“We are having a much more realistic and fruitful conversation about employment verification because Republicans are back at the table willing to talk sensibly about how to move forward.”
Washington, DC –(ENEWSPF)–February 28, 2013. Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) commented on yesterday’s House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security hearing on electronic employment verification systems like E-Verify. Rep. Gutierrez, who is Chairman of the Task Force on Immigration of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, recently rejoined the Judiciary Committee and the Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee in order to work on immigration reform. He is traveling on Friday to Florida and on Saturday to New Jersey for a series of immigration events and plans trips later this month to Texas and California to meet with local Members of Congress, their constituents, and anyone who wants to have their voice heard as Congress deliberates immigration reform.
The following is a statement by Rep. Gutierrez:
“Today’s hearing is remarkable because we are talking about employment verification systems in their proper context. We are discussing how to actually make them work and work for American workers with the right sorts of protections and appeals processes that make sure any errors are corrected in a timely manner. And we are talking about electronic verification systems as part of a broader reform that legalizes the current workforce and allows for legal immigration in the future.
“For the last decade, the bills I have written and co-sponsored with Senators McCain and Kennedy and Flake and others have had mandatory electronic verification systems as part of the broader reforms because whatever system we devise must have integrity and enforcement. But for the last decade or more, Republicans have only been willing to discuss E-Verify as a stand-alone issue, isolated from other reforms of our immigration system like legal immigration and legalization. Those times are changing and we are having a much more realistic and fruitful conversation about employment verification because Republicans are back at the table willing to talk sensibly about how to move forward.”
Source: Guiterrez.house.gov
