Napolitano Commits To Immigration Reform

By Leah Valencia, University of New Mexico- Talk Radio News Service

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano stepped up her call for immigration reform Friday, saying that while Congress has lagged on the issue, comprehensive reform is more realistic and necessary than ever before.

“Everybody recognizes that our current system isn’t working and that our immigration laws need to change,” Napolitano said in a morning address at the Center for American Progress.

Napolitano said the Obama administration will give a strong push for immigration reform in early 2010, noting that the immigration debate has changed since two years ago when it was last taken up by Congress.

“In 2007, many members of Congress said that they could support immigration reform in the future, but only if we first made significant progress securing the border,” Napolitano said.

Napolitano said DHS has proved their commitment to border law enforcement as the U.S. Border Patrol has grown to 20,000 and erected a 600 mile border fence, adding that the number of illegal immigrants trying to enter into the United States has significantly decreased.

“I’ve been dealing hands-on with immigration issues since 1993, so trust me: I know a major shift when I see one, and what I have seen makes reform far more attainable this time around,” stated Napolitano, who served as Governor of Arizona, a border state, from 2003-2009.

She specified that Immigration reform would not serve as a free path to legalization for the 12 million illegal immigrants currently living in the United States. Rather, reform would require illegal immigrants to register with DHS and pay fines and back taxes, pass criminal background checks and learn English.

“This is a task that is critical, it’s attainable and that we are fully committed to fulfill,” Napolitano said.

Homeland Security Teams With ICE To Deport Criminal Aliens

By Leah Valencia, University of New Mexico- Talk Radio News Service

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Secretary John Morton announced Thursday a new initiative to expand the ICE’s Secure Communities initiative, a program that uses biometrics, such as taking digital finger-print samplings, to identify and remove illegal immigrants that have committed crimes in the U.S.

Since its inception in October 2008, ICE's Secure Communities has identified 11,000 people who were convicted with Level 1 offenses or crimes such as murder or rape, of those 1,900 offenders have been deported from the United States.

“By the end of 2011 we project having a presence in every state,” Napolitano said. “By 2013, assuming Congress continues to fund our efforts, Secure Communities plans to expand nationwide and be available to every law enforcement agency in the country.”

Morton said the Secure Communities initiative, which was enacted one year ago, has identified more than 111,000 criminal illegal immigrants in local custody during the program's first year.

Critics say the Secure Communities initiative could be abused and result in racial profiling, explaining that a law abiding immigrant could be arrested with the sole intention of having their immigration status checked, at the discretion of a local officer.

“There is no distinction between citizen or non-citizen, every single person who is booked into a jail, gets their fingerprints checked and gets their immigration history checked,” Morton said, replying to the criticism. “This is not about, has not been and won’t be about conducting basic civil-immigration enforcement for non-criminal offenders.”

Morton noted that the goal of the initiative to identify and deport serious offenders that are dangerous, but under the initiative all illegal aliens that have committed a crime will be sent back to their country of origin.

“At the end of the day, if you are here unlawfully, not only are you deportable, but you certainly shouldn’t be committing crimes. We are going to identify those people and we are going to remove them.”

H1N1 Highlights Need For Mandatory Paid Sick Days, Says Democrat DeLauro

By Leah Valencia, University of New Mexico- Talk Radio News Service

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) urged Congress Tuesday to consider legislation that would mandate paid sick leave for employees with the H1N1 virus.

“Paid sick days have always been a good and common sense idea, but in light of the recent H1N1 epidemic it has also become a necessary one,” DeLauro said while testifying to the Senate Health, Education and Labor Pensions Committee.

According to the Department of Labor and Statistics, only one in four low wage workers have access to paid sick days. These employees often work jobs that require frequent contact with the public. Adding to the problem is the fact that many workers go into work when sick in order to maintain the income they need.

“This isn’t just a workers’ rights issue, it’s a public health emergency,” said Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.). “Families should not have to choose between staying healthy and making ends meet.”

DeLauro worked with the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) earlier this year to push the Healthy Families Act, a bill that would mandate employers to guarantee employees one hour off for every 30 hours worked, allowing employees to earn up to seven sick days a year. Such a bill is necessary now, said DeLauro.

HELP Committee Ranking member Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) said legislation that forced employers to provide paid sick days would be detrimental to small businesses that are already struggling to retain employees during economic hardships.

“Many employers are not able to maintain current payrolls, which is evidenced by the rise in unemployment,” Enzi said. “If this bill is enacted, employers will adjust somewhere either by reducing current healthcare... or by downsizing their number of employees.”

Many Republicans shared similar concerns when DeLauro and Kennedy urged passage of the bill in May. Dodd argued that given the current spread of H1N1, the bill is necessary now.

“If paid sick leave had been a reality when this pandemic began, we would be in better shape,” Dodd said. “I want it in place immediately to help parents and workers.”

Unemployment Reaches 10.2 Percent

By Leah Valencia, University of New Mexico- Talk Radio News Service

Unemployment increased to 10.2 percent in October, the highest rate since 1983, leaving Americans with 190,000 less jobs, Bureau of Labor and Statistics Commission Keith Hall told Congress in a Joint Economic Committee hearing Friday.

“The declines are much smaller and less widespread than they were last Fall and Winter,” Hall said. “Nevertheless, some industries are still experiencing notable employment decline.”

Hall told the committee that in October the heavy construction, manufacturing and retail industries have had a particularly significant decline in employment losing a combined total of 163,000 jobs.

However, he added that some industries have seen an increase in employment. Health care and help services are among the few that have added jobs, with a much smaller figure of 63,000 combined jobs.

Hall said since the recession began the number of unemployed has more than doubled to 15.7 million.

“The number of long-term unemployed remained high in October,” Hall said. “5.6 million workers have been jobless for 27 weeks or more.”

He said the increasing number of people who have become discouraged in looking for work and therefore remained unemployed have added to the problem. In October there was a reported 808,000 discouraged workers, a figure up from 484,000 last year.

“These are individuals are not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them,” Hall said.

Committee members on both side of the aisle agreed that in terms of job creation, the economy is not where it needs to be. Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said she believes the nation is on track to recovery, while Republicans argued that the Obama administration has not done enough to facilitate employment growth.

Pelosi: Amendment Clarifying Abortion Funding May Not Make It Into Health Care Bill

By Leah Valencia, University of New Mexico- Talk Radio News Service

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that the decision has not been made over whether lawmakers will be allowed to offer amendments to the Affordable Health Care for All Americans Act once it reaches chamber floor, including any amendment pertaining to abortion.

“We may not have any amendments,” Pelosi said during her weekly press conference.

Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.) and Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) along with many other pro-life democrats have threatened to oppose the bill until language barring federal funding for abortions is introduced.

Current versions of the House health care legislation do not directly address the issue of abortion, however House leaders have maintained throughout the health care debate that the bill would not allow abortions to be federally funded.

The Speaker needs 218 votes to pass the bill, including as many pro-life Democrats as possible. Pelosi said that although she knows some Democrats have strong convictions regarding abortion, she still believes in their support for health care reform.

"Congressman Ellsworth's record in Congress and his statements outside of Congress have been strongly pro-life," Pelosi said. "He and others who have strong pro-life convictions want very much to see a health care bill passed."

The House Rules Committee Friday will finalize all the rules for this weekend's House health care debate.