Vice Pres. Pence urged Congress to pass immigration reforms that will close "loopholes" in current immigration law yesterday during an address to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Employees in Imperial, California.
The French National Assembly passed a bill over the weekend that shortens application deadlines for asylum-seekers and doubles the current detention timeline for failed asylum-seekers awaiting deportation. Pres. Emmanuel Macron's centrist party says the law will speed up the asylum claims process.
Pres. Trump honored Civil Rights Icon Barbara Jordan today in a message commending her for championing an “America First” immigration policy which called for the mandate of an electronic employment verification system, known today as E-Verify, and an end to chain migration.
Salon published an op-ed comparing the speech First Lady Michelle Obama gave at the Democratic National Convention last week to the one given by former Congresswoman and Civil Rights activist Barbara Jordan in 1976 – the first DNC keynote address delivered by an African-American woman.
Bloomberg -- Heidi Przybyla
Senator Marco Rubio said a comprehensive immigration plan won’t be passed by Congress because many lawmakers don’t believe the enforcement provisions would be carried out.
“The only path forward that has any chance of success is to bring illegal immigration under control” first, said Rubio, a Florida Republican. Then Congress would act to “modernize the illegal immigration system,” he said at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast.
Breitbart News -- Jonathan Strong
The House will quickly begin considering broader immigration legislation in weeks ahead even as Republicans are likely to remain mired in conflict with President Obama over a far-reaching executive action that extended amnesty to millions of illegal aliens, Speaker John Boehner announced to members at a closed-door meeting this morning.
“We’re going to get an immigration bill moving pretty quickly,” one GOP lawmaker told Breitbart News.
The Des Moines Register -- Jennifer Jacobs
3. IMMIGRATION REFORM: "I think since we spent so much time on immigration last time and the House didn't do anything, I want to wait for the House to take some action and review what they've done and then act if I think it's going to be productive for the Senate to act. And it'll be more productive for us to act if the House has acted first. I've had conversations with the Republican chairman in the House and I think they're intending to act."
MinnPost -- Devin Henry
Her opposition to so-called “comprehensive immigration reform” dates back longer than that, of course. Roy Beck, the president of NumbersUSA, a group dedicated to reducing all immigration, both legal and illegal, said he remembers her work with other House conservatives to oppose a Senate-passed immigration reform bill last summer.
While most of the media extolled an op-ed written this week by Tea Party Express founder, Sal Russo, calling for amnesty and increases in legal immigration, they missed the extraordinary defense of the American worker by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.).
Speaking before the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce today, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said he wants to take up immigration reform legislation in small chunks, starting first with border security. On the question of whether the House will consider legislation this year, Boehner said it depends on whether he can "bring my members along."
By Seung Min Kim -- Politico
The attendees also said they told Johnson that the administration also has to include a randomness factor when deciding who among the undocumented immigrant population to deport — as an enforcement mechanism. Krikorian likened it to random tax audits by the Internal Revenue Service or speed traps by local police.
“We pushed very hard that there has to be a percentage of the resources [that] have to be for random deportations,” said Roy Beck, the executive director of Numbers USA.
Within minutes of the Associated Press calling last night's North Carolina 2nd Congressional District primary for Rep. Renee Ellmers, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg's pro-amnesty group, FWD.us, congratulated her on both its Facebook page and on Twitter. FWD.us called the election results a "clear sign voters are ready for immigration reform" after dumping a six-figure ad buy into her district to help her win the primary. The ads, however, claimed she opposes amnesty, but FWD.us' vision of "immigration reform" clearly includes amnesty for the nation's 11-18 million illegal aliens.
Mississippi's McDaniel First to Sign Anti-Amnesty Pledge
By Courtney Coren -- Newsmax
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Chris-McDaniel-immigration-Mississippi-amnesty/2014/04/29/id/568327/
The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, mocked Republicans in his caucus for being afraid to engage in a debate over amnesty. His theatrical display is surprising since Boehner had cited his caucus’ views when earlier declaring that immigration legislation was doubtful this year.
In a letter to President Obama, 22 Republican senators said the deportation policy changes under consideration by DHS would represent “a near complete abandonment of basic immigration enforcement and discard the rule of law and the notion the United States has enforceable borders.” The letter warns Obama to improve immigration enforcement, not look for ways to weaken it.
On Wednesday, Pres. Obama sent mixed messages to the American people. In the first half of the day, he once again expressed his support for the Senate-approved amnesty bill, S.744, that would issue more than 30 million lifetime work permits in the first decade. In the afternoon, he told a group of working-class Americans that he'd like to spend $600 million more to expand programs that train low-skilled American workers for high-tech jobs that pay more money.
House Democrats are urging 30 Republicans who've said they support some form of amnesty to sign a discharge petition and force a floor vote on H.R. 15, their comprehensive amnesty bill. "We're calling out the members of the House…who have said they support immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship," said Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo. "We're saying, 'Do something about your support…(P)ut their pen where their mouth is."
According to Breitbart News, a high-ranking staffer for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor admitted the Representative supports granting amnesty to certain illegal aliens if they enlist in the U.S. military. This confirms prior statements by ENLIST Act sponsor Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., and Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon, R-Calif.
This is an abridged version of Charts as edited and included in Dennis Michael Lynch's 2012 documentary, "They Come to America" Roy Beck is the Founder of NumbersUSA which educates and mobilizes Americans around the recommendations of two national commissions that recommended deep reductions in annual immigration numbers.
Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., dropped his co-sponsorship of an amnesty bill Republican leaders want to include in the Department of Defense authorization bill, Breitbart reports. Duncan said he was unaware of the plot and objected to adding the measure to an unrelated bill.
Vice President and potential presidential candidate Joe Biden gave a speech last week in which he said the 11 million illegal aliens in the United States “are already Americans.” Famous for pandering to audiences and, uh, stretching the truth, Biden also has been a champion for causes irrespective of whether they are consistent with U.S. laws or the Constitution. So if he’s misguided enough to think illegal aliens are citizens, perhaps one day Biden will dispense with the formalities of an election and declare he’s already president. Or at least the comic-in-chief.
In order to placate illegal-alien advocates who falsely claim the Administration has deported record numbers of illegal aliens, President Obama announced that DHS would review options for making immigration enforcement “more humane.” Translation: they’ll find more ways to ignore the law and make illegal aliens comfortable while the comprehensive amnesty alliance pursues House Republican hold-outs.
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Democrats will try to use a discharge petition to start debate on their so-called “comprehensive immigration reform” bill after the congressional recess ends on March 24. However, Hoyer admitted they likely won’t get enough Republican signatures on a petition to force a floor debate.
Facing increasing pressure from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) to stop deportations, President Obama announced DHS will explore executive amnesty alternatives. The announcement came after a White House meeting between Obama and Caucus members, who had threatened to introduce a resolution demanding action.
The pro-amnesty group Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform will hold a lobbying day on Capitol Hill on March 12th. Unlike prior ILIR efforts, this one targets just House Republicans who are not in favor of amnesty and legal immigration increases.
President Obama tried to turn around accusations from amnesty advocates who called him the "deporter-in-chief" by claiming he is the "champion-in-chief" for a comprehensive amnesty. However, his remarks did not dissuade more pro-amnesty politicians from joining the chorus calling for an end to deportations.
The fiscal 2015 budget plan President Obama introduced yesterday for the Department of Homeland Security seeks to sell so-called comprehensive immigration reform by claiming it will reduce the deficit. The proposal, already considered dead-on-arrival in the House, also maintains some key programs like E-Verify that most consider critical to the passage of any immigration package.
After House Speaker John Boehner and President Obama met privately this week, the Speaker identified immigration as a potential area for legislative cooperation. That may please Catholic and evangelical elites who started a new lobbying campaign to move stalled immigration legislation.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue renewed his call for comprehensive amnesty legislation, and backed it up with a letter to Speaker John Boehner from 636 businesses and related groups. Meanwhile on the left, MoveOn.org and other groups are pressuring Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to jumpstart action with a discharge petition.
If you were to do a quick Google news search of “California drought and population growth,” you’d be lucky to find more than a few passing statements buried deep within articles regurgitating the same information. All of the news coverage on the devastating drought focuses on short-term problems and shallow solutions. Most writing about the drought assume that population growth is a factor that won’t help California’s water shortage. Unfortunately, I have yet to find any news coverage that attempts to come up with real solutions to rapid population growth in the We
A Gallup poll released this week found that a roughly equal number of Americans want to beef up border security and deal with illegal aliens in the U.S. As blogger Micky Kaus notes, the poll never specifies what “deal with” means but that did not stop main stream media outlets like CNN from trumpeting the good news for advocates of a comprehensive amnesty.
Sen. Chuck Schumer today said he supports using a discharge petition to get debate moving in the House on the Senate’s comprehensive amnesty bill (S.744). Schumer also suggested another idea for spurring movement on a bill - delaying implementation until after President Obama leaves office.
House Speaker John Boehner today dimmed prospects for passing immigration legislation this year, saying that legislation would be difficult to pass while there is doubt about President Obama’s willingness to enforce the law. In response Rosemary Jenks, NumbersUSA's Director of Government Relations, said "Unfortunately since we know that since the Republican leadership wants to push amnesty...we can’t trust these declarations."
House Speaker John Boehner told reporters yesterday that he hasn’t decided on moving immigration bills this year because the issue is still under debate within his caucus. But behind the scenes, Boehner appears to be continuing his push while his surrogates make the case in the media.
Appearing on Sunday morning news shows, Reps. Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor appeared hesitant to confirm that the House will pursue immigration legislation this year. Ryan said that the likelihood of a broad immigration bill reaching President Obama's desk this year is "clearly in doubt," while Cantor said Congress should focus on “things that we can agree on.”
According to media reports, many House Republicans rejected holding an immigration debate this year after the unveiling of Speaker Boehner's immigration proposal. Participants who attended the Republican retreat yesterday said that Members who opposed moving forward on immigration comprised 70-80 percent of the speakers. Leading Democrats, on the other hand, appear to view the Republican leaders' proposal as a starting point for debate.
In a press conference yesterday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said House Speaker John Boehner is making a “good-faith effort” to develop immigration principle which, the Speaker said, should be acceptable to most if not all Democrats.
Even before Speaker Boehner and other leaders formally unveil their immigration principles at the House Republican retreat, several members of the influential Republican Study Committee have said there is a growing consensus of Members who believe that it is a bad idea to consider immigration on the House floor this year. Not having the support of the Republican Study Committee, which is comprised of over 160 conservative Republicans, could damage Boehner’s efforts to move piecemeal legislation in 2014.
House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), the third-ranking House Republican, said in an interview that he backs granting illegal aliens legal status and the ability to work, but not a “new pathway to citizenship.” Since Republican leaders have not released their immigration principles yet, McCarthy’s statement is seen as a trial balloon for measuring public reaction on including a legalization component.
Breitbart reports that Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., is calling on House Republicans to put the interests of American workers ahead of lobbyists, political consultants and Democrats who want who want a comprehensive amnesty. He said the House was the last line of defense for Americans whose wages and livelihood would be put at risk.
As Speaker John Boehner and House Republicans gear up for an internal debate over whether to address immigration in 2014, a new Gallup poll lends support to those who want to delay consideration. The poll found that only three percent of Americans think immigration is the top problem Congress must tackle this year. So why does Boehner consider immigration to be so urgent?
In a Telemundo interview that will air Jan. 12th, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte says he sees “no reason” why illegal aliens shouldn’t be legalized if border and interior enforcement measures are “up and operating.” Goodlatte also broadly discusses the GOP immigration principles Speaker Boehner said will be released soon.
In a letter to President Obama, Rep. Mo Brooks (Ala.) and fifteen other Republican Representatives said they “reject” his call for the House to pass an immigration reform bill because it would “permanently displace American workers.” The letter also suggests Obama’s immigration proposals would increase unemployment and poverty and decrease American wages.
House Speaker John Boehner told House Republicans today that he expects to release a outline of GOP principles on immigration within weeks. He had announced in November that such guidelines were a prerequisite for bringing any immigration bill to the House floor.
According to a recent Congressional Research Service report, the number of people granted temporary asylum jumped from 13,931 to 36,026 in the last fiscal year. This tripling of claims has lawmakers worried that illegal border crossers, including members of drug cartels, may be filing fraudulent claims to slow their deportation.
Open-border advocates are waging an aggressive, non-stop campaign to convince House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy to support a comprehensive amnesty. But their tactics are backfiring, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) said the Obama Administration is nullifying the laws Congress passed at "an unprecedented level" and supports taking the Administration to court over executive overreach on issues related to immigration and other matters.
Jeh Johnson, who President Obama nominated to head up the Department of Homeland Security, defended the Senate’s comprehensive amnesty bill in a letter to Republican senators. The letter also defended the Administration’s use of prosecutorial discretion to forego deportation for certain groups of illegal aliens.
