immigration reform

National Push by a Local Immigration Activist: No G.O.P. Retreat

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“These local people live in the middle of these places, they know how to be effective in their districts,” said Roy Beck, executive director of one of the largest national groups, NumbersUSA, who is now holding regular strategy calls with Mr. King and more than 50 other state advocates.

At NumbersUSA, Mr. Beck said, more than 400,000 people signed on to an e-mail list as the vote approached, expanding its followers to more than 1.6 million names. Mr. Beck said a recent conference call he convened with followers was joined by 58,770 people.

Immigration activists aren't taking a recess

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The group NumbersUSA, which opposed the Senate bill, says it will be active throughout the recess, especially helping some of its two million members attend various town halls with Republican members of Congress. Its executive director, Roy Beck, told CNN he thinks more pressure is on the pro-reform forces to help move the issue. "For us it's more of a matter of making sure members of Congress...are hearing from the grassroots," Beck said.

Once quiet, August becomes key time for political activists

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Conservatives said they have no intention of relinquishing the spotlight. NumbersUSA, one of the groups fighting efforts to grant a legal pathway for illegal immigrants, held a conference call last week with more than 58,000 supporters to prepare them with talking points for the recess.http://denverpost.com/politics-national/?third_party=once-quiet-august-becomes-key-time-for-political-activists

By Matea Gold in The Washington Post

Expect More Than Just Town Hall Protests This August

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And even if legislators host a town hall in August, outside groups still face the challenge of mobilizing its members to attend. “In any organization only a small fraction are actually going to walk outside and go somewhere,” says Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, which advocates for lower immigration levels. “Most of them are doing things like the phone calls and e-mails.”

Unemployment Report Underlines Concerns About Amnesty, Immigration Increases

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The latest government statistics suggest that while the unemployment rate declined in July to 7.4 percent, the number of discouraged workers and those not in the labor force remains high. The report comes amid congressional discussions that could lead to amnesty for at least some illegal aliens in the country and legal immigration changes, both of which would dramatically increase the number of job seekers.

Activists mobilize for busy August on immigration, Obamacare

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NumbersUSA, which favors lower levels of immigration, is encouraging its network of some 2 million activists to attend town halls and send faxes and emails.

But Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, said he believes there's a lot of "hype" around the August recess that has been in part built up by the pro-immigration groups.

"This may be their only chance" to build momentum for immigration reform, Beck said.

GOP will feel heat at home in August on immigration

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Roy Beck, president of NumbersUSA, says his group, which advocates lower levels of legal and illegal immigration, hosted a teleconference with Reps. Steve King, R-Iowa, Steve Stockman, R-Texas, and Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., on Wednesday night to rally opponents to mobilize for the August recess.

Beck said there were 40,000 people on the call.

NUMBERSUSA DIRECTOR: PAUL RYAN 'IDEOLOGICALLY COMMITTED' TO OPEN BORDERS

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Roy Beck said he believes Ryan is "ideologically committed to the idea of open borders" because he "comes out of an ideology that just does not accept that the law of supply and demand works when it comes to labor markets."
He said he was "not very hopeful" that Ryan would abandon those beliefs. 
Beck said Ryan was not a part of the "patriotic libertarianism" wing that recognizes the importance of borders. 

Immigration Advocates Vowing to Track House Members on Break

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“We expect to be mobilizing daily,” said Roy Beck, executive director of Numbers USA, an Arlington, Virginia-based group that claims 2 million members and opposes the Senate bill.http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-07-31/immigration-advocates-vowing-to-hunt-down-house-members-on-break#p1

By Julie Bykowicz in Bloomberg Businessweek

Republican Elites to Congressional Republicans: Pass Amnesty, Allow in "Needed" Foreign Workers

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Over 100 Republican donors, fundraisers and former Party officials wrote Republican members of Congress on Tuesday to urge them to pass an amnesty and overhaul the nation's "broken" immigration system.  The letter is one element of a campaign to lobby Republican legislators as they return to their districts for August recess.

DHS Ignores Detailed Border Analysis

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A new investigative report from the Arizona Republic has found that the Department of Homeland Security has refused to consider academic analysis of the situation along the Southwest border with Mexico and has refused to move forward with proposed analysis that would provide the agency with much needed data. The report states, "DHS officials don't want to know, and don't want the public to know" what's really happening along the border.

Ways and Means Chair: Senate Immigration Bill Unconstitutional, Can’t be Considered in House

Rep. Dave Camp

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Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said the Senate’s comprehensive amnesty bill (S. 744) is unconstitutional because only bills originating in the House can raise revenues. The Senate has not officially transmitted S. 744 to the House yet but Camp’s statement implies he will move to prevent the House from taking up the bill when that occurs.

Poll: Support Has Fallen For Senate Immigration Bill, 39% Support Plan That Only Cuts Illegal Immigration by 50%

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A recent Rasmussen poll finds that support for the Senate immigration bill has dropped. Only 50% of likely voters now favor a plan to give legal status to illegal aliens, even if the border is secured to prevent future immigration. This figure is down from 60% less than three weeks ago. The figure drops to 39% when voters were asked if they support a plan that only cuts the flow of illegal immigration by 50%. 

These results come after the Congressional Budget Office estimated last week that the Senate immigration bill would only stop the flow by 50%.  

 

Immigration Restrictionists Prepare Again For Legislative Showdown

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Roy Beck, and his organization, NumbersUSA, had succeeded in getting their attention.
Though the Senate ultimately passed the bill, with just enough Republicans to give it a comfortable bump over the 60 needed votes, Beck said he’s optimistic that his organization will succeed in defeating an all-out congressional embrace of the measure.

“Every single Republican is hearing from their grassroots,” Beck told Fox News Latino. “They have to say, for them, does the corporate wing or the wage-earning wing [of the Republican Party] prevail?”

Analysis sees Senate bill curbing illegal entries

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"CBO says that the Senate bill with all its promises about extra enforcement would still allow half the illegal immigration flow to continue," said Roy Beck, head of NumbersUSA, in a statement. "This CBO finding suggests that by 2020 the illegal population will have grown big enough that presidential candidates will once again be pressed to promise yet another amnesty."

By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press

Q&A: NumbersUSA's Roy Beck on the effort to kill immigration reform

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The head of NumbersUSA believes the bill would double the number of foreign workers in the country, leading to lower wages

Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, an advocacy group that wants to roll back immigration to pre-1965 levels, discusses efforts to derail the comprehensive immigration reform being considered by Congress.

Why do you so fervently oppose the bill?

Immigration reform critics flood Senate with phone calls

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The calls have stiffened the spine of GOP Senators who might otherwise bend to pressure from business groups and from influential people in their home state, such as editorial writers and clerics, said Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, which provides a free phone service for Americans who oppose the massive rewrite.

Last-minute wrangling on sweeping immigration bill

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Rosemary Jenks, director of government relations for NumbersUSA, a group that opposes that bill, said the amendment brokered by Hoeven and Corker does little to help secure the border, and actually provides new loopholes that could weaken border security and allow future unauthorized immigrants to get U.S. citizenship.

She said the Senate passing the immigration bill is not the inevitability that many are making it seem.

New poll shows little voter support for immigration deal

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“The bill’s idea that more immigration will put more Americans to work was supported by only 24 percent of union households, 23 percent of Catholics, 14 percent of Evangelicals, 8 percent of high school grads, 14 percent of both conservatives and moderates, 18 percent of independents and 13 percent of Republicans,” read a statement from NumbersUSA, which sponsored the poll.

NumbersUSA is an advocacy group that seek to shrink the annual inflow of 1 million immigrants and 700,000 temporary guest-workers.

ICE Council President Urges Senators To Vote No on Corker-Hoeven Amendment

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Chris Crane, the National ICE Council President, today called on Senators to defeat the Corker-Hoeven amendment to S. 744 – the comprehensive amnesty bill. He said that Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) admitted needed interior enforcement provisions are absent, and that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) abandoned his commitment to ICE officers and Sheriffs to repair the bill’s provisions that gut interior enforcement.

Former Border Agents Say 'Border Surge' Hiring Not Obtainable Without Risk, Ineffective Without Interior Enforcement

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Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.) are preparing a so-called "border surge" amendment for the comprehensive amnesty bill (S. 744) that would add 20,000 Border Patrol Agents in ten years as a precondition for distributing green cards to illegal aliens. But the National Association of Former Border Patrol Agents (NAFBPO) says it would take at least 20 years to identify, train and hire that many Agents unless the process shortchanges proper training and background checks.

Day-Long Event Stirs Opposition to Comprehensive Amnesty Bill

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A group of House and Senate Republicans held an extended press conference and rally on the East steps of the Capitol to rail against the comprehensive amnesty legislation under consideration in the Senate. They were joined by talk show host Glenn Beck and the Heritage Foundation’s Robert Rector, the author of the definitive long-term cost analysis on the Senate bill.

Georgia Officials Urge Their Senators to Oppose Comprehensive Amnesty Bill

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A number of influential Georgia State Senators wrote their U.S. Senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, to urge a no vote on the Senate comprehensive amnesty bill – S. 744. The letter said, “(w)hile we undoubtedly need to address the complex issue of immigration reform, we must ensure we’re doing what’s right for all Americans, especially the people of Georgia.”

Where's the immigration air war?

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Immigration opponents have spent less overall but have more than kept pace on broadcast television, where a collection of groups, led by NumbersUSA and the Federation for American Immigration Reform, have spent nearly $1.2 million. Their investments in cable ($283,000) and radio ($58,000) have been far smaller.

Sen. Sesssions Delays Initial Votes on Immigration Amendments

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Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and at least one other Republican Senator used a procedural move today to block the first votes on amendments to S. 744, the comprehensive amnesty bill. Under Senate rules, unanimous consent is required for various purposes, including the scheduling of amendments. Sen. Sessions used the body’s rules to thwart the first votes.

Media Still Struggling to Explain Legalization-First Foundation of Immigration Bill

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In at least one critical aspect, the Gang of Eight's immigration bill passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee the same way it went in: there is no enforcement required before 11 million illegal aliens start to receive their legal status and work permits.

Former President Bush Questions Vote-Seeking Impetus for Immigration Reform

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In an interview with the Huffington Post, former President George W. Bush questioned pursuing immigration reform based on political motives. During his presidency, Bush had actively pushed for amnesty-based immigration reform but did not primarily sell it as a political imperative.

House GOP Leadership: House will approach immigration differently

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A statement issued by House Speaker John Boehner's Press Office hints that the GOP leadership would take a different approach on immigration than the Senate Gang of Eight's plan. According to the statement, the House will draft its own legislation, rather than take up and accept the Senate bill if it passes. The statement suggests that the House bill will focus on strengthening border security and enforcement mechanisms, which the Senate bill lacks.

NumbersUSA attacks Schumer-Rubio on unemployment in radio ad

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NumbersUSA, the low-immigration activist group founded by Roy Beck, launched an 18-state radio ad buy today opposing the Schumer-Rubio immigration bill that was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. The script of the ad, which will run continuously form now until the Senate either rejects or passes the immigration bill, is below:

NumbersUSA on the Dangers of an Irresponsible Immigration Policy

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NumbersUSA Education & Research Fund provides a forum for Americans of all national, ethnic and political backgrounds to focus on the singular issue of the numerical level of American immigration. It works to educate policymakers, opinion leaders and members of the public on immigration policies and legislation and their consequences.

Senate immigration gang frustrates GOP efforts to bolster border enforcement

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"After two weeks of considering amendments to the Gang of Eight immigration bill, the Senate Judiciary Committee has generally failed to strengthen the loophole-filled enforcement provisions or to reduce the harm of radically expanded immigration numbers on unemployed and underemployed Americans," said Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, which opposes granting millions of illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.

Immigration reform backers struggling to build support in Senate

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"This is their year and they are throwing everything at it," said Roy Beck, founder and CEO of NumbersUSA, which seeks to limit immigration.http://washingtonexaminer.com/immigration-reform-backers-struggling-to-build-support-in-senate/article/2529424?utm_source=Washington%20Examiner%20E-dition%20%28May

County board opposes immigration bill

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Instead of the bill now under consideration, the resolution by the Surry County Board of Commissioners calls for support of recommendations by the national immigration group Numbers USA, including:

• Ending chain migration;

• A verifiable visa entry and exit system;

• Eliminating a visa lottery;

• Ending birthright citizenship, also known as the “anchor baby” phenomenon;

Immigration Polling: Bad News for Red-State Democrats

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Numbers USA, a group that favors “lower immigration levels” and opposes the Gang of Eight’s bill, recently commissioned polling in states such as Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, and North Carolina, all of which voted for Mitt Romney, where incumbent Democrats are seeking reelection in 2014. The results, obtained by National Review Online, indicate that likely voters in those states do not support the major policies in the Gang’s bill, particularly its lack of a strong border-security and enforcement trigger, and would be unlikely to back a politician who does.

Immigration rivals agree; Senate bill will legalize more than 30 million migrants

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The estimate is only slightly less than the initial 33.5 million estimate prepared by NumbersUSA, which opposes the bill.

The NumbersUSA group said their estimates were cautious, while the Center for American Progress (CAP) group said their April 30 study shows the Senate bill will actually reduce the current inflow of immigrants.
 
The CAP and NumbersUSA estimates are similar, despite a series of very different assumptions and portrayals that reflect very different political priorities.

Quotes of the day

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Roy Beck, president of Numbers USA, said his group plans to concentrate its messaging on Alaska, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, hoping that voters will help push the senators in those states to oppose the bill.

“Our plan is that it does not get out of the Senate, and we still feel fairly confident of that. It’s a big battle,” he said.

Unveiling Immigration Measure, Senators Seek Distance From Effort on Guns

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And NumbersUSA, a group that seeks to reduce immigration, has begun poring over the bill to enumerate how it believes the legislation could hurt American workers.
 
''There are a lot of parallels between our type of outreach and the N.R.A.,'' said Rosemary Jenks, the director of government relations for NumbersUSA. ''We're both grass-roots organizations with very large memberships, and the goal is always to make sure members of Congress are hearing directly from their constituents.''

Immigration Bill Gets Mixed Review

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Roy Beck, executive director of Numbers USA, another organization favoring tough immigration curbs, said he could tap 1.8 million activists to help thwart the plan. "The way this bill's written is perfect for our plan to defeat it," he said. "It is adding more foreign workers at every turn, as if we have a labor shortage."

By Sarah Murray and Miriam Jordan in The Wall Street Journal

Poll indicates little voter urgency on immigration, compared to jobs issues

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A recent Gallup Poll shows that immigration is a low priority for Americans. According to the poll, Americans believe the most important problem facing the country today is the economy, followed by unemployment/jobs and dissatification with the government. Despite the Senate releasing an 844-page immigration reform bill last night, immigration ranked 7th on the list with only 4% of Americans thinking the issue is most important. 

'Gang of Eight' immigration bill draws mixed reviews

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When Roy Beck finally saw the details of an immigration deal brokered by a bipartisan group of senators on Tuesday, the outspoken opponent of granting legal status to the nation's unauthorized immigrants had a hard time finding the right words to express himself.

"I just never expected the bill to be this bad," said Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, a group that helped sink the last attempt to change the nation's immigration laws in 2007 and is trying to do the same this time.

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