state legislation

Florida House moves on plan to check the immigration status of workers

The Florida House on Monday began moving quickly on a plan that would stiffen requirements on businesses to check the immigration status of workers, crack down on bringing undocumented immigrants into the state and require hospitals to collect data about whether patients are in the country legally.

The Republican-controlled House Commerce Committee voted 13-5 to approve the plan (HB 1617), which emerged as lawmakers entered the next-to-last week of the annual legislative session. The Senate Fiscal Policy Committee is scheduled Tuesday to take up the Senate version of the bill (SB 1718). . . . Read more about Florida House moves on plan to check the immigration status of workers

As Economy Worsens, States Funnel Unemployment Benefits to Illegal Aliens

WASHINGTON—With inflation rising and a growing number of Americans unable to pay for basic needs, a number of states are using scarce public resources to provide unemployment benefits to those here illegally, an investigative report by the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) has found.

Included in the report’s findings is an analysis of existing and pending laws in numerous state legislatures that provide unemployment benefits to illegal aliens at a time when American citizens and legal residents are facing increasing financial difficulties. . . . Read more about As Economy Worsens, States Funnel Unemployment Benefits to Illegal Aliens

GOP Lawmaker Takes Cue from DeSantis, Brings the Immigration Crisis to Doorstep of Top Dems

State Rep. Bruce Griffey of the Tennessee General Assembly filed a new bill Wednesday that brings a spotlight to immigration issues.

The bill that Griffey filed, HB1994, proposes that illegal immigrants in the U.S should be relocated to the home states of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, WZTV-TV in Nashville reported. . . . Read more about GOP Lawmaker Takes Cue from DeSantis, Brings the Immigration Crisis to Doorstep of Top Dems

California’s Sanctuary Laws Bring More Death, Mayhem

WASHINGTON—An investigation by the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) has discovered that the county in California where an illegal alien recently went on a deadly stabbing spree has been ignoring hundreds of detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), resulting in preventable deaths and lawlessness. . . . Read more about California’s Sanctuary Laws Bring More Death, Mayhem

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Texas Army National Guard Preps for Migrant Caravan with Riot Drills near Border

EAGLE PASS, Texas — Texas Army National Guard soldiers conducted aerial deployment exercises along the U.S. bank of the Rio Grande Wednesday. The soldiers arrived and deployed via heavy lift helicopters to a recently erected makeshift border wall fashioned from recycled shipping containers. The drills are conducted as part of Operation Lone Star. . . . Read more about EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Texas Army National Guard Preps for Migrant Caravan with Riot Drills near Border

Democrat Reps Call for Investigation into Texas Border Security Operation

 
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A group of 26 Democrat representatives called on the federal government to launch an investigation into Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s “Operation Lone Star” border enforcement operation. In a letter, led by San Antonio Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX), to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and United States Attorney General Merrick Garland, the members of Congress requested an immediate investigation into what they believe is Abbott’s effort to create a “separate state immigration policy”. . . .

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Abbott Says Texas Will Immediately Begin Building Its Own Border Barriers

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is directing his state to immediately begin building border barriers in areas where migrants have been pouring over the U.S.-Mexico border. . . . Read more about Abbott Says Texas Will Immediately Begin Building Its Own Border Barriers

California becomes ‘sanctuary state’ as governor signs bill

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Jerry Brown signed “sanctuary state” legislation Thursday that extends protections for immigrants living in the United States illegally — a move that gives the nation’s most populous state another tool to fight President Donald Trump.

Brown’s signature means that police will be barred from asking people about their immigration status...

California is home to an estimated 2.3 million immigrations without legal authorization.

“These are uncertain times for undocumented Californians and their families... bringing a measure of comfort to those families who are now living in fear every day,” Brown said in statement.

The Trump administration said the bill will make California more dangerous.

The state “has now codified a commitment to returning criminal aliens back onto our streets, which undermines public safety, national security, and law enforcement,” Devin O’Malley, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said in a statement.

The measure came in response to widespread fear in immigrant communities following Trump’s election...

Democrats hope blocking police from cooperating will limit the reach of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers...

De Leon’s bill cleared the Legislature with support only from Democrats. Republicans said it will protect criminals and make it harder for law enforcement to keep people safe.

The bill, SB54, originally would have severely restricted the authority of police officers to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. At Brown’s insistence, it was scaled back to allow cooperation in jails.

Police and sheriff’s officials, including jail officers, will still be able to work with federal immigration authorities if a person has been convicted of one of about 800 crimes, mostly felonies and misdemeanors that can be charged as felonies. But they will be barred from transferring immigrants to federal authorities if their rap sheet includes only minor offenses.

The changes convinced the California police chiefs association to drop its opposition, while sheriffs — elected officials who run jails — remained opposed. ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan has condemned the measure, saying California is prioritizing politics over public safety....

The measure was dubbed a “sanctuary state” bill because it sought to expand so-called sanctuary city policies that have long been in place in some of California’s biggest cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Brown and de Leon have said the bill does not give safe harbor to immigrants, particularly after the concessions Brown demanded.

  Read more about California becomes ‘sanctuary state’ as governor signs bill

Oregon's Emergency Clause initiative captures attention outside the state

Once again, Oregon attracts attention from outside the state, this time for the Legislature's misuse and abuse of the Emergency Clause on new legislation passed in the Oregon Legislature.

Efforts are underway to stop the shenanigans via an initiative petition circulating throughout the state.

Read the full article by Montana resident Paul Nachman and then be certain you, your friends, neighbors and co-workers have all signed the petition and mailed it in before June  26, so the paperwork can be processed before the deadline.

 

 

  Read more about Oregon's Emergency Clause initiative captures attention outside the state

Opposition To ‘Illegal Aliens’ Is Opposition To Borders

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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