Breitbart News -- Michelle Moons
New legislation passed in California will allow non-U.S. citizens to obtain identification in the form of drivers licenses starting January 1. California’s Department of Motor Vehicles expects an estimated 1.4 million to apply, and Friday the department posted the new requirements for obtaining a drivers license under the law.
Washington Post -- Adelle M. Banks
WASHINGTON — An alliance of evangelical organizations has pledged to dramatically increase the number of church-based legal clinics across the country to assist immigrants with the complicated processes of seeking green cards, visas and family unification.
Breitbart -- Tony Lee
Voters in Oregon are set to strongly reject a measure that would allow illegal immigrants to receive driver's licenses.
Breitbart -- Caroline May
House Judiciary Committee staff have requested a briefing from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services about the agency’s recent solicitation for millions of new immigrant IDs.
In a statement provided to Breitbart News, Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) expressed alarm that the Obama administration could already be moving forward with its plans to take unilateral action on immigration reform.
The Washington Free Beacon -- Bill McMorris
Michigan Democrat Gary Peters assured voters that illegal immigrants would not be eligible for Obamacare, but later supported the loophole that is now allowing young illegal immigrants to enroll in the program.
Hundreds of illegal-alien children continue to cross certain sectors of the U.S. southern border each day, often with their mother. In an effort to stop them from coming, the Obama Administration is claiming they are subject to deportation but immigration attorneys say the vast majority of children may be given the legal right to stay under current immigration and asylum laws.
The Administration of Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) will implement plans to eliminate state support for illegal aliens who apply for or receive General Assistance benefits. Although the plan is consistent with a federal ban on aid to illegal aliens, Maine Attorney General Janet Mills (D) said the move may be unconstitutional.
Vice President and potential presidential candidate Joe Biden gave a speech last week in which he said the 11 million illegal aliens in the United States “are already Americans.” Famous for pandering to audiences and, uh, stretching the truth, Biden also has been a champion for causes irrespective of whether they are consistent with U.S. laws or the Constitution. So if he’s misguided enough to think illegal aliens are citizens, perhaps one day Biden will dispense with the formalities of an election and declare he’s already president. Or at least the comic-in-chief.
A Texas TV station reports the Border Patrol is releasing women and children that recently entered the United States illegally if they are considered no threat to national security. The agency confirmed the releases, explaining the decision was prompted by an uptick in border apprehensions and already crowded detention facilities.
House Democrats introduced a discharge petition Wednesday in an effort to force a vote on their comprehensive amnesty bill. But some illegal alien advocates have criticized that strategy and re-focused their efforts on President Obama, who they hope will declare amnesty by fiat.
A new poll might seem like a nightmare for proponents of the N.Y. DREAM Act, which would give illegal aliens access to tuition financial assistance. A poll taken during the period when the bill failed in the N.Y. Senate says that 56% of likely voters oppose offering tuition aid to illegal aliens.
The Daily Caller obtained a USCIS guidance memo that announces the agency will reopen cases in which certain criminals were denied provisional unlawful presence waivers. Commenting on the new guidance NumbersUSA's Rosemary Jenks said, “The fact that they are announcing it is unprecedented…(T)hey are essentially putting up a sign that says ‘petty criminals welcome.’”
Tennessee state senator Todd Gardenhire, a first-term Republican from Chattanooga, withdrew legislation he sponsored that would have extended taxpayer subsidized in-state tuition to illegal aliens. Gardenshire said he doesn’t have enough support to get his bill through the Senate or House this year.
Legislation passed the Florida House that would give illegal-alien students partial tuition waivers enabling them to pay the same in-state tuition rates as Florida residents. The measure now heads to the Senate where related legislation already squeaked by one committee.
In order to placate illegal-alien advocates who falsely claim the Administration has deported record numbers of illegal aliens, President Obama announced that DHS would review options for making immigration enforcement “more humane.” Translation: they’ll find more ways to ignore the law and make illegal aliens comfortable while the comprehensive amnesty alliance pursues House Republican hold-outs.
Facing increasing pressure from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) to stop deportations, President Obama announced DHS will explore executive amnesty alternatives. The announcement came after a White House meeting between Obama and Caucus members, who had threatened to introduce a resolution demanding action.
Proponents of a referendum that seeks to overturn an Oregon law giving illegal aliens access to driver cards defeated an attempt to undermine the ballot measure. A bill that would have re-written the referendum title in a manner favorable to keeping the law failed to clear the State Senate before adjournment.
Washington State legislators cleared for the governor’s consideration a bill that gives illegal aliens access to financial aid at state-run universities and colleges. Gov. Jay Inslee has said he will sign the bill.
In a court order, Federal District Judge Andrew Hanen accused the Department of Homeland Security of helping to smuggle an illegal-alien girl into the U.S. to live with her mother. Judge Hanen said this was the fourth recent case in which the Border Patrol apprehended a “coyote” smuggling a child, then delivered the child to illegal-alien parents. In each case, taxpayers covered the expense.
In an interview with Telemundo, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the Obama Administration’s deportations were “totally unjustified” in her hometown of San Francisco. “Our view of the law is, if somebody is here without sufficient documentation, that is not reason for deportation,” Pelosi said. “If someone has broken the law or committed a felony or something, that is a different story.”
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced he would veto a Senate-passed bill (S2479) that would offer taxpayer-subsidized in-state tuition and financial assistance to illegal aliens. Christie objects to the financial aid aspect of the bill, but supports so-called tuition equity for illegal aliens.
An employee at the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles plead guilty on Wednesday for her role in a operation that created more than 300 driver's licenses and state-issued IDs for illegal aliens. Maria Cavallaro worked with Jose Calderon to issue driver's licenses, learner's permits, and identification cards to illegal aliens, knowing the illegal aliens were prohibited to obtain the documents under state law.
The group Oregonians for Immigration Reform succeeded in placing on the ballot a referendum that will allow voters to decide whether a recently-enacted bill giving illegal aliens driving privileges will remain law. On October 18th, the Oregon Secretary of State’s office officially qualified Referendum No. 301 for the November 2014 ballot.
Today, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill (AB 60) that allows illegal aliens to apply for driver’s licenses. The California Department of Motor Vehicles estimates 2 million illegal aliens could apply for licenses under the new law.
Speaking in Las Vegas today, President Barack Obama laid out an immigration reform plan that would make illegal aliens eligible for provisional legal status and green cards without the additional enforcement triggers proposed by the Gang of Eight Senators. The president said his Administration has already patched up “some of the worst cracks in the system,” so now is the time for “common-sense, comprehensive immigration reform.”
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.
Nevada Senate Majority Leader Mo Denis (D) plans to introduce legislation next session that would give driver’s privilege cards to all illegal aliens residing in the state. Nevada already offers driver’s licenses to illegal aliens who obtain work permits under the Obama Administration’s executive amnesty.
The Montgomery County Council in Maryland voted to spend $100,000 in taxpayer funds to help illegal aliens sign up for the Obama Administration’s executive amnesty. The pro-illegal alien group CASA de Maryland will receive the funding and administer the outreach program.
Police in Sonoma County California turned over far fewer illegal aliens to ICE last year after law enforcement agencies decided to accept Mexican Matricula Consular cards as valid identification, The Press Democrat reports. Previously, illegal aliens without valid ID were taken to jail and run through federal databases under the Secure Communities program.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick directed state colleges and universities to offer taxpayer-subsidized tuition rates and fees to illegal aliens who obtain work permits under the Obama Administration’s executive amnesty. The change dramatically reduces tuition and fee costs for illegal aliens who, until now, had to pay out-of-state rates.
USCIS last week said that about 309,000 have applied for executive amnesty under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and that 53,273 applications have been approved. Application and approval rates have increased significantly since just one month ago when USCIS had taken in 180,000 applications and approved 4,591.
Most people focus on national elections, especially in a presidential year, but state legislative and gubernatorial elections also affect the policy calculus. Read on to see how the elections may affect pro-immigration enforcement or pro-illegal alien policies in certain states.
Montana voters approved a referendum that will curtail fiscal problems related to illegal immigration while Maryland voters passed an in-state tuition referendum that will add to the state’s fiscal difficulties.
Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson has decided not to issue driver’s licenses to illegal aliens that obtain deportation amnesty and a work permit under the Obama Administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Her decision sparked a protest by pro-illegal alien groups, which may challenge her decision.
The Obama Administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has approved 4,591 applications for executive amnesty since the program began on August 15th. No applications have been rejected so far.
As part of a lawsuit settlement, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez's Administration will discontinue a program that cancels the driver's licenses of illegal aliens who fail to prove state residency.
California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill that would have restricted police from detaining illegal aliens for ICE, but signed another that gives executive amnesty recipients access to driver’s licenses. Estimates suggest that at least 450,000 illegal aliens could get driver’s licenses under the new law.
Illegal aliens are clamoring for the documents necessary to apply for executive amnesty under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Requests for record requests have strained school resources and forced some localities to add staff. Law enforcement officials and even Mexican consulates are feeling the pressure, too.
Birth tourism – an industry that helps wealthy foreign women give birth in the United States and get citizenship for their babies – appears to be growing in California, according to the Sacramento Bee. The thousands of dollars these women spend later gives their children easy access to American universities and jobs. It also opens up green cards for the entire family after the child becomes 21.
The Obama Administration has decided that illegal-alien participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program will not be eligible for coverage under the health care reform law. Administration officials also informed states that the participants are not eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
This just in from the Associated Press . . .
Approximately 72,000 illegal aliens have applied for amnesty under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program since USCIS began accepting applications on August 15th. The agency approved a stay of deportation for the first batch of applicants on September 10th.
The Los Angeles City Council recently voted to consider a proposal that would turn a library card into a form of ID that illegal-alien residents can use. The card under consideration would enable illegal aliens to open or access bank accounts and sign up for city services.
A report from the Insurance Research Council has found no correlation between a law in New Mexico that allows illegal aliens to receive a driver's license and the number of uninsured motorists on the road. Supporters of state laws that would issue driver's licenses to illegal aliens say it would increase the number of insured motorists, but the study found that the number of uninsured motorists in New Mexico from the time just before the state passed its law and the present are about the same.
Prior to its recess the California legislature cleared a bill that would give illegal aliens access to driver's licenses if they obtain deferred-action status under the Obama Administration’s executive amnesty. Pro-illegal alien legislators also attempted to pass a measure that would have given illegal aliens “safe harbor” in California but ran out of time.
A California DMV spokesman said Wednesday that the state will issue driver's licenses to illegal aliens who obtain deferred action under the Obama administration’s executive amnesty. California would consider these illegal aliens “temporary legal residents” in order to avoid the state’s illegal-alien driver’s license ban.
The ranking GOP members of the Senate Budget, Finance, Judiciary and Agriculture Committees accused the State and Homeland Security departments of prohibiting officials from considering the likelihood an individual would receive welfare benefits in determining whether to grant admission to an immigrant or change their immigration status.
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is the latest in a line of politicians touted in the media for laying out the illegal-alien sanctuary welcome mat and making their jurisdiction more “immigrant-friendly.” Notwithstanding the fact that immigrants are, by definition, legally present and not in need of sanctuary policies, these pandering politicians will not help their struggling cities rebound by creating havens for illegal aliens, irrespective of what the media say.
On July 23rd, Mexico’s 50 Consular offices across the U.S. held national DREAMer Day events in preparation for the Obama Administration’s Executive Amnesty. The events, held in partnership with the pro-illegal alien group United We Dream, are part of an ongoing effort to ensure that Mexican-born individuals have the information and documentation necessary to apply for the amnesty.
The Associated Press obtained an internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document that says the executive amnesty for younger illegal aliens could cost the government $585 million in the first two years and necessitate hiring more than 1,400 federal employees and contractors.
