From: kskire@yahoo.com
Barb Nichols, Director of KIREK.I.R.E.“The rule of law is essential to the preservation of our democracy”KANSAS IMMIGRATION REFORM EFFORT35 Mohawk Drive Emporia, Kansas 66801Email: kskire@yahoo.com Phone 620-343-3289
Senators
From: Kansas Immigration Reform Effort (K.I.R.E.)Re: Support of SB 458 “The Illegal Immigration Relief Act”Dear Senator,
K.I.R.E. is a state wide, non-partisan, grassroots citizens group organized for the purpose of pursuing legislation to reform Kansas immigration laws that will protect our citizens from the dire effects of illegal immigration.
The purpose of this letter is to inform the members of the Federal & State Affairs Committee of our grave concerns regarding the presence of illegal aliens in our state and the resulting devastating effects upon our citizens and our way of life.
I want to emphasize that K.I.R.E. fully supports legal immigration and the contributions made by those who have come here through legal channels and by their hardworking efforts have become legal and productive citizens of our society. However, our concern is with those who have sneaked across our borders, bankrupting our health care facilities, overloading our educational systems, taking jobs from our citizens, overwhelming our social benefits and causing our taxes to skyrocket in order to fund all of these affected systems. This is unfair and unacceptable to the citizens of Kansas and legal immigrants who have worked hard for everything we have built only to have it destroyed by those who have broken our laws.
As the Director of K.I.R.E., I can assure this Committee that I have always been and always will be a strong advocate of small business which I believe to be the backbone of our economy. But those of us who are consumers of the products and services provided by our businesses, must not be forgotten in the effort to scratch out a living during difficult economic times.
K.I.R.E. requests the Federal & State Affairs Committee to support SB 458 “The Illegal Immigration Relief Act” which includes the following five initiatives:· Prohibits public and private employment of illegal aliens· Mandates employer registration and use of the Homeland Security E-Verify System for all new employees· Makes employment identify fraud a crime· Terminates public assistance benefits to aliens not lawfully present in the United States· Facilitates state and local police assisting the federal government in the enforcement of the federal immigration laws through verification of the immigration status of arrested individuals and incarcerated individuals, and strengthens driver’s license security by making the expiration date the same as the visa expiration date in cases of aliens possessing nonimmigrant visas.
With the states surrounding Kansas passing tough legislation or in the process of doing so, puts us in a position of being a magnet for illegal aliens fleeing those states. The responsible thing to do is pass tough legislation of our own that will provide for and protect the citizens of this great state.
The following is an excerpt from the Federal Immigration and Nationality Act Section 8 USC 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv)(b)(iii) which addresses hiring or harboring illegal aliens. I also refer you to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals which upheld the convictions of a Florida retail store owner and his accountant (defendants) who employed illegal aliens in violation of this law. (United States of America V Khanani, 10th Cir, 90 EPD 42,984
“Any person who….encourages or induces an alien to….reside….knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such….residence is….in violation of law, shall be punished as provided….for each alien in respect to whom such a violation occurs….fined under title 18….imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.”
Section 274 felonies under the Federal Immigration and Nationality Act, INA 274A(a)(1)(A) A person (including a group of persons, business, organization, or local government commits a Federal felony when she or he:· assists an alien s/he should reasonably know is illegally in the U.S. or who lacks employment authorization, bytransporting, sheltering, or assisting him or her to obtain employment, or· encourages that alien to remain in the U.S. by referring him or her to an employer or by acting as employer or agent for an employer in any way, or· knowingly assists illegal aliens due to personal convictions.
Penalties upon conviction include criminal fines, imprisonment, and forfeiture of vehicles and real property used to commit the crime. Anyone employing or contracting with an illegal alien without verifying his or her work authorization status is guilty of a misdemeanor. Aliens and employers violating immigration laws are subject to arrest, detention, and seizure of their vehicles or property. In addition, individuals or entities who engage in racketeering enterprises that commit (or conspire to commit) immigration-related felonies are subject to private civil suits for treble damages and injunctive relief.
E-Verify, under the auspices of Homeland Security, has set in place a system whereby employers can, by registering with E-Verify, insure that they have made every effort to determine that any new employees they hire are legally authorized to work in the United States. It is free, quick and easy. Homeland Security’s web page, on the “How do I (employer) use E-Verify page, states that “while participation in E-Verify does not provide protection from worksite enforcement, an employer who verifies work authorization under E-Verify is presumed to have not knowingly hired an unauthorized alien.”
The 10th amendment of our Constitution reads “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” We, the people, have the right to expect our duly elected officials to pass laws that will protect our lives and property. We must not allow our desire to enhance the bottom dollar of our businesses by hiring cheap labor thereby exposing our citizens to danger and in the process cheating our own citizens out of jobs that illegal aliens will do for less money.
It has been said “A nation which chooses to NOT enforce it’s laws, will soon find it CANNOT enforce it’s laws.” Without laws we have no freedom.
The rule of law is absolutely essential to the preservation of our democracy Ignoring our laws will result in anarchy. It is a fact that Federal law already exists which forbids the hiring or harboring of illegal aliens. The passage of SB 458 will provide a means of protecting the citizens of Kansas and help Kansas businesses to stay in compliance with Federal laws.
K.I.R.E. is respectfully requesting the members of the Federal & State Affairs Committee to vote to send SB 458 out of committee and to the Senate floor for debate.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation on this vitally important issue.
Most Sincerely,
Barb Nichols
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
Delicious ideas to please the pickiest eaters. Watch the video on AOL Living.