Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
158698964
label
Immigration
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
158698964
contentType
document
title
Immigration
citationUrl
collections
Records of the Office of the Chief of Staff (Clinton Administration)
George Stephanopoulos's Subject Files
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
158698964
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
otherTitles
42-t-2641926-20110582F-005-013-2019
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
mediaId
0843f47938c82fb1
ocrText
FOIA Number: 2011-0582-F
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the William J. Clinton
Presidential Library Staff.
Collection/Record Group:
Clinton Presidential Records
Subgroup/Office of Origin:
Chief of Staff
Series/Staff Member:
George Stephanopoulos
Subseries:
OA/ID Number:
5848
FolderID:
Folder Title:
Immigration
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
S
22
2
3
1
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
1
December 9, 1994
MEMORANDUM FOR GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS
FROM:
RAHM EMANUEL
333
SUBJECT: IMMIGRATION POLICY
Ron Klain has finally rested control of the development of immigration policy from INS, as
you and I discussed last week.
By the middle of next week we should have the outline of our immigration legislation which
will reflect our immigration policy. Until then Ron has put together an immigration agenda.
001/005
09/28/94 18:45
9am Imm.
nitg.
The White House
Washington
FAX COVER SHEET
OFFICE OF DOMESTIC POLICY
Old Executive Office Building
Washington. DC 20500
TO: George Stephangpaulos
FAX No: 66703
FROM: Steve Warnath
DATE:
NUMBER OF PAGES (Including cover sheet)
COMMENTS:
FXI- Carol thought that this might
be helpful to you. It will
certainly be shortened + revised for
Friday, but it should give you a bit
more 9 an idea of where we are Thanks,
002/005
09/28/94
18:46
DRAFT -- DO NOT DISTRIBUTE -- FOR INTERNAL DISCUSSION PURPOSES
ONLY
ENFORCING EMPLOYER SANCTIONS TALKING POINTS
TWO CENERAL POINTS:
#1 -- - WE HAVE NOT SEEN THE COMMISSION'S SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS
BEFORE TODAY. IT IS DIFFICULT AND IRRESPONSIBLE TO RESPOND IN
DETAIL TO THESE RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT COMPLEX ISSUES WITHOUT A
FULL REVIEW. THEREFORE, NOW THAT THE COMMISSION'S
RECOMMENDATIONS HAVE BEEN RELEASED, WE WANT TO STUDY THEM CLOSELY
AND LOOK TO IMPLEMENT THOSE THAT ARE FEASIBLE AND CONSISTENT WITH
THE ADMINISTRATION'S OVERALL COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY FOR FIGHTING
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.
#2 -- - EMPLOYER SANCTIONS IS ONLY ONE PART OF THE ADMINISTRATION'S
LARGER COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO FIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
SPECIFIC POINTS:
Employee verification is a serious problem -- The Clinton
Administration is responding. Jobs in the United States is a
powerful lure for illegal immigration. Employee verification was
intended to solve this, but it is clear that the present system
of employee verification has not worked well. It has been
compromised by vast fraud and always unacceptable discrimination.
The time has arrived to seriously address these problems.
The Administration will address three major problems: first,
many employers have ignored the law and continue to hire aliens
who are not authorized to work in the U.S.; second, there is now
a brisk market in fraudulent documents to prove work
authorization; and third, there is no reliable means for
employers to ascertain if documents are valid and the job
applicant is authorized to work. The following is our strategy:
1) Tough enforcement of employer sanctions -- targeting
employers who abuse employer sanctions laws: We will focus our
investigative resources on those industries that historically
employ illegal labor.
The INS will launch new investigations of
industries that traditionally have been the
worst violators of the sanctions law.
INS will add new staff dedicated to
employer sanction enforcement and free senior
investigators to pursue cases involving
organized counterfeiting activities and other
more serious criminal violations.
The Department of Labor will undertake a
serice of new initiatives for enforcement of
09/28/94
18:47
existing labor law violations, especially
focusing on industries of historically high
immigration violations.
2)
Eliminating fraudulent documents: We will develop a better,
more fraud-resistant work authorization verification strategy.
We will move to make documents as tamper-resistant, counterfeit-
proof, and cost effective as they can be.
The Administration has taken action to reduce the
number of documents from 29 to 16 in the next fiscal
year. We will propose legislation next year to reduce
the number of acceptable documents to four or five and
to make them as tamper-resistant, counterfeit-proof,
and cost effective as possible.
We will add investigators and lawyers to combat
document counterfeiters.
The Administration will convene a process with States
and localities impacted by this problem to address how
to make state and local documents such as birth
certificates and drivers licenses more fraud-resistant
and to increase cooperation with federal efforts to
enforce employer sanctions.
3)
Developing reliable, fast, & accurate verification
We will improve the relevant databases, particularly
at INS. to ensure that employers can ascertain the
employment authorization of job applicants quickly and
easily. These efforts are already underway and they
will be accelerated.
We plan to expand testing of the telephone
verification system for employers. To determine how
best to address the complex issues of employee
verification, the relevant Executive Departments and
Agencies will test ways to improve the employment
verification system under the law. They will be
instructed to accelerate efforts to expand existing
pilot programs that have shown promise and add small-
scale pilots that will help us learn how to make
employer sanctions effective. This will be a priority
project of our reinventing government program.
PROTECTING OUR CITIZENS BY BATTLING DISCRIMINATION
The Administration is absolutely committed to stopping
illegal immigration. But this cannot be done at the price of the
civil rights and liberties of those lawfully within our borders.
This Administration is concerned that employer sanctions
enforcement can result in discrimination against citizens and
legal immigrants who are or appear to be foreign-born. Thus, our
004,005
09/28/94
18:48
initiative will also include vigilant action to protect against
discrimination and exploitation of workers. This includes:
The Office of Special Counsel for immigration-related
unfair employment practices will expand its efforts to
investigate and prosecute employers who discriminate
against "foreign-sounding" and "foreign-looking" work-
authorized individuals.
Education to end discrimination: Wc will increase
the number of personnel and other resources to educate
employers about the anti-discrimination requirements of
the employer sanctions laws.
BACKGROUND ON ADMINISTRATION ACTION RE: EMPLOYER SANCTIONS ISSUE
In 1986 Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control
Act (IRCA). IRCA required employers to hire only those persons
who are legally authorized to work in the United States and
instituted penalties for employers who employ illegal aliens. As
a result of this law, employers are required to determine the
immigration status of employees -- to verify that every applicant
for employment is authorized to work in the United States.
This Administration already has instituted or expanded a number
of programs designed to test, within the constraints of the
system as currently funded, better ways to make the system fraud-
resistant and protect all Americans from discrimination. For
example:
Phase I of a Tolephone Verification System Pilot
(TVS) has been successfully completed. This
demonstration project enabled nine employers to verify
the employment authorization of each newly hired alien
employee by tclephone. Employer response to Phase I of
TVS was very positive, and a second phase is currently
being developed involving more employers.
Projects in five cities already offer employers a
phone number that could be called to verify the
validity of a Social Security number.
New, more fraud-resistant "green" cards including the
person's photograph, signature, fingerprint and other
security measures are replacing older cards which lack
these features.
INS is working closely with the State of California
to check immigration status for driver's license
applicants.
005/005
09/28/94
18:48
The Social Security Administration is testing and
practicing new fraud-resistant practices including:
[incert]
Federal prosecutors filed the first felony indictment
issued under IRCA against an employer in Southern
California for accepting fake Social Security, alien
registration and temporary resident cards.
RE: NATIONAL I.D. CARD
The Administration and the Commission agree that we
must reassess and significantly improve the present
system for employment verification. There is also
common ground in the Commission's recommendation for
the development of a simpler, more fraud-resistant
system for verifying aliens' authorization to work.
This Administration opposes a national identification
card -- one that every individual within our border --
citizen or not -- would be required to carry at all
times for multiple identification purposes and which
would contain a photograph, fingerprints and other
personal information. Current immigration law
prohibits such a national identification card. We also
oppose the establishment of a national citizens
registry.
Such a national identification card
is not necessary to combat the
problem of illegal immigration
It is not fiscally responsible --
It would cost an enormous amount
for all citizens
A national citizen's database that
would be queried for every work
application, it would likely
require the establishment of a
large new buresucracy
There are privecy concerns involved
with a national citizens registry.
9am Thurs
Hold
mtg.
many
September 28, 1994
as
MEMORANDUM TO LEON PANETTA
From:
Rahm Emanuel
Subject: Immigration
CC: Harold Ickes
George Stephanopoulos
Throughout the next ten days there will be an acceleration of
immigration stories in the national media due to the following
events: a) the release of Barbara Jordan's Bipartisan Commission
Immigration Report, b) the testimony of Administration officials
before Congress and c) the political issues raised in the
California gubernatorial race with repect to immigration.
So far, we had the announcement of Operation Gate Keeper on
Thursday in San Diego and D.C. It received a lot of coverage in
the San Diego media market and we expect additional coverage to
focus on the dramatic display of agents, lights, and telescopes
on the border this weekend. (Also, when the first two days are
complete, we plan to hold a conference call and release a report
of the first 48-hours).
The advantage of this program is that it shows the Administration
in a forceful stance on immigration: it presents an image of the
I.N.S. forcefully dealing with the problem.
Upcoming events
There are three cumbersome interdependent events that require our
attention:
I. The release of Barbara Jordan's Bipartisan Commission Report
on Immigration.
II. The release of the President's annual status report on
immigration.
III. Coordinating Administration testimony before Congress on
Monday or Tuesday.
I.
JORDAN REPORT
There is significant agreement between our position and the
recommendations of the Jordan Report. We agree with 95 percent
of its general recommendations and our primary disagreement is
with two specific suggestions: a) a registration database, and
b) a national identification card.
Our response
There are three ways to deal with these items that need to be
decided by Friday:
1.
Disagree with them, but attempt to keep the focus on
our record.
2.
Agree with the registration database, but disagree with
the identification card.
3.
Blurring the difference - welcome the report and say
that we will take all of its recommendations under
consideration as we prepare our 1995 immigration
legislation.
We are presently inclined to disagree with both recommendations
(option 1). However, this will call attention to these two
issues and narrow the debate on immigration to focus on the
disagreements rather than the agreements and our record to date.
Timing
We must decide by Friday how we will respond to the Jordan Report
for the following reasons:
- Although the report is officially released early next
week, Barbara Jordan will be speaking to the National Press
Club on Friday.
- Our posture on these points will be quickly subsumed into
the California gubernatorial campaign.
- Members of the Administration will be testifying next
week at the Mazzoli hearings.
Immediate action
Barbara Jordan has apparently requested a meeting with the
President or the Chief of Staff. I recommend that the Chief of
Staff meet with her by Friday thereby sending the message that we
have talked with her about the report that we requested before
she announces her recommendations to the public.
II. PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL REPORT
The eight chapters of the President's report contrast the
inaction of this problem by previous administrations with our
actions. The central theme is that we have taken aggressive
action on immigration, it is a problem we inherited due to the
neglect of our predecessors, but we are moving forward.
At issue is whether or not we want to include a ninth chapter
that makes recommendations for the future. We could outline what
other steps we will take, but it is not required and it goes
beyond the intended scope of the report. The purpose of the
report is to provide a status update of the Administration's
immigration policy.
Unless our recommendations include significant steps, I recommend
that we not have a ninth chapter.
(There is no legal requirement to discuss our future plans,
however, given the existence of Jordan's report there is a
communications requirement.)
III. TESTIMONY OF ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS
It is crucial that we have an internal agreement on our strategy
and policy by Friday so we can coordinate our message.
We are currently working on a broad outline, but the specifics
need to be decided in order to complete it.
COMMUNICATIONS GOAL
The Communications goal for the week of October 3rd should be to
highlight the following events:
- Operation Gate Keeper - highlight the success. Discuss it as a
needed and dramatic response.
- Administration's immigration policy - state the aggressiveness
of the Administration's program to date and the fact that we
inherited the problem due to past neglect.
- Barbara Jordan's meeting with the Chief of Staff - that she is
reporting to us, and that her recommendations are under
consideration.
- Administration's position on the Jordan Report (once it is
decided)
TUES. 7:30am
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
December 9, 1994
MEMORANDUM FOR GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS
FROM:
RAHM EMANUEL RE
SUBJECT: IMMIGRATION POLICY
Ron Klain has finally rested control of the development of immigration policy from INS, as
you and I discussed last week.
By the middle of next week we should have the outline of our immigration legislation which
will reflect our immigration policy. Until then Ron has put together an immigration agenda.
H
Need to buy
mts.
to 7:30 Tuesday
4
002
Office of the Attorney General
Washington. B.O. 20530
December 6, 1995
MEMORANDUM FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL
FROM:
RON KLAIN
2AC
SUBJECT:
SOUTHWEST BORDER INITIATIVE
In light of the Attorney General's meeting this morning
with Sen. Feinstein, you asked for my views on our next steps
on this issue.
I believe what we are most lacking is an overall message;
in the absence of any other proposal, I would suggest that our
overriding message would be that we have a plan to put 2000
border patrol agents in California by the end of the next
fiscal year and to have 5000 border patrol agents nationally in
this time frame. Specifically, here is my ten-point plan for
implementing this agenda:
1. FY 95 Allocation of Border Resources. In lieu of INS
proposed plan, I would suggest the following allocation:
California
300 agents
Arizona
100 agents
El Paso
100 agents
(NM=50/TX=50)
Del Rio
80 agents
Laredo
60 agents
McAllen
60 agents
Resources for Land Border Inspectors and other related
efforts would be allocated similarly.
2. Announcement of FY95 Allocations. The AG would announce
these allocations in each of the relevant jurisdiction,
reinstating her trip to California that the INS had
pressed to have cancelled. Thus, the AG's trip on 12/14-
15-16 would include stops in Northern California, Southern
California, Arizona, El Paso, and Brownsville, Texas.
12/08/94
11:32
202 514 1724
DOJ-OAAG
0003
3. Proposed FY96 Border Initiative. We would reconfigure the
INS's proposed $300 million FY96 initiative, and resubmit
it to OMB. In broad stroke, the initiative would be:
-- Border Control: A total of $210 million, for:
800 new border patrol agents (400 for
California, 300 for Texas/NM, 100 for Arizona)
with support ($90 million) ;
Technology & facilities for above ($20 million) i
550 land border inspectors and related
technology and support ($70 million) ;
Interior repatriation, intelligence, and anti-
smuggling efforts ($30 million).
--
National Registry: An initial expense of $40 million
to get this moving.
Employer Sanctions: We would hire 200 new agents to
enforce these laws (with support) ($25 million).
-- Criminal Deportations: We would boost our program to
deport criminal aliens ($25 million)
4. Legislative Agenda for Next Year. We would move swiftly
and boldly to propose new legislation, that would:
-- Make it possible to have a border patrol force in
California that doubles in size from FY92 to end of
FY96 -- overall, a 50% increase in border patrol
agents in that five year period (from 3500 to 5200) ;
-- Adopt, in full, the recommendations of the Jordan
Commission -- including a national registry;
-- Cut off all public benefits to adult illegal aliens,
other than emergency health care and prenatal care;
-- Allow information taken from benefit applicants to be
used by INS -- but insure that no information taken
from children could be used for that purpose;
-- Toughen laws against discrimination against U.S.
citizens, including an expansion of public
accommodation laws to cover retailers.
-- Toughen penalties and controls for smuggling;
-- Impose a border crossing fee of $1, with all revenues
going to border control;
Obviously, other proposals may also be included in this
package as they are developed.
2
12/08/94
11:32
202 514 1724
DOJ-OAAG
toon
5. Benefits Policy/Intervention in Prop 187 Litigation. We
would intervene in the lawsuit against 187, in an effort
to help overturn this unconstitutional enactment. At the
same time, we would announce those portions of our
immigration legislative initiative that are relevant;
i.e., proposals to cut off benefits to adult illegal
aliens, while having a policy of intelligent compassion
with respect to children.
6. Feinstein Relations. In addition, I would propose that we
work most closely with Senator Feinstein to insure that we
have a joint bill (Administration-Feinstein) for her
introduction on January 4th. In general, virtually
everything in the Feinstein package is something we have
supported in the past.
7. Getting Tougher with Mexico. In the past month, all of
our movement has been towards accomodation of Mexican
concerns. This should be reversed. I think we should
arrange for high-level meetings between the AG and Mexican
officials to press our agenda on immigration control.
8. Public Announcement of FV96 Budget Proposal. Once OMB
approves our FY96 initiative, we should plan another AG
trip to California to announce it -- this would probably
be in late January. (Also, on this trip, the AG would
announce her new Southwest Border commander (see below) )
The thrust of this announcement would be that we have a
plan to take us from 990 border patrol agents in
California in FY92 to having 2000 by the end of FY96 --
and from 3500 border patrol agents nationally in FY92 up
to 5200 by the end of FY96.
9. Southwest Border Commander. The AG would name a new
"Southwest Border Commander" -- an individual to
coordinate our overall enforcement efforts on the border.
This Commander's offices would be headquartered in
California, with her splitting time between the border
area itself and Washington.
10. Monthly California Trips. In addition to the two AG trips
to California proposed for the next two months, we would
commit that one of our other top two leaders in this area
-- Jamie Gorelick or Doris Meissner -- would make a trip
each month to California, each time with a strong
enforcement message. (Each trip would include a Northern
California and a Southern California stop.) Possible
themes for these trips would be:
3
12/08/94
11:33
202 514 1724
DOJ-OAAG
1005
December: Denial of benefits to asylum applicants;
January: Gatekeeper's success in holiday period;
enforcement of anti-discrimination laws;
February: Legislative proposals for this Congress;
March: Enhanced employer sanctions enforcement;
April: Border force now up by 450 over FY92 level --
possible addition of 150 from interior checkpoints;
May: New "Operation" to tighten efforts at ports-of-
entry; more land border inspectors.
June: Progress on deportations of criminal aliens;
July: Passage of new Immigration Bill (hopefully);
August: Progress with Mexico in border control;
September: Employment verification system now at 100
employment sites in California -- progress towards a
national registry;
October: One-year Gatekeeper anniversary.
Obviously, these themes would be adjusted as events and
developments merit changes. But the objective would be to
have each month, a coherent, month-long focus by the
Commissioner and other DOJ/INS personnel in our dealings
with California.
4
09/21/94
21:08
202 514 9368
ODAG
CHIEF OF STAFF
002
Office of the Attorney General
Washington, D. C. 20530
September 21, 1994
The Honorable Pete Wilson
State Capitol
Sacramento, California 95814
Dear Governor:
The President asked that I respond promptly to your letter
requesting that he declare a state of immigration emergency in
California and access the Immigration Emergency Fund.
Upon taking office over a year and a half ago, this
Administration immediately responded to California's immigration
crisis. It was apparent that decades of neglect had left our
Border Patrol without the tools or the manpower to control the
border. Additionally, when it was economically advantageous,
many in California supported an open-door policy to immigration -
- to assure a plentiful supply of agricultural and industrial
workers. What we discovered over a year ago was a flow of
illegal immigrants into the State that had continued unabated for
years. At the time, few in public office were even concerned
about this problem.
For 18 months we have been hard at work. We launched a
serious multi-year plan to strengthen border enforcement. We
have installed fencing and lighting, have greatly augmented the
equipment available to the Border Patrol, and by the end of next
year, will have increased by 60% the number of Border Patrol
agents on the line at the California border. While we have begun
to make progress, we continue to regard the problem of illegal
immigration into California as a matter of the greatest concern.
We have committed -- and will continue to commit -- more
resources to fighting illegal immigration than any previous
Administration.
Last year, the President and I worked in cooperation with
Congress to amass new resources for an unprecedented, further
enforcement effort at the California-Mexico border. As I
announced in Los Angeles last Saturday, we are now prepared to
launch Operation Gatekeeper, a plan to dramatically stem the flow
of illegal immigration at the California border.
In addition to controlling illegal immigration on the
border, we also anticipate sending an unparalleled sum to
California within the next 100 days to reimburse the state for
the cost of incarcerating criminal aliens. Thanks to the
President's Crime Bill, $130 million is available this year --
and the Crime Bill authorizes $1.8 billion over six years -- to
reimburse states for this purpose. I am especially grateful
that many leaders in your state worked hard to get this bill
passed, so that these funds -- which far exceed the entire
balance of the Immigration Emergency Fund -- can be disbursed
soon. This Administration also proposed and supported higher
funding for reimbursement on Medicaid and education.
Let me now address your stated intent to request
reimbursement from the Immigration Emergency Fund. As you know,
the Fund was created by Congress in 1986; a 1990 amendment
authorized the Attorney General to release up to $20 million from
the Fund to state and local governments under certain conditions
for costs relating to aiding the Attorney General in the
administration of the immigration laws. When I assumed office, I
discovered that no prior Administration had ever promulgated
regulations to implement access to the Fund. We did so. Last
June we published final regulations and have received two
applications to date.
Notably, neither the State of California nor any of its
subdivisions has filed an application for reimbursement from the
Immigration Emergency Fund. The State and/or any local
jurisdiction may apply at any time. There is no need for a
presidential or other declaration of a state of emergency in
order to trigger eligibility for reimbursement.
Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding California's
experience with immigration. We look forward to a continuing
partnership to address the significant and historic problems we
face controlling illegal immigration into your state.
Sincerely,
Donald L. Fowler
Christopher J. Dodd
National Chair
General Chair
MEMO TO: Mike McCurry
Harold Ickes
Sandy Berger
George Stephanopoulos
FROM:
Donald L. Fowler D
RE:
Immigration Policy Affecting Cuban-Americans
DATE:
May 23, 1995
Recently, I had a conference with a number of Cuban-Americans including Congressman Bob
Menendez. In addition to a number of matters that were of interest to them, they raised two
points that were particularly meaningful.
In discussing the President's new policy on immigration from Cuba, the President and
other Administration officials should point out that the President remains committed to
the Cuban Democracy Act. According to Congressman Menendez, this is a matter of
particular concern to Cuban-Americans and one that would softened the political impact
of his new policy towards immigrants. Congressman Menendez also offered and seemed
eager to consult with the President of matters of concern to Cuban-Americans.
Menendez, unlike other Cuban-Americans members of Congress, is from New Jersey.
They seemed to be terribly concerned that HIB visas for educated and talented
immigrants have been deliberately cut by 50% or more. This seems to be a deliberate
policy on the part of the Administration and one which Cuban-Americans look at with
a great deal of disapproval.
If I can be of any help to you please let me know.
Democratic Party Headquarters
430 South Capitol Street, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
202.863.8000
FAX: 202.863.8174
Paid for by the Democratic National Committee. Contributions to the Democratic National Committee are not tax deductible.