additional inflow of immigrant job seekers of this enlarged magnitude”—Briggs rightly sees immigration policy as essentially a labor policy and has long suggested that immigrant visa allotments be adjusted annually according to economic conditions.

Still, the rhetoric surrounding the 1990 act’s passage was that the country was facing a massive “skills shortage.”

“It was a myth,” says Briggs. In reality, he notes, “If labor shortages did occur, industry leaders feared, higher wages would be required to hold present workers and to entice younger workers to aspire to enter these skilled occupations…[f]acing the reality of such a free market outcome, industry leaders sought to find a way for government to artificially swell the skilled labor pool.” In other words, the act was largely designed to insulate corporate executives from market discipline.

Regarding the H-1B, its effects were confirmed immediately after the act was passed. As Alan Merten, chairman of the fifteen-member industry and academic panel, the Committee on Workforce Needs in Information Technology, summarized, “we feel [the number of H-1Bs] is so large that we are totally dependent on it and it depresses wages.”

This "dependency" on low-wage foreign professionals wasn’t limited to IT executives apparently. When the House passed legislation to increase the H-1B cap to nearly 200,000 in 2001 it chose to do so by a voice vote which allows one’s vote to be kept secret.

When asked about the voice vote, then-Senator Robert Bennet (R-Utah), a lead sponsor of the Senate-version of the bill, said frankly, “a whole lot of folks are against [the bill], but because they are tapping the high-tech community for campaign funds, they don’t want to admit that in public.” On these sorts of bills, he said, “everyone signs up so nobody can be in the position of being accused of being against high tech.”

Bennet’s H-1B increase was approved by a vote of 96-1 in the Senate. On the House vote, Congressman Thomas Davis of Virginia, a state that’s always been one of the biggest H-1B-employers, candidly stated, “this bill may not be popular with the public but it’s popular with the CEOs.”

Why it’s popular with CEOs isn’t a mystery. There’s no reason why corporations, at least big, publicly traded ones, should like hiring in a tight competitive labor market. This is especially true for Big Tech firms, which are typically asset-light and have a high level of operating costs going to labor. Most would expect that the pressure on CEOs to meet analysts’ profit estimates each quarter will trump any free-market ethos they may have every time. Why else would the industry spend billions on lobbying and public relations related to immigration? Big Tech’s message to the American public might as well be, “the free market for thee, not for me.”

The 1990 act cemented in place the corporatization of our immigration system, producing disastrous externalities ever since. Cutting wages by artificially expanding the labor supply increases private wealth at the public’s expense, acting like a highly regressive tax on the lower and middle classes.

Two and a half decades of this "immigration tax" has doubtlessly attributed to today’s growing income inequality with over half the nation now earning less than $30,000 a year. What will we be the state of American labor if we let the immigration status quo persist for another 25 years? For the American worker and our tech professionals in particular, true reform of our immigration system cannot wait.

Ian Smith is a lawyer with the Immigration Reform Law Institute, Washington DC.

Refugee resettlement - keep moving, nothing to see here

Posted by Cynthia Kendoll on Fri, 12/11/2015

"Trump’s surge this week, in the teeth of universal denunciation, suggests that a large slice of America agrees with his indictment—that our political-media establishment is dumb as a box of rocks and leading us down a path to national suicide," says Patrick J. Buchanan.

But, even the most detached, eyes down citizen can tell that something is amiss. That's why Trump, in his ever brash style, has touched a nerve with the American people.

We are being bombarded by the press and establishment politicians that all is good, there's nothing to see here, the plans to bring thousands of Syrian refugees into the US is the right thing to do.

But wait - is it the right thing to do for our country and our future?

According to a recent VDare.com article by Patrick J. Buchanan, we are not only being duped, we are being led down a very dangerous road.

Michelle Malkin, in her article on VDare.com explains what our forefathers had in mind when immigration guidelines were developed. HINT: the purpose of immigration is not to provide cheap labor, or voters committed to a particular party.

Still not convinced? A recent article by Leo Hohmann in World Net Daily puts an even sharper point on the issue of Syrian refugees swarming into the US.

To learn more about the Syrian refugee crisis read the extensive, well researched articles and information posted on the CAIRCO website.

Washington asks Supreme Court to OK Obama immigration plan

Washington State asks U.S. Supreme Court to let Obama's immigration plan go forward. Oregon and California agrees.

Washington state Friday led a 15-state coalition in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold President Barack Obama’s plan to legalize some 4.4 million illegal immigrants, arguing that immigration reform will benefit states by increasing tax revenue, enhancing public safety and reducing the demand for social services.

“Each day that these reforms are delayed harms people who want nothing more than to come out of the shadows and live and work legally to support their families,” Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a written statement. “This affects our friends, families, neighbors and our state as a whole.”

The Supreme Court is expected to decide in mid-January whether to hear an appeal filed by the U.S. Justice Department after the 5th Circuit of Appeals in November blocked two immigration programs ordered by Obama.

One would allow illegal immigrants with children who have legal status to apply for lawful standing. The other would offer legal standing to children 16 and younger who entered the country illegally.

Oregon and California are among the states that signed the brief written by the Washington Attorney General’s Office.

All three states have Democratic attorney generals and governors. Some 25 states, including the Republican-led Idaho, opposed the programs in a brief filed with the appeals court.

In Washington, approximately 105,000 illegal immigrants would be eligible for legal status, according to Ferguson’s brief.

The brief cites an analysis by the Center for American Progress that assumes undocumented workers who gain legal residency will earn more money. The additional income would increase Washington state tax collections by $57 million over five years, according to the analysis.

The brief also argues that residents are more likely to cooperate with police if they aren’t afraid contact with law enforcement will lead to deportation. Children in families split by deportation can end up in foster care, according to the brief.

A U.S. District Court judge in Texas in February blocked the immigration reforms from taking effect pending a trial on the plan’s legality.

Judge Andrew Hanen said the federal government likely violated the Administrative Procedures Act by not giving states a chance to comment before Obama issued the orders. States would be harmed by incurring the expense of issuing state-subsidized driver’s licenses to newly legalized residents, he ruled.

Oregon voters in 2014 overturned a state law that would have allowed illegal aliens to obtain a driver’s license.

Washington, California and 10 other states allow undocumented residents to have a license, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The New Orleans-based Circuit Court upheld Hanen’s decision in a 2-1 ruling. If the programs were allowed to go forward, states would have a hard time returning to previous policies if the plan was ruled illegal at a trial, Judge Jerry Smith wrote.

Washington state submitted a brief to the Circuit Court, foreshadowing the arguments it has made to the Supreme Court.

The Circuit Court said lost tax revenue and public safety concerns were consequences of immigration laws and that it was up to Congress to debate those issues.

The other states joining Washington, Oregon and California are Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia. The District of Columbia also signed the brief.
Read more about Washington asks Supreme Court to OK Obama immigration plan

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State AG files brief backing Obama immigration appeal

OLYMPIA — The state Attorney’s General Office has authored a friend-of-the-court brief to the U.S. Supreme Court supporting President Obama’s stalled immigration actions.

The brief comes after two lower courts this year upheld a legal challenge by Texas and other states questioning whether the president can make changes to the immigration system by executive authority.

Obama’s actions would protect from deportation an estimated 5 million people living in the United States illegally. If implemented, about 105,000 people in Washington could transition into the legal workforce, according to the brief.

“Each day that these reforms are delayed harms people who want nothing more than to come out of the shadows and live and work legally to support their families,” state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a statement. “This affects our friends, families, neighbors, and our state as a whole.”

Joining Washington on the brief were the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Information from The Associated Press was included in this report. Joseph O'Sullivan: 360-236-8268 or josullivan@seattletimes.com. On Twitter @OlympiaJoe
Read more about State AG files brief backing Obama immigration appeal

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CAUSA gets it wrong - again

Posted by Cynthia Kendoll on Fri, 12/04/2015

CAUSA, in a continuous effort to obscure the facts about their true intentions issued an open letter.

Please take a moment to read the letter and be certain to scroll to the bottom of the letter to read the names of all the elected officials that have apparently decided that violating their oath of office in order to serve at the will of illegal aliens instead of their American citizen constituents is just fine.

As President of OFIR, I have written a response to the letter which was published in the Medford Mail Tribune.

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