Rep. David Dreier, who survived re-election last fall amid accusations he is soft on illegal immigration, introduced two immigration reform bills Tuesday to bolster the security of Social Security cards and to ease the immigration case backlog in federal courts...

The first bill would require the Social Security Administration to issue Social Security cards with photos on them, as well as an electronic identification strip for employers to verify the legal status of prospective employees through a national database...

The bill, called the Illegal Immigration Enforcement and Social Security Protection Act of 2005, also increases penalties for employers who hire illegal aliens from a maximum of $10,000 to $50,000. It also makes the hiring of a known illegal worker a federal offense punishable by up to five years in prison per count instead of a total of five years.

The bill would also add 10,000 new Homeland Security personnel to ensure employer compliance.

Also called the Bonner Plan, the bill is supported by the nationwide Border Patrol union...

The second bill introduced by Dreier, the Citizens and Legal Immigrants (CALI) Act, aims to address the backlog of immigration cases by reinstating the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit as the sole venue for challenges to alien-removal orders, Maney said...

...On Tuesday, some Latino activists criticized Dreier's legislation as pandering to political forces.

"In very simple and open language ... he allowed himself to be used as a pawn by these powerful nativist forces that have been pressuring him,' said Armando Navarro, a professor of ethnic studies at UC Riverside.

Dreier was targeted as a political sacrifice by talk show hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou from KFI-AM'S "The John and Ken Show' before the November election for his record on illegal immigration.