Legal Immigrants in Maryland are speaking out against the state's new law that will offer in-state tuition benefits to illegal aliens. According to a report by the Washington Post, many legal immigrants in the state have joined forces with a group leading the effort to repeal the law through a ballot initiative.
Last Tuesday Utah joined Arizona, South Carolina and Alabama as states being sued by the U.S Justice Department for their respective immigration enforcement laws. The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the state of Utah in regards to House Bill 497. The Justice Department is arguing that Utah's immigration law is unconstitutional because it overlaps federal authority, and could potentially lead to the harassment and detention of American citizens and authorized visitors.
The Government Accountability Office released a new report, stating that between 2006-2010, illegal aliens started 40% if the human-ignited wildfires along the U.S. - Mexico border. The study was carried out by the independent GAO, the investigative arm of the Congress, at the request of Senator John McCain of Arizona. The GAO investigated 77 of the reported 422 human-caused fires. Of the 77 fires investigated, federal officals concluded that 30 were ignited by illegal border crossers.
Rasmussen Reports recently published a poll that shows more voters than ever, are opposed to granting automatic U.S. citizenship to a child born to an illegal immigrant in this country
“Pearce would have retained his seat in a regular election,” said Roy Beck, president of NumbersUSA, adding, “Probably the key factor to keep in mind is that the recall election occurred when only a half-dozen states were having elections. That allowed open-border forces to concentrate most of their money and energy on Pearce’s tiny Arizona district.
There were few competing requests for the money that was used to buy signatures to create the recall election and then run the outside-group advertising.”
Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Alabama) has cosponsored House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith's Legal Workforce Act (H.R.2885). The bill would require 100% of businesses to begin using E-Verify for all new hires within 2 years and require all federal, state, and local governments to check new hires and existing employees within 6 months.
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is pushing county commissioners to change a recently passed law that prohibits county police from responding to federal requests to hold illegal aliens if they're being held by the county police for another crime. Since the law went into effect in September, federal authorities have requested holds on 300 felons arrested by Cook County police.
The President for the Frederick County Board of Commissioners is saying that he wants to enact the toughest immigration policies in the state of Maryland. Blaine Young said he wants to make the county "the most unfriendly county in the state of Maryland to illegal aliens" and the county would "wear that with a badge of honor."
Roy Beck and Chris Chmielenski review state efforts to enforce immigration laws.
A new report from a Minnesota newspaper, the Austin Daily Herald, shows that enforcement measures taken at the local level are indeed reversing illegal immigration trends. A combination of factors, including police checking immigration status to businesses scrutinizing documents more during the hiring process, illegal aliens are finding it harder and harder to live in the state and are repatriating to their home countries.
The economist Kenneth Boulding, the environmental adviser to President Kennedy, once famously said, "Anyone who believes in indefinite growth in anything physical, on a physically finite planet, is either mad - or an economist." This is the fourth of four blogs concerning immigration-sustainability questions policymakers should address.
Senator Chuck Grassley, who serves as the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is leading an effort with three other Senators to make sure that the Obama Administration doesn't turn a blind eye on cities that impeded federal immigration enforcement. Earlier this week, the Justice Department announced that it was suing South Carolina, after launching lawsuits against Arizona and Alabama, for passing immigration enforcement laws that the Department believes will impede federal enforcement efforts.
The U.S. Justice Department has filed for a temporary injunction in federal court to stop South Carolina's immigration enforcement law from going into effect in January 2012. South Carolina's law, passed earlier this year, would require police officers to ask for proof of immigration status if they suspect an individual is in the county illegally. Similar to laws passed in Arizona and Alabama, South Carolina now faces the same fate as those two states - having to defend its law in federal court.
House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) wrote an op-ed that calls the Obama Administration's record number of deportations in 2011 a "trick". Two weeks ago, the Administration said it deported a record number of illegal aliens last year, totaling almost 400,000 deportations, but Rep. Smith said the are "using smoke and mirrors to achieve its so-called historic record."
Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) has cosponsored House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith's Legal Workforce Act (H.R.2885). The bill would require 100% of businesses to begin using E-Verify for all new hires within 2 years and require all federal and state governments to check new hires and existing employees within 6 months.
Democratic Congressman Jared Polis sent out an interesting comment via Twitter on Wednesday afternoon. His Tweet simply said "Boulder residents r happiest ppl in the country :-)". And Boulder residents should be happy. While the U.S. population has increased at a rate close to 10% over the past 10 years, Boulder's population has grown by only 4.6% over the same period of time thanks to its strict population control policies.
The New York City Council is considering an ordinance that would limit the ability fo Immigration and Customs Enforcement to identify and remove illegal aliens from the city correctional system. The policy would join New York with San Francisco, Washington D.C., Chicago and San Jose who have already passed ordinances restricting ICE ability to work in their cities.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following report is from the House Immigration Subcommittee's oversight hearing on the priorities of immigration enforcement. ICE Director John Morton had to defend the Administration's policy of granting deferred action or parole to illegal aliens who hadn't committed a serious crime. Rep. Ted Poe challenged Morton for implementing a policy that encourages future illegal immigration, while Rep. Trey Gowdy challenged Morton for creating a policy instead of asking Congress for assistance.
A few months ago, the House Judiciary Committee passed Chairman Smith's Legal Workforce Act (H.R.2885), but in order to get it to the House floor for a vote it needs more cosponsors.
The District of Columbia became a sanctuary city on Wednesday after Mayor Vincent Gray signed a new order forbidding D.C. police to ask about an individuals immigration status. Furthermore, Mayor Gray said District police will not help Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents execute federal warrants unless the individual has committed another crime.
Last night's Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas was the best yet for candidates pledging tougher action against illegal immigration. But all of the candidates remain somewhat tongue-tied when it comes to an overall, coherent plan that would resolve most of our country's illegal immigration problems. Here are five measures that should reduce our illegal alien population by half in less than six years . . .
On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security released new figures showing that the federal government deported a record number of illegal aliens in 2011. Nearly 400,000 illegal aliens were sent home, most of which had been convicted of crimes. However, not everyone is buying those numbers.
On October 9, 2011 California Governor Jerry Brown signed three bills aimed at supporting illegal aliens, including AB 1236, a measure that outlaws E-Verify in the state of California. Many Californians have expressed frustration over the bill and Congressman Ken Calvert is one of them.
Tonight, the GOP Presidential Hopefuls get another chance to make an impression on voters in an early primary state during a debate in Las Vegas. The Perry campaign team is already trying to get a jump on the immigration issue; throughout the day, stories have popped up across the news wires quoting his political strategists who are saying Gov. Perry will try to reverse opinions about his position on immigration.
California Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, who represents a section just west of Los Angeles, has filed paperwork to initiate a ballot initiative that would recall a bill signed into law last week by Gov. Jerry Brown that allows illegal aliens to receive state funded grants to be used for college tuition.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday, charging that South Carolina's new immigration law is unconstitutional. The law requires law enforcement to check the immigration status of all people that they detain, including those that are stopped for traffic violations. The ACLU and its allies are hoping to get a federal injunction to prevent it from taking effect. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson stood behind the law, saying, "We have a strong opinion this law is constitutional and we’re prepared to defend it to the U.S. Supreme Court if we have to.”
California Governor Jerry Brown had until midnight Sunday, October 9th, 2011 to act on measures that had made their way through the California Legislature and onto his desk. Brown certainly did not disappoint illegal aliens in his state and across the country, as he signed three bills into law that strongly reiterated California’s stance as a sanctuary state.
The federal government asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday to halt the Alabama immigration law. A federal judge earlier upheld two key provisions in the law that allow authorities to question people suspected of being in the country illegally and hold them without bond, and let officials check the immigration status of students in public schools. The measure has already had an immediate impact.
Employers in Alabama's Marshall County are hiring new workers following the stepped-up federal and state enforcement of immigration laws. "It is amazing to see the effects" as illegal workers leave town, said Chuck Ellis, a member of Albertville’s city council. In Alabama’s Marshall County, "three in four [locals] endorse the fact that there’s something being done" by the federal and state governments. "Self-deportation is a real thing," Ellis said.
But Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, which wants to reduce immigration to the U.S., said the policy encourages people to overstay their visas and remain in this country illegally.
The House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security hosted a hearing Tuesday morning titled, “Does Administrative Amnesty Harm our Efforts to Gain and Maintain Operational Control of the Border?” While Members stuck mostly to their traditional talking points, the hearing did shed some light on Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith's HALT Act, which out prohibit the Administration from offering an Administrative Amnesty. Democrats on the Subcommittee discussed the costs associated with deportations, while Republicans questioned DHS officials on the logic of allowing illegal aliens in custody go free.
An Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit filed last week accuses a South Georgia farmer of discriminating against U.S. and black workers because of their race and national origin while giving better treatment to workers from Mexico. The suit alleges that the firm in 2009 let go the bulk of its U.S. workers but kept nearly all of its 370 workers from Mexico. The next year, lawyers say the company terminated the majority of its 233 U.S. workers, but it kept the vast majority of its 518 workers from Mexico.
On Sunday, October 2, 2011, Roy was a guest on MSNBC's "Up with Chris Hayes". Roy was asked about Alabama's immigration enforcement law, but he also discussed the merits of Chairman Lamar Smith's Legal Workforce Act.
A recent Politico story reveals how the 2012 Obama re-election team plans to use immigration as a wedge issue during next year’s presidential campaign. According to the article, the team is using results from a June Gallup poll that shows that the majority of Americans support a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s 11-18 million illegal aliens. But the re-election team is ignoring a major flaw in the poll question.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), along with 18 other Members of Congress, have sent another letter to Pres. Barack Obama asking for answers to their questions regarding the Administration's policy of granting parole and/or deferred parole to illegal aliens who have not committed serious crimes.
In 2008 the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch became the first municipality to pass an immigration enforcement law after the city council enacted a law that prohibited landlords from renting to illegal aliens.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 2,901 illegal aliens over the last 10 days as part of an effort to catch and deport illegal aliens who have committed crimes. As part of the round-up, 42 gang members were arrested and 151 sex offenders.
U.S. District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn issued a major ruling today that upheld most parts of Alabama's immigration enforcement law that the state legislature passed earlier this year. The bill, which included mandatory E-Verify and a trespassing ordinance, was regarded as the strongest immigration enforcement bill passed at the state level.
Democrat State Senator Richard Moore and Republican State Senator Bruce Tarr have co-authored a massive illegal immigration enforcement bill in Massachusetts that the two lawmakers hope will come up for a vote during the current session. The bill would deny illegal aliens access to in-state tuition, overturn Gov. Deval Patrick's policy by requiring the state to join Secure Communities, and punishes employers who hire illegal aliens.
The GOP Debate gets underway tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern Time. I'll be
providng updates of any immigration-related questions that may be posed
to the Presidential Hopefuls. In the past two debates, the Hopefuls have
been asked basically the same questions they were asked in the
primary's first debate held in Ames, Iowa. So, we're hoping for some new
questions tonight, specifically questions that deal with mandatory
E-Verify and legal immigration numbers.
The House Judiciary Committee passed Chairman Lamar Smith's Legal Workforce Act on Wednesday afternoon 22-to-13. Only two amendments were approved by the committee, including one offered by Chairman Smith himself. The bill, H.R.2885, would require all employers to use E-Verify within 2 years for all non-agricultural new hires, while requiring federal, state and local agencies to check current employees as well within 6 months.
Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) stood before the House floor on Tuesday night and said that removing illegal aliens from not only the U.S. workforce, but from the United States, would open up millions of jobs for unemployed Americans:
The House Judiciary Committee will continue its markup today of Chairman Lamar Smith's Legal Workforce Act, H.R.2885. The bill would require 100% of businesses to begin using E-Verify within two years as well as create several triggers that would help identify illegal aliens using fraudulent documents and/or already holding a job in the workforce.
The markup of Rep. Lamar Smith's Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 2885) in the House Judiciary coincided with news from around the country that emphasized the need for his national E-Verify bill. While President Obama and other officials around the country are shielding more than 7 million illegal workers, more than 22 million citizens and legal immigrants want a full-time job but can't find one.
Senior managers at the wooden pallet manufacturer, IFCO systems, have pleaded guilty to hiring and employing thousands of illegal aliens from Mexico and Central America.
In one glance at our easy, colorful enforcement comparison Grid, you can see how the climate for illegal aliens in your state would get really tough if Congress passes U.S. House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith's H.R. 2885 (the Legal Workforce Act). Take a look at the Grid and see the 30 ways that H.R. 2885 would ensure that only legal workers get payroll jobs.
