Sensenbrenner Report Reissued

Alexandra Walker

October 13, 2006

After pulling its report last week on Rep. James Sensenbrenner's conflicts of interest related to immigration policy, New American Media has now re-issued it . The editors never disputed the central facts, but wanted to bolster them with "the requisite denials from Haliburton and Red Lobster" and more sources, according to one editor. As a result of New American Media's concerns, we pulled my post from last week highlighting the report. Now an updated version follows after the jump.

Sensenbrenner is the chief advocate of a get-tough approach  to undocumented immigration. He rails against illegal immigration as this nation's biggest national security threat and pushes harsh enforcement and builiding a wall around America as solutions. The report from New American Media reveals that Rep. Sensenbrenner is not only making money from companies that use undocumented labor but also profiting from investments in firms receiving contracts for the government's border security program that Sensenbrenner champions. No wonder he has pursued the immigration issue so fiercely he's earned the name "pit bull ."

Last week, New American Media published ananalysis by Roberto Lovato of millionaire Sensenbrenner's financial portfolio. He found "that the congressman has invested in companies that have directly hired or subcontracted with employers who hire undocumented workers" and "stands to benefit from investments in companies contracted by the federal government to provide services he has proposed as part of his immigration reform legislation."

And to make matters dirtier, the corporation in which Sensenbrenner has stock is none other than Halliburton:

Drawing especially strong criticism are the $86,500 in stocks Sensenbrenner holds in the construction and infrastructure colossus Halliburton. The Texas-based giant has been the subject of Senate hearings into its labor practices in the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina. National news reports (The Washington Post, Salon.com and others) and several panelists at Senate hearings have stated that Halliburton used subcontractors hiring hundreds, perhaps thousands of undocumented workers as part of no-bid federal contracts to clean up Belle Chasse Naval base and other military facilities in the devastated region. Halliburton has also secured a $385 million Department of Homeland Security contract to build gigantic immigrant detention centers near the U.S.-Mexico border and stands to secure further contracts from proposals to reopen closed military bases to house deportees and detainees.

Halliburton has also been mentioned as one of the main contractors to build increased security infrastructure, security roads and improved employment verification systems at ports of entry.

....

According to Sensenbrenner's own House filings and the Congressional Record, he owns more than $563,536 in General Electric stocks. GE's Security Unit has been a Pentagon subcontractor, providing video surveillance and other electronic security systems at the border. The company contributed to Sensenbrenner through its employee PAC, according to the filings.

Also according to the congressman's filings, Boeing, which recently secured a $2.5 billion contract order to install sensors, radar and cameras along the U.S. borders, is among the top contributors to Sensenbrenner's PAC.

And in case anyone has forgotten, the report reminds us that Sensenbrenner was the first to propose in legislation the construction of a multibillion dollar border security system, contained in his notorious  immigraton bill, HR 4437 .

Though Sensenbrenner has recently criticized companies that profit undocumented labor, according to Lovato's report, he's making a wad of dough from companies that do just that:

Other investments raising flags in Milwaukee include the $44,179 in shares Sensenbrenner holds in Darden Restaurants Inc. Darden operates chains like The Olive Garden and Red Lobster, which have been reported to employ undocumented workers.

One of Lovato's interviews nabs this great quote about the politician who is famous for his anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies:

A cook at a Red Lobster restaurant in a Milwaukee suburb was unaware that he was working for a company that made the Congressman that proposed "el Muro" (the wall) richer. "I don't have papers and had to cross the border from Mexico," said the cook ... "Is he schizophrenic? Does he like our work and hate us?"