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Carney, Hackett bump heads over immigration
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BY COULTER JONES
TIMES SHAMROCK WRITER
America’s immigration policy and its enforcement arm is broken, the candidates in the 10th Congressional District agree. What’s the first step in fixing it is where they differ.
Rep. Chris Carney, D-Dimock Township, and his Republican opponent agree on many aspects of America’s immigration policy. Both men support making English the national language. Neither support any type of “amnesty” for illegal immigrants currently in the county, and both Hackett and Carney say the support increasing the number of illegal immigrants allowed into the United States. Both men say illegal immigrants should have to leave the country before legally applying for citizenship, that those immigrants should be given a pathway to citizenship but only after leaving the country first.
“This is not the NFL you don’t get to be a citizen by having two feet in bounds,” Carney said. “We are a nation of laws.”
Carney said America’s biggest problems with immigration is the country’s borders, particularly its southern one with Mexico, and the shortage of federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents to enforce the law. Hackett agreed the U.S. border needs to be secured, but called for a reform overhaul that would give employers a better chance to clearly identify those illegal workers before hiring them.
“We need a comprehensive overhaul of the entire system so that there is an objective way to hold employers accountable,” Hackett said.
Hackett continued, saying that America’s immigration policy doesn’t address the country’s needs. America’s shortage of engineers, for example, should mean the country gives greater weight to immigrants with those sorts of skills. He said he supports increasing the number of legal immigrants, if the country followed a more market-based approach and not “arbitrary caps.”
The Immigration Act of 1990 helped establish the current immigration policy. That act capped the annual number of immigrants at 700,000 and it emphasized family reunification.
“As we move toward an information age very quickly, a knowledge-based economy, attracting the best and brightest of the world to our economy will only make us better,” he said. “We should continue to have that forward looking approach.”
Carney didn’t disagree with a merit-based system, saying that the country’s shortage of nurses, for example could be shored in up in part by immigration. He also agreed with an increase for the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country. The problem in part, he said, is that existing laws are not being enforced.
“Immigration policy in the United States is broken, partly because it has not been enforced. The IRCA laws from the 80s have been ignored. We’ve had this pass� sort of acceptance of illegal immigrants in this country doing work that according to many employers they can’t get citizens to do. I sort of reject that notion actually. Part of the problem there are jobs for them. I think employers need to be addressed. They need to live up to the laws.”
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 made it illegal for anyone to knowingly hire or recruit illegal immigrants. It also legalized undocumented workers who had lived continuously in the county since at least 1982 — or provided amnesty to those people. Both men disagreed with any type of amnesty program.
Carney is chairman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Subcommittee on Management Investigations and Oversight. In that role he has visited construction of Project 28 in Southern Arizona, part of the Secure Border Initiative, for a proposed system of walls and electronic surveillance along the U.S-Mexico border. The project, proposed by President George Bush before Carney took office, has been over budget and inadequate in many ways according to the Government Accountability Office. Carney said the project has since improved but it shows the need for increased agents and better managed technology.
“The border patrol has done an amazing job given the resources they are given,” Carney said. “The administration has promised a lot of border security and provided very little. We need more agents on the border and the technology needs to work. I’ve worked in counterterrorism for years, my problem is with not knowing where they are and who they are once they enter this country.”
Hackett agreed with increased border enforcement, but said the current system doesn’t provide adequate tools for business owners do identify illegal workers.
“I think first and foremost we need to provide the tools for employers so they can more effectively comply with the law,” Hackett said. “Right now the standard is so low, from a hiring perspective, it’s a good faith judgment.”
Hackett called for a biometric identification card that anyone who worked in the United States would need to provide. In his businesses, OneSource Staffing Solutions among them, Hackett said his employees use Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program, an online database to verify documents.
“That’s not perfect either, if someone is forging documents,” he said.
Hackett said if there is an objectively accountable system, then he would support a mult-tiered fine system for employers who hire illegal immigrants, beginning with a fine of 5 percent of total payroll of the illegal immigrant workers. The second offense would be up to 10 percent of that payroll and the third offense would be criminal charges, Hackett said.
Carney’s campaign is running advertisements critical of Hackett’s harsh stance on illegal immigration, and drawing attention to an incident involving an illegal immigrant at Hackett’s Back Mountain home.
During his GOP primary battle Hackett admitted to hiring an illegal immigrant, but said he fired her as soon as he found out about her illegal status. Hackett didn’t turn the woman in and wouldn’t release her name.
“I clearly believe that Chris Carney crossed the line in attacking my wife in his my most recent ad and I think that sort of negative campaigning has no business in politics,” Hackett said. “The truth of the matter is, these campaigns should be about the issues. They shouldn’t be about lies or untruths or personal attacks. I find it very disappointing that Chris Carney is doing just that.”
Carney said the ad is relevant because it is a key issue in the race.
“It is an important issue— where he stands on illegal immigration in his personal life,” he said.
Hackett contended that Carney’s premise is entirely wrong. As a business owner, Hackett said, he has an on-the-ground perspective of how broken the current system is and how “difficult it is for businesses to comply with the immigration law requirements.”
“I think it’s ridiculous for Chris Carney to suggest, of all things, that I wouldn’t have a deep understanding of how immigration laws work from a hiring perspective,” he said, adding that while Carney was in office in 2007, Congress failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
“Immigration is a great example of how this Congress and Chris Carney have done nothing to deal with the challenges that our nation faces,” he said.
Rep. Chris Carney, D-Dimock Township, and his Republican opponent agree on many aspects of America’s immigration policy. Both men support making English the national language. Neither support any type of “amnesty” for illegal immigrants currently in the county, and both Hackett and Carney say the support increasing the number of illegal immigrants allowed into the United States. Both men say illegal immigrants should have to leave the country before legally applying for citizenship, that those immigrants should be given a pathway to citizenship but only after leaving the country first.
“This is not the NFL you don’t get to be a citizen by having two feet in bounds,” Carney said. “We are a nation of laws.”
Carney said America’s biggest problems with immigration is the country’s borders, particularly its southern one with Mexico, and the shortage of federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents to enforce the law. Hackett agreed the U.S. border needs to be secured, but called for a reform overhaul that would give employers a better chance to clearly identify those illegal workers before hiring them.
“We need a comprehensive overhaul of the entire system so that there is an objective way to hold employers accountable,” Hackett said.
Hackett continued, saying that America’s immigration policy doesn’t address the country’s needs. America’s shortage of engineers, for example, should mean the country gives greater weight to immigrants with those sorts of skills. He said he supports increasing the number of legal immigrants, if the country followed a more market-based approach and not “arbitrary caps.”
The Immigration Act of 1990 helped establish the current immigration policy. That act capped the annual number of immigrants at 700,000 and it emphasized family reunification.
“As we move toward an information age very quickly, a knowledge-based economy, attracting the best and brightest of the world to our economy will only make us better,” he said. “We should continue to have that forward looking approach.”
Carney didn’t disagree with a merit-based system, saying that the country’s shortage of nurses, for example could be shored in up in part by immigration. He also agreed with an increase for the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country. The problem in part, he said, is that existing laws are not being enforced.
“Immigration policy in the United States is broken, partly because it has not been enforced. The IRCA laws from the 80s have been ignored. We’ve had this pass� sort of acceptance of illegal immigrants in this country doing work that according to many employers they can’t get citizens to do. I sort of reject that notion actually. Part of the problem there are jobs for them. I think employers need to be addressed. They need to live up to the laws.”
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 made it illegal for anyone to knowingly hire or recruit illegal immigrants. It also legalized undocumented workers who had lived continuously in the county since at least 1982 — or provided amnesty to those people. Both men disagreed with any type of amnesty program.
Carney is chairman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Subcommittee on Management Investigations and Oversight. In that role he has visited construction of Project 28 in Southern Arizona, part of the Secure Border Initiative, for a proposed system of walls and electronic surveillance along the U.S-Mexico border. The project, proposed by President George Bush before Carney took office, has been over budget and inadequate in many ways according to the Government Accountability Office. Carney said the project has since improved but it shows the need for increased agents and better managed technology.
“The border patrol has done an amazing job given the resources they are given,” Carney said. “The administration has promised a lot of border security and provided very little. We need more agents on the border and the technology needs to work. I’ve worked in counterterrorism for years, my problem is with not knowing where they are and who they are once they enter this country.”
Hackett agreed with increased border enforcement, but said the current system doesn’t provide adequate tools for business owners do identify illegal workers.
“I think first and foremost we need to provide the tools for employers so they can more effectively comply with the law,” Hackett said. “Right now the standard is so low, from a hiring perspective, it’s a good faith judgment.”
Hackett called for a biometric identification card that anyone who worked in the United States would need to provide. In his businesses, OneSource Staffing Solutions among them, Hackett said his employees use Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program, an online database to verify documents.
“That’s not perfect either, if someone is forging documents,” he said.
Hackett said if there is an objectively accountable system, then he would support a mult-tiered fine system for employers who hire illegal immigrants, beginning with a fine of 5 percent of total payroll of the illegal immigrant workers. The second offense would be up to 10 percent of that payroll and the third offense would be criminal charges, Hackett said.
Carney’s campaign is running advertisements critical of Hackett’s harsh stance on illegal immigration, and drawing attention to an incident involving an illegal immigrant at Hackett’s Back Mountain home.
During his GOP primary battle Hackett admitted to hiring an illegal immigrant, but said he fired her as soon as he found out about her illegal status. Hackett didn’t turn the woman in and wouldn’t release her name.
“I clearly believe that Chris Carney crossed the line in attacking my wife in his my most recent ad and I think that sort of negative campaigning has no business in politics,” Hackett said. “The truth of the matter is, these campaigns should be about the issues. They shouldn’t be about lies or untruths or personal attacks. I find it very disappointing that Chris Carney is doing just that.”
Carney said the ad is relevant because it is a key issue in the race.
“It is an important issue— where he stands on illegal immigration in his personal life,” he said.
Hackett contended that Carney’s premise is entirely wrong. As a business owner, Hackett said, he has an on-the-ground perspective of how broken the current system is and how “difficult it is for businesses to comply with the immigration law requirements.”
“I think it’s ridiculous for Chris Carney to suggest, of all things, that I wouldn’t have a deep understanding of how immigration laws work from a hiring perspective,” he said, adding that while Carney was in office in 2007, Congress failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
“Immigration is a great example of how this Congress and Chris Carney have done nothing to deal with the challenges that our nation faces,” he said.
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| CORRECTION | Tying the knot the redneck way; newly wedded local couple’s wedding to be on television |
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