ROPE Report

Last Wednesday, Michael and I had one of our favorite new legislators to come on and talk about something he’s been working on called the “Save Oklahoma Plan” (here on YouTube and on Rumble). It centers around the following 7 points:

Using his own personal bank account (not campaign funds), Shaw has researched, and written, and quite literally gone on an explainer tour of various GOP groups and other organizations trying to make Oklahomans aware of the concerns he sees – not brewing on the horizon – but waiting right outside our doors.

The ROPE Report was a very early adopter of the plan because the points contained in the plan are incredibly important in securing the lives, liberties and properties of Oklahoma citizens.

Wednesday, on the podcast, we went over each point individually. All of them are exceptionally important, but one was kind of a sticking point for me and some other super conservatives who don’t like the federal government having a hand in much of anything and don’t like the data collection that seems to come attached with anything anymore but then certainly has to be attached to this program to make it work across states!

That sticking point was #4.

During the show we had several questions/comments about the E-Verify issue and here’s the bottom line – it’s E-Verify or nothing right now for one very important reason: the federal government has been given all control over immigration issues – it’s simply not something the state would be able to take on itself. How do we know? Well, though the Constitution does not specifically mention immigration, it’s been consistently upheld in the courts as a federal issue. Recently, an Oklahoma federal judge ruled against Governor Kevin Stitt’s Executive Order on immigration citing immigration as a federal issue.

Unfortunately, because they are not here legally, it is extremely hard to determine how many people are living and working in Oklahoma illegally. Also unfortunately, many of us have stories about how people here illegally are working and while some of these instances could be stopped through the E-Verify system, others can’t.

For example, I have friends who work for companies who hire employees from other countries whom they pay pennies on the dollar so they don’t have to hire Oklahomans at a livable wage. Sure, that’s great for the company’s bottom line, but it doesn’t help Oklahoma graduates become employed in the state. Fortunately, President Trump has cracked down on the H-1B Visas that many of these companies have been using to outsource labor to workers here from other nations, but with the H-1B out of the way, many of these companies have moved solely to the outsourcing avenue. Now, instead of hiring in-country immigrants with H-1B Visas, companies that rely on the internet have just moved to hiring workers from other countries who ‘commute’ to work via the internet.

People I know in the construction business say they’re constantly being undercut in price because construction managers are paying illegal workers cash under the table at a lower rate, rather than pay Oklahoma workers to do the job for a real wage. A woman commenting from social media on the podcast, related that the roofing company she hired to re-roof her house showed up with a crew of workers who couldn’t speak English that she was sure the foreman paid in cash.

So, while E-Verify will not help the problems with outsourcing, or cash-pay on job sites, there may be some measures that can be taken at the STATE level to stop those end-arounds – we’ll just need to work on fleshing those out.

Fortunately, the Trump administration has made deporting people in America here illegally a top priority and that does help a great deal.

Though I’m not a huge fan of Governor Stitt, I am gratified to see him institute Operation Guardian, allowing Oklahoma to work with ICE to deport illegals we taxpayers are supporting while being housed in Oklahoma prisons. Additionally, Stitt has also worked with ICE and the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety to remove illegals from the driver’s seats of 18 wheelers along I-40 to help insure the safety of Oklahomans on Oklahoma roads.

I frankly enjoyed the discussion about E-Verify during the podcast. I think it helped people to see as many sides as we could highlight on that issue. I know that by the time the conversation was finished, I – for one – realized that we simply must be requiring employers to submit to E-Verify. We don’t have any other choice. E-Verify, in concert with Stitt’s partnership with ICE, can absolutely help reduce the number of people here in Oklahoma working illegally.

And honestly, why should any of us be okay with people coming here illegally when legal routes are open? I’m not. In fact, in 2017 I wrote an article for the Federalist, “My Family Had To Follow Immigration Law. Why Shouldn’t Refugees?” You might check that out if you have some idea that, ‘we have jobs to fill that Oklahomans won’t fill’, or ‘we Christians must care for those here illegally’, or any of the other excuses people use to okay lawlessness.

In closing, I’ll leave you with this figure from a study done by FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform) on remittance (the amount of money sent back to the countries from which the immigrant came) to Mexico. That’s a whole lot of money leaving the state/nation that could be used to support businesses run by American citizens. We constantly hear our legislators (like Rep Brian Hill) talk about how important it is to keep Oklahoma graduates working in Oklahoma. Cut down on this number and maybe we can get more Oklahoma businesses hiring Oklahoma graduates!

Don’t forget to watch the podcast – especially if you have questions about E-Verify! And don’t forget to sign on to the plan at the SaveOklahomaPlan.com website! Rep. Shaw will need as many Oklahomans standing behind him as possible when he begins to run legislation to support the plan – and our health and our state – next session!