amnesty

Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) sent a memo this morning to all Congressional Republicans calling the "GOP elite" pro-amnesty and pro-open border immigration view "nonsense." 

The same set of GOP strategists, lobbyists, and donors who have always favored a proposal like the Gang of Eight immigration bill argue that the great lesson of the 2012 election is that the GOP needs to push for immediate amnesty and a drastic surge in low-skill immigration.This is nonsense.

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.

The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) issued a press release yesterday urging Republican House leadership to forgo plans to provide amnesty for the 11 million illegal aliens in the United States. The organization instead, calls for the House to focus on enforcing the nation's laws. 

"The NAFBPO urges the American public to directly request Congressmen John Boehner, Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan to abandon their dreams of amnesty, by whatever name, and get on a realistic track to ensure national security and public safety. That track leads to effective interior enforcement in every jurisdiction in all fifty states. Only then can actual border security and control become possible," the group wrote in the release.

The House Immigration Subcommittee has announced that it will hold a hearing next Tuesday, July 23, regarding the fate of illegal aliens who were brought to the United States as children. The hearing was announced as Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said that he supported an amnesty for this class of illegal aliens during a press conference with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

The Black American Leadership Alliance hosted a march through Washington D.C. on Monday, protesting the Senate-passed amnesty bill, S.744. Breitbart.com provided live webcasting of the event and estimated around 3,000 people attended. They heard nearly four hours of speeches by Black Alliance leaders and others, including Senators Jeff Sessions and Ted Cruz and Representatives Steve King and Mo Brooks.

The march and rally focused on how amnesty and high immigration levels hurts low-skilled American workers and their wages.

In a statement issued after a two-hour House Republican conference meeting, GOP Leadership and the chairmen of key committees reaffirmed their position today that it will take a piecemeal approach in reforming the nation's immigration system. They also said the House will not vote on the Senate-passed amnesty bill.

A new poll conducted by pollster John McLaughlin has found that 60% of Hispanic voters support amnesty only after the goal of stopping 90% of future illegal immigration has been achieved. Only 34% of Hispanic voters said they support an amnesty first plan similar to the Senate-passed S.744.

House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) was on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday and said that he doesn't think a bill that provides a special path to citizenship for the nation's 11 million illegal aliens is likely to pass in the House. Rep. Goodlatte did indicate that he thinks a bill that offers legalization to some illegal aliens could pass, however. 

The Senate only had 10 roll call votes on amendments (three were to table amendments) after voting to bring the Gang of Eight's amnesty bill, S.744 to the floor for debate and before voting for final passage. This is quite contrary to the open process promised by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

CNBC's senior editor, John Carney, analyzed the Congressional Budget Office's immigration bill report and found that wages across all skill levels would decline for the first ten years after comprehensive immigration reform passed. 

Along with a nationwide wage decline, Carney says that according to the CBO report, unemployment would initially rise after a CIR would pass.

In a letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Gang of Eight, and Senators Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.), 13 Senators protested the management of the Schumer-Rubio Amnesty bill, S.744. Earlier today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed a motion for cloture on the bill, meaning no more amendments will be voted on unless they're approved by Sen. Reid.

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.

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.

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.

The Congressional Budget Office has released its analysis of the Schumer-Rubio-Obama amnesty bill, confirming the opponent's predictions that it would be devastating for American workers and would not end illegal immigration. Since the bill purposely delays green cards for some illegal aliens by 10 years, and the CBO only scores the fiscal impacts for the bill's first 10 years, the report says that the bill will not have a major impact on the national debt over the first decade.

The labeling of Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-Tex.) border security amendment as a “poison pill” has prompted Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.) to develop a related amendment. But amnesty propenents may see the pair's less flexible provisions as being even more difficult to swallow.

A new CNN/ORC International survey found that 62% of Americans say border security should be the main focus of U.S. immigration policy, while only 36% say a path to citizenship for illegal aliens should be the top priority.

According to the poll, more than six in ten Americans say border security is a bigger priority than a path to citizenship for illegal aliens. 

An article that will be published in the June 24, 2013 issue of The New Yorker magazine reports that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) sided with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on the issue of a guest-worker program for the construction industry. Construction workers and the unions opposed an expanded guest-worker program unless it was tied to the unemployment rate, but the Chamber of Commerce was concerned that since unemployment rates tend to be higher in the industry, it would be a road block to the temporary visas.

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.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) offered the first amendment for consideration during full Senate debate of the Schumer-Rubio-Obama Amnesty bill, S.744. His amendment would require certification that the border is fully secured before any of the 11 million illegal aliens would be eligible to receive legal status and work permits. Instead of holding an up or down vote on the amendment, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid motioned this morning to table the amendment. The motion passed by a 57-to-43 margin split mostly along party lines.