Illegal Immigration

A delegation of members of the Oireachtas Éireann (the Irish national parliament) has visited Capitol Hill to lobby on behalf of comprensive immigration reform.

A "fly-in" backed by Michael Bloomberg and Mark Zuckerberg will be bringing pro-amnesty conservatives to D.C. to lobby Congress.

A new poll from Rasmussen finds that 68% of Americans oppose giving driver's licenses to illegal aliens. The poll comes just a few days after the state with the nation's largest illegal-alien population - California - signed into law a bill that allows illegal aliens to obtain a driver's license. Only 22% of Americans think illegal aliens should be allowed to legally obtain a license.

The Vice President of the National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents the nation's Border Patrol agents, Shawn Moran, has told Breitbart News that agents are being ordered to stand down and end any pursuit of drug smugglers, human smugglers, and illegal aliens. Moran said the reasons given by the administration are budgetary concerns and to ensure agents aren't working long shifts.

Rep. Joe Garcia (D-Fla.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) along wtih more than half of House Democrats introduced a blanket amnesty bill that would grant work permits to the 11-18 million illegal aliens living in the United States and likely double annual legal immigration numbers. The bill is similar to the Schumer-Rubio-Obama amnesty bill, S.744, after it was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. It has replaced, however, the Corker-Hoeven "border security" amendment with a bill introduced by House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) that has already been approved by the Committee.

A federal judge ruled that Maricopa County, Arizona cannot use a 2005 anti-smuggling law to criminally charge illegal aliens who paid to be smuggled into the U.S. The law was believed to be an important factor in shifting human smuggling traffic from Arizona to other border states.

According to a new report from the Pew Hispanic Center, the illegal-alien population may be back on the rise. The Center had reported that the illegal-alien population in the United States had dropped slightly since the recession that started back in 2009. But new data show that the population is back on the rise with nearly 12 million illegal aliens living in the U.S.

Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, pledged to move immigration legislation forward despite the busy House fall schedule. Speaking at a House Republican event for Hispanic Heritage Month, Goodlatte said the House’s piecemeal approach to legislating immigration changes would address enforcement and security; legal immigration; and the status of illegal aliens.

Los Angeles County officials say that illegal-aliens parents residing in the county with their children will likely receive approximately $650 million of taxpayer-subsidized welfare benefits in 2013. County Supervisor Michael Antonovich announced the report on Monday and said it was based on information through July from the Department of Public Social Services.

A large number of corporations that recently laid off American workers are now urging House leaders to import more foreign workers and legalize illegal aliens, according to the Washington Examiner. Jon Feere of the Center for Immigration Studies notes, "The companies claim (immigration reform) is an 'opportunity to level the playing field for U.S. employers' but it is more of an effort to level the wages of American citizens."

House Republican leaders may have to delay consideration of immigration legislation, given the busy schedule that awaits the House when it reconvenes next week. In addition to debate over FY 2014 appropriations bills and a measure to raise the federal debt ceiling, a new agenda item -- military strikes in Syria -- will add to time pressures. Aides to Republican leaders told the Wall Street Journal that there are no plans at this point to bring immigration bills to the floor.

CNSNews reports that the Social Security Administration’s Inspector General said his agency’s efforts to stop illegal aliens from using fraudulent or stolen Social Security Numbers has been “hindered” by the Internal Revenue Service's failure to penalize employers who file W-2s on which the Social Security Number and name do not match SSA records.

The Obama administration issued a new policy Friday that directs ICE Agents to avoid arresting and deporting illegal aliens with minor children. It extends amnesty-in-place protection to yet another category of illegal aliens.

According to numerous news sources, approximately 400,000 illegal aliens have received deferred action preventing them from deportation proceedings through the Obama Administration DACA program. DACA - Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals - grants deferred action to any illegal alien 30 years of age or younger who can prove they came to the United States at a young age. The deferred action is good for two years and allows certain illegal aliens to receive work permits should they meet certain criteria.