illegal immigration

...Only 29% of Likely U.S. Voters think the government should stop deporting illegal immigrants until Congress passes an immigration reform plan...

Sixty percent (60%) believe the U.S. government is not aggressive enough now in deporting illegal immigrants. Fourteen percent (14%) say it is too aggressive, while 16% think the number of deportations is about right...

Just 19% of voters believe that those who are not in this country illegally should be granted legal status right away. Sixty-four percent (64%) say legalization should come only after the border is secured. Seventeen percent (17%) are not sure. These findings, too, haven’t changed in years...

Millions of people have entered the United States legally but then stayed longer than their visas allowed. Fifty-seven percent (57%) of voters think the federal government should find these people and make them leave the country...

 (To see survey question wording, click here.) Read more about 60% Think U.S. Not Aggressive Enough In Deporting Illegal Immigrants

Deportation has become one of the main issues in the case of the 18-year-old driver of the car that allegedly struck and killed two Forest Grove sisters playing in a leaf pile.

Cinthya Garcia-Cisneros, 18, has been charged with two counts of “Failure to perform the duties of a driver,” more commonly known as hit-and-run. The Class C felony is punishable by up to five years in prison.

At a pre-trial conference last week, District Attorney Bracken McKey offered a plea deal to Garcia (who does not use the Cisneros part of her name) that would limit her prison term to 16 months if she would plead guilty to one charge instead of taking the case to trial.

“Cinthya declined this offer because she is not guilty of the crimes with which she is accused,” said Garcia’s attorney, Ethan Levi. “Although she has no desire to aggravate the grief of the families, she is not willing to be deported or go to prison when she did not commit a crime.

“A deportation stemming from a criminal conviction in this case would require her to make her home in a country she hadn’t lived in since she was a toddler, without the only family with whom she is close,” he said. “The death of these children was a tragic accident. While Cinthya’s actions after the accident were not perfect, they also were not criminal.”

McKey declined to comment on the deportation issue or anything else about the case.

Garcia was brought to the U.S. illegally at the age of 4, but is now here legally under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program created by President Barack Obama. According to Garcia’s immigration attorney, Courtney Carter, Garcia has been placed on a hold from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and if she is convicted of the felonies, her DACA status will be revoked and she will be sent to the ICE facility in Tacoma.

“The deportation proceedings would be swift and there’s nothing I can do,” Carter said.

That scenario is “probably pretty likely,” said Teresa Statler, a Portland immigration attorney who has no connection to Garcia’s case.

Cautioning that she does not know the details of the case, Statler said that not only would the government likely revoke Garcia’s legal standing under DACA, but under one part of Section 237 of the federal Immigration Act, residents without legal standing “shall, upon order of the Attorney General, be removed” if they are convicted of a crime of “moral turpitude ... for which a sentence of one year or longer may be imposed.”

A hit-and-run is classified as a crime involving “moral turpitude,” defined in legal dictionaries as “conduct that is considered contrary to community standards of justice, honesty, or good morals.”

Carter said she might be able to prevent deportation if the charges are downgraded and Garcia is convicted of something less.

But if the hit-and-run felony stands, Carter said, Garcia would not only be deported, it’s likely she would never be able to return to the U.S., even if she married her boyfriend and legal resident, Mario Echeverria, who was with her in the car at the time of the Oct. 20 accident.

“Certain criminal convictions do make you ineligible to return,” said Ellen Weintraut, another Portland immigration attorney unconnected with the case. People may have the impression that marriage to an American citizen is a quick ticket back to the U.S., she said, but “unfortunately for our clients, it’s not the case.”

Statler said there are complicated, remote routes by which Garcia might be able to return, especially if she married an American citizen. “The reality is, she may have to leave, go to Mexico, file for a green card and then apply to come back with a pardon from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials,” she said.

Such pardons are discretionary, Statler said, and an official may decline to issue one. In deciding, a USCIS official might consider everything from the legal details of the court case to whether the victims (or their families) had any strong feelings about a pardon, Statler said.

At her pre-trial conference last week, Garcia, who appeared in chains and an orange jail jumpsuit before a packed courtroom, waived her right to a speedy trial. This allowed Washington County Circuit Court Judge Donald Letourneau to set the trial date for Jan. 7, 2014.

A trial judge will be assigned to the case Jan. 3. Read more about Deportation issue clouds hit-and-run case

A new report from the Texas-based Quorum Report, published by longtime Texas journalist Harvey Kronberg, says that House Speaker John Boehner plans to push amnesty legislation through the House, after the primary filing deadline for candidates. The move would prevent Tea Party from challenging GOP lawmakers who support amnesty in 2014.

Scott Braddock reported on Tuesday that “in recent weeks, various Texas business interests have told Quorum Report that Boehner has been telling them that he will start holding immigration votes not long after the filing deadline has passed.”

Braddock noted that those business community sources spoke with him “on condition of anonymity because their conversations were held behind closed doors and they added it wasn’t made clear to them just how confidential the information was meant to be.”

“Nevertheless, what was made clear was that Boehner felt the need to protect House Republican incumbents who are otherwise seen as conservative but have expressed an openness to immigration reform that includes a robust guest worker program,” Braddock wrote, before citing three specific Texas GOP congressmen: Reps. Ted Poe (R-TX), John Carter (R-TX) and Sam Johnson (R-TX).

Carter and Johnson were, until recently, members of the House version of the “Gang of Eight.” Carter and Johnson left the group in mid-September, stating that President Barack Obama’s selective enforcement of immigration laws concerns them. They felt he would selectively enforce whatever Congress passed in any kind of immigration reform package. “The administration's practice of hand-picking what parts of laws they wish to enforce has irrevocably damaged our efforts of fixing our broken immigration system,” the Texas lawmakers said in a joint statement at the time. “If past actions are the best indicators of future behavior, we know that any measure depending on the president's enforcement will not be faithfully executed. It would be gravely irresponsible to further empower this administration by granting them additional authority or discretion with a new immigration system. The bottom line is - the American people do not trust the president to enforce laws, and we don't either.”...

This news from the Texas donor community comes as Boehner hired amnesty advocate Rebecca Tallent as his new immigration policy adviser...

Tallent previously worked for Senate “Gang of Eight” member Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on immigration policy. She helped him and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) draft their final immigration proposal—one that ultimately failed.

“During her time with McCain, she helped the Arizona Republican draft a handful of immigration overhaul measures, including the last big push McCain made with the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., in 2007,” Roll Call wrote of Tallent on Tuesday. “In 2008, she was a policy adviser on McCain’s presidential campaign. Before working for McCain, she worked for former Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., a longtime advocate of overhauling the immigration system who was involved in immigration efforts before he retired in 2006.” Read more about Boehner: Amnesty After GOP Primary Filing Deadlines

Several members of Oregonians for Immigration Reform have received recently a letter from Sen. Ron Wyden giving his views on S.744 and immigration generally. The letter was sent by email on November 19, 2013.

Many of Sen. Wyden’s statements in the letter are either false or misleading. Below we have reproduced the text of his letter in bold font, and we have followed each paragraph with a correction or other response.

For more information on issues in S.744 and its House version, H.R. 1417, see References on Amnesty Bills on the OFIR website.

Here is the Senator’s letter, with OFIR's response indented under each of the Senator's statements.

Dear [Constituent]:

"Thank you for contacting me about immigration reform. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue."

"For too long, millions of immigrants have been living in America’s shadows, with more coming across our borders illegally every day." -- Sen. Wyden.

Senator Wyden, "Immigrants are living [illegally] in America’s shadows" and "more are coming across … illegally every day" because you and others in Congress and the government have refused to enforce the immigration laws. You have been in Congress continuously since 1981, a total of 32 years. What have you ever done to see that the immigration laws are enforced? Your record on immigration issues is graded F by NumbersUSA based on official records of your votes in Congress. The record is incontrovertible – you have failed to uphold the nation’s immigration laws. You have actually weakened them by repeatedly voting for amnesties and other benefits to illegal aliens, enticing more to come.

"Farmers are constantly telling me about their struggles to find a stable and legal workforce or face the real prospect of unharvested crops rotting in the fields." — Sen. Wyden.

You could tell them about the H-2A visa program which was set up to help agriculture get seasonal farm labor if it’s really needed. The truth is many employers prefer to hire illegal aliens because they profit from the substandard wages they can pay and the substandard working conditions they can use. Cheap labor can never be cheap enough to satisfy some employers. Most citizens would rather pay more for food and other goods and know that it doesn’t come at the expense of exploited workers and non-enforcement of immigration laws. Most citizens understand that good wages and working conditions are necessary for a strong democracy to survive.

"Bright, capable children, who were brought to the country through no fault of their own, are being denied the opportunity to contribute to and succeed in the only country they know as home." – Sen. Wyden.

The parents of children "brought to the country through no fault of their own" are responsible for their children’s plight, not U.S. citizens. It is not our obligation to give legal status to children because of their parents’ illegal entry. The entire family that is here illegally should return to the country where they are citizens and devote their "contributions" to making that country an acceptable place to live. Being with their families and others of their own country, "bright, capable children" can quickly accommodate themselves to that country.

"America’s story is intertwined with the story of immigration — my own parents emigrated from Nazi Germany, a story familiar to many of the folks who come to our shores seeking asylum. For these and many other reasons, I welcomed the debate on immigration." – Sen. Wyden.

Here again are the tugs at peoples’ heartstrings, the call to sentimentality, the implied idea that immigration is always good and desirable, without any restrictions or limits. In truth, immigration to the U.S. is supposed to serve the interests of citizens of the U.S., not the interests of foreign nationals. It is neither desirable nor feasible to maintain open borders.

"Comprehensive reform is long overdue, and an overwhelming majority of my Senate colleagues agreed. As you know, in June, the U.S. Senate passed the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744) with a bipartisan vote of 68-32. I voted in support of the measure.

"Only after I was convinced that strong, enforceable border security measures were in place did I start considering the immigration bill on its other merits."— Sen. Wyden.

Senator, if you were convinced that "strong, enforceable border security measures were in place" you either didn’t read the bill or you failed to understand it. It is worthless for improving border security and in some respects it weakens or displaces security processes that are now in place. http://cis.org/kephart/widening-existing-vulnerabilities-national-security-implications-s744-part-1

"S.744 requires DHS to submit a border security plan within 6 months that includes a goal ‘for achieving and maintaining effective control’ along the U.S.-Mexico border. (p.864). The bill defines effective control as: (1) ‘persistent surveillance’ and (2) an ‘effectiveness rate of 90 percent.’ (p.855) …

"… even if a 90 percent effectiveness rate were a reliable indication of border security, S.744 does not actually require that DHS reach a 90 percent effectiveness rate. S.744 requires DHS to submit a border security plan "for achieving and maintaining" a 90 percent effectiveness rate at the U.S.-Mexico border, but there is no requirement that DHS actually achieve this goal. (p.864, 854-855)" Thus, the goal of a 90 percent effectiveness rate is nothing more than a goal, one that will neither accurately depict whether the border is secure or one that must be met. …" – http://immigrationreform.com/2013/06/19/data-shows-border-security-metric-in-s-744-subject-to-political-manipulation/

"Specifically, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act hikes Border Patrol ranks by 20,000 — almost doubling the contingent and spends $4.5 billion on technical innovations intended to provide security personnel with full situational awareness along the southern border." – Sen. Wyden.

The 20,000 increase in Border Patrol ranks does not occur for years, if ever, after illegal aliens are granted what they and their supporters want – legal status in the U.S. which occurs immediately. "The bill grants amnesty (Registered Provisional Status) … before the first new Border Patrol agent is hired and virtually guarantees that the borders will never be secured because once illegal aliens have legal status, they and their supporters know that citizenship will eventually be granted whether the border is secured or not. … Even if 20,000 border agents are hired there is no assurance that they won’t be prevented from effectively controlling the border by elected officials who are beholden to lobbyists and big donors. …"

Regarding the $4.5 billion for technology: "This expenditure will in all likelihood be made since it is what the host to Bloomberg TV’s ‘Capitol Gains’ labeled a ‘pathway to profit for federal contractors’. However, the only requirement is that the strategy be fully implemented and activated. There is no requirement that it work as advertised or that it actually slows the flow of illegal aliens." – http://cis.org/mortensen/hoeven-corker-amendment-long-amnesty-short-everything-else

"It also implements an entry-exit visa program to keep tabs on visitors who overextend their stay and expands the E-Verify program to make employers aware of a potential worker’s immigration status. These are serious, extensive, and effective steps that will curtail much of the illegal immigration that has plagued our country for so long." – Sen. Wyden.

"Congress has mandated a visa entry/exit system for years; however, nothing has been done. What guarantee is there that it will be done this time? Can the federal government be trusted to do what it says? …

"The Hoeven-Corker amendment to S.744 delays the full use of E-Verify for years while allowing illegal aliens to get RPI status almost immediately. During that time, employers will be free to hire a new wave of illegal aliens rather than employing RPIs, legal immigrants, or American citizens who will demand higher wages and benefits." – http://cis.org/mortensen/hoeven-corker-amendment-long-amnesty-short-everything-else

"The bill the Senate voted on also overcomes one of the greatest challenges we have had in the past — that is creating a path to citizenship for the 11 million people who are working here illegally but have broken no other laws. Immigrants are an important and positive influence on the American economy, and while earning citizenship will be far from easy or quick; with the enactment of the Senate bill, it will be possible." – Sen. Wyden.

There have been 7 mass amnesties passed by Congress since 1986, each one resulting in ever increasing illegal immigration. Another amnesty will only trigger additional illegal immigration. S.744 makes it easy and almost automatic for illegal immigrants to get legal status; your statement that "earning citizenship will be far from easy or quick" is a total misrepresentation.

"I had concerns with the Senate bill — from its detrimental environmental provisions to an imperfect path to legalization, but we didn’t have the option to vote between a perfect bill and the status quo; the choice was between the Senate compromise bill and the status quo." – Sen. Wyden.

Did you even read the bill before it was voted on? It was over 1,000 pages and Senators were given only a few hours to peruse it before a vote was called. You voted for a bill full of holes for evasion and fraud, one that in nearly all ways would be extremely harmful to this country.

"And I think the majority of Americans would agree that the status quo cannot stand." – Sen. Wyden.

No, polls show that when the bill’s provisions are truthfully explained to voters they would choose no action rather than the harmful measures in S.744.

From Pulse Opinion poll of August 2013: "60% of likely voters oppose the Senate bill’s proposal to increase the number of green cards for new immigrants to 20 million over the next decade. Only 28% of respondents supported such measures.

"Three-quarters of those surveyed said there are more than enough unemployed Americans with lower levels of education to fill the jobs that would go to millions of new immigrants under the Senate bill. Only 17% said foreign workers are needed to fill labor shortages.

"A solid majority of voters are worried about the impact of immigration reform, which could put millions of illegal aliens on a path to citizenship and create large guest-workers programs, will have on the labor market."

-- https://www.numbersusa.com/content/polls.html

From a Rasmussen poll of likely voters, October 22, 2013:

"Only 25% think it is even somewhat likely that the federal government will secure the border and prevent illegal immigration with new immigration legislation; 65% consider it unlikely.

"Only 18% think illegal aliens should be given immediate amnesty; 62% believe legalization should occur only after the border is secured, and 19% are unsure.

-- http://www.fairus.org/facts/illegal-immigration-and-amnesty-polls

"It is now up to the House to pass a bill. It’s important to remember that it’s not only good policy, but that it’s also in the long term economic interest of America for both houses of Congress to get together and send a good, bipartisan bill to the President to sign into law." – Sen. Wyden.

The House leadership proposes to work on smaller bills addressing particular components of immigration policy. This is the most sensible way to address current problems. Immigration is a serious subject with many different aspects, too many to be covered effectively in one mammoth bill such as S.744.

"Again, thank you for keeping me apprised of the issues that are important to you. If I may be of assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me." — Sen. Wyden.

Sen. Wyden, you make no mention of one of the most damaging features of S.744, the doubling of legal immigration and the huge expansion of visas for foreign workers. These features would make our unemployment problem far worse. Oregon’s U-6 unemployment rate is 16.5%, the 3d highest in the nation. You betray your constituency by working for benefits to illegal aliens and other would-be immigrants and their employers when our nation is overcrowded already, wages are falling, and millions don’t have jobs at all or are stuck in jobs that pay very low wages with no prospect for anything better. Citizens rightfully expect their Congresspersons to put the interests of citizens and this nation first, before the interests of foreign nationals and their employers.

### Read more about Sen. Wyden misrepresents amnesty proposals to constituents

A 30-year-old Gresham man arrested on a Polk County highway Wednesday for unlawful possession of a weapon, was later connected to the seizure of methamphetamine and heroin from Gresham apartment.

Sgt. Chris Ray, a spokesman for the Yamhill County Interagency Narcotics Team, said Edgar Hugo Guerrero Robles was booked into the Polk County Jail after he was stopped on Oregon 22 near Ridgeway Road at about 6 p.m. for unlawful possession of a weapon.
 

Read more about the alleged meth and heroin dealer. Read more about Polk County weapons arrest leads to Gresham drug cache, police say

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) National Council president Chris Crane, who represents about 7,000 ICE agents and support staff, wrote to a group of lobbyists, special interests, and political figures on Tuesday to question why they support granting amnesty to America’s at least 11 million illegal aliens.

“Each of you receiving this letter today has played a major role in pushing so-called ‘comprehensive immigration reform,’ the Rubio-Schumer immigration bill or is pressing the House to advance similar legislation,” Crane wrote to the group of special interests. “During recent years, ICE officers have documented extraordinary political abuses at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE that have threatened public safety and undermined the ability of ICE agents and officers to enforce the laws enacted by Congress."

"I cannot recall any of you speaking out publicly against these abuses or requesting a meeting with ICE Officers to address our concerns,” Crane stated bluntly.

Recipients of the letter included Karl Rove; Chamber of Commerce president Tom Donohue; National Council of La Raza president Janet Murguia; Casa de Maryland executive director Gustavo Torres; National Council of Chain Restaurants executive director Rob Green; American Action Forum president Doug Holtz-Eakin; casino mogul and major GOP donor Sheldon Adelson; Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg; and corporate executives from companies like:

• General Electric
• Disney
• McDonald’s
• Marriott Hotels
• Coca-Cola
• The Cheesecake Factory
• Hilton Hotels
• Hyatt Hotels
• General Mills
• Wendy’s
• Johnson & Johnson
• Darden Restaurants (Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Longhorn Steakhouse, Seasons 52, the Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s, and Yard House)
• Hewlett Packard
• Verizon

Also included on the letter were executive of lobbyist associations like the National Association of Home Builders and the American Hotel and Lodging Association.

“ICE officers arguably know more about our nation’s broken immigration system than any group in the United States,” Crane wrote. “Yet President Barack Obama and the Gang of Eight actively prohibited them from having input. Only influential and affluent groups and wealthy individuals like you were given an opportunity to provide real input on our nation’s new immigration laws."

"As ICE officers fought a very public battle seeking to add measures that would provide for public safety and national security, you did nothing to assist or support us, but in fact—through your advocacy – put officers and the public at risk,” he claimed.

“As a result, the Senate passed an immigration bill that will fail America,” Crane wrote. “While this legislation may satisfy your personal financial or political objectives, it undermines immigration enforcement and worsens the immigration problems currently experienced in the United States.”

Crane added that the letter recipients are using their lobbyist influence to “fight for special protections and legalization for violent criminal offenders and gang members illegally in the United States” but they “must realize that in doing so you sacrifice the safety of every man, woman and child residing in the United States, regardless of citizenship.”

“Certainly you must know that when you fight for legislation that protects criminal aliens who assault law enforcement officers, you increase the risk to every police officer, sheriff’s deputy, and federal agent across our nation; officers whose lives and welfare should hold some value to you and the organizations you represent,” Crane wrote.

Crane said it is up the House of Representatives to protect the safety of Americans from lobbyists.

“Only the U.S. House of Representatives now stands between the American people and the potential destruction of federal immigration enforcement,” Crane wrote. “Yet the groups represented on this letter are spending enormous sums of money or wielding enormous amounts of influence in an attempt to intimidate the House into passing a plan similar to that adopted by the Senate – a bill that not one member of the Senate had the time to read before voting on.”

Crane said that America’s future depends on these lobbyists being stopped.

“It is a sad day in America when the political class in Washington, and groups that can deliver votes and money, have more influence in writing our immigration laws than everyday American citizens and the law enforcement officers sworn to protect them,” Crane wrote. “I hope you stand with law enforcement and stand for the rule of law -- if for no other reason than out of compassion for the lives that we can protect if we finally begin to enforce our nation’s immigration laws.”

Crane then turned his attention to directly questioning the intent of these lobbyists’ and special interests’ push for amnesty.

“Are you really willing to support an immigration plan that will put officers and the public in danger simply because it includes special items that advance the financial or political interests of your group or company?” Crane asked. “Are we in law enforcement not worthy of your respect? Do you believe that our experience and advice is without value in creating new immigration legislation?"

"I am requesting a meeting with each of you to discuss the answers to these questions, as well as to speak to you about the field experience of immigration officers and agents who daily witness a side of our nation’s immigration crisis that many in the media and indeed our government actively work to conceal from the American public,” he said.

Many of these special interests actually met with President Barack Obama on Tuesday at the White House to plot out an immigration push on Capitol Hill. Obama met with McDonald’s, Marriott, and other CEOs and executives on Tuesday at the White House to plan an amnesty strategy.

“What's been encouraging is, is that there are a number of House Republicans who have said, we think this is the right thing to do, as well,” Obama said about the meeting, according to USA Today. “And it's my estimation that we actually have votes to get comprehensive immigration reform done in the House right now.” Read more about ICE's Chris Crane Blasts Lobbyists Pushing Amnesty