essential worker immigration coalition

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Essential Worker Immigration Coalition

A group of businesses dedicated to pushing comprehensive immigration reform, aka amnesty. Headed by Laura Reiff. Current or former co-chairman is Randel Johnson, also of the US Chamber of Commerce. A co-director is/was John Gay of the National Restaurant Association.

As of 06/25/2007 this was their list of members (from ewic.org/Membershiplist.asp, which as of 6/24/10 no longer exists):

* American Health Care Association
* American Hotel and Lodging Association
* American Immigration Lawyers Association
* American Meat Institute
* American Nursery and Landscape Association
* American Road and Transportation Builders Association
* American Staffing Association
* American Subcontractors Association, Inc.
* Associated Builders and Contractors
* Associated General Contractors
* Building Service Contractors Association International
* California Landscape Contractors Association
* California Professional Association of Specialty Contractors (CALPASC)
* Carlson Hotels Worldwide and Radisson
* Carlson Restaurants Worldwide and TGI Friday's
* Farm Equipment Wholesalers Association
* Federation of Employers and Workers of America
* First Data
* Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
* Harborside Healthcare Corporation
* Ingersoll Rand
* International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions
* International Franchise Association
* Marriott International, Inc.
* Mason Contractors Association of America
* Nath Companies
* National Association for Home Care
* National Association of Chain Drug Stores
* National Association of Home Builders
* National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds
* National Chicken Council
* National Club Association
* National Council of Chain Restaurants
* National Restaurant Association
* National Retail Federation
* National Roofing Contractors Association
* National Tooling and Machining Association
* National Wooden Pallet and Container Association
* Outdoor Amusement Business Association
* Pilgrims Pride Corporation
* Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors - National Association
* Professional Landcare Network
* Retail Industry Leaders Association
* Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council
* Society of American Florists
* The Brickman Group, Ltd.
* Travel Business Roundtable
* Travel Industry Association of America
* Tree Care Industry Association
* Truckload Carriers Association
* Tyson Foods, Inc.
* United Fresh Produce Association
* US Chamber of Commerce

Last modified Jun 24, 2010
Discussed in (click each link for the full post):

Napolitano immigration meeting: you weren't represented (vast # of loose borders groups, Obama/Janet anti-287g) - 08/20/09

Earlier today, Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security held a closed-door meeting with a group of what she calls "stakeholders" (dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1250792978709.shtm) but was actually a vast pantheon (see below) of far-left, racial power, corrupt business, and in general loose borders groups all of which want some form of comprehensive immigration reform, aka amnesty. There were at least 98 participants in the meeting, and none of them represent your interests or the interests of the great majority of American citizens. Why exactly they'd hold the meeting isn't clear;...

Grover Norquist group's loony libertarian immigration ideas - 06/01/09

On Friday, RedState front-paged the Brian Johnson article "Conservative Immigration Reform is Right Next to Unicorns and Leprechauns" [1]. At first you might think he's just some random libertarian loon, until you see the article in its original location at the "Alliance for Worker Freedom" [2].

U.S. Chamber of Commerce: $10 million for lobbying in 1Q 2009, including twelve lobbyists on immigration - 05/15/09

The US Chamber of Commerce spent almost $10 million on lobbying in the first quarter of 2009 for all issues combined. The Associated Press enumerates the issues here: The government's $700 billion financial rescue package and Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, were among the high-profile issues the Chamber lobbied on during the first quarter... The group also lobbied on: union organizing, wage discrimination, the children's health insurance program, transportation and port infrastructure, travel restrictions to Cuba, pension security, medical liability reform, greenhouse gas standards,...

AFL-CIO, ACLU, NILC sue DHS over no-match letters; EWIC - 08/30/07

From this: ...a lawsuit filed against the Department of Homeland Security this week contends that the new rules are discriminatory and will lead to mass firings of legal workers. Even United States citizens will face discrimination if they look or sound foreign, according to the suit. Filed in a San Francisco federal court this week, the 17-page complaint [link] also names the Social Security Administration as a defendant because it says letters informing businesses of discrepancies between employee records and the agency's database would violate worker’s rights and impose burdensome...

EWIC, NILC have a scheme to block DHS no-match push - 08/15/07

From this, we receive word that Laura Reiff of the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition tried to block funding for the recently announced supposed push by the DHS to enforce the Social Security number no-match regulations. They apparently didn't find anyone willing to help them out, so, together with attorney Monica Guizar from the National Immigration Law Center, they're trying a new tack: Among the ideas under consideration are seeking approval of a resolution under the Congressional Review Act, a rarely used tool that allows Congress to review and overrule regulations, or raising the...

White House TWP illegal alien amnesty PowerPoint presentation - 03/29/07

U.S. News has uploaded a PowerPoint presentation the White House has regarding their new illegal alien amnesty scheme in this PDF file. Even by the abysmally low standard of other Bush administration plans, this is idiotic. Most of the provisions in there would not appeal to even the most cravenly corrupt Democrat, so this isn't a good bargaining ploy. And, it allows the far-left illegal immigration supporters (see the Kevin Appleby quote below) and racial power groups to portray the Bush administration as a bunch of meanies, which doesn't seem to square with their supposed play for the "...

Adam Nagourney doesn't confront GOP candidates on immigration politics - 03/19/07

Adam Nagourney of the New York Times (with assistance from Rachel Swarns) offers "G.O.P. Candidates Confront Immigration Politics". Despite being two screens long, we're only told that GOP candidates are facing the ire of Iowa voters regarding immigration matters, but we aren't given much in the way of specifics. And, Nagourney doesn't attempt to ask Senator John McCain or others any tough questions that would reveal the flaws in their positions. About the only slight news in the piece is that McCain is backing away from Kennedy-McCain, and instead is moving towards a scheme similar to that...

New York Times throws cold water on guest worker schemes - 02/28/07

Steven Greenhouse of the New York Times offers "Low Pay and Broken Promises Greet Guest Workers", which details several Thai and Indonesian workers getting ripped off after being brought to the U.S. as "guest" workers. One group is suing labor contractors and erstwhile employers. I don't know exactly what the NYT is getting at here. Perhaps they favor "guest" worker schemes, but they just want to make sure their future serfs are treated fairly. Or, perhaps they've joined the "legalization for all even if they just snuck over the border five minutes ago" brigade. But, whatever it is, let's...

Kennedy-McCain illegal alien amnesty nearing completion; business, racial groups - 02/22/07

From this: Senators and lobbyists are putting the final touches on a comprehensive immigration-reform bill that includes an easier citizenship path for illegal aliens and weaker enforcement provisions than were in the highly criticized legislation that the Senate approved last year. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who ardently supports citizenship rights for illegals, will introduce the bill as early as next week, according to Senate sources knowledgeable about the negotiations. If the Senate Judiciary Committee can make quick work of the bill, it could be ready for...

Lobbying for immigration "reform" - 01/29/07

Mike Madden of Gannett News has a brief round-up of the money that was spent lobbying for and against immigration "reform" in 2005 and the first part of 2006 here. According to a Gannett study, $3.3 million was spent in that period, and most of that was the pro side. They also mention the Center for Responsive Politics. Their raw data is here, but it looks like some of the dollar figures might include all lobbying an organization does, not just that related to immigration. A sidebar shows some of those lobbying for and against the Senate amnesty. On the against side were NumbersUSA,...

EWIC, U.S. C of C blocked DHS "no-match" regulation? - 01/11/07

Via this Dan Stein says: Representatives of the Essential Workers [Immigration] Coalition (see their member roster: [[Essential Workers [Immigration] Coalition]]) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have asserted that they have successfully sabotaged implementation of a proposed DHS regulation which would require employers who receive 'no-match' letters from the Social Security Administration to correct the discrepancy, or be considered to have "constructive knowledge" of unlawful hiring of illegal aliens at their business. On a January 11, 2006 teleconference for immigration lawyers...

Mike Madden/Gannett News, and the Amnesty All Stars - 12/31/06

Mike Madden of Gannett News/USA Today offers "Advocates hope new Congress will act on immigration reform", the latest in a long line of similar articles (Tim Gaynor/Reuters: "Democrats' win spurs hope of immigration revamp", the NYT editorial "Signs of Hope on Immigration", Boston Herald wants to "resolve immigration reform", etc.) Certainly, the views of the other side are to a certain extent worth listening to, but one wonders whether six opponents of amnesty have been featured in their own article. Madden informs us that "[m]illions of immigrants marched from coast to coast demanding new...

Big Business Balks at Bush Propaganda Plan - 08/29/05

President Bush has created the Orwellian-named "Americans for Border and Economic Security" to push for his massive guest worker amnesty scheme. Now, Bloomberg reports, Big Business is balking at the plan: ..."There is a reluctance to sign up for something that might turn out not to be the type of immigration reform bill we want to see," said John Gay [1], who runs a coalition in support of guest-worker programs that includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, First Data Corp. and Marriott International Inc. Republican lobbyists including Ed Gillespie, the party's former national chairman, and...

Miami Herald "endorses indentured servitude" - 03/22/04

That's what the Stein Report says regarding the Miami Herald's editorial supporting the AgJobs bill ('A win-win for growers, farmworkers, America'). That bill would provide an amnesty for half a million illegal aliens. As history shows, amnesties simply lead to more illegal immigration. One amnesty leads to more illegal immigration, which requires another amnesty, which leads to more illegal immigration, repeat. As for the claim that the editorial supports indentured servitude, judge for yourself: ...AgJobs sets up a process by which illegal immigrants already working in agriculture could...