As the November 2024 election draws nearer, Congresswoman Hillary Scholten's (D-Mich.) GOP opponent, Jason Ickes, says that her stance on illegal immigration and the border crisis will continue to have damaging effects on West Michigan, including on its businesses.
“My Democrat opponent seeks to have limitless immigration stressing the very fabric of our society and collapsing our city services across the country,” Ickes told Legal Newsline.
“Albeit West Michigan has been lucky to avoid this devastating rapid population growth but that doesn't mean we won't bear the tax burden and other societal impacts. Such as the erosion of social cohesion.”
Scholten did not respond to a request for comment on Ickes’ statements prior to publication.
Scholten is a former lawyer for the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center which has supported illegal immigrants in pursuing legal action. Her former occupation is notable given that Grand Rapids-based Forge Industrial staffing, a company facing a federal child labor investigation, contends that a probe, initiated by a whistleblower who allegedly misrepresented her age, is damaging its reputation and driving away clients, as previously reported by Legal Newsline.
The basis of that legal action rests on a lawsuit brought by Nubia K. Malacara, who used false identification and a fraudulent social security number over a decade ago to secure employment while underage. According to a Nov. 14 court filing, Malacara blames the staffing company for accepting these documents.
Forge asserts that Malacara misrepresented her age when she applied for work in 2011, stating a birthdate that would have made her of legal age, and then later applied again in 2021 with altered personal details. Malacara, who worked briefly for Forge in 2011 before resigning, subsequently accused Forge and one of its clients of knowingly employing minors in a New York Times article, triggering a Department of Labor investigation.
The case highlights broader challenges faced by employers in verifying the authenticity of documentation provided by prospective employees, as evidenced by similar incidents, such as one involving an underage worker at Hyundai's Alabama plant, whose falsified credentials cleared the federal E-verify system.
“Unaccountable, undocumented migrants will continue to do what is in their best interest, which can include falsifying documentation for employment,” Ickes previous told the Grand Rapids Reporter. “This situation was created by members of Congress like Hillary Scholten who refuse to secure our borders and remove unlawful residents disrupting labor markets and undermining the integrity of our nation.”
Late last year an intake operator at Michigan Immigrant Rights Center noted that such faked identities are immaterial when pursuing legal action.
“I don't believe that in the grand scheme of things, it's not that big of a deal, really,” the operator said, only identified as Hector, when reached by phone on Dec. 13.
Ammon Blair, a former US Border Patrol agent, revealed that Mexican drug cartels' extensive networks produce fake documents for immigrants, contributing to child labor and human trafficking in the United States. The cartels create counterfeit IDs, including State IDs and Driver's Licenses, steal American Social Security Numbers (SSNs), and sell these fraudulent documents to illegal immigrants.
Regardless of the evidence of the forgery and faked identity, Michigan federal magistrate judge, Phillip Green, approved the U.S. Labor Department's request for the confidential client list of Forge. While acknowledging the potential financial ruin faced by the company, Green authorized the Labor Department's demand for the client list, supporting the agency's effort to continue and potentially expand its investigation.
In an interview with El Vocero Hispano, in which phone numbers leading to the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center's legal intake center were published, Scholten noted the center’s legal efforts.
“As an attorney who has worked on immigration issues, both at the nation’s top law enforcement agency and at a community legal aid organization, helping migrants in West Michigan. I know this system. I’ve seen firsthand what patchwork and reactionary immigration policies do to families and communities,” she said in a recent press release.
Scholten recently called a very modest reform, H.R. 2 the Secure the Border Act, “House Republicans’ extreme immigration bill.” That bill links border closures to Ukraine and Israel funding and is facing pushback from those in the GOP’s conservative ranks.
“We have a deeply broken immigration system in this country,” Scholten recently said in opposition to congressional efforts to properly ensure legal proceedings for children crossing the border.
As a member of the New Democrat Coalition, Scholten, rather than stopping illegal immigration, has also sought to “ensure a humane and orderly immigration process” at the southern border.
Scholten's involvement in the Dignity Act of 2023 and her call for bipartisan solutions have drawn criticism from opponents such as Ickes, who argue that her willingness to compromise could lead to ineffective policies that fail to adequately address the complexities of immigration and border security.
“Our Nation faces countless threats on a daily basis and we are severely outnumbered by foreign adversaries,” Ickes said.
“We stave off these threats with the advantage of geography and technology. Our current immigration situation enabled by Rep Scholten, undermines both of these national security strategic advantages. It is not if we will face an internal flash-point, but when.”
As a combat veteran, Ickes also raised concerns about the reallocation of funds from the Veterans Administration to support migrants.
“I lament the use of Veterans Administration financing to prop up this utterly relentless surge in unrestricted immigration,” Ickes said.
“An article in Fox News recently claimed more than $60 Million has been reallocated to support migrants over Veterans. This is fraudulent if true. The inspector general should be hot on the heels of this claim alleging misappropriation of funds.”
Ickes, a vocal critic of Scholten's border security policies, has called for decisive action to combat the influx of illicit fentanyl, urging President Joe Biden and Congress to classify it as a Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD).
Drawing attention to the staggering death toll from fentanyl overdoses, Ickes likened the crisis to a WMD event occurring annually on American soil, emphasizing the urgent need to counter foreign threats.
“When nearly as many people die each year from illicit fentanyl as died in Hiroshima or Nagasaki we are experiencing a WMD event each year through chemical warfare perpetrated by hostile foreign adversaries,” Ickes said. “Yet many times the potential to wipe out the American population exists already within our borders and insane amounts continue to pour in due to the overwhelmed border security situation.”
Ickes has called for immediate action to address the border crisis, including the reinstatement of the "Remain in Mexico" policy.
“While my opponent is shackled by a narrow vision of immigration due to her legal field and party ideology; I am not,” Ickes said. “I'm the best advocate for my fellow citizens as a former service member having worked multiple border security operations in the Middle East and Africa; as Green Beret I worked to help bring peace and security to our allies by training and fighting alongside police and military to rebuild war torn communities abroad. This often meant being party to contentious, even hostile, negotiations at times with language and cultural barriers to add complexity.”