Senate dropped E-Verify from stimulus bill

The Chicago Tribune's John Kass looked deep into the stimulus bill and found something not too many others have noticed:

With all the hoopla over greasy pork being stuffed into President Barack Obama's near trillion-dollar spending bill, it's what is being cut out that's receiving too little attention.

And once Americans realize it, they won't be happy.

What's been quietly stripped is a provision that would have required any businesses receiving federal stimulus cash to use an easy computer program called E-Verify to make sure that the jobs they generate go to American citizens or documented foreign workers, not illegal immigrants.

Democrats in the House voted for the E-Verify component. But when the great porkulus package reached the Senate, Democrats there dropped it.

Jeff Sessions (R-AL) wanted E-Verify in the stimulus bill, which led him to comment, "It's another example of why people distrust Congress."

Technorati tags: business economy news government politics Jeff Sessions illegal immigration Senate John Kass