Testifying before Congress in 1995, Chairwoman of the U.S Commission on Immigration Reform, Barbara Jordan, said, "The Commission believes it is essential to control illegal immigration if we are to have a credible immigration policy. We believe legal immigration is in the national interest, but see illegal immigration as a threat both to our long tradition of immigration and to our commitment to the rule of law."
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) publicly released the letter he sent to U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer to remind him that under federal law trade agreements cannot change immigration law. The letter was sent in August as the fourth round of NAFTA negotiations were taking place in Washington, DC.
New polling in 22 countries on all continents has found there are far more citizens who are concerned about what immigration is doing to their homeland than who approve of it.
After reviewing the just-released text of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal Rosemary Jenks, NumbersUSA’s Government Relations Director, told Breitbart News “there is no question… that TPP impacts immigration in a massive way.” This is contrary to statements by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., prior to ascending to the speakership.
The Senate on Wednesday voted 60-38 to send President Obama Trade Promotion Authority legislation that would facilitate passage of trade deals such as the Trans Pacific Partnership. Congress needs more time to clear related bills, including one that would establish trade negotiation objectives that seek to ensure trade deals will not change U.S. immigration law or expand access to visas.
Using procedural sleight-of-hand, the House passed Trade Promotion Authority legislation that would facilitate the passage of trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and could lead to guest worker increases without congressional input. The measure now moves to the Senate, where it could face a filibuster during debate next week.
After failing last week to pass a package of legislation that tethered fast-track trade authority with aid to workers displaced by trade deals, the House plans to try again, possibly on Thursday, to move the legislation separately with assurances that both will become law. Roll Call reports the House Rules Committee is meeting today to adopt a rule that would govern floor debate on the measures.
The House voted down a financial aid plan for workers displaced by trade deals and, in so doing, dealt a blow to the fast-track trade authority sought by President Obama. The Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) measure was subsequently approved by a narrow margin but, under the rules for debate, the overall package could not advance unless both parts cleared the House.
In an attempt to generate more opposition to the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., issued a statement that highlights the dangers of the fast-track process. He said that under TPA, trade deals like the Trans Pacific Partnership or the Trade in Services Agreement could establish broad goals for increasing immigration and the President could implement those changes through executive action or easily change our laws through the fast-track process.
A complicated series of votes on trade legislation will begin today, culminating in Friday votes on Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation and the so-called Customs bill that contains the unsatisfactory immigration “fix.” The process is designed to placate Democratic and Republican Members who would otherwise vote against TPA, but the strategy is risky for House Republican leaders.
Proponents of Trade Promotion Authority legislation say built-in “safeguards” will allow Congress to protect American workers from the adverse impacts of immigration provisions in trade deals. But they know these safeguards are mere window dressing when a president refuses to be bound by the law and has latitude under a “living agreement” such as the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) to change the deal without further congressional approval.
Congress will soon take up “fast track” trade promotion authority legislation that would allow President Obama to submit trade agreements to Congress for a simple-majority vote without being subject to amendment. If passed, the first likely trade deal to come up is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which reportedly includes guest worker provisions Congress could not change.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., Chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, issued the statement below today as the House readied a vote on the Senate-passed Homeland Security spending bill that excluded restrictions on President Obama’s executive amnesties.
A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies examines Census data and has determined that one out of every five U.S. residents doesn't speak English in their homes. The number of non-English speakers at home in the United States is up 50% since 1990 when federal immigration policy dramatically increased the number of green cards given to foreign citizens every year.
The Matricula Consular card is an identification document issued by the Mexican government. Despite its high susceptibility to fraud, many U.S. institutions (particularly banks) accept the matricula consular as a valid form of ID. Since illegal aliens are the only people who would need this card, these institutions make it easier for illegal aliens to settle in the U.S.
The law states:
On a weekend when we honor those who gave up EVERYTHING (their lives) for their national community, the economic and political elites showed they won't give up anything for the national community when it comes to protecting vulnerable U.S. workers and families from unfair immigration competition. The Obama Administration joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in urging the Supreme Court to stop states from opening up illegal-alien-filled jobs for unemployed Americans.
Would the signers of the Declaration of Independence have thought it principled for the majority of U.S. politicians today to refuse to give even returning U.S. military veterans preference over illegal aliens for jobs? The 4th of July is OUR time -- to remember the document that declared a new national community and insisted that the government exists primarily to protect and provide for the quality of life of the MEMBERS of that community.
"Italy's conservative prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has sought to deflect criticism of Italy's harsh immigration policies by stressing potential migrants are welcome in his country. In an interview posted to the US television network CNN's website on Monday, he said immigrants who qualified to come to Italy should be allowed to work and create a better life for themselves and their families.
"We welcome those (immigrants) who have the right to come here. This is what the United States and all normal countries do," Berlusconi told CNN.
Alan Ruddell, Jerry Petty, John Hanson. You don't know them, but you owe them. They were fellow members of my high school football team and welded with me at the local steel plant. Like me, they were drafted into the army, but they lost their lives in service of our national community. They're the names I must speak at the beginning of my Memorial Day. And I owe a debt to the names of the people among your family and friends that you will speak today. Don't let their names die; tell your kids or your friends about these people who missed out on so much of their lives because of something we all once took for granted -- a country, with clearly defined members and borders.
"Unauthorized border crossings by Mexican authorities such as soldiers and police spiked more than threefold in 2008, according to an annual report the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency sought to keep secret.
Now that the report is public, the result of a lawsuit by a public-interest group, the agency is attempting to downplay its significance."
The NumbersUSA staff had a fascinating, meaningful time at our Veterans Day lunch Tuesday, as each person recounted the broad stories of each veteran in his or her family. If you didn't do something like this at your place of work (or if you got the day off), I hope you will encourage it Wednesday. We become a true national community by our shared values and especially by shared sacrifices we make for each other. There are many kinds of sacrifice to celebrate and recount, but this week belongs to the stories of those who donned the uniform in service of our country.
You can order "The New Case Against Immigration (Both Legal and Illegal)" by Mark Krikorian at Amazon. And you can read reviews and descriptions here.
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, MY AMERICAN FRIENDS,
With men and women dying in the armed services of our country every day, the question of national community loomed large for me this Memorial Day.
Did all those who died in foreign lands this last year, as well as in America near our own borders, accept the possibility of the supreme sacrifice for just some vague concept of a country? For virtually open borders? For a government that only some times puts its citizens' interests ahead of those of citizens of other countries?
