U.S. Veteran Ask Senator Bennet To Help Stop Deporting Veterans

Stop deporting U.S. veterans
Bring Deported Veterans Home

Manuel and Valente Valenzuela fought in Viet Nam.  Years later, after applying to renew their driver's licenses, little could they know they would have to fight the very country for which they offered their lives to during the Viet Nam war.

The Valenzeula Brothers ask the White House to issue an executive order to halt the deportation of veterans and to bring deported veterans home.

Both brothers put their lives on the line in active duty.  Valente arrived in 'Nam just after the Tet Offensive.  His brother came later. Valente was recruited by a special services division.  He says he cannot talk about what he was required to do, even to this date.  However, the activities give him nightmares.

Manuel was part of a team that rescued soldiers in trouble.  Both he and Valente got into the thick of fighting in support of an unpopular war.  

When they returned to the U.S. they had human waste tossed on them.  There was no respect for the sacrifice soldiers had been making.  After living in the U.S. nearly all of their lives, they each went to the Driver's License bureau to renew their licenses.  It was post 911, and the country had changed.

Manuel hid his notice of removal for fear it would devastate his brother and closest friend, Valente.  Little did Manuel know, Valente had also hid his notice of removal.  Soon, the secret was out and both Valenzuela brothers were in a fight for their right to stay in the country for which they fought.

The brothers want the President to issue an executive order halting the deportation of veterans and to bring those veterans who have been deported, home.

Breaking - Obama Requests Emergency Stay For DAPA, DACA

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The Department of Justice will ask for an emergency stay to halt the injunction issued by a Texas judge against the Obama immigration order called Deferred Action For Parental Accountability, or DAPA, and an expanded form of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, called "expanded DACA".

White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, says the stay will be applied for no later than Monday.  The stay is likely in addition to the appeal of the injunction issued by Texas judge, Andrew Hanen.

Applying for a stay of an injunction, which is a request to halt the temporary halting, of the Obama order, is risky.  If the stay is not granted, then the failure to get a stay of the Texas injunction could set the tone for the appeal to the Hanen decision as well as to opposition to the lawsuit which gave rise to the decision.

Obstacles to getting the stay are the Conservative nature of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as the fact a stay is usually only applicable to maintaining the status quo pending litigation.  The Hanen decision maintains the status quo, and a stay of the injunction would actually allow for substantial changes to the status quo.  Finally, the movement for immigration reform will gain nothing if the 5th Circuit agrees with the Hanen decision that undocumented immigrants, which conservative media incorrectly categorize as "illegal immigrants", don't deserve protection.

The Hanen decision painted the Obama executive order as a states rights versus federal rights issue.  Hanen said the federal government was abdicating it's responsibilities to enforce immigration laws set by Congress and granting immigrants a certain entitlement or right to be in the U.S. for at least a 3 year period.  Hanen found the state of Texas had standing to sue because Texas citizens would be forced to pay for the cost of granting driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants who took advantage of the law.  Texas citizens would be irreparably harmed because of the cost of granting driver's licenses and because it would be very difficult to recall those licenses once they were granted, or "unscramble the egg".  Further, harm to undocumented people was not a concern in an administrative law decision because they were "illegal", said Hanen.

Other states willingly grant licenses to undocumented people, including Washington State, New Mexico and Colorado.  The state of Colorado is sitting on over $100,000 in excess immigrant license fees which state Republicans refuse to release for the license program.  In short, some states have made significant profits by issuing licenses to undocumented immigrants.

Not applying for the stay is just as risky.  If a stay is not issued, few immigrants will be able to apply for the program even if the Hanen decision is eventually overturned before President Obama leaves office.  If the DAPA and expanded DACA process continues, those who are approved would have at least a three year respite before having to face immigration consequences.  The longer it takes for the process to begin, the less time authorities will have to approve applications.

Neither conservatives nor liberals are talking about what could happen to people who apply for DACA, expanded DACA and DAPA applicants if a conservative candidate wins the White House in the next election cycle.  President Obama immediately cancelled multiple executive orders made by the Bush Administration shortly after Obama took office.  It is not unrealistic to expect the next president to take the same action, though a conservative candidate would encounter significant wrath from pro-immigration groups.  If the immigration orders are rescinded, then immigrants who apply for the order would likely be able to continue to live in the U.S. until their stay of deportation ran out, at which point they would find themselves well identified and in the deportation system unless they could find another basis to make a claim to remain in the U.S.

The best solution for immigrants is comprehensive immigration reform.  Senator Michael Bennet, (D-Colo) called for the House to pass the reform bill the senate sent to it and for the nation to look for long term solutions to the immigration problem in the U.S.

Because no other form of relief is available to the majority of the nation's undocumented immigrants, the majority of Latino advocacy groups support the executive order for DAPA and DACA.

E-Verify Making Positive Gains, House Republicans Set Immigrants Back

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E-Verify, an electronic system to verify the legal status of an employee, is making positive gains with many employers, according to a survey.  E-Verify assists employers to determine the employee has legal status to work in the U.S.

The survey found:

E-Verify is easy to use and customers are overwhelmingly positive when describing their experience with the program. 

Almost all E-Verify employers believe that E-Verify is effective (92 percent) and perceive it to be highly accurate (89 percent).

Overall, 97 percent of E-Verify employers agree that the system is user friendly. 

Almost all E-Verify employers agree that the mandatory tutorial adequately prepared them to use E-Verify (93 percent). 

Almost all E-Verify employers (97 percent) reported using the program for all new hires.

E-Verify

E-Verify is not a program undocumented workers like much, because the program provides rapid verification of worker status.  Some employers also oppose the service because they want a source of cheap labor and they want to avoid federal employment taxes.  

Substantial work is done by undocumented people.  This includes on farms and ranches, in construction, landscaping and other low paying jobs.  Some work is done in the technical field to make computers and dot.com companies able to offer inexpensive Internet and technical services.  There is also a large demand for unskilled workers in the health care industry, which helps reduce the costs of citizen health care.

The United Farm Workers Union put out a national invitation on a national talk show in which undocumented immigrants offered to give up their jobs in the fields for any citizen who is willing to do the hard work.  Four people applied for the program, at least one being a celebrity trying to make hay out of the event.  The only serious candidate quit before the first day was over, because the working conditions were to harsh for him.

E-Verify is probably a good idea even for undocumented people.  With comprehensive immigration reform, undocumented workers could come onto the radar and employers would be forced to pay reasonable wages and collect and pay employment taxes.  Consumers benefit as well because some ranchers are unable to obtain necessary workers and their produce rots in the ground, driving up the costs of fruits and vegetables to the consumer.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform was passed in the United States Senate, thanks to effort on the part of Senator Bennet from Colorado.  Bennet forged a hard hitting immigration bill that would have helped roughly 60% of the immigrants in the country.  Bennet was able to enlist the cooperation of conservative Republicans and together they worked out a deal that secures the border and keeps families united.  The program left out people who need to be identified the most, people with criminal records.  

From both a liberal and conservative approach, giving immigrants with criminal records one last chance in exchange for registration protects the nation by registering all people within America's borders, and allows people who traditionally have limited access to legal protection one last chance to get it right.

However, in the U.S. House of Representatives, the House leadership, under John Boehnner, is saying no to all immigrants.  Republicans hope the lobby supporting immigration reform will rebel against Democratic leaders in the next election because reform has been stalled by Republicans in the House.  Republicans have not figured out that the primarily Latino voting base knows that Republicans are manipulating their family members for political gain.

The U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, USCIS, is doing it's part to help secure the nation and to insure employers are treating workers fairly, and employers pay taxes through the E-Verify program.  The U.S. House of Representatives under conservative leadership has failed to do it's part and is playing politics with America's food and labor supply, with no regard for people who break their backs to insure produce arrives at the tables of citizens.