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.”
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 Border Patrol agent was shot and killed late Tuesday in Southern Arizona, according to the Associated Press. The U.S. Border Patrol confirmed that four suspects are in custody. Another is being sought.
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.
Tennessee legislators plan to introduce an immigration enforcement law that would be similar to the one passed earlier this year in Arizona. State Sen. Bill Ketron and Rep. Joe Carr are putting together a bill that would allow local law enforcement to detain an individual suspected of being an illegal alien.
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.
The Obama Administration has boasted that it deported a record number of illegal aliens in the 2010 fiscal year, but a new report reveals that Immigration and Customs Enforcement used some old numbers to make the actual number of deportations to show higher than reality.
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 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.
In an op-ed published by the Washington Post this past weekend, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), who will likely become the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee in the next Congress, detailed the support Republican House candidates received from Hispanic voters during the recent mid-term elections. Rep. Smith referred to exit polling that revealed a 9 percent increase in the support of Hispanic voters for House Republican candidates.
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.
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.
The DREAM Act was first introduced nine years ago and has been in the press almost weekly for at least a year now, yet you would be hard-pressed to find much written about the reasons opponents have been fighting (successfully) for nearly a decade to prevent the bill from becoming law. The media's blind spot has contributed to the frustration both sides feel today with the chance of compromise no more promising than it was a decade ago.
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.
Congress won't be voting on the DREAM Act before Thanksgiving, but that doesn't mean it's off the agenda for the lame-duck session that started this past Monday. Leaders from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus will meet with Pres. Barack Obama later today at the White House to discuss the amnesty bill's strategy during the final month of the current Congress.
With the defeat of so many pro-Amnesty Members of Congress on election night, I thought we'd heard the last of amnesties for awhile. Didn't you?
Unfortunately, we have one more pretty steep mountain to climb as soon as Congress comes back from Thanksgiving.
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.
Monday was the first day Texas state legislators could offer bills for the 2011 legislative session, and State Rep. Debbie Riddle was first in line to offer an immigration enforcement bill similar to the one passed by Arizona earlier this year.
A new super-majority in both chambers of the Florida state legislature sets up the possibility of passage of an immigration enforcement law similar to the one passed in Arizona earlier this year. The Republican-controlled chambers now have enough votes to override a veto, and it's likely that a bill will be introduced when the state legislative session begins next year.
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.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has made no secret that he plans on bringing the DREAM Act up for a vote during the lame-duck session that begins on Nov. 15, but Mark Kirk's Senate win in Illinois will make passage of the bill a bit more difficult. Since Kirk is replacing Roland Burris who was an appointee, Kirk will take over the seat for the lame-duck session.
Federal appellate judge John T. Noonan Jr. interrogated federal prosecutors today in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and questioned the government's claim and the district court ruling that parts of Arizona's immigration enforcement law preempted federal law.
Pope Benedict XVI reiterated the Catholic church's position on immigration, saying that nations have the right to regulate the flow of migrants and secure their borders. His comment is consistent with what the church has said in the past, but contradicts the position of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
If you want to make a last-minute campaign donation where it can make a difference for better immigration policies . . . Here are the High-Immigration Incumbents who are in trouble and could lose . . .
Seven U.S. Senators sent a letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano asking for answers about a recent investigation conducted by the Houston Chronicle that found a dramatic increase of dismissed immigration cases. The paper found a 700% increase in the number of cases dismissed in recent months compared to over the summer.
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.
Seven Members from the Georgia House delegation have sent a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement asking the agency to implement its Secure Communities program throughout the state. Under Secure Communities, fingerprints taken by local law enforcement agents under normal booking procedures are shared with the federal government who can then provide a criminal history along with immigration status.
The Georgia Board of Regents has approved a new measure that will require state colleges and universities to deny admission to illegal aliens if admission has been denied to academically eligible U.S. citizens or legal immigrants within the last two years. the new rules will also require applicants to state on their applications if they are entitled to receive in-state tuition benefits.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to extend its 287(g) agreement with the federal government despite protests from pro-illegal alien supporters. The 287(g) program trains local law enforcement officials to help identify criminal illegal aliens and turn them over to federal immigration agents.
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.
