Illegal Immigration

White House Domestic Policy Council Director Cecilia Munoz, who is also directing Pres. Obama's efforts to pass a mass amnesty for illegal aliens opposed workplace verification when she served as the Senior Immigration Policy Analyst for the National Council of La Raza. The Center for Immigration Studies has uncovered a 75-page document prepared by Munoz in 1990 that responds to the 1986 amnesty bill. In the document, Munoz and NCLR call for the repeal of the I-9 workplace verification system.

A new poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos has found that a majority of Americans favor enforcment of immigration laws over legalization for the 11 million illegal aliens. Thirty percent of respondents think that most illegal aliens should be deported with some exceptions. Another 23% of respondents think that all illegal aliens should be deported. Only 36% of respondents think most or all illegal aliens should be allowed to stay in the United States.

More than a few columnists and political analysts have picked up on the fact that there's not much difference between the Senate Gang of Eight's immigration principles and the leaked White House immigration plan that Gang Member Marco Rubio so loathes.

In Tuesday's Washington Post, liberal columnist and MSNBC political analyst Eugene Robinson wrote: 

Sen. Jeff Session (R-Ala.) said on Monday that the White House immigration proposal leaked over the weekend is very similar to the outline presented by the Gang of Eight last month. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has tried to distance the Senate plan from the White House's, but Sen. Sessions noted that both plans grant all 11 million illegal aliens with the right to work and live in the United States on day one.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), and a member of both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, came out against Pres. Obama's call for "comprehensive immigration reform" (amnesty) during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night. Pres. Obama called for a path to citizenship for the nation's 11 million illegal aliens and an expansion of legal immigration.

For the last few years, the Obama Administration has claimed that it's deporting a record number of illegal aliens. But, the Administration is adding numbers to its overall deportation statistics that have not been historically included in the total number of annual deportations. Here's a look at how the Obama Administration has artificially inflated the number of deportations.

Heritage Foundation policy expert, Robert Rector, is estimating that the two proposals offered by the Senate Gang of Eight and Pres. Obama earlier this week will cost taxpayers trillions of dollars. He said the proposals are similar to the failed 2007 amnesty bill, which he estimated at the time to cost $2.5 trillion in Medicare and Social Security alone.

After AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said that passing Pres. Obama's mass amnesty plan was a "top priority" for his union, the ICE Agents Union, which is anAFL-CIO affiliate, issued a press release saying Trumpka doesn't speak for them. In the statement, the ICE Agents Union said, "No President Trumka, there are still differences within the AFL-CIO, and you don't speak for us."

The Washington Times has prepared a side-by side comparison of the "Gang of Eight's" amnesty proposal offered on Monday, and the failed Bush-Kennedy-McCain amnesty proposal from 2007. On the major issues, there are few differences between the two bills.

Reps. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) and Kenny Marchant (R-Texas) have cosponsored H.R.140, the Birthright Citizenship Act. The bill was introduced by Rep. Steve King and is part of NumbersUSA's 5 Great Immigration-Reduction Solutions. If passed, the bill would end the practice of granting automatic citizenship to all children born in the United States.

The Department of Homeland Security published updated guidelines for the Obama Administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that say illegal aliens who receive deferred action are “lawfully present” in the United States but do not have “lawful status.” The new statement is meant to influence the debate over whether such illegal aliens can access driver’s licenses or benefits such as in-state tuition under state laws that require legal presence.

Reps. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) and Alan Nunnelee (R-Miss.) have cosponsored H.R.140, the Birthright Citizenship Bill. The bill was introduced by Rep. Steve King and is part of NumbersUSA's 5 Great Immigration-Reduction Solutions. If passed, the bill would end the practice of granting automatic citizenship to all children born in the United States.

The Illinois House sent Gov. Pat Quinn a bill (SB 957) that would give illegal aliens access to driver’ licenses. Quinn said he would sign the measure, which would give licenses to an estimated 250,000 illegal aliens.

The office of Conn. Gov. Daniel Malloy confirmed the state will give driving privileges to illegal aliens approved for the Obama Administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The details are currently being worked out.

The Obama Administration adopted a rule that allows illegal aliens in the process of obtaining lawful permanent resident status to remain in the country while their application is pending if they can demonstrate the time abroad would impose “extreme hardship” on family members who are U.S. citizens. The rule makes it eaiser for illegal aliens to bypass periods of barred re-entry.