border

Five immigration questions to ask your Congressman during the August recess.

1. How can we afford an amnesty for illegal immigrants?

We can't. Over their lifetimes, the estimated 11.5 million illegal immigrants would cost federal, state, and local taxpayers trillions of dollars, because they will consume significantly more in government benefits and services than they pay in taxes. Amnesty for millions of predominantly low-skilled illegal immigrants also will depress wages for low-skilled Americans and make a tough job market more difficult.

2. If illegal immigrants win amnesty, how is that fair to the 4.5 million who are waiting to enter the United States legally?

It isn't fair. America prides itself on the rule of law. As Americans, we should not allow those who break our laws to be rewarded-especially at the expense of those who are abiding by the rules. Rather than adequately streamlining our legalization system, some in Congress are pushing a new "path to citizenship" that grants amnesty to those who broke the law.

3. Can we ensure that a House-passed immigration bill doesn't become a vehicle, in a deal with the Senate, for blanket amnesty?

No, we can't. With massive costs to taxpayers and carve-outs for special interests, the Senate-passed bill eerily resembles Obamacare in its unnecessary complexity. Even House members who correctly view the Senate's "comprehensive" bill as a failed approach must be cognizant of the push to use any House-passed measure as a means to enact the Senate provisions. If conversations begin between the House and Senate on a compromise, major sections of the Senate bill-including amnesty-will be part of that deal.

4. Does Congress need to pass new legislation to secure the border and strengthen interior enforcement?

No. Current laws can be used to settle our border security and interior enforcement problems. The reason those laws aren't working is simple: We aren't enforcing them. By way of executive orders and selective enforcement, the Obama Administration has undermined efforts to fix our system and placed unwarranted burdens on the agents in charge of carrying out these laws.

5. Is there any guarantee that we won't face this problem again with millions of new illegal immigrants in the future?

No. We should keep a close eye on all proposals. In 1986, proponents of "reform" promised the American people that if Congress passed an amnesty-first immigration bill, we wouldn't have to go through this debate again. We were told to trust Congress to put together an amnesty bill that would be fair and prevent illegal immigration once and for all. Fast forward to now, and we're experiencing the same problems but on a larger scale. If Congress doesn't secure the border first to stop the flow of illegal immigration and also enforce our laws, we will find ourselves back in the same situation. The Congressional Budget Office projected that if it the Senate bill became law, millions of new illegal immigrants would be here within a few decades.

Below is a list of Republicans who have been targeted by the Democrats who want the House to pass an immigration bill.

Pick the members from your state, you know what to ask them.

I would suggest that in your message to them, either in person or at a town hall meeting, you also say that if the House passes any kind of immigration legislation that you will be demanding that they oust John Boehner as Speaker.

State

District

Member Name

Alabama

6

Spencer Bachus

Alaska

1

Don Young

Arizona

8

Trent Franks

Arkansas

3

Steve Womack

California

1

Doug La Malfa

California

8

Paul Cook

California

10

Jeff Denham

California

21

David Valadao

California

22

Devin Nunes

California

23

Kevin McCarthy

California

25

Buck McKeon

California

31

Gary Miller

California

39

Ed Royce

California

45

John Campbell

California

49

Darrell Issa

Colorado

3

Scott Tipton

Colorado

4

Cory Gardner

Colorado

6

Mike Coffman

Florida

2

Steve Southerland II

Florida

6

Ron DeSantis

Florida

7

John Mica

Florida

10

Daniel Webster

Florida

12

Gus Bilirakis

Florida

13

Bill Young

Florida

16

Vern Buchanan

Florida

17

Tom Rooney

Florida

19

Trey Radel

Florida

25

Mario Diaz-Balart

Florida

27

Ros-Lehtinen

Georgia

9

Doug Collins

Idaho

1

Raul Labrador

Illinois

6

Peter Roskam

Illinois

13

Rodney Davis

Illinois

14

Randy Hultgren

Illinois

15

John Shimkus

Illinois

16

Adam Kinzinger

Illinois

18

Aaron Schock

Iowa

3

Tom Latham

Kansas

3

Kevin Yoder

Louisiana

1

Steve Scalise

Louisiana

5

Rodeny Alexander

Michigan

4

Dave Camp

Michigan

6

Fred Upton

Michigan

10

Candice Miller

Minnesota

2

John Kline

Minnesota

3

Eric Paulsen

 

Mississippi

1

Alan Nunnelee

Missouri

2

Ann Wagner

Missouri

3

Blaine Leutkemeyer

Nebraska

1

Jeff Fortenberry

Nebraska

2

Lee Terry

Nevada

2

Mark Amodei

Nevada

3

Joe Heck

New Jersey

2

Frank LoBiondo

New Jersey

3

Jon Runyan

New Jersey

4

Chris Smith

New Jersey

5

Scott Garrett

New Jersey

7

Leonard Lance

New Jersey

11

Rodeny Frelinghuysen

New Mexico

2

Steve Pearce

New York

2

Peter King

New York

11

Michael Grimm

New York

19

Chris Gibson

New York

22

Richard Hanna

New York

23

Tom Reed

North Carolina

2

Renee Ellmers

North Carolina

3

Walter Jones

North Carolina

6

Howard Coble

North Carolina

9

Robert Pittenger

North Carolina

13

George Holding

Ohio

1

Steve Chabot

Ohio

4

Jim Jordan

Ohio

5

Robert Latta

Ohio

8

John Boehner

Ohio

10

Michael Turner

Ohio

12

Pat Tiberi

Ohio

14

David Joyce

Ohio

15

Steve Stivers

Oklahoma

1

Jim Bridenstine

Oklahoma

3

Frank Lucas

Oklahoma

4

James Lankford

Oklahoma

5

Tom Cole

Oregon

2

Greg Walden

Pennsylvania

5

Glenn Thompson

Pennsylvania

6

Jim Gerlach

Pennsylvania

7

Patrick Meehan

Pennsylvania

8

Michael Fitzpatrick

Pennsylvania

10

Thomas Marino

Pennsylvania

15

Charlie Dent

Pennsylvania

16

Joe Pitts

South Carolina

4

Trey Gowdy

South Carolina

5

Mick Mulvaney

Texas

2

Ted Poe

 

Texas

3

Sam Johnson

Texas

6

Joe Barton

Texas

7

John Culberson

Texas

8

Kevin Brady

Texas

10

Michael McCaul

Texas

13

Mac Thornberry

Texas

14

Randy Weber

Texas

17

Bill Flores

Texas

21

Lamar Smith

Texas

22

Pete Olson

Texas

27

Blake Farenthold

Texas

31

John Carter

Texas

32

Pete Sessions

Utah

1

Rob Bishop

Utah

3

Jason Chaffetz

Virginia

1

Rob Wittman

Virginia

2

Scott Rigell

Virginia

4

Randy Forbes

Virginia

6

Bob Goodlatte

Virginia

7

Eric Cantor

Virginia

10

Frank Wolf

Washington

3

Jaime Herrera Beutler

Washington

4

Doc Hastings

Washington

5

Cathy McMorris Rodgers

Washington

8

Dave Reichert

Wisconsin

1

Paul Ryan

Wisconsin

5

Jim Sensenbrenner

Wisconsin

7

Sean Duffy


  Read more about Five immigration questions to ask your Congressman during the August recess.

Mexican cartels hiring US soldiers as hit men

Mexican cartels are recruiting hit men from the U.S. military, offering big money to highly-trained soldiers to carry out contract killings and potentially share their skills with gangsters south of the border, according to law enforcement experts.

The involvement of three American soldiers in separate incidents, including a 2009 murder that led to last week’s life sentence for a former Army private, underscore a problem the U.S. military has fought hard to address.

"We have seen examples over the past few years where American servicemen are becoming involved in this type of activity," said Fred Burton, vice president for STRATFOR Global Intelligence. "It is quite worrisome to have individuals with specialized military training and combat experience being associated with the cartels."

"It is quite worrisome to have individuals with specialized military training and combat experience being associated with the cartels."

- Fred Burton, STRATFOR Global Intelligence.

The life sentence handed down in El Paso District court July 25 to an Army private hired by the Juarez Cartel to be the triggerman in a 2009 hit in this border city is the most recent case.

Michael Apodaca, 22, was a private first-class stationed at nearby Fort Bliss Army Base and was attached to the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade when he was recruited and paid $5,000 by the Juarez Cartel to shoot and kill Jose Daniel Gonzalez-Galeana, a cartel member who had been outed as an informant for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Apodaca, who was the triggerman in the May 15, 2009, hit, was sentenced in El Paso District Court July 25.

Last September, Kevin Corley, 29, a former active-duty Army first lieutenant from Fort Carson in Colorado, pleaded guilty in federal court in Laredo, Texas, to conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire for the Los Zetas Cartel after being arrested in a sting operation. Ironically, that cartel was itself founded by Special Forces deserters from the Mexican Army.

Arrested with Corley in connection with the case was former Army Sgt. Samuel Walker, 28. He was convicted of committing a murder-for-hire in November 2012 and sentenced to 15 years in prison June 21.

Walker served in Afghanistan with Corley’s 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division platoon between 2010-2011. Shortly after their return, they made contact with the undercover DEA agent they thought was a member of Los Zetas.

According to his plea agreement, Corley was introduced to undercover agents posing as members of Los Zetas cartel in September 2011; he admitted to being an active-duty officer in the U.S. Army responsible for training soldiers. He told his contact he could provide tactical training for members of the cartel and purchase weapons for them. In later meetings, Corley discussed stealing weapons from military posts and military tactics. On Dec. 23, 2011, he agreed to perform a contract killing for the cartel in exchange for $50,000 and cocaine.

Burton said some soldiers become corrupted by gangs after joining, while others are gang members who enlist specifically for the training they can get.

“There has been a persistent gang problem in the military for the past six to eight years,” Burton said, adding that cartels greatly value trained soldiers from the U.S., Mexico and Guatemala as sicarios – hit men.

More recently, the May 22 murder of Juan Guerrero-Chapa, 43, a former lawyer for the Gulf Cartel, in a mall parking lot in an affluent suburb of Fort Worth has raised concerns due to the military precision with which it was carried out.

"Obviously, the nature of this homicide, the way it was carried out indicates –– and I said indicates –– an organization that is trained to do this type of activity," Southlake Police Chief Stephen Mylett said following the attack. "When you're dealing with individuals that operate on such a professional level, certainly caution forces me to have to lean toward that this is an organized criminal activity act.”

While Mylett acknowledged the murder was a “targeted affair conducted by professional killers,” he would not confirm or deny suspicions that current or previous military was involved.

“The case is still being investigated,” Mylett said.

A task force consisting of the Southlake Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, FBI, DEA, and Department of Homeland Security is investigating the case.

But an expert on Mexican cartels, who declined to be identified, said the “operation was brilliant and disciplined.”

“I would be asking the question -- if military was involved -- if I was leading the investigation based on the MO, geography and precision,” said the expert. “I don't have any information to confirm, but we know that a hit team came in and out and there was also a stand-alone recon team.”

Using American servicemen could make it easier to carry out a murder in the U.S. since they can more easily move across the border. And the lure of quick money has proven tempting for theses soldiers given the dismal military pay scale.

Apodaca’s fee for killing Galaena was nearly three times his monthly pay. A sergeant like Walker makes around $2,500 per month, and Corley $4,500. Both hoped for $50,000 each and drugs from their “Los Zetas” connection.

Growing ties between U.S.-based gangs, which have long infiltrated the military, and the Mexican cartels could be making American soldiers even more readily available to the cartels south of the border. The FBI National Gang Intelligence Center reports its concern with gang members with military training poses a unique threat to law enforcement personnel because of their distinctive weapons and combat training skills and ability to transfer these skills to fellow gang members. As of April 2011, the NGIC has identified members of at least 53 gangs whose members have served in or are affiliated with U.S. military.

According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, Hispanic prison gangs along the Southwest border region are strengthening their ties with cartels to acquire wholesale quantities of drugs. There are also strong indications that in exchange for a consistent drug supply, gangs smuggle and distribute drugs, collect drug proceeds, launder money, smuggle weapons, commit kidnappings, and serve as lookouts and enforcers on behalf of the cartels, according to law enforcement sources.

The NDIC has also found that gang-related activity and violence has increased along the Southwest border region, as U.S.-based gangs seek to prove their worth to the drug cartels, compete with other gangs for favor, and act as U.S.-based enforcers for cartels which involves home invasions, robbery, kidnapping and murder.

Army officials have sought to address the issue of gang and cartel influence within their ranks with tighter recruiting standards. A spokesman told FoxNews.com that current recruiting efforts are much more stringent than even four years ago, and that anyone sporting a gang-related tattoo is no longer accepted for enlistment.

“A person like Michael Apodaca would not even be allowed to enlist today,” Army Maj. Joe Buccino, spokesman for the Fort Bliss Army Base in El Paso, told FoxNews.com. “We’re more selective than during the height of Iraq.” Read more about Mexican cartels hiring US soldiers as hit men

Hillsboro Migrant Summer School brings in Mexican teachers for culture lessons

Osorio Pacheco was one of three elementary teachers from Mexico brought to the Hillsboro School District in June under a federal migrant education program. The teachers integrated lessons of culture into the Migrant Summer School's regular curriculum focus of reading, writing and math.

The Bi-national Migrant Education Teacher Exchange Program is part of an initiative that started in 1976 to help migrant students in California. The departments of education in Mexico and the United States have since partnered to improve schooling for children who travel frequently between the two countries.

Read the full Oregonian story here:   http://www.oregonlive.com/hillsboro/index.ssf/2013/07/hillsboro_migrant_summer_schoo.html

  Read more about Hillsboro Migrant Summer School brings in Mexican teachers for culture lessons

'Only you can stop amnesty'

WASHINGTON — The congresswoman and former presidential candidate could not be more clear, nor the situation she sees more urgent.

“The Republic is at stake” if “amnesty” is included in any immigration bill that becomes law, Rep. Michele Bachmann told WND last month.

Now, she says, the situation has actually gotten worse.

Bachmann and her House colleagues, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, and Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, have a new warning: Their own congressional leaders have joined the opposition and the only one who can stop amnesty now is you, the voter.

Amnesty is the term conservatives use to describe a path to legalization for illegal immigrants in legislation such as the bill passed in the Senate last month.

Bachmann says that bill is essentially the same as the one introduced by senators John McCain, R-Ariz., and the late Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and defeated in 2007 after a huge backlash by the conservative grassroots.

She says the 2007 bill caused her phone lines “to melt,” provoking more outrage than even Obamacare.

This time? The phones are silent.

Bachmann thinks that’s because people simply aren’t aware that the same thing is happening again.

Bachmann, Gohmert and King rallied their colleagues to put enough pressure on House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to force him to agree to apply the “Hastert rule” to legislation coming out of a conference committee to reconcile House and Senate versions of any bill.

Sticking to the Hastert rule is a way of preventing the House from approving legislation without the approval of the majority of the Republicans.

Last month, Bachmann told WND she feared an amnesty bill coming out of such a conference would be a “Trojan Horse” because “it won’t be (most) Republicans that pass it.”

“It’ll be Nancy Pelosi leading all the House Democrats to vote for it, and just enough Republicans will vote for the bill and you’ll have amnesty.”

Now, she sees GOP party leaders unreservedly throwing their support behind amnesty.

Bachmann also warns that amnesty supporters include members of “the House of Representatives you would never think in a million years could possibly support this foolish decision, but they do.”

“Don’t assume, just because your member of the House of representatives is a Republican or a conservative, they’re going to vote against a bill that has legalization,” Bachmann warns.

She is pleading with all conservative voters to call their members of Congress in the House to demand they do not vote for amnesty.

She urges readers to call the House of Representatives switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

Speaker of the House John Boehner can be reached at (202) 225-6205 or (800) 582-1001.

He is also on Twitter and can be reached by email. Boehner’s fax number is (202) 225-5117.

WND spoke with Bachmann, Gohmert and King to find out why they believe amnesty could mean more than the end of the Republican party, but could actually mean the end of the Republic itself.

GOP LEADERSHIP SOLD ON AMNESTY

WND asked Bachmann whether she was encouraged or discouraged by last week’s meeting of GOP House members on immigration.

“It was very mixed, it was very divided, but it was very clear the leadership is completely sold on passing an amnesty bill. So, I’m very nervous about where we’re going because the 900-pound gorilla in the room is legalization,” she reflected.

She then gravely warned, “That is the only thing the president wants.”

Bachmann says they discussed four or five separate bills as opposed to one comprehensive immigration reform package, but some incorporated legalization within them.

LEGALIZATION IS EVERYTHING

“The only game in town is legalization, for President Obama and for Senate Democrats. They want that legalization status,” Bachmann declared.

She thinks the Democrats would actually accept all five Republican bills and say “Hey, great! Have any bill you want” because they could care less about what else is in the bill, all they want is legalization.

Bachmann says the reason for this is very clear: It’s all about gaining more political power. Complete power, in fact.

“Once President Obama gets legalization, then he’s got literally tens of millions of individuals he could potentially put on his voting roles to cement in place his policies for progressivism,” the congresswoman warned.

“I think people really need to be aware, the president will go for amnesty, the Senate will give us amnesty, the only brake we have is in the House of Representatives,” adding WND readers should be “very, very concerned” because resistance in the House is not very strong right now.

“And legalization is everything, it is the game changer. It changes our nation structurally forever, if this goes through.”

As Bachmann detailed to WND last month, “This is President Obama’s number one political agenda item because he knows we will never again have a Republican president, ever, if amnesty goes into effect. We will perpetually have a progressive, liberal president, probably a Democrat, and we will probably see the House of Representatives go into Democrat hands and the Senate will stay in Democrat hands.”

The lawmaker said that would create a permanent progressive class, and the country would never return to its constitutional foundations.

“That’s what’s at risk right now. It may sound melodramatic, I don’t mean it that way, but this is that big and that important.”

GOP SUICIDE WATCH

King is also worried the GOP is digging its own grave.

He says conservatives are on a “suicide watch over the Republican party.”

King disagrees with Republicans such as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who believe the GOP needs to support amnesty in order to win Hispanic votes.

He agress with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who says he earned 40 percent of the Hispanic vote by sticking to conservative principles rather than pandering.

“It’s unbelieveable to me that people would take that kind of bait and let the hook get set as deep as it’s been set,” said King.

He warned fellow conservatives, “Those folks who have always advocated for amnesty and open borders, and I am talking especially about people on the Republican side of the aisle, they’re reeling this in.”

“They were reeling in the four members of the Gang of Eight on that idea, ‘Well we have to grant amnesty, otherwise, we’re never going to win a presidential election again.’”

ADVICE FROM THE ENEMY

King says it’s one thing for Republican to disagree, but it’s another to take advice from the enemy.

“Barack Obama came to our conference this year in February to make the pitch that we need to pass comprehensive immigration reform, including amnesty (of course, he doesn’t use that word), and if we don’t do that, he said, ‘You’ll never win another national election,’” said King in disbelief.

“And, he said, ‘I’m trying to help you.’ Now, what Republican would hire community-organizer Barack Obama to be their political consultant?” added the congressman, incredulously.

Yet, says King, it looks to him as though much of the establishment class within the Republican party is actually accepting the political consulting advice of President Obama.

“Why would he say to us, ‘Do this’ if he believed it would be good for Republicans? That’s the last thing we’d hear out of him.”

MAKE OUR MESSAGE CLEAR

WND asked Gohmert if Republicans will pay for it at the polls if they don’t pass immigration reform.

He said the GOP could pay a price, “If we don’t make our message clear, if we don’t express our hearts and why we are doing what we are doing to preserve a country that Hispanics will want to come to,” as well as Asians and Africans.

“We could possibly pay at the polls in the short term. But, just as you’ve had more and more African-Americans realizing, ‘Wow, we have one party that’s pandered to us, doled out government benefits, kept us from reaching our God-given potential … and you have another, this Republican Party, in the case of Hispanics, that says we want you to learn English because we don’t want you to be a ditch-digger just because you can’t communicate — we know you are smart enough to be president of your company and to be president of this country, if you’re born here.’”

Gohmert painted a vision of an America with equal opportunity for all, telling newcomers, “We want you to reach your God-given potential. We want to educate you and bring out the best. We don’t want to keep you in schools that are failing you and failing America. We want the schools to be better and we want you to reach your potential.”

He continued, “If we don’t communicate that message we could pay for it in the short term. But, in the long term, I think you will see people start waking up and going, ‘Wow, these Republicans really like me and we share so much, generally speaking.’”

WE SHARE A FAITH

Gohmert sees many Hispanics as natural conservatives, observing, “We share a faith in God, a devotion to family and a hard-work ethic. Things that made America great.”

“We have more and more Hispanics starting to realize that, and some of them I’ve served with. Just incredibly wonderful people. And I expect in the future you will see more and more of that.

GOP WILL GET THE BLAME

Bachmann doesn’t mince words.

“Contrary to popular opinion, Republicans won’t get patted on the back or get new votes because of passing amnesty — they’re going to get blamed.”

She predicts Republicans would lose the House in 2014, and things would just get worse once amnesty is in place.

“Because, I think the president, even by executive order, could again wave his magic wand before 2014 and he’d say, ‘Now, all of the new legal Americans are going to have voting rights.’”

“Why do I say that? He did in 2012. Do you remember? Anyone who was here as a Latino under age 30, he said, ‘You get to vote.’

“What?!? He decides you get to vote? If he did it in 2012, take it to the bank, he’ll do it in 2014.”

ONE PARTY RULE

Bachmann says after that, the Democrats will control the White House, the Senate and the House, ushering in one-party rule.

“At that point, they will change election law. And it will be almost impossible to ever see a Republican majority again.

“Do we get how important this is? I’m not crying wolf here. This is the most important vote that we’re going to take in the next two years.”

That’s why she says it is so important to call the House switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to tell Congress not to pass amnesty.

“WND readers need to understand there are conservative Republicans, self-styled conservative Republicans, that are for amnesty,” she said. “People in the House of Representatives you would never think in a million years could possibly support this foolish decision, but they do.”

She says not to assume members of Congress will vote against legalization just because they are conservative. Bachmann was too diplomatic to mention it, but even such high-profile conservatives as Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., are supporting legalization.

And once the president gets an inch, she says, he will take a mile.

“Even if it’s a guest worker bill, even if it’s a germ of a bill that gives legalization status, that’s what President Obama will take, and he’ll run a mile and we’ll have full-on perpetual amnesty with no hope of deportation, ever. We will have lost control of the border,” Bachmann predicted.

AMNESTY IS NOT DEAD

King shares Bachmann’s concern that whatever immigration bill the House approves will become a vehicle for amnesty.

“I’m still worried that if we send something over to the Senate, it might be an E-verify bill, guest-worker bill, it could be a Dream Act bill … They could attach something on the Senate side, send it back, build the political pressure, and then, if our Speaker says ‘Well, the political pressure is so great, that we have to take this up or we’re going to lose seats in the upcoming election,’ that’s how we could get to a scenario where we end up with amnesty sent to the president,” he explained.

King says, “Really, there’s no reason for the House to pass anything.”

“Why are we going through this exercise if amnesty is not going to get to the president’s desk? Because, he’s not going to sign anything that doesn’t have it.”

King warns, “The exercise just leaves us vulnerable. We’re dancing with the wrong side of the aisle here and no good can come from it.”

IMPENDING CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS

“We should tell our constituents our president is violating his own oath of office. This is an impending constitutional crisis,” predicts King.

“No amount of legislation is going to make the president do what he doesn’t want to do, which is enforce laws he doesn’t like.

“So, passing more laws that he doesn’t like is only going to exacerbate the problem. Plus, he’s not going to sign it and Harry Reid’s not going to take it up.

“No good can come from this. We should tell our constituents, ‘This is the president’s problem, he has created it and we are not going to conform with the president’s unconstitutional whims.’”

SPANK THE PRESIDENT

WND asked Bachmann if she is similarly concerned the president will do what he wants no matter what Congress does on immigration.

“Well, of course he’s going to, unless we pinch his ears back,” she observed.

She noted his penchant to rule by executive order is working for him but not the American people.

“He has a perpetual magic wand and nobody’s given him a spanking yet and taken it out of his hand,” she added maternally.

Bachmann says Congress has the power to discipline a misbehaving president, “And the way we spank the president is we do it through the checkbook.”

She says the House of Representatives has the most power in Washington because, “We have the power of the purse.”

“We’re the ones who say, ‘No, you can’t have the money.’ What’s wrong with us? What is wrong with us that we would give the president ten cents to fund Obamacare?”

IMMIGRATION BILL UNCONSTITUTIONAL

King confronted the president when the Obama administration recently decided not to enforce the employer mandate requirement in the health care law until after the 2014 elections.

“If President Obama wants to make changes to Obamacare, he must come to Congress,” King told CNS, adding, “We are a nation governed by laws written by Congress, not memos and blog posts written by bureaucrats.” King said.

Gohemert, who is a lawyer, says the Senate immigration bill has something in common with Obamacare, observing, “There is no question it’s unconstitutional.”

He says that’s because both Senate bills included funding, but only the House can do that.

“It is unconstitutional and, actually, Obamacare is unconstitutional. I was hoping in the original case that went to the Supreme Court someone would raise the origination clause, that anything that raises revenue must originate in the House.”

“And that point was not raised. It should have been raised,” he added wistfully.

THE END OF AMERICA

All three lawmakers agree amnesty will cause many serious problems, including higher unemployment, lower wages, greater national debt.

But they see something even more serious on the horizon, something that could change everything.

They fear amnesty could lead to one-party rule and the end of America as we know it.

Bachmann paints a scenario after amnesty passes in which “you’ll see the president, just like Superman, open his shirt and there will be a big ‘S’ on it, and President Obama will become the super civil rights advocate for all the people that have new legalization status.”

She says President Obama and his “minions” will then declare, “I’m the one who’s going to give you voting rights.”

So, even if a legalization bill passes that does not include voting rights, Bachmann says the president will simply declare, “We’re America and you’re legalized and you don’t have voting status? I’m here to give you civil rights. You deserve the right to vote.”

She says that will put Republicans in an impossible position, asking what are they going to do, tell people “No, we’re not going to allow you to vote?”

She predicts the president will then say, “[T]he Republicans don’t want you to have access to the benefits you deserve, Obamacare, 80 different means-tested welfare programs, Social Security, Medicare … you deserve that, too. I’m going to be your champion to make sure you get all of these public assistance benefits.’”

“And what’s our platform going to be?” Bachmann wonders. “No, you can’t have them? We will immediately be on defense and we will be forever on defense because the president has one plan. It is open borders with ongoing, rolling amnesty and no meaningful form of deportation anywhere.”

Bachmann adds one last warning: “That’s what WND viewers need to know we’re up against. This is very serious. It is a structural change in America and it will mean there will be no meaningful way to elect again a constitutional conservative for president. It’s not gonna happen.” Read more about 'Only you can stop amnesty'

Congressman Cotton explains the catastrophic pitfalls of S744

If Congress would simply take their eyes off the next election for a moment, they might learn something invaluable from Congressman Tom Cotton in his recent letter to the editor published in the "There Shall Be Open Borders" Wall Street Journal. The immigration legislation Congress is pondering will change our country forever and in ways that will be detrimental to the country forevermore.

The importance of this legislation demands and deserves thoughtful consideration and even more importantly it deserves a NO vote.

Call and thank Congressman Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) for his strong stand. You can call him at his Washington DC office (202) 225-3772. Read more about Congressman Cotton explains the catastrophic pitfalls of S744

Ray Stevens has some fun in 'Come to the USA' video

If you want a good laugh, take a moment to watch this funny YouTube video.  We need to remember to laugh sometimes!

Watch Ray Stevens video here.
  Read more about Ray Stevens has some fun in 'Come to the USA' video

Now here is an idea...

Wild Bill has laid out a fine idea to secure our borders.  Why is it that our government makes it so complicated?

Check it out:  http://conservativevideos.com/2013/07/what-if-citizens-secured-the-borde...
  Read more about Now here is an idea...

Loopholes mean amnesty before border security

There are significant unreported loopholes and exceptions in the immigration-reform bill that could allow illegal immigrants to achieve permanent status before the border security portions of the legislation are executed, WND has learned.

One of the key selling points repeatedly cited by the bill’s “Gang of Eight” sponsors has been that illegal aliens will not be eligible for permanency until after the border-security provisions of the legislation are implemented.

However, a WND review of the latest text of the bill, with the new Republican “border surge” amendment included, finds multiple possibilities for full immigration reform before the required border arrangements are in place.

Further, even the new border amendment leaves the possibility of gaps in the proposed pedestrian fence to be constructed along the border with Mexico.

The updated bill calls for over $40 billion in new border security provisions, including the stationing of 38,405 U.S. Border Patrol agents along the southern border as well as the construction of a 700-mile pedestrian fence along the 1,954 mile border.

The new Republican amendment to the bill contains a laundry list of new surveillance equipment to be installed, from cameras to seismic instruments, plus the construction of new integrated watch towers.

However, the bill contains language that would allow illegal aliens to achieve permanent status after 10 years before any or all of the new border security requirements are fulfilled.

The bill specifically states the “Secretary shall permit registered provisional immigrants to apply for an adjustment to lawful permanent resident status” after 10 years following the bill’s passage if litigation or a force majeure have prevented the fulfillment of the border security requirements, the implementation of a work visa program or electronic exit system.

Further, illegal immigrants can receive permanent resident status if the border requirements, the work visa program or the new electronic exit system has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

In one of many possible future scenarios, if claims are brought to district courts that tie up construction of the border fence, illegal aliens still can achieve permanent status after 10 years.

In another scenario, the Supreme Court can declare surveillance techniques or any of the border control methods required by the bill to be unconstitutional, and illegal aliens could still become permanent residents.

Further, there seem to be loopholes in the requirements for the 700-mile border fence.

A new border security strategy committee will determine the route of the fence.

According to the text of the bill, the fence is to be built on “nontribal” lands, meaning lands owned by Indian tribes may not require a fence.

There seems to also be loopholes if any sections of the fence interfere with the environment, culture, commerce or quality of life of local residents.

States the bill: “In implementing the Southern Border Fencing Strategy required by this subsection, the Secretary shall consult with the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, States, local governments, Indian tribes, and property owners in the United States to minimize the impact on the environment, culture, commerce, and quality of life for the communities and residents located near the sites at which such fencing is to be constructed.”
  Read more about Loopholes mean amnesty before border security

House leaders vow to overhaul, replace Senate immigration bill despite Dem pressure

House Republicans insisted Sunday that they plan to change key elements of the Senate-passed immigration bill, signaling a protracted and rocky battle ahead despite one Democrat's pronouncement that in the end the House will cave and pass the Senate bill anyway.

Republican Rep. Bob Goodlatte, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee who is playing a major role in the chamber's consideration of immigration policy, on Sunday addressed what is perhaps at the heart of the impasse.

He said the House, which is drafting its own plan, cannot agree to a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Rather, he wants a "pathway to legalization" -- in other words, allow some illegal immigrants a shot at a green card, but not full-fledged citizenship.

The pathway to citizenship, though, is a cornerstone of the Senate-passed bill, and any Democrat-backed plan. Increased border security, better enforcement of businesses and an expansion of the legal immigration system make up the rest of the bill.

Putting the issue in stark terms, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told "Fox News Sunday" that if Republicans strip the pathway to citizenship, "no Democrat" would support it.

The confrontation over the pathway to citizenship and other planks of the bill could continue to frustrate lawmakers on both sides, and in both chambers, as they try to sustain the momentum from this past week's Senate vote.

The bill passed Thursday with a strong majority of 68 senators voting in favor. Schumer cited the bipartisan support for the bill, as well as the motive of political survival, in claiming that House Speaker John Boehner would ultimately be compelled to pass it.

"I believe that by the end of this year, the House will pass the Senate bill," Schumer said.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," also suggested that Republicans' desire to "win a presidential race" would guide them toward supporting some version of the legislation.

But what's in store for the bill might not be so clear. And there is no easy resolution to the stand-off over the proposed pathway to citizenship.

House Republicans, in the near-term, are approaching the immigration overhaul in a piecemeal fashion, tackling a series of smaller-scale bills meant to address what the Senate covered in one massive piece of legislation.

Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., also speaking on "Fox News Sunday," rejected Schumer's prediction.

"I was moved almost to the point of tears by Senator Schumer's concern for the future prospects of the Republican Party," Gowdy said, sarcastically. "But we're going to not take his advice."

He added: "The Senate bill is not going to pass in the House. It's not going to pass for myriad reasons."

He, like other House Republicans, questioned Senate promises that their bill would offer legalization to illegal immigrants in the near-term while eventually building border security and immigration enforcement for employers.

Boehner spokesman Michael Steel also told FoxNews.com that the speaker and his caucus have been "perfectly clear" on their intentions.

"The House will not simply take up and pass the Senate bill," he said in an email. "Our legislation will reflect our principles, particularly on border security. Wishful thinking, frankly, is not a strategy for getting a bill to the president's desk."

Schumer methodically made his case Sunday for why he thinks Boehner will, in the end, bring the Senate bill to the floor.

Aside from citing the various political pressures weighing on the speaker, Schumer said the strategy of passing smaller-scale bills would not work. He said, for instance, that Democrats would not support an enforcement bill without the promise of a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Factor in Republicans who refuse to support any immigration bill, Schumer said, and those bills cannot pass.

He claimed Boehner would ultimately be left with a choice between doing nothing and bringing the Senate bill to a vote, relying largely on Democrats to pass it.

Goodlatte, though, insisted that Republicans would take a "step-by-step" approach.

Speaking on CNN's "State of the Union," he said "we want to see enforcement improved and actually enforced, and we want to find the appropriate legal status for people who are not here lawfully."

Asked about his opposition to the pathway to citizenship, he explained he didn't want a "special pathway to citizenship, where people who are here unlawfully get something that people who have worked for decades to immigrate lawfully do not have." Read more about House leaders vow to overhaul, replace Senate immigration bill despite Dem pressure

Is our Legislature really on top of the situation?

According to a recent article in the Oregonian, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum has requested additional funding to help fight the cartels in Oregon. The request has gotten new interest in the Legislature because of a recent 5 part series of articles in the Oregonian about the cartel presence in Oregon. 

Last fall, I personally invited every Sheriff in the state to attend National Sheriff's Border School in El Paso, Texas with me.  Only two Oregon law enforcement officers attended.  Sheriff Ken Matlack of Morrow County and Tim Moore, Multnomah County Under-sheriff.  We learned things that were extremely alarming and very disturbing even for the lawmen.  Above all, we learned that what happens on the border doesn't stay on the border!  It was a chilling experience filling me with a sense of responsibility to inform our lawmakers and the public. 

I brought home with me a frightening documentary about the malignant spread of cartels into Oregon and across the country. I personally met with the producer who imbedded himself in a brutal Mexican drug cartel.

Upon my return, I took the documentary to Chris Gibson, HIDTA Director, for his input.  He told me he thought the film would be of great value to the public.  I reserved the Salem Public Library and put up posters all over town.  I printed invitations that I hand delivered to every Legislator with an email follow up invitation.  Not a single Legislator attended the presentation...although about 125 citizens did and they were shocked!  They asked why no Legislators attended.

Over the next month OFIR Board members visited many Legislators and explained what is happening with the invasion of drug cartels. We provided alarming maps showing Salem, OR, our Capitol city, on one of the main cartel routes. The majority of them seemed uninterested in our information.

Because the Legislature had opened the session, I decided to bring the documentary to them.  I showed the film two separate days at the Capitol Building.   Again, personal invitations, emails and phone calls were made and not a single Legislator attended the viewing, although many citizens did. 

Oregon is in serious trouble.  Cartels have established themselves and are conducting business every single day in our state. Yet, our Legislature seems completely clueless...or are they?

In spite of our continued correspondence, personal visits and research, in its infinite wisdom the Oregon Legislature fast tracked SB 833, giving driver privilege cards to illegal aliens.  The unintended consequences were never addressed and were ignored when OFIR pointed them out.  Never discussed publicly by Legislators was that one of the most prized possessions of a cartel operative is a STATE ISSUED ID and that's exactly what we will be giving them. 

Does anyone think this won't attract even more illegal alien criminals into our state, as well?

Protect Oregon Driver Licenses has filed a referendum to overturn SB 833.  Learn more about driver privilege cards for illegal aliens.

Does it take a series of articles in the Oregonian to capture the attention of the Legislature?  It shouldn't.  Legislators have had this information, courtesy of OFIR, for over 8 months now.  Read more about Is our Legislature really on top of the situation?

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