Eugene weekly., June 09, 2016, Page 13, Image 13

‘It’s a new day,
this is a new America.
We have a new American Dream.’
— PHILIP CARRASCO
“Last time I checked, I think it was a 99.6 percent
satisfaction rate,” Miller says. “It’s accurate.”
According to E-Verify’s annual satisfaction survey,
published by the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the 2014
Customer Satisfaction Index calculated a score of 87 out
of 100.
Currently, 4,722 employers in Oregon hold a
memorandum of understanding with the USCIS’s E-Verify
system.
In a study of more than 30 million submissions to
E-Verify, USCIS reported automatic approvals in 98.8
percent of the cases — that's 1.2 percent with mismatches,
with a 0.18 percent approval after initial mismatch.
The greatest concern from the pro-immigration camp is
that a mismatch can be triggered by something as simple as
a spelling error, and for those who bear atypical American
“non-white” names, who are often immigrants, this can
become a barrier to employment.
While 1.2 percent of initial mismatches may seem like
a miniscule percentage, if implemented across the country,
initial mismatches could affect hundreds of thousands of
eligible workers — 1.2 percent of 300 million is over 3.5
million.
But Kendoll says a business can’t deny hiring based
on an initial mismatch, and that those who experience a
mismatch have up to three days to rectify the issue with
Social Security.
It’s true, according to the initiative, employees can
begin working before eligibility is verified, if they are hired
by a business that is licensed to employ in Oregon. And if
E-Verify triggers a mismatch, employees have the ability to
contest what is called a “tentative nonconfirmation,” while
they settle the mismatch with the federal government,
during which the employer cannot terminate employment.
While it may seem like those who proposed the initiative
have addressed the issue, it still requires businesses to
remain in an employment agreement with someone who is
unable to work due to a mismatch. This has the potential to
place a heavy burden on employers waiting on results from
the federal governments and employees unable to work.
“It will keep people who are not authorized to work
in our country from getting a job,” Kendoll says.
Carrasco says it doesn’t matter whether someone
is here legally — ultimately those who live here are
citizens paying taxes and contributing to the state’s
economy and work force.
While Carrasco is being proactive in gathering
pledges to deny the signing of all three petitions for
the initiatives proposed by Nearman, the petitioners
apparently haven’t begun gathering signatures to
support them.
According to a study titled, “Undocumented
Immigrants State and Local Tax Contributions,”
by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy,
undocumented immigrants contribute over $11 billion
annually in state and local taxes.
While they contribute significantly to tax revenues,
undocumented citizens don’t benefit from any of the
social services the taxes support — which is ironic,
considering undocumented citizens are often accused of
being a burden on tax revenues.
“It’s like that saying,” Carrasco says, “we’re
simultaneously too lazy to work and taking all the jobs.”
“I don’t believe any signatures have been gathered
outside of the sponsorship signatures,” Kendoll says.
Nevertheless, Carrasco still worries.
“It’s exhausting noticing all of this happening,”
Carrasco says. “We have a saying: ‘Once you’re woke,
you’re woke.’”
EW’s anonymous source says groups like OFIR don’t
understand that they are separating families and drafting
initiatives that make it increasingly difficult for them
to stay together. The result of proposals like these, the
source says, is “I’m always afraid I’m going to get the
call that someone made a complaint and they’re taking
my mom.”
By making it more difficult to gain employment,
families desperately attempting to stay together will be
forced to do so through less legal means.
Vote early,
vote never
IP 51 would change current voter registration methods
in Oregon by requiring in-person registration to vote in
state, federal and local elections. And it would require in-
person voting with proof of citizenship.
The initiative also would eliminate the 2015 Motor
Voter law, which automatically registers eligible voters
when they apply for the license, permit or ID card through
the DMV.
Carrasco’s organization is still campaigning against IP
51, though Republican attorney James Buchal, one of the
petition’s backers, says they’ve “torched the ballot title,
and I don’t even think they’re collecting signatures.”
Carrasco says it’s ironic that conservatives, who often
speak out against big government, are going to the federal
government for help with immigration, asking, “How does
this reduce government?”
With the primary elections ending soon, and heated
interactions between Trump and anti-Trump supporters
across the country, there’s no doubt it’s going to be an
incendiary election come November.
At first, Carrasco thought Trump was a joke. “Now, I’m
actually afraid,” he says.
Carrasco says the hate coming from the Republican
presidential campaign could be motivating local
organizations, supporters and hate groups to take action
through such things as the initiative process.
“I’m afraid of neo-Nazis and hate groups that might
actually do something,” Carrasco says of what “Trump’s
rhetoric inspires.”
Still, Carrasco says he doesn’t plan to let up on raising
awareness and mobilizing his community against petitions
that he says are based in hate.
“It’s a new day, this is a new America,” Carrasco says.
“We have a new American Dream.”
Editor's Note: The cover graffiti is taken from slurs experienced by
immigrants. "Respect are [sic] country, speak English" is from a Tea Party
protest sign.
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eugeneweekly.com • June 9, 2016
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