The Ritz Carlton White Plains Opens for Stay of All Stays December 20.

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WPCNR MAIN STREET JOURNAL. From the Ritz-Carton. November 18, 2007: The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester, the area’s only luxury hotel, has announced that it has begun taking reservations. The first guest rooms are being booked for its official public opening day of Thursday, December 20th and thereafter.


 



The Ritz Towers Distinguished by its night beacon welcomes in travelers the world over and furnishes its impeccable world class hospitality to the world  December 20


 


The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester hotel, located at Three Renaissance Square in White Plains, New York, is setting a new standard for hotels in the market.  The world-renowned hotel, making its debut in Westchester County, features 122 luxury rooms, including 38 suites, a Grand Ballroom, and meeting rooms.  The hotel also offers a BLT Steak, one of Manhattan’s hottest restaurants.  As the name Bistro Laurent Tourondel suggests, Chef Tourondel presents his adaptation of the American Steakhouse, elevating it with his signature style.



 


“Guests of The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester, will experience a hotel stay like no other, with a wealth of world-class amenities,” said Andrew Howard, The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester’s Reservations Manager. Each room is furnished with either a king bed or two double beds, designed for maximum comfort. An oversized five-fixture bathroom with separate shower and bathtub, remote control drapes, and a spacious closet with safe are standard at        The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester.


 


All rooms are equipped with a 42” LCD Flat Panel Television and DVD Player. A work desk with two-line phone and wireless Internet allows you to conduct business easily right from your room.


 


Enjoy in-room dining anytime, a fully-stocked honor bar, and two signature terry bathrobes. Housekeeping is done twice daily, and valet parking and chauffeur-driven luxury sedans and limousines are always available for guests. 


 


The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester represents a truly unique experience in luxury hotel living.


To make a reservation, at The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester, please call 914-946-5500.



About The Ritz-Carlton Company, L.L.C.


The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. of Chevy Chase, MD, currently operates 67 hotels in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.  Over 30 projects are currently underway with openings slated for China, Japan, Ireland, Dallas and Denver in 2007. The Ritz-Carlton company is the only hospitality company to have twice earned the prestigious Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award, which recognizes outstanding customer service.  For reservations, other inquiries, call (toll-free) 1.800.241.3333, a travel professional or view the website at www.ritzcarlton.com.


 

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Gary Puckett, Association Turn Back Clock at T-Hall Rock: Double Play Clicks!

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WPCNR  Record Review Board. By Big Melvin Mead of Your Saturday Night Rock N Roll Party. November 18, 2007: They’re the rock and roll show pioneers: Allan Freed,  Murray the K, Dick Clark, Sid Bernstein,  Bill Graham. Move over, cats! Welcome another legendary rock n roll show producer,  White Plains own Susan Katz of the producinest Westco Productions. Suzy The K  produced her third consecutive sell-out Gold Star Rock N Roll Double Concert Saturday night. The “Double Play”  packed the Tarrytown Music Hall with clapping-along, singing-a-long,  juking-and-jiving-along-in-the-seats  50-and-Uppies who came to groove with Gary Puckett and The Association. They made us all young again once more with hits that were new all over!


Gary Puckett at the “Giant Jukebox,” Tarrytown Music Hall performing for Westco Productions, singing Woman, Woman taking the 50-and-Uppies back into time — and sounding better than ever.



“The Men in White”: The Association making their “boss” individual solo introductions of their big rock and roll band. They knocked out a rockin medley in the nightcap that made my life flash before my eyes.



The skins were pounding, guitars flaring, the keyboards out of sight, the songs more powerful than ever.  Big bass backbeats and snappy snarly twanging lead guitars cranked the old Victorian Victrola of a theater, starting the memories  jumping, the moment  the long, tall, blonde cool one, Gary Puckett  strode on stage singing his anthem, Lady Will Power. The over 800 fans in attendance, old enough not to, started singing right along .


Mr. Puckett was personable, at ease and easy-going, and must have felt right at home in the sound enhancing old jukebox of the Music Hall. He shared memories in between songs, of sharing studios at Columbia Records with Janis Joplin, Paul Revere and the Raiders on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles in the 60s. He reminisced about his start, how he put together his military tunic uniform in Tijuana, Mexico.


 His band of keyboardist, drummer and lead guitarist laid down a robust bed for Puckett’s lusty voice on Over You,  and This Girl is a Woman Now.


Slipping into a somber mood he revived “Let’s Get Together Now” and staying in that mood, he did a very classy thing:


He asked all veterans of military service to stand up so the audience could recognize them. This was a meaningful moment with many vets standing in the lower orchestra section, while the audience applauded them, with Mr. Puckett then recognizing their sacrifice with a poignant,  meaningful ballad, Back Home.


 


His show took off when he  started snapping fingers and singing “dom da da da, dom da da da…hurt hurt” and to the audience’s delight, launched into Runaround Sue.  The audience up onto a new level when Mr. Puckett sequed into Pretty Woman with masterful base guitar interplay. We were all shifting our shoulders and clapping our hands on this baby.



Gary Puckett and his sidemen slung their guitars aside gathered to stage right, and snapping their fingers  revived the old Steam hit, Kiss Him Goodbye in a cappella style – they out do-wopped Bowser and Sha Na Na.


Snapping their fingers and shifting their feet, Gary and his boys just charmed the audience — just like the street corner doo wop boys. I asked Mr. Puckett afterwards if he was a White Sox fan, “Sha Na Na, Hey Hey, Kiss Him Goodbye” was sung after every White Sox victory in old Comiskey Park in the 1970s – but Gary said he and the boys just wanted to do the song that way. Give us more doo wop, please, boys! It was the highlight followed by his signature finale, Young Girl


 



Puckett and the gang bring the audience into a warm finale on Young Girl


 


Mr. Puckett still has the lusty voice that made his sound so unique: an overwhelming sexuality to it that still I imagine excites the female listener and observer. He is backed by a drummer that drives the music and gives a new more danceable, driving rhythm to the original Puckett anthems when they were more studio-orchestrated. Now the Puckett signature songs are  clean, crisp, thundering “driving rockers”  Mr. Puckett shared how he started rehearsing in his garage at 17. Last night he had a great big cavernous garage to work with and the vibes were everywhere!



Saturday night the Tarrytown Music Hall was one giant garage the place energized by the rockers that won’t stop a-rockin and they rock better every day. Even intermission was exciting.


At intermission, the Puckett equipment was moved off and the audience that hung out in their seats got to watch “ The Men in White” – The Association the 6-man rock band  set up their equipment. Twanging, tweaking volume pods, mixing sounds, adjusting. It was cool. It was a slow build-up of anticipation watching this legendary band get ready.


After a half hour of tinkering and adjusting (this had great cache and fascination) – they were ready…and the first song of course was “Windy” – my favorite because it reminded me of an old crush – (Jeanne Fernandez where are you today?)


Well this started out a string of songs, and inbetween,  banter and liquid free-flowing, loud rockin that entertained with (as they used to say on 77 WABC when it was MusicRadio), one great hit after another, and one great joke after another. A sample joke, introducing Walk Away Renee, and I paraphrase here:  “This song represented some of the feel of the 60s, that if you loved a person, you’ll let them go, and if they didn’t love you, you’d go out and kill em.”


Another great joke was delivered before Along Comes Mary. The lead  pointed out that this, their first hit had a hard time getting play on the radio because of its controversial lyrics, then dead-panned: “Have you heard the crap that’s on the air today?”


This was met with high amusement and applause – then into Along Comes Mary they went. Such is the instrumentation intensity of these men that again the same old songs are new again – fresh, “open house, frat party loud”  that showcase the dancing keyboardist, the maniac  pounding skins, and the elegant bass and lead guitarists. Inbetween the rockers, were  tributes to the New Christy Minstrels (Green,Green), the Mamas and the Papas(California Dreamin).


 



The Greatest Medley of them all ended The Association Set.


The Association just kept playing higher and higher cruising into an endless medley  to end all medleys, where the 60s hits kept on coming: Heard It Through the Grapevine,  My Girl The Weight, Bad Moon Rising, Joy to the World, Same Old Song – and that wasn’t all of them — it was like a fraternity open house where you just kept on dancin! The lid on the old Music Hall was lifting. “The Men in White” ended with their signature song, Windy playing after an hour straight.


The old songs sounded better than ever.  The Association’s riffs were snappy. They laid their baselines with gusto that got into your body, the beat got into your soul, and you felt young again! Everyone had a great time and the good times rolled once more.


But I do not do these songs justice. As I was walking out with the friends we went with, we were discussing how good these songs made us feel – because they captured times and feelings that all experience in one’s life and articulate real feelings right on. You feel them again with fondness, bittersweetness and wistfulness.


The songs of the 60s and early 70s were like a soundtrack to the events of those years that recreates them . They are living history.


 



Gary Puckett hung out for The Association set and signed autographs and chatted with fans after the show — one of the unique features about attending a Westco Gold Star Concert! You get to meet the legends.


 


 



Candyce Corcoran, the prominent White Plains personality with Mr. Puckett. Also seen at the old Victorian Victrola  Tarrytown Music Hall of memories were Serena and Jim Russell, and Melody and Councilman Glenn Hockley of White Plains.


 



Susan Katz and Peter Katz have staged two previous successful rock n roll double concerts and Gary Puckett and The Association was the best yet. The Gold Star Concerts are Westchester’s Best Rock! The First Lady of Westchester Theatre and the “Phantom of Westco,” Peter Katz  celebrate another successful Katz & Katz Hit.


 Coming up on the Westco Productions  Katz Memory Machine will be The New Christy Minstrels March 15, 2008 at Irvington Town Hall Theater; The Lettermen also at Irvington on April 5, and Felix Caviliere’s Rascals on May 3 – and just booked – The Fifth Dimension. Go to www.westcoproductions.org for more


 



What becomes a rock legend most? White patent leather shoes on a member of The Association. Rock N Roll Is Here to Stay in Westchester County — 50 years and still Rockin

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Your Department of Homeland Security at Work

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WPCNR FOR THE RECORD. From the Department of Homeland Security. November 17, 2007: The United States Department of Homeland Security released the following fact sheet last week detailing the tools the DHS is employing to enforce the immigration laws, protect the borders, and identify illegal works. The sheet is reprinted as follows:

Border Security and Immigration Enforcement


 Securing the Border



·        DHS has completed more than 76 miles of pedestrian fence for a total of more than 150 miles of pedestrian fence and 115 miles of vehicle fence on the Southwest border. 



·        DHS plans to build an additional 225 miles of pedestrian fence and 200 miles of vehicle fence.  We expect to have about 670 miles of total pedestrian fence and vehicle fence by the end of 2008. 



·        The Border Patrol now has roughly 15,000 agents and by the end of next year we will have more than 18,300 agents.  This doubles the size of the Border Patrol under President Bush’s leadership.   



·        The National Guard continues to support the Border Patrol under Operation Jump Start.  This partnership has been extremely productive as we work to the build the fence and train Border Patrol agents. 



·        The National Guard has assisted with the apprehension of nearly 124,000 illegal aliens and the seizure of more than 900 vehicles, 250,000 pounds of marijuana, nearly 5,000 pounds of cocaine, and more than $68,000 in currency since the start of Operation Jump Start.



·        DHS saw a more than 20 percent reduction in apprehensions of illegal aliens at the Southern border in Fiscal Year 2007.  This is an indication that there are fewer attempts to cross the border illegally. 



Interior Enforcement


 ·        In Fiscal Year 2007, U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 3,563 gang members and their associates.  This includes 1,489 criminal arrests. 


 ·        Under Operation Community Shield ICE has arrested more than 7,655 members and associates of approximately 700 different gangs.  Of those apprehended 2,444 have been charged criminally and 5,211 have been charged with immigration violations and processed for removal. 



·        Over a three month period this summer ICE arrested more than 1,300 violent street gang members and associates in 23 cities across 19 states. 


 ·        ICE has expanded its Criminal Alien Program to identify incarcerated criminal aliens.  In Fiscal Year 2007, ICE identified for removal 164,296 criminals who were incarcerated in federal, state and local facilities. 


 ·        ICE has increased its fugitive operations teams from 15 in 2005 to 75 today.  As a result, the fugitive alien population has plummeted by more than 35,000. 


 ·        ICE continues to increase worksite enforcement operations.  In Fiscal Year 2007, ICE made 863 criminal arrests and 4,077 administrative arrests for a total of 4,940 arrests. 


 ·        In Fiscal Year 2007, DHS obtained more than $30 million in criminal fines, restitutions and civil judgments as a result of worksite enforcement. 


 E-Verify



·        E-Verify is a free and simple to use Web-based system that electronically verifies the employment eligibility of newly hired employees.  For more information on E-Verify visit www.dhs.gov/E-Verify.


 ·        E-Verify works by allowing participating employers to electronically compare employee information taken from the Form I-9 (the paper based employee eligibility verification form used for all new hires) against more than 425 million records in the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) database and more than 60 million records in DHS immigration databases.  Results are returned within seconds.


 ·        Currently, more than 30,000 companies are enrolled in E-Verify.  More than 3.2 million new hires have been processed through E-Verify and usage is growing by roughly 83 percent annually.  The system is currently capable of handling up to 25 million inquiries a year.


 ·        DHS has filed a law suit against Illinois, which passed legislation that prohibits employers in their state from using E-Verify. 


 No-Match Letters


 ·        DHS issued a regulation earlier this year which outlines specific steps an employer should take if they receive a “no-match” letter from the SSA informing them they have an employee whose name and Social Security Number do not match the government records. 


 ·        The regulation sets forth clear guidance for businesses to comply with “no-match” notices and provides a safe harbor for employers who follow the guidance and perform due diligence so they are not found in violation of their legal obligations. 


 ·        The implementation of this regulation has been delayed to lawsuits filed by the ACLU and U.S. Chamber of Commerce preventing DHS from issuing “no-match” letters. 


 

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5 Days to Kickoff! Finishing Touches Put on Parker

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WPCNR PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE DAY. By the WPCNR Roving Photographer. November 17, 2007: The Photographs of the Day show the White Plains Tigers practicing on the new Field Turf at Parker Stadium for the first time. The goalposts are in. The stands are ready. Landtek, the contractor is finishing up the entrance to the stadium and grassy rotunda behind the Press Box preparing for Opening Kickoff Thursday morning Thanksgiving Day, but field, she’s ready.



Two Tigers leap for a pass in payrug at New Parker Stadium. Highlands Middle School is seen on the bluff above. Looks like, feels like real grass!



The view from the 50 yard line at Press Level. You’re higher and have a better “rake”  view at the action. Photos by the WPCNR Roving Photographer


 


 

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The Real Deal: Stationery — The Program.

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WPCNR’S THE REAL DEAL. By The Wedding Jeannie, Jeannie Uyanik. November 17, 2007 (Second Part of a Two-Part Article on “Event Stationary”): First let’s discuss the program you distribute at your “event.”  I give a wide range of advice to my brides on programs.  On one hand, many people don’t read them or they leave them on their seat at the ceremony.  On the other hand, if you’re having a religious ceremony or lots of musicians or attendants, often it’s nice to describe the traditions and point out the participants.  The program is another place where you can get really creative. 



Jeannie Uyanik, Planner to the World


The Wedding Jeannie


We’ve done scrolls, paper fans, and single cards, to multi-paged booklets with beautiful ribbons.  When it comes to quantity, a good rule of thumb is to underestimate because most people share or don’t take one and you don’t want to end up with 100 programs sitting in a basket (I’ve seen it a million times)!  Do keep in mind that the whole reason you are planning this big party is to celebrate your marriage, and the program is a lovely way to highlight that for your guests if you choose to have one.

 


 


The Pivotal Escort Card vs. Placecard


 


Once the ceremony is over, it’s time for the reception and depending on its format, you may or may not need the following items.  If you are having a seated affair, guests will need to know which table is theirs. This is usually done through an escort card.  It’s often confused with a place card. The difference: an escort card assigns you to a table; a place card assigns you to a seat at the table. Typically, we recommend using only escort cards.  Often guests get irritated if they are told to sit in a specific seat and it’s one less thing to print if you don’t use them.  Again, there’s a gamut of possibilities.  The most simple and cost effective is a standard tented card.  These can be either done through your calligrapher or through a printer.  We often use a company called www.placecards.com with our clients.


 


They offer several different papers, inks, and fonts and the pricing is ridiculously reasonable. If you want something with a dramatic flare, you can attach ribbons to your cards and hang them from an arrangement of flowering branches (although this can create difficulty in finding cards).  We’ve also done things like nestling them in wheat grass or placing them across a bed of roses.  Some couples even affix the cards to the wedding favor so people get them early in the night. 


 


But keep in mind, if you’re having a cocktail hour, your guests will have to hold whatever you’re giving them, so simple is best!  Another way to customize your escort cards is by labeling your tables with names rather than numbers.  Perhaps you and your hubby have traveled the world and want the tables to be names of your favorite cities.  Or perhaps you met in a particular city and you want to incorporate local streets, attractions and restaurants in that area. Again, the sky is the limit and in this case, your creativity isn’t costing you more money!


 


Once guests know where they are sitting, the will arrive at their table where it’s often nice to have a menu card at each place setting.  Guests are excited to see what will be on the menu!  Although it’s still done, it’s not proper etiquette to give guests a choice of entrée on the wedding invitation; it’s much better to do it at the event on a menu card.  I am a fan of the tea length card which typically measures 4” x 9”.  Its sleek long design comfortably tucks into a folded napkin where a fresh flower can be placed as well.  We’ve had couples include everything from the food to the wines to a special message.  If you’re giving a donation to a charity in lieu of a favor, it’s appropriate to mention it at the bottom.


 


Another paper product that appears at the wedding is the guestbook. 


 


Traditionally couples go out and buy a lined book and people sign it during different times in the evening. It can be a daunting and a dull activity….until now.  In recent years, guest books have made major developments.  Many people have started using beautiful art books or a book on the city they are getting married in as their guestbook.  A few companies make pieces of unfired pottery for guests to sign.  The piece is then sent back to the company where it’s fired and glazed to be used a functional piece.  The downside is, if you break it, it’s gone.


 


There’s also the Polaroid Guestbook that has custom pages that will hold a standard Polaroid picture. It can be expensive since you need to have enough film for every guest to have a picture, but it can be a fun thing to do (although its been done a lot). In keeping up with the “green” movement with weddings, our team has designed a guestbook that uses your positive RSVP cards as its pages.  Couples send in their cards, and we bind them into a beautiful custom book.  It’s a great memento of the wedding and it’s an eco-friendly way to reuse a piece of your stationery.  It’s scheduled to launch this fall.  For updates visit www.candgweddings.com .


 


Printing Cache


 


I haven’t touched on one thing that supremely affects the look, feel and cost of your stationery and that is the printing method.  I’ll just touch briefly on each as this topic is extremely vast.  The cheapest way to print is called off-set printing or lithography.  If you have many colors in your invitation or very detailed graphics, this is your best bet.  But many people find it very important for their invitations to have relief, meaning the ink can be felt when you move your finger over it.  There are a couple of options for this:  engraving and thermography. 


 


Engraving involves a process where a plate is made, which in turn makes it more expensive than thermography.  Thermography, known as the “poor man’s engraving,” is done by dusting wet ink with a powder and then heating it to create the texture. Both give you the same affect and only a trained eye can tell the difference.  The last method I’ll mention is letterpress.  It’s probably my favorite but it comes at a premium.  Actual letterpress machines aren’t produced anymore, so it’s truly an art and a rarity. Letterpress is the opposite of engraving because it produces a negative relief.  The machine literally presses images into the paper.  Recently, we had a bride that had the image of her wedding dress’s lace pressed onto the invitation.  It was spectacular!  A great designer in Chicago named Peggy Lambert produced these.  www.ericksondesign.com


 


Stationary Creates an Intangible Image


 


Stationery can be a powerful tool in creating the look of your wedding, why not optimize its power and make consistent and creative choices for every piece.  Creativity doesn’t always mean expensive. There are many companies out there that offer economical invitations that are beautiful. Make sure you touch and feel a sample before you commit.  And one last piece of advice, take your invitation to the post office and have it weighed.  Odd shapes and heavy invitations translate into extra postage.  The USPS puts out a wedding stamp set every year but make sure it’s sufficient for your exact invitation before you buy your stamps and mail your invitations.  


 


Above all, remember that your stationery should not be stationary, use it to move guests before and at the event


 


Note: Ms. Uyanik knows all kinds of events! Got a question or a comment for the Wedding Jeannie? Ms. Uyanik will answer your questions. Simply e-mail her at weddinggenie@candgweddings.com

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The Chertoff News Conference on DHS Initiatives for the Future.

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WPCNR FOR THE RECORD. The News Conference Following Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff’s Speech on the status of Immigration and Illegal Workers enforcement November 6. Conclusion of 5-Part Series. November 16, 2007: To complete the WPCNR publication of the Department of Homeland Security transcipt of Secretary Chertoff’s news conference last week, here are the questions and the secretary’s answers to media queries about his speech:

And with that, I’ll take some questions.




QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, can you talk a little bit more about this — is it a proposed rule? And how many workers do you think would get through under this intense —



SECRETARY CHERTOFF: Well, it’s — H-2A is not a capped agricultural program, so it can theoretically accommodate a very significant number of agricultural workers. I’m a little handicapped in my ability to be specific because the rule has not cleared yet, and there’s some legal principles that don’t allow me to get very particular about the proposal. But the general concept is we want to find a way to streamline some of the requirements with respect to wages and other kinds of terms and conditions under which people can employ temporary workers so that the program is appealing to people, so that it’s not highly bureaucratic, so that it doesn’t make it difficult for employers when they bring temporary workers in legally to make a commitment to continue to employ them during the course of the season.



We think the proposals that we are considering or that are currently being considered are sensible, that they do not compromise protections for workers, and they in fact synchronize the approach of the agricultural program with the approach we take, frankly, with other temporary workers in the non-agricultural sector.



QUESTION: Just to clarify, though, after the legal vetting is all you’re saying that needs to be done, when will this be —  


SECRETARY CHERTOFF: It’s before OMB. I know there’s a great sense of urgency to have the rule and regulation cleared. I think we’d certainly like to get it cleared in plenty of time to make sure that we can have a streamlined program for next summer so that next growing season gets the benefit of temporary workers who are legal, as opposed to illegal.



QUESTION: In your guidance order that goes to the state offices, is that a must-do sort of thing, or you’re advising them to do? And is that only referring to agricultural workers, or is this all workers that they refer to any job, or —  


SECRETARY CHERTOFF: First of all, it’s a Department of Labor letter, and I think it actually is more broad — applies more broadly than agriculture. I think it’s very close to a must do, shall we say kind of expected that you’re going to do it. The exact legal ability to compel is a little bit more complicated, but it’s — there’s a strong incentive to have the state labor agencies do it.


And by the way, there would be no reason I can think of not to do it. I can’t imagine why a state agency wouldn’t want to verify that the worker that they’re referring is legal. Otherwise it defeats the whole purpose. Why do you want to refer an illegal worker over? So here we have a tool that can be used. We encourage the labor agency to use the tool, and I think my expectation is that they’ll avail themselves of the guidance.  



QUESTION: Do you have a sense how many states are already doing it, or how many —



SECRETARY CHERTOFF: I do not have the answer to that.



QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you mentioned the recent GAO study on problems at legal border crossings. Some critics have said they’ve found an unacceptable failure rate. Do you think that’s a fair criticism? And what in your mind is a reasonable failure rate? 


SECRETARY CHERTOFF: I don’t know that — the rate that people attribute in terms of failure, failure being you didn’t stop somebody, is essentially an estimation. Since you don’t know what you don’t know, you don’t know who came in that you didn’t stop. It’s kind of an extrapolation GAO undertook.



But here’s the bottom line: To me, I want to drive the failure rate down to as close to zero as is humanly possible. It’s never going to be zero because you never get perfection in human life. Just as even the best police chief in the country, I’ve never met one that succeeded in eliminating crime in their city. But it’s still considered a good thing when you drive crime down.  


Likewise, it’s a very good thing as you drive down the number of people who might slip through the border without being stopped. But there’s only one way to do that. You’ve got to be able to have a secure form of identification that you can input easily into your system, which has the names of the people that you want to keep out, and you’ve got to be able also to do a reasonable amount of searching the vehicles to make sure contraband doesn’t come in. And that means, particularly as we transition to the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which in the end will use technology to give us both secure documents and documents that can be read more quickly, there is going to be some cost and there’s going to be some inconvenience. And that is the only way to plug the gap that GAO has identified.



And that’s why over the last year you’ve been hearing squawks at the border about lines, and people complaining that we’re spending too much time because we’re actually looking at the documents, as opposed to waving people through. And the answer is, that’s right, that’s how we solve a problem: we fix it. 



QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, the border fence will cut off some cities, landowners, farmers from the Rio Grande, and that’s fueling serious opposition. How do you respond to the opposition from people who live along the river, who depend on the river? And do you recognize that while we may gain border control, we’re losing property rights and local support?



SECRETARY CHERTOFF: Well, first of all, let me say, of course, when we talk about the area from the Pacific Ocean to the New Mexico-Texas border, that’s — the vast majority of that is desert or wilderness, so there’s no issue there about the river. We do recognize that in Texas the river creates a kind of a special challenge, and that’s why we have worked to minimize the amount of fence in Texas. But some fence is important. What we want to do is find a way to build fence that allows landowners access to the river when they need it, but doesn’t simply leave it wide open for illegals to come across. 


But here’s a dilemma in which we find ourselves: when the Border Patrol does need fencing at a certain part of the river, either because the river is narrow or because during the summer the river goes down, then if we don’t put fencing up we’re making it harder for the Border Patrol not only to keep out illegal workers, but to keep out drugs and criminals. And the drugs and criminals may not — the impact of that may not be felt by the rancher whose land is — we’re talking about for the fence; it may be felt in the city of Chicago, or Washington, or Los Angeles.



But my responsibility is to look out for the welfare of the whole country. The bird’s-eye view you get in my job is that it’s not just one person’s concerns and the burdens they feel, which obviously we want to take into account; we’ve got to look at the burdens that everybody assumes. So we are trying to be reasonable. If there’s a way to accommodate the need to get to the river that satisfies the landowner, we’re happy to do that. But at the end of the day, at some point we have to make a tough decision sometimes that we need to have some kind of fencing in there. And then we want to work to make it as easy for the landowner as possible. But we can’t, in the end, simply give everybody an individual veto over the process. 


QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, the GAO report says part of the problem at ports of entry is serious under-staffing with Customs and Border Protection. You’ve laid out plans for increasing Border Patrol. What about CBP? What are the targets there? What’s the funding?
 



SECRETARY CHERTOFF: Well, I do think we need to continue to do a number of things. First of all, if we can get the documentation that we’re talking about in place it will take a good deal of the hay off the haystack, because you’ll be able to move people much more quickly. Instead of manually keying in the names, you’ll be able to swipe or simply read the name off the card from a chip, and that’s going to cut the dwell time very substantially. That’s one solution.



A second solution obviously is to build more modern and bigger infrastructure, which allows more lanes to be operated at once. A third solution is to make sure we have adequate staffing. And I’m working with the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, and with Deputy Commissioner Ahern to make sure we’re doing everything we can to get appropriate staffing levels.  


Often the constraint, though, is simply the number of booths. Because you only have so many booths in a particular port of entry, and you can only have one person in a booth, so we have some kind of a constraint limitation. I will say, though, again, because we have requested a significant amount of money across the board for Customs and Border Protection for the current budget, give us an appropriations bill. Give us the money. If we’re still operating on a continuing resolution, I can guarantee you that’s not going to give us what we need to deal with all the elements of our border strategy from a financial standpoint.



QUESTION: But you can’t give us any numbers at this point about how —  


SECRETARY CHERTOFF: I don’t have a number of exactly what we need in terms of additional inspectors. What I can tell you is that as we move into Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, one inspector can get more work done because the time spent on each vehicle or each pedestrian is going to be diminished. So that’s like a force multiplier.



QUESTION: You and Secretary Rice had at one point announced plans to have a wallet-size passport card as an alternative to passports that was initially supposed to be ready I think a year ago, when you first announced it. Do you know how close you are to having that ready to go, and whether that will be ready by January? 


SECRETARY CHERTOFF: The procurement is underway, and I don’t know exactly — the State Department is doing the procurement — I don’t know exactly where it is. It should be ready to begin distribution early next year.



QUESTION: How much problem would you expect from the Congress next year for maintaining the target for the fences?
 


SECRETARY CHERTOFF: For maintaining the target for fences?



 QUESTION: Yes.



SECRETARY CHERTOFF: Well, we don’t generally just put a specific line item for fencing. We have a more general line item. Our current budget request is very substantial — it’s public; I don’t have the number off the top of my head. But the amount of money that we have asked for in the current budget request would get us to the amount of fencing that we need to get to by the end of the fiscal year to meet the targets I’ve outlined. 


QUESTION: Secretary Chertoff, do you have yet any specific numbers for fiscal 2007 of the total number of detentions and deportations that took place? And of the reduction, the 22 percent reduction at the Southwest border, while you say that you have indication that less people are crossing over, some say that it can also be an indication that the undocumented have found other ways to enter into the country.



SECRETARY CHERTOFF: Well, first of all, we do have the numbers. We can supply them to you after the press conference; I don’t have them handy.  


I understand there’s controversy about what the significance of it is. I can tell you that in general, the experiences, although there might be some truth with respect to a small percentage of people, I think in general, such a large decrease in apprehensions is indicative of a trend. It’s not — if we were talking about a 2 or 3 percent difference, it might suggest it could all be accounted for with people moving to different areas. But I think it’s too large and too consistent to be simply written off as people moving to different areas.



But again, it’s not razor-sharp precise. I view it more as a significant indicator of moving in the right direction, as opposed to a very specific number that can be translated directly into the decreased flow. 


QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, when you say that you will leave no tool sort of unused, should U.S. employers and workers who are hearing your remarks today take that as some sort of signal for expanded worksite enforcement in the near future, not just against criminals or fugitives, but at workplaces? And as a follow, can you do that without providing additional workers like you’re offering for agriculture — can you do it without a tool like No-Match, since as I understand that was always used in SWIFT or the last big enforcement action against workers?
 



SECRETARY CHERTOFF: Well, let me separate out — the No-Match regulation that was enjoined does not prevent us from enforcing at the worksite. And typically what has happened is we get a tip and we go in and we actually look at the records there, and then we do use the No-Match records that we find on file as a way of identifying people that we ought to investigate.



So we intend to continue to increase the level of worksite enforcement. I recognize it creates a hardship, which is why we’re working to improve H-2A, and I think also we’re working to improve H-2B — temporary worker programs that we think will help address that issue. In the end, what we can do by regulation is somewhat limited, and we may need Congress to get back into this issue again in a comprehensive way.  


But here’s the one thing I’m not going to do: I’m not going to say that because there’s an economic impact we’re simply not going to enforce the law. I don’t think that’s a strategy which is endorsed by the public. I think it’s inconsistent with the oaths of office we all took to execute the laws of the United States. And I just think it’s time for Congress again to look at this problem comprehensively. And I think we’re doing what we can, but in the long run I think there are going to be problems in the economy if we continue to move on the enforcement side alone and we don’t take substantial steps to give people a legal way to fill their labor needs.



QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, if I may, a question on REAL ID. Could you confirm what the Department is doing and what you’re proposing as far as cutting billions of dollars you spend that troubles states so much? And what are some of the measures in relaxing some of the rules of the original intent of REAL ID? Is it failing, as some critics say, that a year from now it will be gone?  


SECRETARY CHERTOFF: I think the ACLU, which as far as I could tell, never liked a security measure that it met, engaged in what I would describe as very wishful thinking in claiming this was dead. It was particularly ironic because we just signed an agreement with New York to go forward with REAL ID. And in fact, the tide I think is moving very firmly in favor of REAL ID.




Now, we have done a couple things to take account of some legitimate concerns the states have raised, and we’re going to issue a final regulation. We are looking at ways to significantly decrease the cost by taking some of the back office element of the system and having the federal government pay for that. We’re also trying to create a little bit of flexibility in terms of the kinds of materials that can be used so that we don’t sacrifice security, but we allow a little bit more flexibility for states to choose what will be a satisfactory actual material for the card itself. And we are working to make sure that we phase in, in a way that’s disciplined, but also allows states to transition over a period of time, because you do have to move millions of people from their existing license to a REAL ID.



That may mean ultimately that people above a certain age move at a slower pace than people at a younger age. And that’s kind of common-sense risk management. I mean, we’re obviously more worried about terrorists who are in their 20s, 30s, and 40s than terrorists in their 70s and 80s. So we’re open to making adjustments like that. But the fundamental principle remains not only unchanged, but it actually has probably got a greater level of commitment now than it ever has, because we not only have New York signing up for REAL ID, but a number of states have signed up for enhanced driver’s licenses, which will be not only compliant with REAL ID, but they’ll actually allow you to cross the land border — state of Washington, state of Arizona, state of Vermont, state of New York.


So we’re actually beginning to see more and more big states, in particular, and border states move to a system that will be REAL ID-compliant. So for those who are singing a funeral dirge, I think they’re singing the wrong tune and they may be whistling in the dark a little bit. I’m sorry, that was really an extended metaphor. (Laughter.) 


QUESTION: Do you remain confident in your ICE Director after she judged a contest, a Halloween contest, and awarded Most Original Costume to someone who came dressed in dreadlocks and darkened face and prison stripes? Do you have any concerns about that?



SECRETARY CHERTOFF: Well, I — you know, I think she was right to apologize for having this proceeding take place. I’ve directed that — of the individual whose — came dressed in this kind of costume be put on administrative leave and that we have an inquiry to determine, you know, what is the appropriate sanction for this.



You know, here is the bottom line: People do dumb things. I get very perturbed when there’s anything that is done that suggests that, with respect to the enforcement of the law, we’re anything other than even-handed. I have zero tolerance for racism or discrimination in the area of law enforcement. We have to be tough, but we have to be fair. And any — you know, the idea that you’re going to come and impersonate someone of another ethnic group, I think is completely unacceptable. So, you know, there’s going to have to be an inquiry, and the appropriate level of discipline for the person who did this is going to have to be decided upon.




But I do think that Assistant Secretary Myers was quite right in first of all apologizing and reaching out aggressively, not only to Congress but to a number of groups representing personnel in the Department, to make sure that they understood her unwavering commitment to equality and fairness in the workplace and in dealing with the people that we deal with when we conduct enforcement operations. 


QUESTION: Does it bother you that she didn’t recognize it until the actual complaint?



SECRETARY CHERTOFF: You know, I’m quite sure it bothers her. I know that she was kind of caught by surprise by this in the middle of a party. And I know she is mortified. But, you know, I think she’s doing what she needs to to make amends. 


QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you talked about using all the authority available to you on the border, specifically with regard to the fence. Are you contemplating waiving the environmental laws with respect to the construction in Texas of fencing, in towns where it’s been so controversial like Brownsville?



SECRETARY CHERTOFF: Here’s our approach everywhere, including Texas: We will certainly talk to landowners. We’ll try to reach an accommodation. If they have an alternative suggestion that achieves our results, we’re more than happy to do that.



At the end of the day, if we determine we need to do fencing, we’ll take every step reasonable to take care of environmental concerns and mitigate. But I’m not laying down any of the authorities I’ve been given to get the job done. At the end of the day, I will use whatever authorities are required, but only after careful consideration of the alternatives and vigorous efforts to mitigate, where it’s possible, to do so without compromising operational integrity.

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The Night Andrew Cuomo Came to Town: We are Your Lawyer He Tells 650. Call Us.

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WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. By John F. Bailey. November 17, 2007: New York’s Attorney General Andrew Cuomo drew an SRO crowd to the County Center Thursday evening, and declared he and his staff were the people’s lawyer, and urged citizens to call his office to report injustices and situations (at 1-800-771-7755) and that his office would represent them against a health care provider, against an employer,  in situations they needed representation, advocating on their behalf against injustice. He filled the Little Theater at the County Center  where the crowd overflowed into an adjacent live telecast room to see him.



Attorney General Andrew Cuomo addressing people who came from miles around to hear him:


 Let Us Be Your Lawyer.


Reminiscent of his father, the former Governor,  Mr. Cuomo rivits attention with a polished and credible delivery, with conviction, passion and a gospel flavor, and a good sense of humor. 


He  introduced his top lawyers handling investigations into Consumer Fraud, Civil Rights/Labor, Student Loans, Health Care and the Environment prior to  Citizens breaking off for forums with those individual top lawyers, whom Cuomo described as steller experts in their field.


Cuomo said his office was going to advise the state on its liabilities and the consequences of facets of the proposed Indian Point nuclear power plant license renewal as one of his key environmental priorities.


In the forums, the lawyers conducting them educated the public about legal matters the Attorney General’s Office would look into in the various fields.  This reporter was impressed with the scope of matters in each field the Attorney General’s Office would involve itself.


Questions from the audience in the Civil Rights/Labor field this reporter attended were based primarily on personal experiences with descriptions of possible infractions and the lawyers gave their opinions.



In the environmental session I ducked into,  Katherine “Kitt” Kennedy,  the lawyer conducting that session faced a number of questions on toxic site cleanup, city liability for covering up  and the failure of due process. She said that her office could consider alleged violations of the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) process by lead agencies in a city and said that the Attorney General’s Office was interested in those types of alleged wrong doing involving toxic contaminated sites.


John Milgrim, Press Secretary for the Attorney General said 650 persons attended, making the turnout by far the largest of any stop so far on the Attorney General’s Community Partnership Initiative. Previously the Attorney General has appeared with his lawyers in Buffalo, Syracuse, Binghamtion, and Rochester, where attendance was in the 200s.  Milgrim said these tours would continue and the purpose was to familiarize his attorneys with local issues. As Mr. Cuomo said in his address, to help people you have to know the issues that concern them.


Each lawyer urged citizens to call the Attorney General Office Hotline at 1-800-771-7755 to report matters in which citizens felt needed investigation. The attorneys conducting the sessions stressed they were interested most in a pattern of cases which could apply to similar abuses across the state. When the hotline is called, the caller is directed to a regional office and helped to fill out a Complaint Form. Complaint forms may also be completed by callers on the Attorney General’s website at www.oag.state.ny.us.

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No Warming Center OK as of Thursday evening. One Shelter Being Planned

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WPCNR THE HOMELESS NEWS. By John F. Bailey. November 16, 2007: WPCNR has learned that only one Warming Shelter at present is being considered to provide an overnight sojourn for homeless persons left to wander the streets and sleep outdoors or on the streets about the downtown since August 6 when Westchester County closed the 85 Court Street Drop In.  There has been no agreement to host the shelter yet by the three downtown churches approached with the plan.



Stella Aviles, Assistant to Reverend Carter Via of The Presbyterian Church of White Plains, said that the plan has been presented to three churches in the White Plains downtown. The plan calls for Grace Church Community Services to staff one shelter, containing 19 cots, which will alternate between the three churches for two week periods of operation at each church.


Aviles reports that no church has given a definite go-ahead on the plan as of 5 PM Thursday evening. 


Aviles said first approval from the church congregations was needed, then approval from the City of White Plains, and then funding would be arranged, which she expected would be from the county. Aviles said that Grace Community Services would provide the professional staff, including counselors to monitor and manage the shelter. Though Aviles said one church had volunteers who wished to work in the Warming Center, but the shelter could not be established without professional staff.


Aviles said approval from the churches was being sought as soon as possible, then a formal presentation of the one-shelter plan (apparently) would be made to the City of White Plains, thentaken to the county to secure the funding.


Mayor Joseph Delfino in the special Work Session last month, said the city would consider the shelter once the clergymen had a concrete proposal and location, and the city would consider a Special Permit to open such a shelter if it housed only 19 beds. The special meeting called to consider the concerns of Rabbi Lester Bronstein and Reverend Via that they felt the county asking them to provide warming shelters with just chairs was “inhumane.” It is unclear whether the county only wanted one warming shelter in White Plains.


In a related development, Donna Green of the Department of Communications of Westchester County said the county did not have demographic breakouts available for  undetermined number of persons who spent nights at the 85 Court Street for the 18 months it was in operation. At the time the county opened the 85 Court Street Drop In Shelter, it promised to keep stringent records of who stayed at the shelter signing them in each night.


For the record, as WPCNR writes this report, at midnight in White Plains  outside the WPCNR newsroom it is 42 degrees and clear.

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Tools to I.D. Illegal Employment Coming Up. Chertoff Explains.

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WPCNR FOR THE RECORD. Conclusion of DHS Secretary Chertoff’s Remarks on State of Immigration and Enforcement of November 6. Part 4. November 15, 2007: In this conclusion of his address last week, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff addresses the Social Security No-Match injunction now prohibiting temporarily checking of Social Security Numbers against No-Match Letters; the E-Verify System, and the new H-2A Visa initiative. He also notes that if American employers did not willingly employ illegal workers, there would not be an illegal immigration problem.


Worksite Enforcement


The third element of interior enforcement has to do with worksite enforcement. If you go back to fiscal year 2002, we had only 25 arrests and 485 administrative arrests for worksite enforcement. But in fiscal year 2006, which was the first full year after we inaugurated our new comprehensive strategy to secure the border, we had 716 criminal cases and over 3,600 administrative arrests. And this past fiscal year, we went up to 863 criminal cases, and over 4,000 administrative arrests.



That is a real increase in the size and the potency of the sanctions and the number of sanctions we’re bringing against people who are deliberately violating our laws against employing illegal aliens.


 In October of just this past year, last month, Richard Rosenbaum, the former president of a nationwide cleaning service, pled guilty to harboring illegal aliens and conspiring to defraud the United States. He will pay restitution to the United States in an amount expected to exceed $16 million. And he will also agree to forfeit bank accounts and currency totaling more than $1.1 million for knowingly hiring illegal aliens. Bottom line: The days of treating employers who violate these laws by giving them the equivalent of a corporate parking ticket — those days are gone. It’s now felonies, jail time, fines and forfeitures.



Giving employers the tools.


Now, I want to be clear: I don’t think most employers want to violate the law. I think the vast majority of employers really do want to comply with the law. But we’ve got to give them the tools to do the job and to make sure that they are in compliance. This is not all about sticks. There have got to be some carrots as well that help people do the right thing. And that means a couple of things: facilitating illegal immigration by finding ways to improve that process, and also facilitating the process of determining that you have a legal workforce by giving employers easy-to-use and accurate tools that will allow them to verify that when they hire someone, that person has a lawful right to work in the United States. 


Enhanced E-Verify 


One major element of our strategy is E-Verify. E-Verify, formerly known as Basic Pilot, is a web-based system administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It allows employers to electronically check whether a worker is authorized to work in our country. The basic version of this is to compare the name and the Social Security number to make sure they’re accurate and that they match. An enhanced version we’re currently putting online allows you to actually compare a picture of the person online, based on something we have in our federal files — and hopefully, eventually, pictures in driver’s license files — to compare that picture with the person who’s actually standing before you as the applicant. That would allow us to take E-Verify from simply a name-checking system to actually an identity-checking system.


 E-Verify’s popularity is growing. More than 24,000 companies were enrolled at the end of the fiscal year, but today that number is over 30,000. In terms of usage, more than 3.2 million new hires have been processed through E-Verify, and usage is growing by about 83 percent annually. Why? Because it’s an easy tool to use. In more than 90 percent of cases, you get a response within seconds that clears a person. And even when there are discrepancies, most of them can be resolved within a very short period of time.



We do obviously want to work to make sure that we are as close to a hundred percent accurate as possible. For that reason, we have a monitoring and compliance unit to make sure that employers are using the system properly. We also have increased our outreach to employers to make sure everybody understands how the system works, and to make sure nobody abuses the system to discriminate or unfairly target people within certain ethnic groups.


 Status of Social Security No-Match Data


Now there’s another tool we’d like to use to help employers identify when there’s a problem with their workforce. And that is the ability to use Social Security No-Match data. Earlier this year, we issued a regulation that would make clear to employers what they should do when they get a letter from the Social Security Administration that says to them there’s a discrepancy or a mismatch between a name and a Social Security number that you have filed on behalf of an employee.



Sometimes there’s an innocent explanation for that mismatch, which is that somebody has simply provided incorrect data to Social Security. In that case, of course it’s very much to the benefit of the employee to correct that innocent mistake so they don’t find themselves in 30 years expecting to get Social Security benefits that never arrive. 


But there are also times — and frankly, a lot of times — when that mismatch reflects the fact that the name and the number aren’t real, or they don’t match because someone is using a false name or a false number in order to work illegally. And in that circumstance, there isn’t simply a matter of cleaning up a discrepancy, but the employers should know the steps that they ought to take in order to make sure that they do not continue to hire or employ that illegal worker in their workforce.


What this regulation is designed to do is to create a very clear set of guidances and a clear safe harbor so employers know what to do when they get a No-Match letter, and then can take the appropriate steps either to correct a mistake, or to make sure that they discharge someone who is working illegally, based on the fact that they don’t have a legal work authorization. The simple point is this: You can’t simply stick your head in the sand.


 Temporary Injunction Prevents the Match Initiative.



Now, the bad news is this regulation is not in effect. It’s been suspended because it’s been blocked by a temporary injunction issued by a federal district court in California. That court responded to a lawsuit filed by a number of groups — advocacy groups as well as business groups — who were opposed to the idea of putting this No-Match regulation into effect. We’re currently seeing what we can do to address the concerns that the judge entered in order to see whether we can get the injunction lifted, and then go forward with this regulation, which, as I’ve said, is temporarily suspended.



But I do want to make it clear that litigation such as the effort to block the No-Match rule or the effort to block building fence, is precisely the reason why it’s been so difficult over the last 30 years to get control of the border. The problems that my predecessors had in dealing with illegal immigration, at least in part, were based on the fact that there were lots of hurdles that were put in place to prevent people from using some of the tools that we’re trying to use now in order to get control of the border.                                          


Employers Opposed. No “Silent Amnesty.”


 I know that some employers resist these rules because they’re concerned about the impact it’s going to have on their own workforce. When we got comments — at the time we put the No-Match regulation out for public comment, at least one business group was quite candid in saying that if this regulation went into effect, some businesses, which have workforces largely built on illegal workers, would be forced to discharge those workers.  


And I understand that enforcing the laws is now going to have an economic impact on some industries. That’s why we continue to urge Congress to address this by making sure that the law is reformed. But until Congress acts, we have the law that is on the books. And I and everybody else in my agency is sworn to uphold that law.



We are not going to have a silent amnesty. We’re not going to deal with the economic issues by closing our eyes to a law violation. We’re going to try to do the very best we can to improve the law in a way to make it easier to hire lawful workers. But at the end of the day, if people are hiring illegals, we’re going to do everything we can with the tools we have to make sure that we react strongly and aggressively and in a tough manner against that violation of the law.



As another example of our approach, in Illinois recently, the state legislature passed a law that effectively prohibits employers from using this E-Verify system I’ve just described — even if they want to do it voluntarily. We went to court. We are suing to get that rule overturned. 
 



My commitment is very simply this: I want to work to make sure we improve the law. We stand ready to work with Congress when Congress is ready to take up intelligent, sensible, comprehensive immigration reform. But while we have the laws on the books, we’re going to enforce them. We’re going to enforce them vigorously. We’re going to keep faith with the American people. And my commitment to the American people is this: I will fight every lawsuit, I will deal with every procedural roadblock, I will use every tool the law allows to continue to press forward in enforcing the laws. We will not give up. We will not lose our resolve. We will not lose our energy. We’re going to continue to work as hard as we can and overcome any roadblock that the law allows us to overcome to complete the job of getting control of the border, and to move forward on really turning the tide of this issue of illegal immigration, which is so much on the minds of the American people.


 Need More Legal Workers to Come to America


But a final critical piece of this is to deal with a very real economic need, which is currently being filled by illegals. And that means finding a way to make it easier to get legal workers to come into this country, particularly legal temporary workers, to meet the legitimate needs of our workforce and a growing economy.


 As I said earlier, the vast majority of people entering our country illegally are doing so to work. And let’s be honest — Americans are employing them. American companies are employing the illegals to do work because they can’t find Americans to do that work. So if we are going to need to bring workers in to fill a growing labor gap, we have to find a way to do it lawfully, a way that promotes rather than compromises our national security, and a way that gives us visibility to the people who come in.



Some of this will require enactments by Congress. But there are some things we can do in the regulatory process. No sector of the American economy is in more need of illegal flow of foreign workers than agriculture, where we have traditionally relied upon foreign workers to do a great deal of the seasonal agricultural work.


 H-2A VISA Program


One key program that has the potential to fill the need for seasonal agricultural workers is the H-2A visa program. That program, however, has not been used as widely as it can be, because it has been cumbersome, and it has been difficult, and it has therefore become unappealing to some employers. But working with the Department of Labor, DHS has completed a comprehensive review of the regulations implementing the H-2A program so that we can look for ways to improve the program, even as we continue to hope that Congress addresses the problem more comprehensively.




I’m therefore pleased to say that this week (last week) the Department of Labor and the Department of Homeland Security will send to the Office of Management and Budget a series of proposed regulations that will improve and remove some of the current limitations on U.S. employers’ ability to utilize the H-2A program. These sets of proposed rules will provide farmers with a more orderly and timely flow of legal workers, while continuing to protect the rights of laborers and promoting legal and secure methods for determining who is coming into the country. The proposed rules will also provide better ways to ensure the integrity of the program.



This kind of regulatory change is what I would call a win-win. It’s a win for the agricultural employers, by giving them an opportunity to take care of their business needs within the law rather than outside the law. It’s also good for people outside the country, who are really looking for nothing more than to do work that will put bread on the tables of their families back home. And if we can give them a legal way to get that work, many of them will choose to take that legal way as opposed to trying to sneak across the border, and at a minimum, violating the law, if not putting their life and limb in jeopardy.


 In addition to the regulation, which of course has to await OMB clearance, the Department of Labor is also issuing today a Guidance Letter to State Workforce Agencies that administer some elements of the H-2A program. Again, this Guidance Letter will help clarify the responsibility of the State Workforce Agencies with regard to this H-2A program, so that we can ensure consistent application of the program nationwide, which will also make it more efficient.



And for those of you who are not familiar with what these agencies do, State Workforce Agencies post an employer’s job vacancies in the state employment system, and they refer U.S. workers for jobs that need to be filled. And so they play an important role in regulating the flow of workers for, for example, job sectors like agriculture. 


The Guidance Letter that is going out from the Department of Labor will clarify a number of issues, including the following:



That employers whose operations cross state lines can file one consolidated job order that’ll be circulated in multiple states. That of course is more efficient for the employers; it streamlines and makes the process more attractive. 


That State Workforce Agencies will first direct applicants to unfilled positions before referring them to temporary jobs that have already begun. That will address the problem that sometimes arises when employers feel they’re caught in a revolving door, in which they hire someone to do a job at one point, and then someone else is referred and they have to fire the first employee.




And also the Guidance Letter will direct that the Department of Labor will not consider workers to be qualified or eligible to be referred for work unless a State Workforce Agency certifies that it has checked the legal status of the worker before referring a worker to an employer. This is designed to deal with the rather remarkable situation that sometimes occurs where you have a temporary worker on a job, a State Workforce Agency refers another worker, displacing the legal temporary worker, and then it turns out that the referred worker is an illegal worker who is in the country in violation of the law. The simple cure for that is to have the State Workforce Agency get on E-Verify and check the status of the referred worker before they send the worker in to displace a legal, temporary worker.


 Some of these seem like pretty simple, straightforward, common-sense things. That’s a good thing. We do like to promote common sense. And it’s a reflection of the President’s commitment and the administration’s commitment to do everything we can within the existing law to give employers a way to satisfy economic needs that complies with the law rather than violates the law.



Conclusion


The bottom line before I take questions is this: Immigration is a source of strength for this country. And this agency, as well as the other agencies of this administration, are committed to promoting and enhancing the opportunities for lawful immigration that is good for this country, that supports our economic needs, and that also constructs a process that gives us visibility and confidence that we know who is coming into the country. 


At the same time, illegal immigration poses not only a challenge to the rule of law, but at least in some cases a challenge to our security and our public safety. And there, we are committed to making continued progress, recognizing it’s not — Rome wasn’t built in a day, and we’re not going to turn this problem around in a day, but we’re committed to continuing to make substantial, measurable progress to strengthen the border and make sure that the law against illegal immigration is enforced.



In the end, I ask Congress to come back to the table and talk about a way we might resolve this problem comprehensively and in an enduring fashion, so that we can leave our children a legacy of a well-regulated border and a sound economy. In the meantime, my commitment is this: we will enforce the laws as they are on the books, we will not close our eyes to law-breaking, and we will continue to devote all of the energy of the Department of Homeland Security to overcoming any obstacles that prevent us from making sure that the rule of law remains our lodestar in the area of immigration.


 


 

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County Tax Proposal Up 4.7%. Spano Blames foster care needs; lagging sales tax

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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. By John F. Bailey. November 16, 2007 UPDATED November 17, 2007 With Visuals: The County Executive, Andrew Spano, presented his preliminary 2008 budget this morning calling for a 4.7% tax increase, raising the county budget $24.4 million to $1.78 billion. The budget now goes to the county Board of Legislators for their input. George Oros, County Board Minority Leader told WPCNR the chances of cuts were “Nil,” and predicted cosmetic cuts of about 1% would most likely be made by the Board. He identified $20 Million in cuts he thought the county could execute. The County Executive also showed the county projections of sales tax  had fallen well short of projections in 2006 and not only in the present  budget year, 2007.



County Executive Andrew Spano Pitching His $1.8 Billion Budget.



The increase in taxes to the individual, Spano said would be about $70 if you’re paying a $10,000 property tax bill. According to the county news release,  the county share of a $10,000 property tax tab is $1,500. Mr. Spano noted this would vary depending on the taxpayer’s locality.


The County Executive blamed the increase in the state’s requirement for more detailed student incident reports in schools, which Mr. Spano said resulted in higher caseloads for county personnel because the county had to investigate them. This, he said required increasing  the number social service investigators to handle the cases, which often result in foster care.



The case load for County Child Protective Services increased by 886 cases since 2007; for Child Protective Services, 387, and Foster Care, 135 cases.   A total of $18 Million of the $24 Million increase was attributed to 22 new positions in the Department of Social Services to cover these new responsibilities, and 5 new positions in the County Attorney’s office for Family Court. There have been 1,000 incidents this year reported in the county,  Spano said. He noted that though the state covers increases in some areas, it covers only 70% of the foster care placements, necessitating another part of the increase. Mr. Spano said it was an expense the county had to  cover to provide for the children that needed the care.



Sales Tax Shortfall: Optimistic County Sales Tax Projections Do Not Materialize for 06 and 07.  County auditors overestimated sales tax revenue increase by 38% in 2006, and so far with three quarters of 2007 complete, overestimated by  40%.


The County Executive lamented that sales tax projections for 2007 had not met projections and could  not “offset” costs  of existing programs. Mr. Spano showed county projections being off the mark for 2007  $5 Million off, and 2006,  $8 Million off. . He reported that net sales tax revenues are budgeted at $371 Million for 2008, or just 1.6% over the 2007 adopted budget.  He blamed a slowing economy, and a loss of sales tax to internet sales (but ruled out seeking an internet sales tax).


A slide showed the county  projections of sales tax have shown a pattern of optimism on sales tax in 2006 as well.  WPCNR asked the County Executive if, in view of the projections the county made being below expectations, whether he would ask the state for an audit of Westchester Sales Tax Receipts, as opposed to what the county is receiving back (from the state),  to make sure Westchester is getting its fair share.


Mr. Spano said this was a very good question, saying “I can’t say that we will,” but said the process by which the state determines how much sales tax it sends back to the county, “is very sensitive”  and “clandestine.” He referred the question to Ms. Reasoner who explained that the county only had figures through October.



County Budget Director, Ann Reasoner, (whom WPCNR readers will remember as being the former White Plains Budget Director before leaving abruptly for unknown reasons in June 2006), explained that the sales tax projections are a work in progress reflecting figures in to date. She blamed lower car sales, lower spending by utilities, and a slowing of the economy. 


Asked directly  in the news conference whether he would pursue an audit or accounting of what went up to Albany and what sales tax came back, the County Executive indicated , “No.”


Oros Explains the Sales Tax Anomaly


Mr. Oros, in a telephone interview with WPCNR,  reacting to the sales tax shortfall, said the County Executive’s answer is simply to raise taxes, that his, on the other hand was to cut taxes.  Oros said he was surprised the County Executive would not pursue an audit of Westchester Sales Taxes with the stat, since the state has not given Westchester County a fair return before.


Oros remembered how the county was shortchanged in transportation aid a few years back and found that Westchester was underfunded compared to Nassau and Suffolk Counties and the county went out and proved it to the state by comparing transit performance between the county and Nassau and Suffolk Counties. He said it would not be too hard for the county to figure out how much it is owed in sales taxes based on the state formula.


The County Executive Says White Plains is Spiking.


Speaking to WPCNR, after the news conference, Mr. Spano said he did not think the state was shortchanging the county on returning fair share of sales tax. Asked to explain how White Plains has experienced five years of raising sales tax receipts while projecting sales tax on the money for each of those five years, Spano said  he was not familiar with White Plains budgeting and figures, but that White Plains was “spiking” in sales tax, thanks to increased development, that the county though as a whole was down. He also wondered why White Plains was not getting more sales tax from the development than it is.


City Hall Explains Its Sales Tax Acumen:


Paul Wood, City Executive Officer, back on the job in the Mayor’s office after fighting a viral infection the last month or so, said the secret to White Plains being on the money was not budgeting any more revenue from sales tax in a budget than the city had received in the previous budget year. This provision, Wood said, was in the city charter.


The city’s budget  (sales tax) projections have been on target each year WPCNR has covered White Plains. On occasion, the city has executed short-term sales of assets to meet the budget, rather than raise taxes the next year or use fund balance – but it has not been because of over optimism on the sales tax. Nonetheless the budget has been met.


Mr. Oros said the county budget projections were executed  by  the same firm that audits the City of White Plains. However, Melissa Lopez, spokesperson for the City of White Plains said the firm only audits White Plains, and that the City of White Plains does all of its own projections in-house.


Ryan defends County Prognosticators


William Ryan, Chair of the Westchester County Board of Legislators, disputed WPCNR’s impression that White Plains (sales tax) budgets were on the money each year, and appeared better projected than the county seems to be doing. Ryan said the projections the county makes rely on economic forecasts by major financial prognosticators. (He did not name the firm). He said WPCNR was wrong in suggesting the county was overly projecting, that I did not know what I was talking about. He challenged WPCNR “to show me the figures.”



 


For the last four years according to the City 2007-2008 budget, page VI-30, White Plains has exceeded its sales tax revenues received projection by 9-1/2% in 2003-2004; 8.57% in 2004-2005; 2.34% in 2005-2006 and in 2006-2007 had a $2 Million surplus, a 5% increase over projected sales tax.  It missed its sales tax target by 3% in 2002-2003 and by 3/4 of a percent in 2001-2002. Slightly more “on target” than the 40% miscalculations in the 2006 and 2007 county sales tax projections.


 


 


Oros Says Sales Tax Shortfalls are filled by sales tax surpluses from previous budget years


Oros blamed the county shortfall in sales tax projections on a policy the county has adopted of being optimistic on sales tax projections in order to save tax payers money and keep programs going without cutting them. He said that surpluses from previous years (based on the overprojection)  pay off any shortfall.  Oros said when sales tax projections are not met, Mr. Spano’s answer is to increase taxes the next year rather than cut spending.  “My answer is you cut the budget, ” Oros said. Oros said the county had to have a balanced budget every year.


Ms. Reasoner said  in the news conference, the county currently has about a $30 Million undesignated fund balance.



In other budget decisions, there will be a 25-cent increase in the bus fare to $1.75. This new fee will only pay 36% of the cost of operating the bus service.


There will be a 3 percent increase in funding to various contract agencies providing social services and health and cultural programs.


The budget increased funding for day care, dropping to 10% the required parental Co-Payment and increasing “subsidized day care slots” by 296.


The county is increasing funding for supervising the county elections process by $1.6 Million with purchasing of new election machines (awaiting a state decision on which machine to use) still to come  when Albany decides that issue.


Cost of commuter parking permits at the County Center is being increased an additional $120 a year


Golf fees are being increased by $1.


Asked by WPCNR whether the County Executive, since this budget was described as “preliminary,” if he expected to make more cuts and where, the County Executive said , “No, no cuts.” Asked if he felt this was the best the county could do, he said “Yes.”


The budget goes to the County Board of Legislators next with their decision on the budget due December 27.
 

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