PennCustom4RP
Member
- Joined
- May 16, 2007
- Messages
- 526
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0708/09/ldt.01.html
CNN.com - Transcripts
DOBBS: Illegal aliens and their supporters, their advocates are protesting now efforts by the federal government to actually enforce immigration laws. I know that's a big change for everybody, and it's not happening in what I would consider to be either adequate or considerable scale. But nonetheless, enforcement is beginning in some quarters.
And guess what? The illegal alien lobby is now considering suing businesses that would actually comply with U.S. law. You got to love this issue.
Casey Wian has our report.
(CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): So this is what you get if you're a business that dares to comply with federal immigration law. Protesters demanding that illegal aliens be allowed to keep their job.
Activists swarmed a Dunkin' Donuts franchise in Chicago, complaining that five admitted illegal aliens workers were fired because their Social Security numbers don't match government records.
Dunkin' Donuts is one of the largest companies participating in Basic Pilot, a voluntary federal program helping businesses verify Social Security numbers. Dunkin' Donuts said "The Basic Pilot Program is in place to afford our franchisees' new employees a full and fair opportunity to resolve any questions about their eligibility to work. We believe this is the right thing to do."
Even President Bush recognized Dunkin' Donuts' efforts.
BUSH: See, it's against the law to hire somebody who's here illegally.
WIAN: Two weeks ago this Illinois soap factory gave its workers until Friday to resolve discrepancies in their Social Security numbers. Scores of workers walked off the job and picketed the factory until management agreed Thursday to negotiate.
MARTIN UNZUETA, WORKERS ORGANIZER: The problem is that they are discriminating these people. The lawyer says that's the revelation from homeland security team. I know right now, and this is only a proposal (ph).
WIAN: The Department of Homeland Security soon plans to begin aggressively enforcing laws requiring businesses to verify their workers' legal status.
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We most certainly use every enforcement tool that we have, every resource that we now available to tackle the problem, to try to do it in a way that is humane, but it makes the day-to-day tough.
WIAN: Too tough, apparently, for the illegal alien lobby.
JEANNE BUTTERFIELD, AMERICAN IMMIGRATION LAWYERS ASSOCIATION: We have 12 million undocumented people performing needed services, contributing, helping to build this great nation. And if employers can't continue to employ them because of these new regulations, we have a crisis of major proportions.
WIAN: That's right, stopping businesses and illegal aliens from breaking the law is considered by some a crisis of major proportions.
WIAN: Now others argue that the status quo, broken borders, weak enforcement of immigration laws, is the true crisis -- Lou.
DOBBS: Well, and I think that most persons would say that is precisely the crisis. And now we -- you know, we heard this group of people, these -- the immigration lawyers association, the various groups, Chamber of Commerce under Lindsey Graham, U.S. Catholic Council of Bishops say if you want border security, if you want to stop illegal immigration, you're racist.
Now they're saying that we're on the verge of economic collapse if we enforce U.S. immigration law.
Is there any point at which you would think -- is there any place in the country where they can demonstrate that there would be a collapse in the economy in if employers were to stop hiring illegally, breaking the law themselves?
WIAN: I guess the best argument for that would have to come from the agriculture sector. You know, they've complained that they're going to run out of workers, that crops are going to die in the field if they don't have illegal aliens to pick their crops. But they've only got themselves to blame. They're the ones that have not mechanized. They're the ones that have developed this illegal alien labor pool over the years. So it's hard to feel sorry for them, Lou.
DOBBS: Yes, it is. And of course, this Democratic Congress is pushing through the jobs bill, they -- which would give them more. The fact is we already have an existing agriculture guest worker program. And what the problem is they haven't followed the law and have circumvented it for so long and have created a massive problem.
So let's -- I put it straightforwardly, again, this administration, this Congress, let's use the facts. If you think that economics justifies breaking the law, if you think that the well-being of a few employers who have broken the law for decades in some cases, if you think their well-being supersedes that of the American people, then just go on record and say so.
Join the young -- the spokesman there from the immigration lawyers and say it's a crisis, because they have lawmakers and people who love to exploit illegal labor. That's what they're really saying.
WIAN: Absolutely.
DOBBS: Casey, what is the next step here? Have any of these businesses been intimidated to the point that they're going to reverse course?
WIAN: Well, we don't know if they're going to reverse course. That one soap manufacturer in Chicago, they did not return our phone calls today, because the workers say that they're actually in negotiations with the workers to try to come to some sort of compromise.
We don't know what that possibly could be, but it just shows the fact that businesses, that law enforcement, the federal government, winked and nodded at these immigration laws for more than two decades now.
So they all feel that they're entitled -- these illegal aliens feel that they're entitled to be here, and I guess you can understand why they feel that way.
DOBBS: You can understand it but you cannot understand why this administration and anyone who takes his or her oath of office seriously could permit it to continue. But, of course, taking it seriously is the critical phrase there.
Casey, thank you very much. Casey Wian from Los Angeles.
DOBBS: The results of our poll are next. Stay with us. We're coming right back.
DOBBS: Ninety-eight percent of you say you don't believe illegal aliens have the right to work in the United States. Tell -- tell them to tell your congressman.
CNN.com - Transcripts
DOBBS: Illegal aliens and their supporters, their advocates are protesting now efforts by the federal government to actually enforce immigration laws. I know that's a big change for everybody, and it's not happening in what I would consider to be either adequate or considerable scale. But nonetheless, enforcement is beginning in some quarters.
And guess what? The illegal alien lobby is now considering suing businesses that would actually comply with U.S. law. You got to love this issue.
Casey Wian has our report.
(CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): So this is what you get if you're a business that dares to comply with federal immigration law. Protesters demanding that illegal aliens be allowed to keep their job.
Activists swarmed a Dunkin' Donuts franchise in Chicago, complaining that five admitted illegal aliens workers were fired because their Social Security numbers don't match government records.
Dunkin' Donuts is one of the largest companies participating in Basic Pilot, a voluntary federal program helping businesses verify Social Security numbers. Dunkin' Donuts said "The Basic Pilot Program is in place to afford our franchisees' new employees a full and fair opportunity to resolve any questions about their eligibility to work. We believe this is the right thing to do."
Even President Bush recognized Dunkin' Donuts' efforts.
BUSH: See, it's against the law to hire somebody who's here illegally.
WIAN: Two weeks ago this Illinois soap factory gave its workers until Friday to resolve discrepancies in their Social Security numbers. Scores of workers walked off the job and picketed the factory until management agreed Thursday to negotiate.
MARTIN UNZUETA, WORKERS ORGANIZER: The problem is that they are discriminating these people. The lawyer says that's the revelation from homeland security team. I know right now, and this is only a proposal (ph).
WIAN: The Department of Homeland Security soon plans to begin aggressively enforcing laws requiring businesses to verify their workers' legal status.
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We most certainly use every enforcement tool that we have, every resource that we now available to tackle the problem, to try to do it in a way that is humane, but it makes the day-to-day tough.
WIAN: Too tough, apparently, for the illegal alien lobby.
JEANNE BUTTERFIELD, AMERICAN IMMIGRATION LAWYERS ASSOCIATION: We have 12 million undocumented people performing needed services, contributing, helping to build this great nation. And if employers can't continue to employ them because of these new regulations, we have a crisis of major proportions.
WIAN: That's right, stopping businesses and illegal aliens from breaking the law is considered by some a crisis of major proportions.
WIAN: Now others argue that the status quo, broken borders, weak enforcement of immigration laws, is the true crisis -- Lou.
DOBBS: Well, and I think that most persons would say that is precisely the crisis. And now we -- you know, we heard this group of people, these -- the immigration lawyers association, the various groups, Chamber of Commerce under Lindsey Graham, U.S. Catholic Council of Bishops say if you want border security, if you want to stop illegal immigration, you're racist.
Now they're saying that we're on the verge of economic collapse if we enforce U.S. immigration law.
Is there any point at which you would think -- is there any place in the country where they can demonstrate that there would be a collapse in the economy in if employers were to stop hiring illegally, breaking the law themselves?
WIAN: I guess the best argument for that would have to come from the agriculture sector. You know, they've complained that they're going to run out of workers, that crops are going to die in the field if they don't have illegal aliens to pick their crops. But they've only got themselves to blame. They're the ones that have not mechanized. They're the ones that have developed this illegal alien labor pool over the years. So it's hard to feel sorry for them, Lou.
DOBBS: Yes, it is. And of course, this Democratic Congress is pushing through the jobs bill, they -- which would give them more. The fact is we already have an existing agriculture guest worker program. And what the problem is they haven't followed the law and have circumvented it for so long and have created a massive problem.
So let's -- I put it straightforwardly, again, this administration, this Congress, let's use the facts. If you think that economics justifies breaking the law, if you think that the well-being of a few employers who have broken the law for decades in some cases, if you think their well-being supersedes that of the American people, then just go on record and say so.
Join the young -- the spokesman there from the immigration lawyers and say it's a crisis, because they have lawmakers and people who love to exploit illegal labor. That's what they're really saying.
WIAN: Absolutely.
DOBBS: Casey, what is the next step here? Have any of these businesses been intimidated to the point that they're going to reverse course?
WIAN: Well, we don't know if they're going to reverse course. That one soap manufacturer in Chicago, they did not return our phone calls today, because the workers say that they're actually in negotiations with the workers to try to come to some sort of compromise.
We don't know what that possibly could be, but it just shows the fact that businesses, that law enforcement, the federal government, winked and nodded at these immigration laws for more than two decades now.
So they all feel that they're entitled -- these illegal aliens feel that they're entitled to be here, and I guess you can understand why they feel that way.
DOBBS: You can understand it but you cannot understand why this administration and anyone who takes his or her oath of office seriously could permit it to continue. But, of course, taking it seriously is the critical phrase there.
Casey, thank you very much. Casey Wian from Los Angeles.
DOBBS: The results of our poll are next. Stay with us. We're coming right back.
DOBBS: Ninety-eight percent of you say you don't believe illegal aliens have the right to work in the United States. Tell -- tell them to tell your congressman.
