During his hearing on Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Acting Director of Homeland Security, Kevin McAleenan, told Senator Graham (R - S.C.) that if the 2013 Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, S. 744, also known as the Gang of Eight Bill had passed, many of today's border security hurdles would be moot.
While discussing the new GOP agenda at a CNN town hall yesterday, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) repeated his support for a Gang of Eight type amnesty of offering work permits to illegal aliens currently living in the U.S.
Last week, the union that represents the nation's 7,600 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sent a letter to Congress warning it that the Gang of Eight's amensty bill, S.744, would endanger the public safety. Dozens of local law enforcement officers had signed on to the letter, and more have added their names since. This week, the union that represents the federal employees at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services also signed on to the letter.
ICE Union President Chris Crane testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 22, 2013. Crane testified that as the representative of 7,600 immigration agents, he was not consulted by the Gang of Eight in their drafting of a "comprehensive immigration reform" bill. Crane said that numerous special interest groups were all invited to the negotiations, but the law enforcement agency tasked with enforcing immigration laws was not.
The Gang of Eight officially unveiled its amnesty bill to the public today, but one of the press conference's attendees wasn't welcome. ICE Union President Chris Crane was removed from the event when he tried to ask a question during the Q&A portion of the press conference.
A group of four Arizona House Republicans, including Matt Salmon, Trent Franks, Paul Gosar, and David Schweikert sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner on Tuesday stating their opposition to the Gang of Eight's amnesty proposal. The four House Members told Speaker Boehner that immigration reform can be dealt with only after the border is secured.
More than a few columnists and political analysts have picked up on the fact that there's not much difference between the Senate Gang of Eight's immigration principles and the leaked White House immigration plan that Gang Member Marco Rubio so loathes.
In Tuesday's Washington Post, liberal columnist and MSNBC political analyst Eugene Robinson wrote:
