During consideration of the health care reform bill (H.R. 3200), the House Ways & Means Committee rejected an amendment that would have helped ensure illegal aliens would not receive taxpayer-funded health care benefits. The amendment, offered by Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV), would have required the government to verify that enrollees in the ""public plan"" and applicants for ""affordability credits"" are not illegal aliens. Eligibility verification would have been determined by using existing databases — the Income and Eligibility Verification System (IEVS) and the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system. (Congressional Quarterly, July 16, 2009; See also FAIR's Press Release, July 22, 2009). The Heller amendment would have addressed many of the same concerns that FAIR raised last week about whether illegal aliens would be able to receive taxpayer-funded health care benefits. (See FAIR''s Legislative [[Update], July 20, 2009). Speaking in support of his amendment, Congressman Heller stated: ""Requiring citizenship verification for enrollment would ensure only citizens and legal residents receive taxpayer funded healthcare."" (Representative Heller's Press Release, July 16, 2009). Opponents suggested that Heller's amendment was unnecessary because Section 246 of the bill states: ""Nothing … shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States."" (Legislative Text, Section 246). Critics of this language correctly point out that: (1) Section 246 only applies to affordability credits, which are the subsidies to help people pay for enrolling in a private health insurance plan, but will not prevent illegal aliens from enrolling in the government-run, taxpayer financed public option health plan; and (2) with respect to enrollment in private health insurance plans, Section 246 does not contain any meaningful verification procedures to ensure that illegal aliens do not receive subsidies paid for by American taxpayers. Accordingly, although the bill contains a provision limiting eligibility for the affordability credit to those legally present, it is limited in scope and virtually meaningless in effect. Unfortunately, despite the merits of the Heller Amendment, the House Ways and Means Committee rejected it on a party-line vote, with 15 Republicans supporting and 26 Democrats opposing the amendment. (For a list of the members opposing the Heller Amendment, see FAIR's Action Alert). <This may be exactly what the illegal alien lobby is looking for. In late June, the National Council of La Raza issued a statement demanding that Congress give illegal aliens taxpayer-funded health care under this bill. (See FAIR''s Legislative[[Update], June 22, 2009). This week, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) also urged Speaker Pelosi to ensure that illegal aliens are covered by the health care reform bill. (Roll Call, July 24, 2009). According to a CHC member, the organization's leaders are not asking Speaker Pelosi to ""specifically spell something out"""""""""""""""" in the bill, but instead to seek to ensure that the bill does not actually prohibit illegal aliens from receiving benefits. ""We're pushing to include everyone in the health care bill. Everyone,"" the CHC member who asked not to be identified said. ""Sometimes if you don't say something, something happens."" (Id.).The health care legislation is now expected to move to the House Energy and Commerce Committee before it moves to the full House of Representatives.SAVE Act Reintroduced in House and Senate Last week, the ""Secure America Through Verification and Enforcement Act"" (SAVE Act) was reintroduced in both the House of Representatives by Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC) (H.R.3308) and in the Senate by Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) (S.1505). The SAVE Act would take a significant step towards true immigration reform by securing America'''s borders with fencing and technology, ending unlawful employment by imposing tougher employment verification standards on employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens, and enhancing current interior enforcement. (See: Sen. Pryor'''s Press Release, July 23, 2009).In particular, the SAVE Act would enhance security at the nation's borders by:Increasing the number of Border Patrol agents;Creating financial incentives to help recruit Border Patrol agents and emphasize the recruitment of former members of the Armed Services and Reserves; and Creating a pilot program to increase aerial surveillance, satellite, and equipment sharing between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Defense. The SAVE Act would improve worksite enforcement by:Expanding the E-Verify program and making it mandatory for all employers;Increasing monitoring of compliance by E-Verify users to ensure that employers are utilizing the system properly and in accordance with all laws and regulations;Requiring notification of individuals whose Social Security Numbers (SSNs) may have been stolen and are being fraudulently used; Providing the public information on how to report SSN theft and misuse and requiring that information on unresolved cases be shared with DHS; and
Requiring information sharing between DHS, the Social Security Administration, and the Internal Revenue Service.The SAVE Act would also improve interior enforcement by:Increasing investigative abilities of ICE by employing more agents and making grants available to certain local law enforcement agencies and
Expediting the processing and removal of illegal aliens by expanding detention capacity and increasing the number of Immigration Judges. Despite bipartisan support for Rep. Shuler''s SAVE Act in the last Congress (H.R.4088), Democratic Leadership stalled movement of the legislation by burying the bill in eight House committees. Then-Rep. Thelma Drake (R-VA) introduced a discharge petition in an effort to bring the bill to the House floor for a vote, but was unable to garner enough signatures to accomplish that objective. Prospects are unclear as to whether Democratic Leadership intends to move the SAVE Act in this Congress.Amnesty Supporters Criticize E-Verify in Senate and House Subcommittee HearingsLast week, E-Verify — the electronic employee verification system that allows employers to verify the work eligibility of their employees - was the topic at both Senate and House subcommittee hearings. (See FAIR''s E-Verify Backgrounder). The Senate Judiciary Committee''s Immigration Subcommittee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee''s Government Management, Organization, and Procurement Subcommittee heard from witnesses about the program.Despite the great strides that E-Verify has made since its inception in 1996 and its great popularity, some in Congress still question its effectiveness. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the Chairman of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, presented harsh criticism of E-Verify, calling the program ""half-hearted and flawed.""Sen. Schumer and other members of the subcommittee expressed concern about what they say is an inability of the system to detect document fraud and identity theft. Senator Schumer did not mention the vast amount of fraud the program can detect when illegal aliens attempt to gain employment by providing invalid Social Security numbers.
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