Congress

Medicare Paid $9.3 Million to Nearly 500 Illegal Immigrants

Responding to claims of nearly 500 illegal immigrants, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services paid $9.3 million in their benefit in 2013 and 2014, The Washington Free Beacon reported.

According to an audit from the agency's inspector general, Medicare paid out over 14,500 claims.

"Medicare benefits are generally allowable when rendered to a beneficiary whom the Social Security Administration has determined to be a U.S. citizen or U.S. national," the audit said.

"Medicare does not pay for services rendered to beneficiaries who are unlawfully present on the date of service."

While the agency is advised to be cautious against improper payments, it is also required to ensure that payments for Medicare services are not remitted to individuals who are not legally present in the United States....

"When CMS's data systems did not indicate until after a claim had been processed that a beneficiary was unlawfully present, CMS had policies and procedures to detect and recoup payment for Medicare services, but it did not follow them," the audit said.

In 2013 and 2014, the audit established that the agency paid out 14,530 claims amounting to $9,267,392 in Medicare payments for 481 illegal immigrants.

"When Medicare has paid health care providers for services rendered to beneficiaries who are subsequently determined to have been unlawfully present at the time of services, Medicare requirements state that those improper payments should be recouped," the audit states.

Promising to recoup payments, Andy Slavitt, an administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said, "CMS is committed to making sure that improper payments are not made for health care services provided to unlawfully present beneficiaries."

"CMS will review the overpayments referred by [inspector general] and identify overpayments greater than or equal to $1,000. CMS will attempt to recoup these overpayments," he said.

"At the conclusion of this collection effort, CMS will perform a cost-benefit analysis to determine if CMS should pursue similarly situated overpayments in the future," he added. Read more about Medicare Paid $9.3 Million to Nearly 500 Illegal Immigrants

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crime

enforcement

cost

illegal aliens

Congress

Trump: Not ‘One More American Life’ for Open Borders

Speaking to the families of those who have lost loved ones at the hands of illegal immigrant criminals Saturday afternoon in Houston, Texas, Donald Trump eviscerated the nation’s leaders for failing to protect American lives.

Speaking at a luncheon hosted by The Remembrance Project, the Republican presidential nominee said the victims of illegal alien crime had been “forced into the shadows” because politicians and media at large refuse to hear their stories and validate their grievances. Expressing his support for the families in their “lonely fight for justice,” Trump promised to stand with them and hold the government accountable for its “most fundamental duty” — to protect American lives.

“Our nation should not accept one lost American life because our country failed to enforce its laws.”

“There are a lot of numbers in the immigration debate. But let me give you the most important number of all,” Trump said. “That most important number of all is the number of American lives it is acceptable to lose in the name of illegal immigration. Let me tell you what that number is: ZERO,” he added. “Our nation should not accept one lost American life because our country failed to enforce its laws.”

Speaking softly to the audience members gathered at the event, Trump said that The Remembrance Project, which advocates for families who have lost loved ones at the hands of illegal immigrants, helped to bring attention to an issue that has become a “personal passion” for him.

“I have met many incredible people during the course of this campaign. But nothing has moved me more deeply than the time I’ve spent with the families of The Remembrance Project, and the incredible strength and courage you’ve shown in your often lonely fight for justice,” Trump said. “You are heroes. And your actions will help us to save the next thousand American citizens from losing their brothers, sisters, sons, daughters or parents.”

Trump lambasted the policies of the Obama administration and the policies promoted by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton that have led to the release of nearly 13,000 criminal aliens between 2008-2014 back into the U.S. after their home countries refused to take them back, according to a report from The Boston Globe. Decrying Clinton’s plans for "total amnesty," protecting Sanctuary Cities and authorizing a "catch-and-release" border policy, Trump called Clinton to account for her failures.

"Most of these 13,000 releases occurred on Hillary Clinton’s watch — she had the power and the duty to stop it cold and she didn’t do it," Trump told the grieving families. "Now, my opponent will never meet with you. She will never hear your stories. She will never share in your pain. She will only meet with the donors and the special interests and the open border advocates."

Trump promised to enforce the rule of law and work as an advocate for these families if he is elected on Nov. 8.

"Your cause and your stories are ignored by our political establishment because they are determined to keep our borders open at any cost. To them, your presence is just too inconvenient," Trump said. "This must end. And it must end right now. Not one more American life should be given up in the name of open borders."

Immediately after Trump’s speech, his campaign released a statement from Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions — a vocal Trump surrogate and fervent advocate for clamping down on illegal immigrant crime.

"This serious problem was well known to Hillary Clinton the entire time she was secretary of state. Yet she failed to stop this practice when she had the duty and responsibility do so as secretary of state, failing to follow clear legal requirement passed by Congress," Sessions said. "Hillary Clinton must explain to the American people, and especially to the victims of these criminal aliens who were not deported, why she did not act to prevent these tragic events." Read more about Trump: Not ‘One More American Life’ for Open Borders

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It's the LAST day fo the Oregon State Fair!

Alert date:

September 5, 2016

Alert body:

If you haven't paid a visit to the annual Oregon State Fair, Monday will be your last chance! The weather is supposed to be perfect!

Plan to stop by the OFIR booth, located in the Jackman Long building. We've hosted some very special guests!

We hope to see you there!

Hold Bonamicci's Feet to the Fire - Rep. Bonamici to hold Town Halls in August

Alert date:

July 30, 2016

Alert body:

Rep. Bonamici to hold Town Halls in August

For Congressional District 1 residents

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici announces Town Hall meetings in several towns. She says: "Town Hall meetings provide an opportunity for the Congresswoman to discuss issues, answer questions, and gather ideas."

Please attend one of these events near you if possible. Below the list of Town Halls is a link to suggested subjects for questions and comments to her. You can also, if you wish, print out her report card from NumbersUSA and give it to her.

Here is the schedule, taken from her website announcement.

Rainier Town Hall Meeting
Tuesday, August 2, 2016
1:30 to 2:30 pm
Rainier Senior Center, 48 W 7th Street, Rainier, OR 97048

Seaside Town Hall Meeting
Tuesday, August 2, 2016
6:00pm to 7:00pm
Clatsop Community College, South County Campus, Rooms 2 and 3 – 1455 N Roosevelt Drive, Seaside, OR 97138

Portland Town Hall Meeting
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
6:00pm to 7:00pm
Friendly House, Keeston Room 1737 NW 26th Ave, Portland, OOR 97210

Tigard Town Hall Meeting
Thursday, August 4, 2016
6:00pm to 7:00pm
Tigard Public Works Building, Auditorium 8777 SW Burnham St.., Tigard, OR 97223

Hillsboro Town Hall Meeting
Monday, August 8, 2016
6:00 PM to 7 PM
Hillsboro Civic Center Auditorium, 150 E. Main St., Hillsboro, OR 97123

Dundee Town Hall Meeting
Thursday, August 11, 2016
6:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Dundee Woman's Club, Community Center, 1026 N. Highway 99W, Dundee, OR 97115

TALKING POINTS

Perhaps you have your own questions and comments already. Helpful, in addition, are the excellent Town Hall talking points on important immigration issues available from Numbers USA. These cover H-2B visas, Trans-Pacific Partnership, Criminal justice reform, Refugees/Asylees, and Sanctuary cities.

Also NumbersUSA includes a list of Town Hall Do’s and Dont’s, advising on best conduct for achieving our purposes. Scroll down to the bottom of the page link above to see the Do’s and Dont’s.

Please invite a friend or neighbor to attend with you and show up at one of these Townhall meetings. Always be respectful, but also remember - she works for YOU!

Senate could vote next week on ending Sanctuary Cities and increasing penalties for criminal aliens

Alert date:

July 1, 2016

Alert body:

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the shooting death of Kate Steinle by a five-times deported illegal alien who was set free by San Francisco authorities despite a hold request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In the year since, Congress has failed to take meaningful action against jurisdictions like San Francisco that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

That may change next week when the Senate could vote on two bills dealing with immigration enforcement. The first, introduced by Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, would strengthen the federal definition of a sanctuary city and withhold public works and community development funds from any jurisdiction that fits the new definition. The second bill, introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, would increase penalties for criminal aliens and repeat illegal border crossers.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell filed cloture on both bills earlier this week. That means the Senate vote could happen sometime after their return from the holiday weekend on Wednesday.

Despite popular and bipartisan support for ending sanctuary policies, the road ahead won't be easy. First, 60 votes for are needed to bring each bill to the Senate floor for debate. Then, another vote with a 60-vote threshold is needed to end debate and proceed to final passage.

However, polling indicates the American people are on Sens. Cruz and Toomey's side. Poll after poll since last year's shooting in San Francisco has showed mass support for ending sanctuary policies. Even San Francisco voters showed their disgust with the region's own sanctuary policies when it ousted Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, who implemented the city's policies, last November.

Please ask your Senators this weekend on behalf of all the Americans who have fallen victim to crimes at the hands sanctuary policies, to end sanctuary city policies. Your Senator needs to hear from you!

Suspect in Woodburn triple homicide deported SIX times

Posted by Cynthia Kendoll on Thu, 06/30/2016

The suspect arrested for the triple homicide and attempted murder near Woodburn has been deported SIX times!

Just released by ICE:

After conducting a comprehensive review of Mr. Oseguera’s immigration and criminal history, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has designated this as a federal interest case. To that end, the agency filed a notice of action (Form I-247-X – Request for Voluntary Transfer) with the Marion County Jail asking to be alerted if or when Mr. Oseguera is slated for release so the agency can take custody to pursue further administrative enforcement action. Relevant databases indicate Mr. Oseguera has no significant prior criminal convictions. However, he has been repatriated to Mexico six times since 2003, most recently in 2013.

How many more people must be murdered before our elected officials ENFORCE our immigration laws?

'At the limit,' Mexico buckles under migrant surge to U.S.

A resident walks by a section of the border fence between Mexico and the United States on the outskirts of Tijuana

A resident walks by a section of the border fence between Mexico and the United States on the outskirts of Tijuana, Mexico April 5, 2016.

REUTERS/Jorge Duenes

TAPACHULA, Mexico/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mexico is struggling to stem the flow of Central American migrants traveling to the United States ahead of the U.S. presidential election, causing major concern in Washington, which is weighing sending more agents to help.

In 2014, Mexico moved to strengthen its southern border when a surge in child migrants from Central America sparked a political crisis in the United States.

Last year, Mexico detained over 190,000 migrants, more than double the number in 2012.

But official data examined by Reuters shows that fewer migrants have been captured in Mexico this year even as the number caught on the U.S. border has soared.

The slowdown in detentions on Mexican soil is frustrating U.S. officials who feel that Mexico could be doing more, according to a source familiar with internal briefings on the topic at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Illegal immigration is stoking a fierce debate ahead of the U.S. election on Nov. 8 with Republican candidate Donald Trump vowing to deport millions of people and build a wall along the Mexican border if elected president.

Mexico says its National Migration Institute (INM), which regulates migration in the country, is already working flat out...

The number of families stopped at the U.S.-Mexico border jumped 122 percent between October 2015 and April 2016...

The number of detained "unaccompanied minors" - children traveling without relatives - was 74 percent higher. Most of the Central Americans come from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Despite those increases, fewer migrants are being caught as they move through Mexico....

The DHS is considering sending more agents south to train Mexican officials on how to track human traffickers and stop migrants crossing the Mexico-Guatemala border, according to an internal briefing document obtained by Reuters.

U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar, who sits on the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, said DHS officials told him they hope to help Mexico strengthen its southern border.

"When you're constantly working at full speed and don't have all the resources because your primary mission is to fight the drug cartels, yeah, you're going to be stretched," Cuellar said....

Roque Villanueva attributed the migrant surge to people finding new routes past checkpoints...

LEAKY BORDER

In 2014, Mexico launched the "Plan Frontera Sur" to tighten border controls, register migrants and stop them using the perilous network of trains known as "La Bestia", or "The Beast".

But migrants quickly adapted.

Elisabel Enriquez, Guatemala's vice-consul in Tapachula, said migrant smugglers now rent trucks and shuttling migrants from southern Mexico all the way to the U.S. border over 2,000 km away for up to $8,000 per person.

Two such trucks were stopped in recent weeks, she said, one stuffed with about 115 migrants and the other about 60.

Some migrants immediately apply for asylum on arrival in Mexico. Once granted a refugee visa, they can travel through Mexico without fear of being deported, said Irmgard Pund, who runs the local Belen migrant shelter.

So far this year, asylum applications with Mexican refugee agency COMAR are up over 150 percent compared with 2015...

The rise in families heading north is partly due to a 2015 U.S federal court decision limiting the time mothers and children can be held in detention, which has created the mistaken impression they can stay in the United States, U.S. officials say.

A regional drought in Central America has also increased pressure to leave, while some migrants are trying to cross ahead of the election in case Trump wins and follows through on his campaign promises, making it more difficult for them in the future.

Compared to their U.S. counterparts, Mexico's migration authorities get by on a shoestring. The INM spent 4.14 billion pesos ($228.37 million) in 2015, less than 2 percent of the CBP's budget request for 2016.

The United States has tripled its border force under President Barack Obama to 60,000 staff, while the INM has 5,383 employees.

Roque Villanueva said the fall in the price of oil, which funds about a fifth of Mexico's federal budget, makes it even harder to put new resources into the INM.

Nonetheless, he said Mexico and the United States would continue to work closely together as Washington has plenty of reasons for wanting a robust southern Mexican border.

"The Americans are not so worried by how many Central Americans get through, but rather about making sure nobody with even the slightest chance of being a terrorist does," he said.

($1 = 18.1287 pesos) Read more about 'At the limit,' Mexico buckles under migrant surge to U.S.

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Opposition To ‘Illegal Aliens’ Is Opposition To Borders

Those who are driving the effort to control and contort language in the immigration debate are not truly motivated by the notion that the term “illegal alien” is a pejorative. This is a distraction. The real goal of those demanding that media outlets, courts, and now the Library of Congress supplant accurate legal terminology with activist-created terms is to eradicate the distinction between citizen and non-citizen, between legal activity and illegal activity, between “us” and “them” so that the concept of borders and the nation state slowly slip away. Any official heading an organization or governmental agency who thinks they are being sensitive by bowing to demands to alter their use of language is being played by the open-border crowd.

The most vivid and honest example of the motivations of those demanding a change to language in the immigration debate happened last year after the Santa Barbara News-Press used the term “illegals” in a headline: “Illegals Line Up For Driver’s Licenses.” If there is any legitimate critique of this headline, it’s that the term “illegals” rings slightly crude. Using a legal term like “illegal aliens” would be preferable.

But a more accurate legal term would not have appeased the illegal aliens and their supporters who protested outside the newspaper’s headquarters. Their response revealed the true nature of this debate over language. In the middle of the night, the News-Press building was vandalized with paintball splatters and graffiti. The bold, red, spray-painted message that was left on the building is key to understanding this debate: “THE BORDER IS ILLEGAL NOT THE PEOPLE WHO CROSS IT”

No terms, adjectives, or descriptors that separate law-breaking foreigners from citizens are acceptable to the open-border crowd and they will push until the media and the courts refer to illegal aliens as simply “Americans.” This is not hyperbole — one California newspaper has done just that, while two others have referred to illegal aliens as Californians.

In 2012, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News described illegal aliens as “undocumented Californians” in articles about driver’s licenses. Of course, these individuals aren’t Californians any more than a citizen of Nevada who crosses the state line to visit Disneyland. Responses from the newspapers to my inquiries about why they felt foreigners who don’t even belong in the country deserve a title indicating state citizenship were lackluster.

A year later, the San Francisco Chronicle referred to an illegal alien from South Korea as “one of an estimated 2.1 million American youths” who might benefit from President Obama’s controversial Deferred Action (DACA) program. The paper never responded to my inquiry about why they consider illegal aliens registering for DACA to be “American.”

This transition didn’t happen overnight. The open-border crowd had its first success when the Associated Press decided to appease illegal aliens and their advocates by dropping “illegal alien” and warning against it in their stylebook. In 2012, the AP declared that it would use “illegal immigrant” but would not go as far as the advocates wanted, noting that terms like “undocumented” were problematic because they “can make a person’s illegal presence in the country appear to be a matter of minor paperwork.” The AP also noted that “many illegal immigrants aren’t undocumented at all,” on account of having many documents in their possession.

The AP also declared that it would not buy into the claim that the term “illegal immigrant” is offensive, noting that the AP’s writers “refer routinely to illegal loggers, illegal miners, illegal vendors” and that the language “simply means that a person is logging, mining, selling, etc., in violation of the law — just as illegal immigrants have immigrated in violation of the law.”Taking a cue from the AP, journalists with other news outlets around the country declared that they would also stop using “illegal alien” and instead use “illegal immigrant.” The reporters thought they were being righteous, not understanding that this change was but a stepping stone in the minds of open border advocates.

As soon as these journalists agreed to drop “illegal alien” the advocates moved to their next demand. Less than six months after the AP’s decision to stick with “illegal immigrant,” the AP caved, once again. This time the AP dropped “illegal immigrant” altogether, claiming that it was dropping use of labels noting that AP would use “illegal only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant.” The AP did not acknowledge the ongoing “Drop the I-Word Campaign” by open-border advocates that clearly played a role.

Taking a cue from the AP, journalists with other news outlets around the country declared that they would also stop using “illegal alien” and instead use “illegal immigrant.” The reporters thought they were being righteous, not understanding that this change was but a stepping stone in the minds of open border advocates.

The AP now recommends journalists use “a person living in the country illegally” or “without legal permission.” Of course, one of the top rules in journalism is “be concise.” That rule is tossed out the window for illegal aliens. Why do so many journalists think foreigners who evade our Border Patrol or lie to the State Department and overstay a visa are deserving of special treatment? Is it that they’re worried their offices might be attacked by an angry mob?

Many media outlets have blindly followed the AP’s lead, marching the journalism world to a place where there is no such thing as illegal immigration. It has gotten so bad that news outlets seeking free content from people like myself feel the need to put disclaimers at the top of opinion pieces that use legally-accurate terminology, for fear that some people (read: open-border fanatics) might be offended.

The media’s bowing to illegal aliens and their supporters shows up in other areas as well. Not too long ago, everyone referred to mass legalizations of illegal aliens as amnesty. Today, the media has embraced the language of advocacy groups and regularly uses “pathway to citizenship” or “regularization of status” or “comprehensive immigration reform.” But the media still refers to tax amnesties as amnesty. It’s just another example of the media’s special treatment of illegal aliens.

The term “alien” is not, nor has it never been a pejorative. It’s a concise, legal term that helps with straightforward communication in a very complex area of law and policy. A foreigner can be a legal alien (e.g. a tourist) or an illegal alien (e.g. a visa-overstayer). The word “alien” was recently used 26 times in the Supreme Court during oral argument for United States v. Texas, most often by the Obama administration’s solicitor general, but also by Sotomayor, Kegan, Roberts, and Ginsburg.

Use of “alien” indicates a writer supports clean writing devoid of any value judgement, something journalists should aspire to. Use of “undocumented immigrant” or some similar euphemism suggests a lack of impartiality on the part of a writer, something journalists should avoid.

Furthermore, referring to every foreigner as an “immigrant” muddies the debate and makes it difficult to draw the line between “us” and “them” — this is a goal of the open-border crowd. If we’re all immigrants (aka “a nation of immigrants”), what right do you have to tell someone else they cannot come and live here?

In reality, we’re a nation of citizens. And as citizens, we have a right to decide who gets to immigrate here, how many people get to immigrate here, and also set the conditions they must abide by if they want to stay. Anything less than that destroys the concept of citizenship and sovereignty. Media shouldn’t help the open-border crowd achieve its goal.

Jon Feere is the Legal Policy Analyst at the Center for Immigration Studies.

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More letters from America's heartland

Posted by Cynthia Kendoll on Wed, 05/11/2016

VENTURA COUNT
STAR
vcstar.com
PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK

Stealing jobs
May 10, 2016

Why are every one of these stories a "feel sorry for the undocumented illegals” story? These people were working in recognized professions in their own countries. They are educated and employed but could not follow the U.S. rules for immigration? Talk about stealing American jobs, this is it.

How about a story sympathizing with a Hispanic or other minority legal alien or citizen struggling to compete with the illegal aliens?

Benedict Lucchese, Camarillo

http://www.vcstar.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/Stealing-jobs-378912221.html

VENTURA COUNTY
STAR
vcstar.com
PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK

Federal conflict

May 10, 2016

Our illustrious state of California has handed out professional licenses to illegal aliens to practice barbering, cosmetology, physicians, nursing and several other professions. This act is in direct conflict with federal law.

Meanwhile, the federal government stands by and does nothing. Is it any wonder people support Donald Trump?

Mary Vomund, Ventura

http://www.vcstar.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/Federal-conflict-378910261.html

_d_o delawareonline

The News Journal PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK

May 10, 2016

Greed

The reporting about H-1B employees is yet another example of the corporate greed in our country.

The use of labor brokers and the way the employees are treated brings back lessons of the coal industry operators in the early 1900's. The problem of hiring and abusing cheaper labor from out of the state or is nothing new. Non Union construction companies have been doing it for years. They bring in out of state workers for much lower wages than in state union workers. In many cases they ship in undocumented immigrants and pay them next to nothing.

The H-1B employees take jobs away from our recent college graduates or higher paid employees in their 50's. The out of state workers and illegal aliens take jobs from Delaware Veterans and construction workers.

House Bill 283 sponsored by Senator Bethany Hall-Long will at least start to put skilled Delaware workers and our veterans to work on state funded construction jobs.

Maybe next she can sponsor a bill to stop the H-1B hires from taking all of the new tech jobs from Delaware's residents.

Joe Williams
Wilmington

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/opinion/readers/2016/05/10/letters-editor-greed/84199446/

Livingston Daily Press & Argus
PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK

Reader wants more details on child molester’s status

May 10, 2016

(Editor’s note: The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency declined to verify the immigration status of Erik Lopez-Ferreyra to the Livingston Daily. However, anyone who is not a U.S. citizen – which includes resident alien, on a visa or here in this country illegally – can face deportation if convicted of a felony).

Thank you for printing my comment regarding the conviction of child molester Erik Lopez-Ferreyra. I noted that the last sentence of the article mentioned that Lopez-Ferreyra would likely be deported after his sentence was served. I questioned that the article did not address why. I had read all the previous articles in the Livingston Daily regarding this case, and could find no mention of why this might happen. It seems there is something in Mr. Lopez-Ferreyra’s immigration status (expired visa, in this country illegally, etc.) we have not been told about. I believe this is relevant information when it concerns a felon.

The Livingston Daily has published several articles on Mr. Lopez-Ferreyra, so I think I can rule out this being an oversight. Is it the paper’s policy to omit the information of a suspect’s illegal immigration status or reporter Ms. Roose-Church’s own activism? Perhaps the editor of this paper would better serve the readers by doing his job rather than playing ‘Where’s Waldo’.

John Bruzewski
Brighton

http://www.livingstondaily.com/story/opinion/readers/2016/05/10/lopez-ferreyra-immigration-status/84200792/

WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL

Trump is redefining the Republican Party

May 9, 2016

For years Republican voters have been sold on the idea that "overwhelming military superiority" keeps America the "greatest country" in the world.

Donald Trump comes along and tells Republicans we are not a great country anymore because we allow illegal immigrants to take our jobs, and because companies move manufacturing overseas. Our government leaders fail to win trade agreements and wars in the Middle East, Trump says, and they fail to keep jobs in America.

Trump is attacking the old guard Republicans for a failure to keep companies and jobs in America, and he says he has the answer.

That line of attack may very well carry Trump to the presidency unless Hillary Clinton has a stronger answer. But it is Trump's key argument about American jobs that has the Republican Party in rapid retreat if not confusion.

Why else would the old guard not show up at the convention?

-- T. Greg Bell, Madison

http://host.madison.com/wsj/opinion/mailbag/trump-is-redefining-the-republican-party----t/article_7467d273-2925-5867-8d63-50b0ef162e35.html

The Sacramento Bee

MAY 9, 2016 1:12 PM

Those here illegally are entitled to this: Exactly nothing

The people who call themselves “undocumented immigrants” in Merced County now expect the same health care benefits as everyone else. I believe they are entitled to the same benefits as legal immigrants, which is none.

When someone comes to our country legally, they must first sign away all rights to any kind of public assistance and if you come here illegally you are entitled to no more than they are. Every legal immigrant must have a sponsor who agrees to be responsible for that person in case they cannot take care of themselves. My niece married a man from Holland recently. After the wedding he returned to Holland and began the process of entering the country legally. This man has a spotless record, a college degree and speaks three languages, but it took nine months and almost $10,000 to return legally. My niece, a school teacher, had to sign papers promising her husband would never be a drain on American taxpayers. So why should illegal aliens who sneak across the border be entitled to benefits?

When you enter our country illegally you are an illegal alien, and American taxpayers should not be responsible for you.

Rita F. Silva, Los Banos

http://www.modbee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article76575012.html

Livingston Daily Press & Argus
PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK

President Obama does whatever he wants, just like a king

May 9, 2016

One of the reasons why American politics is so polarized and our American system of government is at risk is because of President Barack Obama’s deliberate abuse of power and disregard of his constitutional duties to faithfully execute our laws.

Take America’s immigration laws. In 2010, pressed by his supporters to stop deporting illegal aliens and unilaterally grant them legal status, Obama said, “I’m president, I’m not a king. I can’t do these things just by myself.” In 2013, he said, “I’m not the emperor of the United States. My job is to execute laws that are passed.” In fact, Obama publicly said more than 20 times that he did not have the legal authority to change immigration laws.

However, by 2014, Obama apparently had convinced himself that he could be a king. As he remarked to the French president, “That’s the good thing about being president, I can do whatever I want.”

Sure enough. In November 2014, Obama unilaterally announced sweeping changes to our immigration laws. Afterward, Obama noted, “I just took an action to change the law.” Hail the emperor and new king!

Feeling his kingship oats, Obama has unilaterally changed several mandates included in the Obamacare law (no authority for that). Recently, his administration issued several made-up regulations that his own treasury secretary previously admitted they did not have the authority to do.

Just a hunch on my part — but I’ll bet the Democrats would not be so tolerant of this abuse of power if a Republican president were making up these laws. Wake up, America!

Randy Kniebes
Brighton

http://www.livingstondaily.com/story/opinion/readers/2016/05/09/president-obama-american-politics/84142078/

The Jamestown Sun

Is U.S. headed in unwise direction with immigrants?

By Mark Schuttenhelm from Jamestown May 9, 2016

The Islamization of the United States is well underway, and U.S. citizens would be well served to pay attention to what is happening in Europe. That continent is, for all intents and purposes, finished. It’s been done in by a series of self-inflicted wounds driven by an obsession with political correctness.

The horrific stories are available. You see, the media across the pond is as corrupt as the U.S. Over here, crimes committed by illegal aliens are under reported or covered up by lefties in our media. In Europe, it’s the chaos and crimes being committed by Muslim migrants that gets shoved under the carpet. On New Year’s Eve past, over a thousand sexual assaults were committed against European women by Muslim migrants across Europe. The media did its best to cover it up. Two reporters admitted to the cover-up, justifying the whole sordid episode by saying they did not wish to provide ammunition to forces seeking to stop the never-ending Muslim invasion in Europe.

Here’s a sobering recent headline: “Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambom says a significant part of the Muslim population celebrated terrorist attacks.” There’s more. Muslim migrants are doing things so disgusting in public pools in Europe that I cannot even specify their actions in this letter. And there’s plenty more for an inquisitive person to find — none of it good.

The man primarily responsible for the Islamization of Great Britain, a politically correct stormtrooper if there ever was one, has admitted that the idea of welcoming 2 million Muslims into England was a huge mistake. Trevor Phillips, the former head of Britain’s Equalities and Human Rights Commission and the man who popularized the term “Islamophobia,” has conceded he “got almost everything wrong” on Muslim immigration in a damning new report on integration, segregation and how Islamic followers are creating “nations within nations” in the West. He admits, “I thought Muslims would blend into Britain … I should have known better.”

Are we heading in the same misguided direction? The freewheeling immigration policies of the chief Muslim sympathizer of the free world have brought 750,000 Muslims into the U.S. in the last three years alone. In addition, President Barack Obama’s administration has quietly ramped up its Syrian refugee resettlement program despite repeated warnings from our top intelligence people.

Obama admits that a small percentage of Muslims are terrorists. But how many? One percent of 750,000 is 7,500. Half of 1 percent would still be 3,750. We know it doesn’t take many terrorists to ruin your day, and yet we the sheeple sit idly by as the current president happily plays Russian roulette with our lives.

http://www.jamestownsun.com/letters/4027997-letter-editor-us-headed-unwise-direction-immigrants

TODAYS NEWS-HERALD
HAVASUNEWS.COM
Serving Lake Havasu City and the Lower Colorado River

Extreme measures needed

May 8, 2016

Editor:

How appropriate that your article on the state budget, and how many tax dollars will be spent for school budgets, appeared on Cinco de Mayo.

When universities and all other levels of education offer seats to the children of illegal immigrants, citizens are hard pressed to understand huge sums set aside for classrooms and transportation costs.

We’ve come a long way from one-room school houses, but I dare say the quality of education isn’t as thorough these days.

Citizens are fed up with paying for other countries’ uneducated, who then march on our streets and tell U.S. how bad we are.

We now have a “reality show” heading to D.C. for that very reason. Takes extreme measures to get them to listen to citizens who don’t riot in the streets... yet.

Pat Reiot
Lake Havasu City

http://www.havasunews.com/opinion/pat-reiot-extreme-measures-needed/article_0c06e3ec-15ac-11e6-a4da-8b1204e4b020.html

SJ Statesman Journal
PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK

We can’t afford Obama’s policies on drugs, immigration

Statesman Journal May 8, 2016

The survival of our country depends on us being involved and selecting good people who are willing to do the right thing for our country.

While we see ISIS as a serious problem that needs our attention, we are failing to address the serious problem we have with the drug cartels and their use of the illegal aliens who help them to smuggle in the illegal drugs that are destroying millions of our citizens and raising havoc with our economy. We all know of someone whose life has been shattered or destroyed by illegal drugs.

We need to pay attention to the causes of our national debt of $20 trillion. For instance, an illegal alien family with several children will cost taxpayers a lot with their schooling, medical and numerous other benefits.

With all the benefits and support the illegal aliens have acquired, they appear to have more influence with our politicians and especially with Obama than the U.S. citizens do.

For those of you who voted to re-elect Obama in the last election, please consider not ever voting again. We can’t afford this kind of thinking.

Jim Elvin
Salem

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/opinion/readers/2016/05/08/we-cant-afford-obamas-policies/84126894/

SJR
The State Journal-Register

College plan for illegal immigrants a poor idea
Posted May. 8, 2016

Once again I'm confounded, but not surprised, by the lackadaisical stupidity of state legislators. Their recent proposal to grant illegal immigrants basically free college education and squander even more money that they don't have, denying Illinois taxpaying families' children that ability also is reprehensible and disrespectful of their constituents and their supposed duties to this state.

We face financial strains sending our own kids to college. Look at the out of control student loan situation. Why would any sane person want more of their tax dollars to go to higher education for an illegal immigrant, while struggling for their own child to obtain it?

The state already spends every tax dollar they get like it was $10. They don't need to think up ways to go deeper in debt. Their only concern for the present, and many years to come, is to meet the unpaid obligations they have accumulated thus far and pay the bills.

But you know they won't. They give illegal immigrants safe haven cities, welfare, housing, Medicaid and now want free college for them too. What's next, free cars and homes? No way to slow or stop illegal immigrants sneaking into our country and sucking our system dry, and our neighbors out of this state.

Paul Forgas
Petersburg

http://www.sj-r.com/article/20160508/OPINION/160509638

Naples Daily News
naplesnews.com
PART OF THE USA TODAY NEWPWORK

May 8, 2016
Ed Ruff, Pelican Bay

Cartel

The Daily News recently published an Associated Press article: Fla. heroin, fentanyl deaths skyrocket.

All articles written by the AP, Washington Post and Bloomberg News on this subject overlook several salient facts.

The article does say: "Fentanyl, which can be 50 times stronger than heroin, is a prescription drug, but street varieties from China (via Mexico) and Mexico are flooding communities."

What they don't ever say is that many of those who came here illegally from South and Central America and Mexico carried a back pack of these drugs across the Mexican drug cartel's drug and human trafficking routes as payment for safe passage across our Southern Border. If they don't agree to smuggle drugs, they are summarily executed.

Backgrounder #2568 on Immigration from June 2011: "In August 2010, 72 would-be illegal immigrants from Mexico were lined up and executed, their bodies discovered on a remote ranch a mere 90 miles from the U.S. border. The drug gang responsible for the kidnapping and murders, Los Zetas, captured its victims as they traveled through Tamaulipas, presumably on their way to cross the border illegally into the United States. When the 72 people refused to work for the gang, they were executed."

This warning is standard operating procedure for the cartels. American journalists take heed. These same cartels have killed many Mexican journalists for reporting their brutal criminal activity. Have you ever read that in this or any other paper? Maybe that's why our press gives them a free pass.

Cartels operate in more than 1,400 American cities, according to the FBI. I posted a 71-page history of illegal immigration on Sept. 11, 2013 at www.bypopularamendment.com if you are interested.

http://www.naplesnews.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/letter-cartel-321b55f5-d806-41e4-e053-0100007f6821-378344591.html

The Post and Courier
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize

Public education is not a right for illegal immigrants

May 8 2016

I did not have to go past the first paragraph of the May 4 article by Paul Bowers to see a huge problem. This article is obviously written for sensationalization in stating that “some undocumented children may have been denied their right to a free public education while on South Carolina soil.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. No one in this country is entitled to a free public education as a right. Our rights are defined in our Constitution, and nowhere can you find the right to a free public education.

As a society we have determined that an educated citizenry is necessary for an informed electorate. This is a good thing and a noble endeavor. However, a free public education is a privilege and not a right. It is enjoyed by citizens of this country, and there is no obligation to confer this privilege on non-citizens.

We have a huge problem in the U.S. with millions of illegal immigrants, costing government at all levels huge sums in benefits. Just because they are in our country illegally does not make them entitled to the privileges of citizens.

ROBERT J. NAGY
Portside Way
Charleston

http://www.postandcourier.com/20160508/160509452/letter-public-education-is-not-a-right-for-illegal-immigrants

_PENN
^PA LIVE

This registered Democrat is voting Trump: PennLive letters

May 08, 2016

I am a registered Democrat, however, I will be voting for Donald Trump for several reasons, starting with the give-away programs touted by the Democrats. Presently, Medicare is cutting back on a number of things and more will be taken away to take care of the thousands of Syrian refugees the Democrats want to bring here.

As for the wall, we need a wall to keep out terrorists, we don't need a wall to keep out the Latinos. If we stop giving the illegal aliens free education, free healthcare, drivers' licenses etc., they will stop coming here.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are promoting free college tuition and a whole lot more. Who will pay for this? Maybe Hillary can give us an idea of how to get rich.

Donald Trump is against giving millions to some foreign countries, those that hate us and would rather see us dead. Check the millions we give to Pakistan, the country that harbored Osama Bin Laden. Donald Trump will ask the oil producing countries to chip in for their own defense, something we are paying for in many places.

Donald Trump will renegotiate the trade deals, which were bad to start with. And finally, Donald Trump will not hesitate to take on ISIS, the Obama J. V. team of terrorists.

RUDY PAVLICK, Swatara Township

http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2016/05/donald_trump_17.html

TRIB LIVE

Congressman insulting

Saturday, May 7, 2016

U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, spoke at the April 28 Congressional hearing about the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's inability to detain illegal immigrants who have committed felonies. He dared to fault presidential candidate Donald Trump's “rhetoric” for ICE's problems enforcing the laws of this land.

The heinous murders of American citizens discussed at this hearing happened long before Trump even thought about running for president. One of the reasons Trump is running is because Cummings and those of his ilk refuse to address the murders committed by illegal immigrants. This is why we the people are so angry.

Cummings' political pandering was not just an insult to Trump, but a direct slap in the face to the murder victim's surviving family members in attendance. Does Cummings have no shame? I was embarrassed to be watching the hearing on C-Span.

We the people do not pay Cummings to conduct political bashing while he's attending to this country's serious problems. Cummings needs to do his job and keep his snide comments to himself.

Pat Condelli
New Kensington

http://triblive.com/opinion/letters/10403631-74/cummings-trump-hearing

SJ Statesman Journal
PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK

We need Trump’s fence at the southern border now

May 6, 2016

The Statesman Journal’s May 2 front page article about 300 people protesting anti-immigrant measures leaves me a little confused. I think that when you sneak across our southern border, you are an illegal alien.

Causa director Andrea Miller says anti-immigrant ballot measures go against Oregon values. I support the measures that require employers to report illegal immigrants. Learn to speak English.

Willamette University student Isa Pena says she is tired of fighting anti-immigrant sentiment. What part of illegal does she not understand?

We need the fence at the southern border now.

Vote for Trump.

Clay Atchison
Jefferson

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/opinion/readers/2016/05/07/need-trumps-fence-southern-border-now/84062356/

newstimes
Stop enabling illegal immigrants

Friday, May 6, 2016

I am outraged by the Sunday, May 1, article “Undocumented, uninsured” in The News-Times. The article talks about the access to health care is not only a “moral responsibility” but it “affects the health of the entire community.”

Where is the “moral responsibility” of the person that breaks U.S. immigration laws and enters our country illegally? As a citizen of their own countries, do they not have a “moral responsibility” to change the culture and opportunities in their country to strive for the benefits available here in the U.S. ? The short answer is: No!

The U.S. continues to reward illegal immigrants with access to driver’s license, student loans, and health care, and some by chance having access to health insurance and all with the hope to vote in the future (if not already). The illegal immigrant feels enabled to break our laws and enter illegally. What parent would not break our laws to improve the life of their children when such financial/benefits opportunities do not exist in their own country?

Consider the “affect ....on the entire community” already endured to support illegal immigrants through all the social/educational programs available to them. Instead of sending a message to illegal immigrants that rewards are not waiting for you or your family if you break our laws, we pander to their expectations of their “rights” thus making our immigration laws a toothless tiger.

We have immigration laws for a reason. If we are to be a nation of laws we must enforce our laws. If our immigration laws need changing (and they do), then change them legally and ensure we openly welcome all immigrants that come here legally. Unfortunately, many immigrants take for granted it is their “right” to enter the U.S. illegally. They just snicker at our immigration laws.

Dick Hajjar
Danbury

http://www.newstimes.com/opinion/article/Stop-enabling-illegal-immigrants-7397609.php

The Clarion-Ledger

PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
Adhering to immigration laws must be priority

Steve Worley May 6, 2016

Every country on the planet has geographic borders; almost all of them have laws to protect those borders against undocumented entry by citizens of another country. The United States has such laws; we also have a well-established, workable process for legal immigration. However, there are some people here who. either through a misguided lliberalism, or feathering their own nest, deliberately blur the line between legal and illegal immigration.

I submit there is no higher public safety priority for local and state law enforcement personnel than to help prevent another Boston Marathon/San Bernadino/San Fransisco type of act, committed by illegal entrants.

Steve Worley
Madison

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/2016/05/06/adhering-immigration-laws-must-priority-letter/84021646/

'Refugee' ruse: An illegals pipeline

Since the surge of “children” — primarily male teens — from Central America in 2014, the Obama administration has tried various ways to open the floodgates to this segment of illegal aliens. The latest attempt, billed as “family reunification,”...

Except most of them are not refugees, according to a Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) analysis.

To better manage the “crisis,” a new refugee-resettlement program set up in Central America coordinates with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees....

Trouble is, most of these children who leave their homes in Central America “do not do so for fear of persecution” and, by the U.N.’s definition, are not refugees, writes Nayla Rush for CIS. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to provide them with the care they need away from danger but in their own country or close to it?”...

Once established in the U.S., these “refugees” can obtain legal status and sponsor their illegal relatives living the U.S.

This is nothing more than a means to an end, focused not on what’s best for the children but on illegals’ amnesty. Read more about 'Refugee' ruse: An illegals pipeline

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