amnesty

After meeting with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Tuesday afternoon, the White House released a statement expressing Pres. Obama's desire for passage of the DREAM Act before the 111th Congress adjourns at the end of the year. The President also urged passage of a mass amnesty bill, but didn't provide a timeline.

A report from Politico.com says that the Democratic House Leadership will not hold a vote on the DREAM Act Amnesty bill during the first week of the lame-duck session. Reports from earlier this week said otherwise. The House convenes on Monday, November 15.

Sources within the Democratic Party are saying that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants a vote on the DREAM Act during the lame-duck session, and it could be as soon as next week. The DREAM Act would provide amnesty to illegal aliens who are attending college or serve in the military, but it includes no enforcement provisions and several loopholes that would open the amnesty to many more than it is intended.

In a poll conducted by The Polling Company during Tuesday's mid-term elections, the results reveal that 61% of Tuesday's voters believe that Pres. Obama has not been aggressive enough in enforcing federal immigration laws. Sixty-nine percent of respondents also said they consider immigration to be an important public policy issue.

While the Department of Homeland Security and the Obama Administration have been promoting the increased number of deportations of criminal illegal aliens, they've quietly been executing an administrative amnesty that first came to light over the summer. A new report by the Houston Chronicle says the number of deportation cases that have been dismissed by federal judges has increased by 700% over recent months.

The Pro-Amnesty, Open-Border groups are trying a new approach in spreading their message according to a new article published by USA Today. Instead of focusing only on Congress, they are now focusing on local communities by helping illegal aliens assimilate into society and lobbying local law enforcement to avoid treatment that they view as harsh.

With control of Congress in jeopardy, Senate Democratic Leaders are preparing to push 20 pieces of legislation to the floor for a vote during the lame-duck session that would start after the November elections. The DREAM Act, authored by Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, has been identified by The Hill, a Capitol Hill publication, as one of the 20 pieces of legislation.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said that he will bring the DREAM Act to the Senate floor so it will be ready for a vote as a stand alone bill or as an amendment to another bill. Majority Leader Harry Reid was prepared to add the Amnesty for illegal aliens who serve in the military or attend college to the Defense Authorization bill, but a filibuster stalled the bill on Tuesday.

A cloture motion to begin debate of the Defense Authorization bill (S.3454) was defeated in the Senate today, 43-to-56. Majority Leader Harry Reid planned to attach the Dream Act Amnesty to the bill as an amendment. The vote went along party lines with three Democrats voting against cloture, including Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) who is the lead sponsor of the SAVE Act.

Sen. George LeMieux (R-Fla.) said on the Senate floor that he would oppose the Dream Act without measures to secure the border. During floor debate leading to Tuesday's vote on whether or not to proceed with the Defense Authorization bill, Sen. LeMieux said he would oppose the motion to proceed unless the Senate Leadership agreed to allow amendments.

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) said in a released statement that she will likely oppose cloture of the Defense Authorization bill when it comes to the Senate floor on Tuesday afternoon under its current form. Sen. Snowe has crossed party lines a number of times during the 111th Congress, and she's been a fence-sitter when it comes to Dream and the Defense bill, but she said that she can't support the bill if Majority Leader Reid only allows three amendments.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who cosponsored the 2007 mass amnesty bill, says he will block the Defense Authorization bill if the DREAM Act is attached to it. McCain says Sen. Reid's announcement that he'll try and bring the amnesty bill up for a vote is nothing more than a political move by a candidate in a tough re-election race.

There are a number of reports indicating that Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) will offer a mass amnesty bill in the Senate before the end of the month. The reports come just a day after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he will try to add the DREAM Act Amnesty to the Dept. of Defense Authorization bill expected to reach the Senate floor in the next few weeks.

It's now official, Sen. Harry Reid will try to add the DREAM Act to the Department of Defense Authorization bill when it comes to the Senate floor over the next few weeks. Sen. Reid acknowledges that "comprehensive immigration reform" with a mass amnesty is impossible, but he believes he can garner enough bi-partisan support to pass an amnesty for illegal alien high school students and graduates.

A new poll from Quinnipiac University reveals that the overwhelming majority of Americans believe immigration reform should focus on stricter enforcement over amnesty, while a plurality of Americans support ending the practice of birthright citizenship.