Dems say "No" to Big Fines for Employers Hiring Illegals

From Hot Air, posted by Allahpundit (1-26-2007): "Jeff Sessions, a member of the “party of big business,” wanted to jack up the minimum penalty by a factor of 20. That put our new majority in a bit of a pickle: are they the party of the working man or the party of “the undocumented”? Can’t really be both, as Kaus has pointed out repeatedly. So they had to choose. And they chose." Read the full story here. And from The Washington Times posted by Charles Hurt (1-26-2007): "Sen. Jeff Sessions, Alabama Republican, offered the amendment to the bill now being debated that would increase the federal minimum wage. Ridding the economy of illegal aliens, he argued, would do far more to help low-income wage earners than simply raising the minimum wage. Not only do aliens displace U.S. citizens in the work force, he said, they also artificially suppress wages. "Our whole purpose of the minimum-wage act is to increase the wages of working Americans, particularly low-skilled workers," Mr. Sessions said. "That's a noble goal." One of the reasons "that those salaries have lagged behind is because of a large influx of illegal immigrant labor," he said. "That is indisputable, and it's not been discussed much here. People apparently don't want to talk about it, but we're going to talk about it." Read the full story at Alien Hiring Fine Fails on Hill. Technorati Tags: Illegals Minimum Wage Illegal Aliens Border Safety Protecting our Borders Border Control Senator Jeff Sessions