Obama Goes After Companies That Hire Illegals, And Fox News

by William Teach | October 23, 2009 8:41 am

One should never follow praise with criticism, so, let’s start with the latest in the White House’s War On Fox New, perhaps knows as Operation Domestic Contingency. Doug Ross reports[1]

Today the White House stepped up its attack on Fox News, announcing that the network would no longer be able to conduct interviews with officials as a member of the Press Pool. The Pool is a five-member group consisting of ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC organized by the White House Correspondents Association. Its membership is not subject to oversight by the government.

Fortunately, the rest of the press pool stood up to Hugo Chavez, er, Barack Obama, and said that would not work. So, as Doug points out, the reporters were limited to a two minute interview each, instead of the standard whine, in a (typical) petulant act. Regardless of what one thinks of Fox News, this is the behavior of a dictator in waiting.

On to the good[2]

ICE has launched a new initiative to audit hiring records and I-9s — the form every new hire fills out to verify identity and employment eligibility — of current and past employees.

Last year, 503 companies nationwide received inspection notices. This year, Homeland Security notified 652 companies in one day.

“It is one of those things causing indigestion among the employment community,” said George Ports with Capital Associated Industries Inc., an employer association in North Carolina with approximately 1,000 members.

I have to give the Obama administration kudos for this. We could probably dig in to their motives, but, regardless, this is something that opponents of illegal immigration have been yammering about for a long time: if you want to stop most of the illegals, you have to go after the companies who hire them, and make it painful to the offenders.

Tony Asion, director of the statewide advocacy group El Pueblo, says he’s already hearing of unintended consequences.

“What (companies) do is deny the job (to a Latino), and it could very well be to a legal U.S.-born Latino who is here,” he said.

It could be a legal immigrant, able to work. Perhaps if people like Asion would stop backing the “rights” of illegals, there wouldn’t be so much bias.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove[3]