amnesty

Republican base 'animated by racism,' Dem rep says

...Rep. Steve Israel of New York said Sunday that not all Republicans are motivated by racism but many in the GOP oppose a bipartisan immigration bill on those grounds...

...Nancy Pelosi blamed racial issues for the GOP's failure to act on comprehensive immigration legislation.

Oregon's Rep. Greg Walden, who heads Republicans' efforts to elect House members, said Pelosi's comment was "both wrong and unfortunate."

Israel and Walden spoke on CNN's "State of the Union."

  Read more about Republican base 'animated by racism,' Dem rep says

On Jeb’s 'Act Of Love': Republicans Should Keep Looking For A Presidential Candidate

Call it the Jeb Bush, establishment-Republican variation on “they are just looking for a better life” cliché. And let’s just call him “Jeb.”

Apparently American families – of all descriptions – are not a priority for Jeb when it comes to the politics of dutifully providing the business bosses with “cheap” labor. (D.A. King)

In what should be the last words of a viable presidential campaign probe, Jeb defends the victims of borders who illegally enter the remnants of the Republic and take American jobs with the unforgettable words "yes, they broke the law, but it's not a felony. It's an act of love, it's an act of commitment to your family.”

Is Jeb saying that anyone in the world with a commitment to their family should be allowed to live and work in the U.S. as long as they don't plan on felonious activity? If so, it could get very crowded. We already take in more than a million legal job-seekers every year.

Not many Americans should have much trouble closing their eyes and imagining Jeb’s mindless, pandering proclamations coming out of the mouth of any screaming SEIU street protestor carrying a “not one more deportation” placard.

If not a careful explanation of why Marco Rubio took a painful – and likely permanent – nosedive in the presidential polls, somebody may want to forward the current unemployment numbers to the Bush compound. And maybe send along the United States Code regarding identity fraud and theft of Social Security numbers. Or the fact that coming back to the USA after deportation is a felony.

Jeb floated his “so be it” ramblings while at least 20 million Americans who are committed to their families are out of work or underemployed. The day after Jeb’s remarks, the Democrat-controlled Senate passed a bill to again extend unemployment payments for Americans who have been out of work for at least six months.

Apparently American families – of all descriptions – are not a priority for Jeb when it comes to the politics of dutifully providing the business bosses with “cheap” labor.

Call it an exploratory expedition. In publicly supporting the 2013 Gang of Eight amnesty/immigration expansion scam that will never see the president’s desk and putting forth his Chuck Schumer-esqe “it’s an act of love” notion, Jeb set out to gauge the progress of the tireless propaganda work of the amnesty-again coalition. Somebody had to venture out to see if Big Business, Big Religion, “Big Raza”, many in Big Media, the Democrats and the Republican establishment bosses have convinced the GOP’s conservative base that it is time for another amnesty. “Do you believe us yet?” they wonder, “this time, we are really going to secure the borders. But later. Trust us.”

It was big of Jeb to allude to “the rule of law” in his remarks. And to the possibility that the 40 percent or so of the illegal aliens present in the U.S. who are visa overstayers may be “politely” asked to leave. What next, a Jeb suggestion that the “secure the homeland” laws put in place after 9/11 requiring biometric monitoring of temporary visa holder’s departures actually be funded and politely enforced?

Many Americans who love their families suspect that if there were any real intent to secure American borders and enforce our immigration laws, it would have begun on September 12, 2001.

Using information recently released by DHS, Jessica Vaughan at the Center for Immigration Studies notes “ICE released 68,000 criminal aliens in 2013, or 35 percent of the criminal aliens encountered by officers. The vast majority of these releases occurred because of the Obama administration’s prosecutorial discretion policies.”

“The preponderance of the evidence demonstrates that immigration enforcement in America has collapsed. Even those with criminal convictions are being released. DHS is a department in crisis” says Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama.

One can only imagine a Jeb-run immigration enforcement apparatus.

Somebody tell Jeb: According to news reports, in an annual report released this month, "One Nation Underemployed: Jobs Rebuild America," the National Urban League noted that the underemployment rate for African-American workers was 20.5 percent, 18.4 percent for Hispanic workers and 11.8 percent for white workers.

"Many Americans are being left behind, and that includes African-Americans and Latinos who are being disproportionately left behind by the job creation that we see," National Urban League President Marc Morial said. We won’t hear it from the “party-of-the-working man” Democrats, but another amnesty and doubling immigration is not the solution to this shameful crisis.

Neither is Jeb.

Republicans with a commitment to inclusion and victory should keep looking for a presidential candidate. As an act of love.

D.A. King is president of the Georgia-based Dustin Inman Society, which works to control immigration . He is not a member of any political party. Read more about On Jeb’s 'Act Of Love': Republicans Should Keep Looking For A Presidential Candidate

Hold Their Feet to the Fire Radio Row Event this week

Alert date: 
April 8, 2014
Alert body: 

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) will host the 8th annual Hold Their Feet to the Fire Radio Row, tomorrow (Wednesday) and Thursday, April 9 and 10, in Washington DC.

Oregon’s own Lars Larson, of the KXL talk show, will participate as he has done several times in the past. The event brings together radio hosts from all over the country, giving them the opportunity to interview Capitol Hill lawmakers, law enforcement officials, immigration experts and activists both days.

We are happy that he can be there for his daily broadcasts, and we ask you especially to call in on Wednesday and Thursday while he’s on the air. He may be interviewing someone important on Capitol Hill and you could have a chance to raise a question with that person.

Lars’ NW show runs from noon to 3 pm PT; then his National show continues from 3-6 PT. You can listen to the program live through his website at http://larslarson.com. His call-in line is 866-HEY-LARS or 866-439-5277 or (503) 417-9595.


 

Population Growth, Immigration, and Amnesty

By Elizabeth Van Staaveren

Must the U.S. grow to one billion people or more?  We don’t have to, but unless present immigration policies are changed, we will.

Current U.S. population is well over 317 million, with one international migrant coming every 36 seconds and a net gain of one person every 15 seconds, according to the Census Bureau’s population clock.   

Birth rates among the native-born have been barely at replacement level for years.[i]  The huge increases in population are due to high levels of immigration,[ii] both legal and illegal.

Levels of immigration are set by Congress, supposedly acting in the public interest.  But various lobbies representing businesses, ethnic groups, and idealists who think national borders should not exist, have influenced the course of immigration over recent decades, pushing levels of immigration higher and higher. 

Rates of increase in immigration in recent years are astounding.  The immigrant population doubled from 1990 to 2000.  It has nearly tripled since 1980, and quadrupled since 1970.

Instead of reducing levels of immigration, as would be prudent for quality of life, or a healthy, sustainable environment, we see the various lobbies combining efforts in a push for vastly expanded immigration. 

S.744, the Senate’s so-called Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill, would double legal immigration and greatly increase guest worker programs for both low- and high-skilled foreign workers.  All 52 Democratic Senators including Oregon’s Wyden and Merkley, plus 14 Republicans, and 2 Independents voted for it.  The 32 No votes were all from Republican Senators.

The GOP’s recently released “Standards for Immigration Reform” are a deceptively worded version of  S.744, showing that the leadership of both parties wants amnesty for 11 million or more illegal aliens now, in spite of the fact that 7 amnesties have been passed in Congress from 1986 onward, and immigration law enforcement has been grossly inadequate for decades. 

Pending in the House is H.R. 15, which nearly mirrors S.744.  Four of Oregon’s five Representatives signed as sponsors: Suzanne Bonamici, Earl Blumenauer, Kurt Schrader, and Peter DeFazio.  Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) didn’t sign, but amnesty advocates claim he supports them.

Although leadership in both major parties favors amnesty, and all Democrats in Congress appear to be solidly in favor, Republican members are far from unified on the issue.  Over half of the Republicans in the Senate voted against S.744.  Opposition to amnesty among most House Republicans has so far prevented amnesty bills from coming to the floor. 

Honest polls report majorities of voters nationwide want the immigration laws enforced.  It’s clear that our legislators and presidents are not listening – we need to find replacements who will put the interests of citizens first.  The purpose of immigration law is to protect the citizens of this country.

Common sense argues for a moratorium for an extended period.  With birth rates among the native-born holding steady or falling, the U.S. could then begin to balance population and environment, stop forcing citizens to compete with illegal aliens for jobs, reduce unemployment, and sustain an improved quality of life here.

 


References

[i] http://www.cis.org/sites/cis.org/files/articles/2001/forsaking/forsaking.pdf

Forsaking Fundamentals; The Environmental Establishment Abandons U.S. Population Stabilization, By Leon Kolankiewicz and Roy Beck.  Center for Immigration Studies, 2001.  See Executive Summary section on Dropping fertility. 

Also:  http://cis.org/articles/2001/forsaking/why.html.  Why the change? (Center paper 18, 2001)  page 1. 

Also:  http://www.fairus.org/DocServer/research-pub/BirthsPopandEcon_2013.pdf.  Birth rates, population growth, and the economy, by Jack Martin, FAIR, 2013. 

[ii] Table 6, p.19

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Republicans Go On an Immigration Reform Bender

Rather than twisting the political knife in the gaping wound that is Obamacare, House Republicans are off on a “comprehensive immigration reform” toot. The latest news has the Speaker putting off any action for now, and waiting until after the midterm elections in order not to anger the anti-amnesty base, and “to goose Latino turnout or to swing purple districts” in 2016, as political blogger Allahpundit put it. In other words, electoral timing rather than principle is determining what happens.

But principle, not to mention common sense, is what’s at stake here. Anyone proposing “comprehensive” anything after the debacle of Obamacare is delusional...

And please, let’s stop all the delusional dreams of Hispanic “natural conservatives” flocking to the GOP after the boon of amnesty is bestowed upon them. John McCain partnered with Teddy Kennedy in 2005 and 2007 to craft legislation to create a “path to citizenship,” and still got half as many Hispanic votes (31%) as Barack Obama did in 2008. By the way, McCain beat Mitt “self-deport” Romney by a whole 4 points with Hispanic voters...

Also ridiculous is the fear that not doing something will allow Democrats to tar Republicans with the racism or xenophobia brush. Here’s a news flash: they are going to do that no matter what Republicans do. The “preemptive cringe” as Margaret Thatcher called it is the worst form of defense...

...If we are going to debate this issue honestly, then let’s talk about the whole reality rather than ignoring the side that doesn’t advance our political interest, whether this be more Democrat voters and welfare clients, or more cheap labor. Then explain how amnesty is going to change that behavior and lower those costs.

Moreover, let’s demand that the amnesty crowd explain exactly how they plan to sort out those two sets of illegal immigrants, the ones we should keep and the ones we need to kick out...

...Don’t tell me the country that between 1940 and 1944 increased military aircraft annual production from 3660 to 96,300, that in 1942 was producing 4,000 Sherman tanks a month, 70 years later can’t fence off the 1933 miles of border between Mexico and the U.S.

Do that first, and when the border is secure, then start talking about what to do with the 11 million illegal aliens. Meanwhile, reform our immigration policies by getting rid of family reunification programs, and making admission to this country conditional on what the immigrant has to offer Americans, not what Americans have to offer immigrants. Start enforcing labor laws and putting teeth into sanctions against violating them. And most important, start returning to the old model of immigration that made it work for most of American history: assimilation to American political principles and virtues, facility in speaking English, and a rejection of self-loathing multicultural nonsense about American guilt and the superiority of the countries immigrants risk their lives to leave. Read more about Republicans Go On an Immigration Reform Bender

How the Tea Party Cornered John Boehner on Immigration

Wednesday morning at a small meeting of conservative House members called the Conservative Opportunity Society, the topic was immigration—specifically, John Boehner. Despite the loud protestations of his rank-and-file, the House Speaker had come back from the the GOP's retreat in Cambridge, Maryland seemingly determined as ever to get amnesty legislation to the floor in 2014.

Pollster Scott Rasmussen laid it out in blunt terms. “I can’t think of a stupider thing for the Republicans to do,” Rasmussen told the assembled lawmakers (he thinks the GOP should tackle immigration reform in 2015, after the midterms).

Only 24 hours later, the Ohio Republican finally relented, abruptly hitting the brakes on his immigration push.

Boehner told reporters that distrust of Obama was an insurmountable hurdle to bringing forward legislation. The real story of Boehner's sudden reticence was the building fury of hardline amnesty opponents in Congress and the grassroots activists who had been melting the Capitol phone lines.

And while it would be deeply naïve to believe the push for amnesty is dead, Boehner's retreat Thursday was just the latest time his conservative critics have been able to thwart his determined push to tackle the issue since the 2012 elections.

In the weeks leading up to the big reveal of Boehner's immigration “principles,” anti-amnesty groups like the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), NumbersUSA, and the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) had begun revving up their messaging machines. Heritage Action’s website began filling itself with anti-amnesty posts. Tea Party Patriots leaders began bashing the GOP leadership, with co-founder Jenny Beth Martin hawking the group's FireSpeakerBoehner.com petition.

On Wednesday, grassroots group ForAmerica launched a Facebook campaign urging activists to call Boehner’s office. The result? 5,500 phone calls in 24 hours with the message “no secret deals on amnesty,” the group's spokesman said.

In the middle of it all, conservative war horse Phyllis Schlafly dropped her own bomb, issuing a report with the thesis that immigration reform would result in the demographic extinction of the GOP.

Inside the Capitol, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions began flouting delicate congressional protocol, openly organizing House members against Boehner. His Senate colleagues were following suit. Regulars like Ted Cruz and Mike Lee took shots at Boehner's principles, but pretty soon John Cornyn and even Mitch McConnell were making it clear they thought Boehner was out to lunch.

At the retreat, roughly 40 House Republicans told Boehner face-to-face they wanted nothing to do with immigration in 2014, a large majority of those who spoke.

That day, the hits just kept on coming for Boehner in the conservative media, the greatest indignity being a superimposed sombrero hat on the Drudge Report.

Top amnesty proponent Paul Ryan threw cold water on the push on the Sunday shows, but back in Washington on Monday, Boehner just kept going, touting his principles over the Senate Gang of Eight bill in a closed-door meeting Tuesday while his office issued promotional materials about the issue.

It was around this time that the private discussions of amnesty's biggest foes took a turn in a more explicitly anti-Boehner direction, GOP sources say.

The discussions, while early, were real. Members and staff talked about trying to force a special leadership election – which would require 50 signatures – in the event Boehner tried to move forward. Rep. Raul Labrador told Roll Call Boehner “should lose his speakership” if he moved forward, and the rumors of a coup began to spread.

That's when Boehner hit the brakes.

"We pushed the Speaker hard to understand that until the border is secure, it doesn't make sense to even discuss reforms, and the Speaker FINALLY CAME TO OUR SENSES,” Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) said in an email to Breitbart News.

Boehner gave himself plenty of room to resurrect the issue several months down the line, and his critics aren't ready to pop the champagne cork.

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), for example, said the whole episode was disconcerting.

“I am slowly but surely developing the opinion that John Boehner does not intend to run for Speaker,” Brooks said in a phone interview.

Or, if he does, then it will be quite a challenge for him to accumulate the 218 votes needed to be elected Speaker. He’s just not acting like a candidate for Speaker who needs and wants 95 percent of the Republican conference vote to get to that 218 needed to be elected. It’s one thing to get a majority vote of the Republican conference. It’s another thing to get the 218 votes you need to actually be elected. That’s the number you need under the Constitution. He almost was not elected last time. Remember, these remarks are coming from somebody who voted for John Boehner twice.

“We’re used to now having amnesty pushers declare their efforts to be dead only to have them be miraculously revived a few months later,” a GOP aide opposed to amnesty told Breitbart News. “The fight’s not dead until Ryan, Cantor, and Boehner formally announce they have no intentions of passing amnesty, ever.”

That's doubtful. But the last few weeks should have put the fear of God in their hearts, at least. Read more about How the Tea Party Cornered John Boehner on Immigration

Boehner, Undeterred, Moves Forward on Immigration

On Tuesday, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell told reporters immigration is just not in the cards in 2014. Last Thursday, rank-and-file House members sent a loud message that President Obama is not the partner for legislation, spooking even top proponent Paul Ryan...

However, since the GOP retreat last week, Boehner has just kept marching along...

“I wouldn't be surprised” if immigration legislation came to the House floor as early as this spring, one well-connected GOP member said....

"What has surprised me is how few people in House Republican caucus have stood up and opposed the policy," said Frank Sharry, founder and executive director of America's Voice and one of the nation's leading proponents for immigration reform. "Now maybe the concern about timing, and Obama's trustworthiness are excuses, ways to get to 'no' without seeming to be in league with the hard-liners. For us, watching it from our somewhat distant perspective, it's the dog that didn't bark," he continued...

For example, the push back from conservatives has caused significant tremors of doubt within Boehner's leadership team...

After raising serious doubts about whether immigration could come to the floor this year in a Sunday television interview, Ryan was more optimistic in remarks to reporters Tuesday.

“It wasn't really bad,” Ryan said about the immigration showdown in Cambridge, MD. “The substance of our document people really appreciated. It's just, like I said, the lawlessness of the White House makes us lose confidence that the President will enforce the laws,” Ryan said...

The issue is complicated because some of the lawmakers who spoke in favor of the substance of the principles were not in favor of moving forward on legislation. In many cases, members only implied their stance on the underlying question rather than explicitly stating it. They also mostly only had one minute to speak each.

Still, conservative heavyweights like Reps. Tom Price and Jeb Hensarling came out strongly against moving forward, and the result of the meeting seemed to change Ryan's tone in the days afterward....

Senator Marco Rubio, another Gang of Eight member, was more pessimistic. Asked if the House should move forward in 2014, Rubio said, “That's not my role to give them advice on. They're working on what is a very difficult issue. The resistance they're running into is a lack of confidence that this president and the federal government will enforce the security measures no matter what they're written as.” Read more about Boehner, Undeterred, Moves Forward on Immigration

Republicans’ Comprehensive Immigration Folly

...Republicans may once again come to the rescue of the Democrats, by discrediting themselves and snatching defeat from the very jaws of victory.

The latest bright idea among Republicans inside the Beltway is a new version of amnesty that is virtually certain to lose votes among the Republican base and is unlikely to gain many votes among the Hispanics that the Republican leadership is courting...

Immigration laws are the only laws that are discussed in terms of how to help people who break them...

...why do the American people not have a right to the protection that immigration laws provide people in other countries around the world — including Mexico, where illegal immigrants from other countries do not get the special treatment that Mexico and its American supporters are demanding for illegal immigrants in the United States?...

What in the world is wrong with Congress taking up border security first, as a separate issue, and later taking responsibility in a congressional vote on whether the border has become secure? Congress at least should come out of the shadows.

The Republican plan for granting legalization up front, while withholding citizenship, is too clever by half. It is like saying that you can slide halfway down a slippery slope.

Republicans may yet rescue the Democrats, while demoralizing their own supporters and utterly failing the country.

Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. © 2014 Creators Syndicate Inc.

Read more about Republicans’ Comprehensive Immigration Folly

Obama: "We don't want two classes of people in America"

Although president Obama wants a "pathway to citizenship" as part of overall immigration reform, he says he won't "prejudge" what kind of bill might reach his desk -- as long as "folks aren't being deported."

"Well, I think the principle that we don't want two classes of people in America is a principle that a lot of people agree with, not just me and not just Democrats," Obama told Jake Tapper in a taped interview that aired Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."

Obama said if House Republicans produce a bill saying that "folks aren't being deported, families aren't being separated, we're able to attract top young students to provide the skills or start businesses here and then there's a regular process of citizenship, I'm not sure how wide the divide ends up being. That's why I don't want to prejudge it."

He said he "genuinely" believes that House Republicans want to get serious about immigration reform, and he mentioned Rep. Paul Ryan by name.

"I do know that for a lot of families, the fear of deportation is one of the biggest concerns that they've got. And that's why we took executive actions, given my prosecutorial discretion, to make sure we're not deporting kids who grew up here and are Americans, for all practical purposes. But we need to get that codified.

"And the question is, is there more that we can do in this legislation that gets both Democratic and Republican support, but solves these broader problems, including strengthening borders and making sure that we have a legal immigration system that works better than it currently does."

Obama said he plans to consult with "the people who stand to be affected" by immigration reform legislation.

"The -- not just the immigrant -- immigration rights groups and organizations and advocates, but also ordinary folks. How do they feel? What is it that they're looking for? What do they aspire to? And, you know, this is something that -- where you've got to have a serious conversation around the country."

White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough told CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday that President Obama does want a "pathway to citizenship" for people who came to the U.S. illegally.

"We don't want to have a permanent separation of classes or two permanent different classes of Americans in this country," he said. "We're just not going to live with that."

He said the White House will now "stand back" and "see how the House Republicans handle this."

Some Republicans have talked about giving illegal aliens "legal status," but not citizenship. Read more about Obama: "We don't want two classes of people in America"

Learn more about our path to third world status

Articles of shock and disbelief are popping up on news sites.  But, unless your Congressman hears your voice loud and clear, it's all likely to come true!

Read what the Republican leadership has in store for us.  Or, read even more here.
  Read more about Learn more about our path to third world status

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