Labor Department Agreements Protect Illegal Workers

By Shannon Bream

Published August 31, 2011

| FoxNews.com

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis has overseen a number of signed agreements between U.S. agencies and foreign officials pledging to give migrant workers the full protections of U.S. workplace laws -- regardless of their legal status -- and she says her department will uphold them.

"No matter how you got here or how long you plan to stay, you have certain rights," Solis said at an event unveiling the latest agreements on Monday in Washington.

Solis says foreign workers need to know their rights, so that they can lodge complaints without fear that they will be fired or deported. She believes the signed agreements with countries like El Salvador and Mexico will serve to "remove those fears."

Critics of the move say the policy flies in the face of U.S. laws on both immigration and labor, and find the pledges especially worrisome in a time of high unemployment.

"Obviously everyone wants workers protected in the workplace, that's not the issue," said Phil Kent, national spokesman for Americans for Immigration Control. "The problem is the bending over backwards to help and promote black market labor."

Solis defends the agreements, saying that current U.S. law protects all workers.

"Previous administrations, both Republican and Democrat, have held to that, so I'm not doing anything different," she said.

But critics argue that regardless of which party advocates for the written agreements, the policy is wrong. They also note that the Labor Department’s own website states that businesses may only hire workers who are U.S. citizens or those who are in the country legally.

Kent says it's also a slap in the face to immigrants who try to go through proper legal channels for naturalization, saying they must ask themselves whether it’s worth it to immigrate legally.

"Why did I bother to go through six, seven years of this to become a citizen when you have people like Secretary Solis and the Obama administration just thumbing their nose at the law -- and the American worker?" Kent said, describing how legal immigrants may respond.

In addition to the agreements already signed with countries in Central America, Solis says there are also plans to enter into similar partnerships with governments in Southeast Asia and the Caribbean.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/08/31/labor-department-agreements-protect-illegal-workers/#ixzz1WfV4Jcrm

I disagree with Ms. Solis.....

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis has overseen a number of signed agreements between U.S. agencies and foreign officials pledging to give migrant workers the full protections of U.S. workplace laws -- regardless of their legal status -- and she says her department will uphold them

"REGARDLESS OF THEIR STATUS"....THEN WHAT DO WE HAVE LAWS DEALING WITH ILLEGALS FOR IF WE CAN USURP THE PURPOSE IN USING THEM? SOUNDS TO ME LIKE SOLIS IS INTERPRETING THE LAWS AS SHE SEES THEM (HOW CONVENIENT AS SHE IS LATINO) INSTEAD OF READING WHAT THE LAW ACTUALLY SAYS, AND IT LOOKS LIKE SHE WILL GET AWAY WITH DOING THAT UNTIL THE RESISTANCE WAKES UP.

Solis defends the agreements, saying that current U.S. law protects all workers HOW IN THE HELL CAN YOU HAVE A LAW THAT PROTECTS A PERSON WHO IS IN VIOLATION OF THE LAW IN BEING HERE LEGALLY IN THE FIRST PLACE. IF YOU ENTER THE COUNTRY AND DON'T GO THROUGH THE STEPS OF LEGALITY TO ENTER, HOW CAN ANYTHING YOU DO AFTER THAT BE CONSIDERED LEGAL? YOU HAVE NO RIGHTS TO BEGIN WITH, IF YOU HAVEN'T COMPLETED THE FIRST STEP. WE HAVE A LAW THAT PROTECTS A PERSON WHO BROKE THE LAW???

They also note that the Labor Department’s own website states that businesses may only hire workers who are U.S. citizens or those who are in the country legally. THEN MS. SOLIS IS IN VIOLATION OF HER OWN DEPARTMENTS POLICIES AND SHOULD RETRACT HER POSITION ON THIS. (OR OBAMA SHOULD HAVE HER REMOVED AND REPLACE HER WITH SOMEONE WHO WILL ADMINISTER THE CORRECT STANCE ON THIS) WHY DO THE POWERS THAT BE ALLOW OBAMA AND SOLIS TO CONTINUE WITH THIS NONSENSE? WHERE IS THE WASHINGTON RESISTANCE ON THIS?

In addition to the agreements already signed with countries in Central America, Solis says there are also plans to enter into similar partnerships with governments in Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. THIS WOMAN NEEDS TO BE REMOVED IMMEDIATELY AND THIS IDEA NEEDS TO BE STOPPED.

On another note................

 

Signs in Arizona warn of smuggler dangers

 

The federal government has posted signs along a major interstate highway in Arizona, more than 100 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, warning travelers the area is unsafe because of drug and alien smugglers, and a local sheriff says Mexican drug cartels now control some parts of the state.

The signs were posted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) along a 60-mile stretch of Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, a major east-west corridor linking Tucson and Phoenix with San Diego.

They warn travelers that they are entering an “active drug and human smuggling area” and they may encounter “armed criminals and smuggling vehicles traveling at high rates of speed.” Beginning less than 50 miles south of Phoenix, the signs encourage travelers to “use public lands north of Interstate 8” and to call 911 if they “see suspicious activity.”

 

Mexican drug cartels literally do control parts of Arizona,” he said. “They literally have scouts on the high points in the mountains and in the hills and they literally control movement. They have radios, they have optics, they have night-vision goggles as good as anything law enforcement has.

 

This is obummer's answer to protecting our borders?

 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/31/signs-in-arizona-warn-of-smuggler-dangers/

 

 

Excerpts from the article....

"Barack Obama has plunged the country into levels of debt that we could not have previously imagined".... NOT TRYING TO TAKE SIDES HERE AS I BELIEVE REPUBLICANS LIKE W BUSH HELPED WITH THE DEBT TOO IN FINANCING HIS WAR ON TERRORISM BUT IN ALL FAIRNESS, YA GOTTA FIND FAULT WITH BOTH PARTIES AND THEIR PRESIDENTIAL REPS OVER THE YEARS.

"unemployment is unacceptably high and looks to remain that way for most of a decade"....PROBABLY TRUE BUT HAS BEEN HIGH UNDER BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE AT VARIOUS TIMES.

"Immigration laws were ignored on the basis of compassion"...YEP. THIS IS TRUE AND IS A CANCER IN THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION THAT IS REALLY HURTING THE COUNTRY, BOTH SHORT AND LONG TERM. OBAMA IS DEAD WRONG ON HIS IMMIGRATION POLICIES. A GOOD INDICATION OF THAT IS THE ARTICLE ON THIS FORUM FROM SOLIS AND HER SUPPORT FOR ILLEGALS IN THE WORKPLACE---DEAD WRONG SOLIS.

"Welfare policies encouraged irresponsibility"...THE WELFARE PROBLEM HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO FESTER AND GROW FROM MANY YEARS AGO AND IT INVOLVES BOTH PARTIES NOT FIXING THE FRAUD AND STOPPING THE HANDOUTS TO LAZY PEOPLE. AGAIN, IT'S A "BOTH PARTIES" BLAME. WANNA CREATE SOME JOBS AND SAVE THE TAXPAYER SOME BIG BUCKS?...TRAIN THE UNEMPLOYED TO BECOME WELFARE AUDITORS DOING HOME VISITS TO WEED OUT THE FREELOADERS. WOULD BE WELL WORTH THE SALARIES AND WOULD BE PUTTING PEOPLE TO WORK FOR SOME GOVERNMENT MONEY SAVINGS FOR A CHANGE.

"Our children left school having been taught that they are exceptional and special, while great numbers of them cannot perform basic functions of mathematics and literacy"...BOTH THE LEGISLATORS, FOR STICKING THEIR NOSE IN THE BUSINESS OF THE EDUCATORS AND THE EDUCATORS ALLOWING THEM TO INTERFERE ARE MAJOR PROBLEMS HERE IMO. DUMBING DOWN, ALLOWING STUDENTS TO PASS ON TO THE NEXT GRADE WHEN THEY FAILED TO MEET THE REQ. OF THE CURRENT GRADE....TAKING DISCIPLINE AND HIGH BAR EXPECTATIONS OUT OF THE EQUATION, NOT CRACKING DOWN ON THE WEAK-MINDED PARENTS WHO LET THEIR KIDS CALL THE SHOTS AROUND THE HOUSE, ABSOLUTELY NO INTIMIDATION FACTOR IN THE SCHOOLS ANYMORE. WE HAVE BEEN TURNING OUT GENERATIONS OF LOW PERFORMING/NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME KIDS INTO THE WORLD AND THESE KIDS HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE HOW TO FUNCTION IN THAT WORLD. IT ALL STARTED, IMO, IN THE 70's.

"Criminals have been arrested and re-arrested, coddled and set free to pillage the citizenry yet again"...AGAIN, LIKE THE SCHOOLS, THE LEGAL SYSTEM HAS GONE KINDER/GENTLER AND HAS CREATED A SOCIETY THAT IS TOO LAX, TOO LAZY, TOO FORGIVING, TOO EASY ON PEOPLE WHO CHOOSE TO LIVE OUTSIDE THE LAWS. IMO, WE NEED TO START MAKING EXAMPLES OF PEOPLE AGAIN AND GOING SO FAR AS TO TELEVISE IT TO SEND A MESSAGE (AND I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE ABORTION THAT WE SAW WITH THE OJ SIMPSON TRIAL EITHER- )

"Legislators decided that people could not be trusted to defend their own homes, and stripped citizens of their rights to own firearms"...NAW, NOT REALLY. I OWN GUNS FOR HOME PROTECTION. I HAVE BEEN TO GUN AND KNIFE SHOWS ALL AROUND THE AREA. YOU CAN PURCHASE ANY TYPE OF WEAPON SUITABLE FOR HOME PROTECTION (OR CRIME) THAT YOU WISH TO HAVE WITH A WAVE OF A PICTURE ID. GO ACROSS THE AISLE AND BUY THE AMMO FOR IT TOO...NO QUESTIONS ASKED. HAVE SEEN PEOPLE CARRYING AK'S, GLOCKS, SHOTGUNS, SNIPER RIFLES OUT TO THEIR CAR TRUNK AND RETURN FOR MORE. THERE IS NO CONTROL WITH GUN OWNERSHIP AND MOST GUNS AREN'T EVEN REGISTERED. MINE AREN'T AND IT'S NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS WHAT I HAVE FOR HOME PROTECTION. IT BECOMES THEIR BUSINESS IF THE WEAPON IS USED IN A CRIME.

"We slowly learned to tolerate these outrages, shaking our heads in disbelief, and we went on with our lives.
But Barack Obama has ripped the lid off a seething cauldron of dissatisfaction and unrest.
A former Communist is given a paid government position in the White House as an advisor to the president. Auto companies are taken over by the government, and the auto workers' union - whose contracts are completely insupportable in any economic sense - is rewarded with a stake in the company. Government bails out Wall Street investment bankers and insurance companies, who pay their executives outrageous bonuses as thanks for the public support. Terrorists are read their Miranda rights and given free lawyers. And, despite overwhelming public disapproval, Barack Obama has pushed forward with a health care plan that would re-structure one-sixth of the American economy.
Literally millions of Americans have had enough. They're organizing, they're studying the Constitution and the Federalist Papers, they're reading history and case law, they're showing up at rallies and meetings, and a slew of conservative candidates are throwing their hats into the ring. Is there a revolution brewing? Yes, in the sense that there is a keen awareness that our priorities and sensibilities must be radically re-structured. Will it be a violent revolution? No. It will be done through the interpretation of the original document that has guided us for 220 "FANTASTIC" years--- the Constitution. Just as the pendulum swung to embrace political correctness and liberalism, there will be a backlash, a complete repudiation of a hundred years of nonsense. A hundred years from now, history will perceive the year 2010 as the time when America got back on the right track. And for that, we can thank Barack Hussein Obama".

YES, IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. CHANGE IS NEEDED IN THE WORST WAY. WILL IT HAPPEN IN OUR LIFETIME? PROBABLY NOT. WHY? BECAUSE WE HAVE, IN MOST OF THIS COUNTRY, WHAT WE HAVE IN MOST OF THIS CITY........APATHY. PEOPLE WILL BITCH, BUT IF THEY HAVE TO MAKE AN EFFORT TO PARTICIPATE AND GET THEIR CARCASS OFF THE COUCH AND STOP WATCHING BIG BROTHER.....FORGET IT. PRIORITIES IS PRIORITIES, DON'T CHA KNOW. ALL JMO.