Judicial Watch has filed two Freedom of Information lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security regarding memos that surfaced last year detailing ways the Obama Administration could provide a mass amnesty without Congressional action. Judicial Watch requested information last year through the Freedom of Information Act, but the Department has failed to cooperate.
Much to the misery of the open-borders lobby, Arizona voters have transformed yet another pro-amnesty champion into a secure-borders-only candidate.
Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) stunned his national pro-amnesty allies today in an Arizona Republic interview by saying that he has changed his mind about wanting "comprehensive immigration reform."
In Utah, the cheap-labor Chamber of Commerce lobby has taken over the Republican Party and is, in effect, blocking thousands of unemployed citizens and legal immigrants from jobs being held by illegal foreign workers. Across the border in Arizona, though, the Republican Party has resisted the worst of corporate lobbying and put unemployed citizens and legal immigrants first, constantly trying to stop unscrupulous businesses from filling jobs with illegal aliens. This local TV newscast shows the superiority of the compassionate Arizona approach . . . .
After facing a more hostile House Committee last week, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano testified before the more friendly confines of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Even though the Democratic-controlled Committee allowed Napolitano to be less defensive, she still faced tough questions about border security and the amnesty memos that circulated last summer.
George Will, a columnist for the Washington Post, has written a fair and honest assessment of Rep. Lamar Smith's immigration reform bona fides.
In an interview with Mother Jones magazine, U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) shows that he just can't let go of his pro-amnesty views despite their liability to him in his run for the Senate seat in 2012.
Jeff Flake -- who is considered the front-runner to be Arizona's next Senator after announcing his candidacy today -- is the U.S. House's No. 1 Republican champion of amnesties for illegal aliens. Would Arizona voters do this to the rest of the country?
Have House Democrats totally lost their soul? I think they really do care about the 24 million Americans who can't find a full-time job. But at a hearing this week about the lack of worksite enforcement to arrest illegal workers, the Democrats invited as their key witness an "expert" who apparently thinks we're about to run out of U.S. workers. And why are the Democrats going with a radical libertarian?
In an appearance on Face to Face with Jon Ralston on the NBC affiliate in Reno, Nev., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the prospects of passing a mass amnesty are positive. Reid lists passing a mass amnesty as one of his top priorities for the 112th Congress.
A bold college student politely asked me an interesting question during my presentation this morning to university students from around the country. She said she -- like many students in the auditorium -- had worked passionately for the DREAM Act amnesty. She wanted to know what advice I could give that would offer them hope for passing the amnesty in the future. But the numbers I provided the students about the changed composition of the House of Representatives sworn in today was not cause for much hope for amnesty supporters. Look at the numbers . . .
I can't think of a more joyous reason to ring IN the New Year than the fact that we will immediately be ringing OUT five dozen Members of Congress who voted FOR amnesty just before Christmas. Take a look at this list and wish them all a fond farewell . . .
Your local newspaper has probably had at least one story about how horrible it was that, even though the President got everything else he wanted from the Lame Duck Congress, he "tragically" failed to pass the DREAM Act amnesty. In fact, most of the nation's newspapers are almost incredulous about how the amnesty could possibly have failed. So, congratulations for pulling off a "tragic political miracle" -- your nation thanks you.
In response to President Obama’s call for action next year on the DREAM Act and so-called comprehensive immigration reform, House and Senate Republican leaders said they would oppose any attempt to amnesty illegal aliens, according to the Washington Post. Incoming House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) said, "It is pointless to talk about any new immigration bills that grant amnesty until we secure the border, since such bills will only encourage more illegal immigration."
President Barack Obama and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus met at the White House yesterday to discuss the bleak future of immigration reform in Congress. Both sides agreed that amnesty is likely dead for the next two years, but Obama vowed that he would veto any immigration enforcement legislation.
Two years into the jobs recession, some reporters are still operating under the false assumption that immigration policy is determined by U.S. labor market conditions. According to The New York Times' coverage of a Brookings Institution report, “The flow of immigration has resumed, after….[having] stopped almost completely during the recession….The rise pointed to an increase in demand for immigrant labor in the economy, said Audrey Singer, a demographer and co-author of the report.”
Our victory was closer than it looked. I told our Web Editor Chris Chmielenski after the vote this morning that my body felt like it does when I just missed a terrible car accident in which nothing bad happened at all but I can clearly see how close I came to being killed. Yes, the PRO-amnesty folks were 5 votes short of the 60 needed. But I can pick several NO votes that could've gone the other way. And if any two had done so -- especially if they had done so a couple of weeks ago -- at least three other votes would have gone with them and we would have lost. The incredible efforts of ordinary citizens communicating with those key Senate offices saved the country from a nightmare. Now, let's look at the individual votes . . .
After this morning's Senate defeat of the DREAM Act, NumbersUSA President said "we look forward to moving aggressively to offense." After the House passed the DREAM Act last week with 18 votes to spare, the Senate was unable to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to open debate on the bill this morning.
Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), is urging his Senate colleagues to oppose the DREAM Act Amnesty bill that will come up for a vote on Saturday in the Senate. Sen. Sessions says the bill contains too many loopholes, allows too many illegal aliens to qualify, and doesn't hold illegal aliens to the educational and military standards that its supports say it does.
Sen. Reid's change of plans was announced suddenly Thursday evening. Does that mean he thinks he has the 60 votes to pass this amnesty? Not necessarily. Our NumbersUSA whip count says he doesn't have the votes. But votes could change over the next 24 hours. Here's your Friday update and alert.
A Newsweek blog now notes that Sen. Reid's dragging out the amnesty vote may be starting to endanger several Senators in his Party who are more and more dreading having to run for re-election in 2012 with a recent amnesty vote on their record. NumbersUSA pledges to do everything possible during those campaigns to inform the voters in those states about the Senators who voted for an amnesty to add millions more worker to compete directly with unemployed Americans.
The PRO-amnesty TV network Univision is reporting that the DREAM Act amnesty is 4 votes short of the 60 needed for passage. Mass. Sen. Brown's courageous announcement of his NO vote at a Salvation Army fundraiser yesterday puts Senate passage of the House-passed amnesty farther out of reach. But the PRO-amnesty forces claim they have already processed 160,000 phone calls into Congress. And groups of PRO-amnesty clergy are meeting with Undeclared Senators to explain how a moral person would vote. Sen. Reid is threatening to bring the Senate back after Christmas to try to ensure that the amnesty passes . . . here's my full update for today . . .
The passage of the DREAM Act in the House on Wednesday makes me think how quickly we forget to be thankful after Thanksgiving. Instead of being thankful for the education and other opportunities they have already received, potential beneficiaries of the DREAM Act amnesty are asking for more. More education, more jobs, more benefits, and everything else that comes with amnesty and American citizenship.
The American Legion sent a letter to the U.S. Senate urging them to oppose the DREAM Act Amnesty, saying the bill rewards crime. If the version already passed by the House is passed by the Senate, it would offer up to 2.1 million illegal aliens an amnesty by meeting educational or military requirements.
First, something that virtually everybody concedes -- If the Senate had voted this morning (as had been promised), the DREAM Act amnesty would have been defeated. So, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid decided to buy another week of pro-amnesty lobbying from the White House and the rich pro-amnesty advocacy groups. Many news outlets immediately put out reports that the amnesty bill was now dead. But not so fast. The news is not that good . . .
For two years, we have heard that if House Speaker Pelosi allowed a vote on the DREAM Act amnesty that it would sail through her 60% majority chamber. Almost at the end of the Congress and her Speakership, she finally allowed the vote and did win but not too impressively. Here are the Republicans who voted FOR amnesty and the Democrats who voted AGAINST amnesty . . .
The Senate is expected to take up the DREAM Act on Thursday morning (12/9). Please call the Senate and ask for a no vote on the DREAM Act - (202) 224-3121. Go to the jump page to see a list of ten undecided Senators.
With just a few days left in the 111th Congress, both chambers are expected to vote on the DREAM Act Amnesty today. On Tuesday, the House Rules Committee passed a "same-day" rule that will allow a same-day vote on bills brought to the floor. And in the Senate, Majority Leader Reid has scheduled a series of cloture votes, including the DREAM Act, for later this afternoon.
When the House and Senate (presumably) vote this afternoon, I think it is important to frame the issue in terms of giving out millions of additional 10-year work permits. You see, even people who don't qualify in the first place or who do qualify for the provisional amnesty but never meet the educational criteria later -- all of them can get a 10-year work permit from the start. Are any of the pro-DREAM amnesty supporters thinking about that? Here's how it would work . . .
The White House is reaching out to fence-sitting Republican Senators trying to earn their vote on the DREAM Act. A new report from the National Journal says that members of the President's cabinet are targeting Sens. Collins and Snowe from Maine, Sen. LeMieux of Florida, and Sen. Hutchison of Texas. Call the Capitol Switchboard NOW and urge these Senators and your Members of Congress to oppose the DREAM Act amnesty -- 202-221-3121.
The jobless rate inched up in November to 9.8% after settling at 9.6% for the past several months. The jobless rate for most vulnerable groups of U.S. citizens and legal immigrants all increased in November. If passed by Congress, the DREAM Act Amnesty would add up to 2.1 million individuals to the depressed job market and allow for them to sponsor their family members in later years.
The Center for Immigration Studies says passage of the DREAM Act would cost American taxpayers at least $6.2 billion per year. According to CIS, at least 1.2 million illegal aliens would enroll in public colleges and universities, qualifying for in-state tuition rates. The average $6,000 in-state tuition benefit would be subsidized to the taxpayers.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who also serves as the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter to his Senate colleagues urging them to oppose the DREAM Act. In his letter, Sen. Sessions criticized the Leadership's decision to bypass committee markup of the several different versions of the bill and their unwillingness to have the costs of the bill scored by the Congressional Budget Office.
Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) contacted the Congressional Budget Office today requesting a score of either the House version of the DREAM Act (H.R.1751) or the most recent Senate version (S.3992). Sen. Vitter's request is similar to one made last night by Ranking Member of the House Immigration Subcommittee Steve King. He followed up his request with a speech criticizing the bill on the floor of the Senate.
Ranking Member of the House Immigration Subcommittee Steve King (R-Iowa) is requesting a release of the Congressional Budget Office's score of the DREAM Act. The CBO analyzes the potential cost or savings of bills offered in Congress. Rep. King says the DREAM Act could cost as much as $20 billion.
Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee Jeff Sessions spoke out this morning about the possibility of the DREAM Act Amnesty coming to the floor of the Senate. In his statement, Sen. Sessions said passing a mass amnesty bill is not what the American people had in mind when they elected candidates who support tougher immigration enforcement.
All 42 Members of the Senate Republican Caucus delivered a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid stating that they will not vote for cloture on any piece of legislation until the Senate has approved funding for the federal government and addressed the tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year.
The House has adjourned for the week, and your phone calls and faxes have kept the DREAM Act off the floor for another week! Time is running out on the 111th Congress, but this is still a top priority for both the House and Senate Leadership. Keep the pressure on and urge your Members of Congress to oppose the DREAM Amnesty. Capitol Hill switchboard: 202-224-3121. And check your Action Board for more actions you can take.
The Washington Post is reporting that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is ready to schedule a test vote on the DREAM Act even though he's not yet sure if he has enough votes to pass the amnesty legislation.
The Migration Policy Institute estimates that 2.1 million illegal aliens could be immediately eligible for legalization should the DREAM Act pass into law. As with all estimates, this one is based on a series of assumptions - some worth questioning - but "2.1 million" is a useful number to use when considering the potential numerical impact of the legislation.
The Associated Press reports Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D), who earned a “F” grade from NumbersUSA, has conceded defeat to Blake Farenthold (R) in Texas’ 27th District. Ortiz provided a consistent vote for amnesty and against immigration enforcement.
Your outpouring of phone calls and faxes these past 12 days has pushed the expected NO votes to the point that we think if the vote were held today that we'd have the 41 votes needed to kill DREAM with a fillibuster. But the opposition is changing the bill by softening some of its most egregious aspects. You have done such a good job of pointing out loopholes that the amnesty sponsors have introduced new versions of DREAM. But we don't yet know how many of the Senators who currently are whipped as being NO votes -- as well as "Unannounced" Senators -- might switch to YES if the DREAM sponsors keep narrowing the amnesty.
A compelling story came across the news wires earlier this week about the student body president at Fresno State University. Pedro Ramirez moved to California when he was 3-years-old and has known nothing but life in America. But during his senior year in high school, the valedictorian's parents dropped a bombshell, telling him he was an illegal alien.
Oh, so many more national religious, media and political leaders are embarassing themselves today, crying out for the Lame Duck Congress to pass the DREAM Act amnesty. They show no interest at all in the 22 million Americans who want a full-time job but cannot find one. Instead, these pro-amnesty cheerleaders are making a last-ditch effort to increase competition for jobs by giving millions of work permits to illegal aliens.
According to a letter written by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.), House Democratic Leadership is thinking of attaching the DREAM Act Amnesty bill to an immigration-related bill he introduced. The Help HAITI Act would allow the Department of Homeland Security to offer permanent residency to orphaned children who came to the United States after the devastating earthquake earlier this year.
