Gallegly bills would fight illegal immigration

U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly (RThousand Oaks) recently introduced six bills in Congress to fight illegal immigration in the U.S.

"A top priority for this new Congress and any Congress, for that matter, should be to reduce the high levels of illegal immigrants entering this nation," Gallegly said.

The bills are designed to remove incentives for immigrants to enter the U.S. illegally, bring fairness to federal immigration laws, and close loopholes that illegal immigrants use to flout U.S. laws.

The Identity Theft Notification Act of 2007 would require the Social Security Administration to investigate if it receives W-2 forms with the same Social Security number but different addresses. If the Social Security Administration finds evidence of fraudulent activity, it is required to notify both the Department of Homeland Security and the legal possessor of the Social Security number. This will enable innocent people to take steps to protect their credit and identity good name.

The Employment Eligibility Verification and Anti-Identity Theft Act would require workers to resolve discrepancies if their names and Social Security numbers do not match. Employers would have to terminate workers who do not resolve discrepancies. The Social Security Administration also would be required to notify the Department of Homeland Security so it can investigate whether a crime has been committed.

The Citizenship Reform Act of 2007 would bring U.S. laws into line with virtually every other nation by requiring that at least one parent be a citizen or permanent resident for a child to automatically become a citizen.

Additionally, Gallegly introduced a bill that will make current U.S. immigration law fairer. Under current law, an illegal immigrant who leaves the country faces a bar of up to three years if he has been in the country illegally for more than six months and a 10-year bar if he has been here illegally for more than a year. However, if an illegal immigrant never leaves the country but applies to adjust his status, he faces no reentry prohibitions. The proposed legislation provides that all illegal immigrants face the same penalty, even if they are eligible for a change in status.

The final two bills would criminalize actions common among illegal immigrants.

Many illegal immigrants who are apprehended and agree to voluntarily depart either fail to leave or leave only to return. The new bill would make it a felony, with a mandatory oneyear jail sentence, for illegal immigrants to agree to leave and then either fail to leave or return illegally.

The sixth bill would make it a felony, with a mandatory oneyear jail sentence, when illegal immigrants ignore the law and refuse to appear in court when ordered.