|
Banned
|
The "Real ID Act" will be passed next week, pointing out again to people who voted for this administration and legislative represenatives that you are complicit and culpable for the damage it does in this country and in the world. Please reevaluate what you want your government to do, because it is our government, too, and it is destroying the principles that it is supposed to stand for.
Quote:
http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story...5-04-05&cat=AN
By BILL STRAUB
Scripps Howard News Service
May 04, 2005
WASHINGTON - A bill endorsed by the Bush administration that would set rules for states that issue driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants could come to a vote in the House Thursday and appears well on its way to becoming law.
Under a compromise between House and Senate negotiators, states would be limited to providing special permits that identify the holder as an illegal alien. Anyone possessing the license would not be permitted to proffer it as identification to board an airplane or enter a federal building.
Proponents assert the change is necessary to further bolster U.S. security while addressing what they view as a growing crisis in illegal immigration.
Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., the House Judiciary Committee chairman and the measure's prime sponsor, said it will, if passed, protect U.S. citizens from terrorists, drug smugglers, alien gangs and violent criminals.
"This legislation is aimed at preventing another 9/11-type attack by disrupting terrorist travel and bolstering our border security," he said. "Giving driver's licenses that can be used as identification to anyone, regardless of whether they are here legally or whether we know who they really are, is an open invitation for terrorists and criminals to exploit."
But Angela Kelley - deputy director of the National Immigration Forum, a Washington-based, pro-immigrant advocacy organization - said the bill is "misguided, ineffective and distracts the immigration debate from what we really need to be doing, which is fixing the broken system comprehensively."..
............. Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind., chairman of the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims, said during a Wednesday hearing that "our nation's immigration policy has not operated in the best interests of American workers, at least over the last few years."
"Native-born Americans have not seen any increase in employment in recent years," Hostettler said. "In fact, the number of jobs they hold has decreased. At the same time, the number of employed immigrants has risen substantially."
Despite the potential deleterious impact on American jobs, President Bush continues to push for the creation of a guest worker program that would permit undocumented immigrants to hold a job and even apply for American citizenship.......
|
Last november, Florida voters by a margin of 7 to 3, passed a referendum that refuted Bush's efforts to keep wages depressed via his immigration policies. Bush's immigration policy is unAmerican, and anti worker. Grass roots organizers had to bypass Bush's bro and the Fla. legislature to make progress.
Quote:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...home-headlines
An estimated 399,000 workers _ less than 5 percent of the state's 8.5 million-person work force _ will benefit when Florida's minimum wage jumps to $6.15 an hour, a dollar above the federal minimum wage. The minimum wage will be indexed to inflation each year.
Seven out of 10 voters in November approved the constitutional amendment boosting the minimum wage. The change was led by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now and marked the community organization's first major statewide victory since starting operations in Florida three years ago. The group plans to operate a hot line for workers to call if their employers aren't adjusting to the wage increase.
|
Quote:
http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/Safe...ID=18112&c=206
.......The House sent the Real ID Act to the Senate as part of a "must pass" appropriations measure for the war in Iraq and tsunami relief. Despite objections from Senators that such sweeping changes should not happen without thorough review, House Republican leaders are pushing to keep Real ID in the final conference report. The ACLU noted that neither chamber has held hearings or held thorough discussions on the measure.
The ACLU has been joined in opposition to the Real ID act by a myriad of groups, including the National Association of Evangelicals, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the National Council of State Legislatures, the National Governors Association and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.
The act goes against international law and allows government officials to demand written "corroboration" from those seeking asylum. For instance, a Chinese woman seeking asylum after being forced to have an abortion could be required to obtain proof of her abuse from the doctors who performed the procedure.
Additionally, the Real ID Act would waive all state and federal laws to give the Department of Homeland Security unconditional authority to build barriers along the entire border -- placing private property in the hands of federal agents for a "land grab" for national security purposes.
The act also takes us one step closer to a national ID, and a "show us your papers" society by forcing states to link their databases -- containing every licensed driver’s personal information -- with other states and with Canada and Mexico. The act includes no guidelines as to who will have access to that information.
"The Real ID Act would undermine the changes made to drivers’ licenses last year by the intelligence reform legislation," said Timothy H. Sparapani, an ACLU Legislative Counsel. "Even now, an independent panel is examining the issue of drivers licenses. Their work would be in vain if Real ID passes. Congress must reject it."
|
Quote:
http://www.theunionleader.com/articl...?article=53899
THE REAL ID Act, passed 261-161 in the U.S. House in February, includes a complex array of provisions its sponsor says are designed to catch terrorists, but which seem more pointedly focused on curbing illegal immigration. That’s not a bad thing, but this bill goes about it the wrong way.
One provision states: “Before issuing a driver’s license or identification card to a person, the State shall verify, with the issuing agency, the issuance, validity, and completeness of each document required to be presented by the person. . .”
Those required documents are: a photo ID, proof of one’s date of birth, proof of one’s Social Security number or proof of ineligibility for one, and proof of residence.
Most states already require proof of citizenship and residency before granting a driver’s license. But under this provision, DMV clerks would have to presume that all documents showing citizenship and residency are invalid, then spend as long as it takes to verify them. More than half of New Hampshire residents were born in other states. DMV clerks here would have to contact other states to verify birth certificates, then contact landlords, mortgage companies and utility companies to verify proof of residency. Think lines at the DMV are bad now? Just wait.
Under current law, state and federal officials have about three-and-a-half years to develop and make operational a set of standards for verifying the identity of driver’s license applicants. The REAL ID Act would replace that law with a set of mandates from Washington with no input from the states, and require that it all get done in three years — just a few months earlier than the collaborative effort that involves state officials...............
|
|