On January 28, 2013, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) responded to an immigration reform proposal from a "Gang of Eight" that includes Senators Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin, Bob Menendez, Michael Bennet, Marco Rubio, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Jeff Flake.
Ten officers and agents for United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) including ICE Agents Union President Chris Crane, today filed a lawsuit against Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton challenging the Obama Administration's deferred action Directive and associated Prosecutorial Discretion Memorandum that prevent ICE officers, employees, and agents from fulfilling their sworn oath to uphold the law and defend the US Constitution.
On July 19, 2012, the House Judiciary Committee asked DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano about the administration's DREAM Act executive amnesty. Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.), who chairs the Immigration Subcommittee, asked Sec. Napolitano how many illegal aliens would receive work permits while millions of Americans were out of work. He had to ask the questions four times before getting an answer. Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith asked Sec. Napolitano if students who qualify would have to provide a certified school transcript. She said, they're "still working on the details."
Under federal law, illegal presence in the United States is punishable by removal and a 3-year bar from re-entry for aliens illegally present for longer than 180 days and less than 1 year, or a 10-year bar from re-entry for aliens illegally present for longer than 1 year. Illegal aliens who had been previously removed, but are found illegally present again are permanently inadmissible.
Since the passing of the Immigration and Reform Control Act (IRCA), 6 million illegal aliens have received amnesty in the United States. The IRCA Amnesty was supposed to "wipe the slate clean" and instead it's lead to the current situation of 12-20 million illegal aliens living in the country.
Amnesty has become a politically-charged term over the years, which has resulted in Members of Congress, activists, reporters, etc., jumping through hoops to try and prevent the term from sticking to their bill of choice. Let's break down the definition . . .
The House of Representatives passed H.R. 6800, the Heroes Act, on Friday night by a narrow margin, 208-to-199. The bill would grant deferred action and work authorization to illegal aliens, working in "critical infrastructure" occupations, until 90 days after the end of the declared national emergency. The bill would also extend the expiration dates for nonimmigrant visas and work permits, fast-track the importation of foreign health care workers, and allow stimulus checks from the CARES Act to be issued to illegal aliens.
House Democrats unveiled their wish list Tuesday for Covid-19 relief in the form of the HEROES Act, H.R. 6800. The bill will likely receive a floor vote on Friday and is expected to pass. But even House Democrats acknowledge that the bill is more about messaging and has no chance of passing the Republican-controlled Senate.
The House of Represen -tatives approved legislation on Wednesday night that would grant amnesty to more than 1 million illegal farm workers and renew the outdated system of indentured servitude to guarantee a steady and cheap foreign worker labor force going forward. The bill passed 260-165, mostly along party lines with all but four Democrats who were present supporting the legislation and more than 80% of the Republicans opposing the legislation.
The House of Representatives passed a mass amnesty bill on Tuesday evening, H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act, that would grant lifetime work permits to approximately 3.5 million illegal aliens who claim that they entered the country under the age of 18 and meet certain other conditions and to approximately 450,000 foreign citizens (mostly illegal aliens) whose countries have been given Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) have introduced the Dream Act, S. 874. If passed, the bill would grant amnesty and lifetime work permits to more than 2 million illegal aliens who meet certain requirements. Unlike the H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act, S. 874 would not grant amnesty to foreign citizens, most of whom first came to the country illegally, who have received Temporary Protected Status or Deferred Enforced Departure.
The American Dream and Promise Act, H.R. 6, would grant amnesty to as many as 3.5 million illegal aliens who entered the country before their 18th birthday AND to 429,000 (mostly illegal-alien) individuals who have received relief from deportation, making it the largest amnesty in our nation's history, if passed.
The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) unveiled an immigration proposal today that would grant amnesty to illegal aliens and increase the number of foreign workers imported each year. The proposal also attempts to appeal to Pres. Trump's desire to build a border wall by including a boost for border security funding.
Pres. Trump announced today that he'd be willing to support legislation that trades amnesty for DACA recipients and illegal aliens who have received temporary protected status (TPS) in exchange for $5.7 billion of border wall funding. The offer also would have to include additional funding for more border patrol agents and immigration judges to handle the backlog of immigration cases.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) have introduced legislation that would provide a permanent amnesty to certain illegal farm workers in the United States. Under the legislation, qualifying illegal-alien farm workers would receive a temporary work permit to continue farm work. They would be eligible for green cards after three years.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday that an amnesty for DACA recipients would not be included in the year-end spending bill for fiscal year 2019. He explained that a federal court's ruling, which halted the Trump Administration's effort to end the DACA amnesty program, removed the deadline that had previously served as a motivation for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to find a legislative solution.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Thursday that it approved 20,572 new DACA applicants between October 2017 and June 2018 in addition to already having renewed status for 185,086 DACA beneficiaries.
The National ICE Council has announced its opposition to the Ryan Amnesty plan that the House is scheduled to vote on later this week. ICE Union President Chris Crane wrote that if the Ryan Amnesty passed, "it will have significant negative consequences for public safety and interior enforcement in general."
Recent data, released today by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), revealed that the government granted amnesty to 53,000 illegal aliens -- 7% of all DACA recipients -- with existing criminal convictions under Pres. Obama's DACA executive amnesty. Of those criminal aliens approved for DACA, 10 were granted status despite being arrested for murder.
Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) filed a Discharge Petition on May 9 for Rep. Jeff Denham's (R-Calif.) resolution (H.Res. 774) that will force a series of votes in the House on several DACA amnesty proposals. Twenty-three other House Republicans have signed the Petition in addition to Rep. Curbelo. So far, 193 Democrats have signed the petition bringing the total number of signers to 216 out of the 218 needed for the Petition to succeed.
Pres. Trump said in a Fox News interview today that he will not approve any DACA amnesty legislation that doesn’t include strong border security, end the visa lottery program, and eliminate chain migration.
House Speaker Paul Ryan spoke against Rep. Carlos Curbelo's (R-Fla.) decision to file a Discharge Petition for Rep. Jeff Denham's (R-Calif.) resolution (H.Res. 774), which could force a vote in the House on DACA amnesty legislation. Though he would prefer to vote on DACA "before midterms," Ryan said that there's no use in forcing a floor vote on amnesty legislation that Pres. Trump will most likely veto.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) are resisting Rep. Carlos Curbelo's (R-Fla.) decision to file a Discharge Petition for Rep. Jeff Denham's (R-Calif.) resolution (H.Res. 774) yesterday, which could force a vote in the House on DACA amnesty legislation.
According to The Washington Times, the Trump Admin. said on Monday that it fully supports Rep. Bob Goodlatte's H.R. 4760, the Securing America's Future Act, and encouraged House leadership to pass the legislation in an effort to put pressure on the Senate.
The White House officially released its legislative "framework" for an immigration deal that would expand amnesty for 690,000 plus DACA recipients to about 1.8 million illegal aliens and perpetuate chain migration by allowing the extended-family and employment "backlog" of 4 million to be cleared. How the latter would occur was not made clear.
Congress passed a Continuing Resolution on Thursday night to fund the federal government through Jan. 19 WITHOUT an amnesty for young-adult illegal aliens despite a months-long push by dozens of Democrats and Republicans to do so, and despite threats by many to shut down the government if it didn't happen.
Thirty-four Republicans in the House of Representatives signed a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan calling for passage of a permanent DACA amnesty before the end of the year. Reps. Scott Taylor (R-Va.) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) led the effort.
The SUCCEED amnesty bill introduced by Senators Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) repeats the same mistakes from past amnesties -- no enforcement to prevent future illegal immigration, and therefore future amnesties, and no end to Chain Migration which would multiply the size of the amnesty.
The SUCCEED Act would grant amnesty to young illegal aliens who meet certain requirements, including those who qualified for the unconstitutional DACA executive amnesty.
After reaching a 17- year low in April border apprehensions have made a 60% increase over the summer, in opposition to historic trends that usually see a reduction in the late summer months. This increase comes as talks about granting amnesty for Dreamers has made national headlines.
The Tillis-Lankford SUCCEED Act is pretty much an amnesty-business-as-usual bill that rewards past lawbreaking without reducing the lawbreaking in the future.
According to the Pew Research Center’s analysis of USCIS’ latest report, 71% of those who have received the DACA amnesty are 21 years of age or older. This means that most of the “Dreamers” are adults who are currently competing with American workers for jobs.
Republican Sens. Thom Tillis (N.C.), James Lankford (Okla.), and Orrin Hatch (Utah) introduced the Succeed Act, which would grant amnesty to millions of young illegal aliens. While the Senators claim the bill addresses Pres. Trump's concern with chain migration, it would only prevent the amnestied illegal aliens from sponsoring family members while they hold conditional legal permanent residence.
In this Real Clear Defense op-ed, military veteran Robin Boggs denounces Rep. Jeff Denham’s (R-Calif.) ENLIST Act saying it would not improve military readiness. The ENLIST Act would give illegal aliens who meet certain requirements Legal Permanent Residence (LPR) status if they join the military. The amnesty bill currently has over 200 sponsors and several have tried to sneak the bill into the defense budget.
Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced a new version of the DREAM Act on Thursday that would grant amnesty and work permits to approximately 2 million illegal aliens. The bill would impact many of the illegal aliens who received Pres. Obama's unconstitutional DACA executive amnesty that could face a court challenge from several states in September unless the program is ended by Pres. Trump before then.
Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) introduced the ENLIST Act, H.R. 60, that would give illegal aliens who meet certain requirements Legal Permanent Residence (LPR) status if they join the military. Rep. Denham first introduced the ENLIST Act in 2013, and more than 200 U.S. Representatives have signed on as cosponsors.
On Thursday, Senator Ron Johnson (WI) introduced a brand-new approach to adding unnecessary foreign workers: state sponsored visas.
Breitbart News -- John Binder
“It’s almost like Tillis just ignored Trump’s victory,” Chris Chmielenski with NumbersUSA told Breitbart Texas.
Both Krikorian and Chmielenski said establishment Republicans and Democrats will use amnesty and portray it as a necessary measure after Trump’s border wall is finished being constructed along the US-Mexico Border.
Senate and House Judiciary Committee Chairmen Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., slammed the Obama Administration’s management of the U visa program following findings of fraud and a new parole policy that exceeds its authority. The U visa program allows foreign nationals who are victims or witnesses of crime in the United States to remain here while assisting in the crime’s investigation and prosecution. But the Administration allowed fraudulent applications to be processed and exceeded the numerical program limits Congress set.
The leaders of local-government “sanctuaries” asked President Obama to further shield illegal aliens before leaving office. Working under a group New York Mayor Bill de Blasio created, Cities for Action, the leaders asked Obama to front-load work permit extensions for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, and to extend Temporary Protected Status for illegal aliens residing in the United States.
The Washington Times reports White House Domestic Policy Council Director Cecilia Munoz told amnesty advocates that President Obama will not pardon illegal aliens prior to leaving office. She said a pardon does not apply to immigration cases and is not a permanent solution.
The Obama Administration is seeking to stay proceedings in the executive amnesty court case until February 2017, thus giving the Trump Administration time to take over. Obama had sought to block a temporary injunction placed on his Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program and extended Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which would have allowed him to implement the amnesties before leaving office.
A group of New York state lawmakers and immigration advocates are planning a rally to ask Pres. Obama to pardon 750,000 DACA recipients and protect them from deportation. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to stop the DACA program that granted amnesty and work permits to young adult illegal aliens who were brought into the U.S. at a young age.
During Wednesday’s Commander-in-Chief Forum Donald Trump said that he is open to granting amnesty to illegal aliens who plan on joining the military or are currently serving in the U.S. military. Trump said that this would be a “very special circumstance” and they would have to be carefully vetted but could be granted legal status.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is proposing a rule that relies on the agency’s parole authority to give foreign nationals temporary permission to be in the United States to “start or scale their businesses.” Current law allows USCIS to use parole authority in dire, individual humanitarian cases, not to benefit broad categories of beneficiaries. As such the proposal, like the court-blocked DAPA/extended DACA amnesty, directly challenges the limits of agency discretion under immigration law.
An illegal alien eligible for Pres. Obama's DAPA executive amnesty has filed a lawsuit challenging the scope of Judge Andrew Hanen’s injunction, preventing the program's rollout. The lawsuit claims that since the Supreme Court did not reach a decision on the case no national precedent was set and that the DAPA injunction should only apply to the 26 states involved in the original DAPA lawsuit.
The Obama Administration finalized a new rule that expands upon a 2013 rule that waives the 3-year/10-year re-entry bars imposed on illegal aliens once they become eligible for a green card. The policy could encourage the 4.5 million people on the family-based green cards backlog to move to the U.S. illegally while they wait for their green cards to become available.
In a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Alabama Sens. Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby said that illegal-alien minors are again surging across the border but “only a small fraction have been removed from the United States." At least 60 percent of such minors in 2014 and 2015 should have been deported because they did not qualify for placement in the U.S. as “unaccompanied alien children’ under the law.
Immigration has played a key role in the 2016 presidential election and has some of the formerly known 'Gang of Eight' members saying they'll reintroduce comprehensive amnesty legislation if Democrats hold on to the White House. The Gang of 8's 2013 bill would have doubled legal immigration and granted lifetime work permits to 11 million illegal aliens.
In a 4-4 tie, the Supreme Court today affirmed a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that temporarily blocks implementation of President Obama's DAPA and extended DACA amnesties. The case brought by 26 states now returns to District Judge Andrew Hanen’s court for a consideration of its merits.
