The Senate Democratic Caucus wrote Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to ask for a vote on a Homeland Security funding bill free of the measures to defund President Obama’s executive amnesties. Sen. McConnell now plans to bring up the House-passed legislation for a vote next week.
A new Paragon Insights poll of 1,593 registered voters found that Americans oppose Pres. Obama's executive actions on immigration when the entire policy, including the issuance of work permits, is explained. The poll found that Americans oppose Pres. Obama's actions by a 58-to-36 margin when told that the policy allows illegal aliens to "avoid deportation and seek jobs in the United States".
During the Senate Republican Leadership's press conference on Tuesday, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) posed the question to Senate Democrats "Does the law matter or not?" while discussing the Department of Homeland Security funding bill that would block funding for President Obama's executive amnesties. Sen. Blunt serves as Vice-Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference and is part of the GOP leadership team.
H.R. 604, the Nuclear Family Priority Act of 2015, would eliminate the latter three categories, create a special non-working visa for parents, and not provide an increase in any other category, thereby directly decreasing overall immigration by more than 111,800 per year (1.118 million a decade). This would indirectly reduce the numbers by even more over time as there would be fewer recent immigrants who are the ones most likely to bring people into the country as spouses or parents of U.S. citizens.
H.R. 583, the Timely Repatriation Act, would give the Secretary of Homeland Security the ability to punish countries that refuse or unreasonably delay the repatriation of its nationals from the United States. If a country's repatriation failure rate exceeds 10%, the Secretary will refuse to issue visas for attendants, servants, personal employees, and immediate family members of ambassadors, diplomats, consular officers, or other officials and employees from that country's government.
H.R.616, the American Entrepreneurship and Investment Act, would double the number of EB-5 visas issued to foreign investors each year. The EB-5 program gives a green card to any foreign citizen who makes an investment in a U.S. company that results in the creation of jobs.
In her story, "CRS Report of the Week: The President's Immigration Accountability Executive Action," Colby Itkowitz of In The Loop writes:
The House today delayed a vote on Rep. Mike McCaul’s Secure Our Borders First Act (H.R. 399), The Hill reports.. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said the blizzard about to hit the Northeast caused the cancellation but Republican leaders knew that Democrats and a group of Republicans would not support the bill if it had been brought up on Wednesday as planned.
