Immigration Blog

Imaginary Immigration Bills

By Mark Krikorian, May 24, 2013

That Fox News poll from my previous post on security first reminded of the vague and theoretical nature of much of the advocacy for the Schumer-Rubio amnesty bill. The poll's 66 percent support for amnesty is touted by supporters of S. 744 as proof of public backing for the bill. But the question describes an imaginary bill that requires payment of back taxes and the mastery of English, elements which do not exist in S. 744. And, in an example of how advocates compound the falsehood, Ralph Reed's tweet crowing about the poll said people expressed their support for a measure that said "illegals must pay fines, back taxes, learn English, get job, & go to back of line", when neither fines nor jobs nor a line are ever mentioned in the question. Read more...

Security First or Legalization First?

By Mark Krikorian, May 24, 2013

A Fox News poll this week illuminates the core issue in the current immigration debate. On the one hand, 66 percent of registered voters chose the following option over sending all illegals back or enrolling them in a temporary worker program:

Allow illegal immigrants to remain in the country and eventually qualify for U.S. citizenship, but only if they meet certain requirements like paying back taxes, learning English, and passing a background check.

Read more...

A Mix of Conspiracy and Democracy: The S. 744 Process to Date

By David North, May 24, 2013

The manner in which the Gang of Eight's S.744 reached the floor of the Senate included a mix of both open democracy and behind-the-doors secrecy.

Regardless of the merits of the omnibus immigration bill (which many find wanting) the procedures used to get the bill to, and through, the Senate Judiciary Committee were both interesting and uneven. I have been following the bill for weeks and watched many hours of the Committee's mark-up, during which it considered, at least nominally, hundreds of amendments.

You might say that there were three phases of the bill's history so far. Read more...

Hatch Supports Amnesty Despite Clear Utah GOP Opposition

By Ronald W. Mortensen, May 24, 2013

The pro-amnesty wing of the Utah Republican Party continues to be rebuffed by thousands of state and county delegates despite incessant attempts to get the party to embrace the Utah Compact's phony amnesty agenda.

In spite of grassroots opposition to amnesty, Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch voted for S.744 in the Judiciary Committee, placing the interests of the Salt Lake Chamber (which created the Utah Compact, and threatened him with recall) ahead of the interests of the popularly elected Republican delegates who are largely responsible for returning him to office. Read more...

President Obama's Trust Deficit

By Stanley Renshon, May 23, 2013

With all the good will that greeted Barack Obama's historic election as president, he assumed office at the end of a long period of decline in the public's confidence in its government. And he knew it.

Dan Balz, a reporter for the Washington Post wrote this in 2010: Read more...

Hatch Amendment to S.744: American Spouses Not Equal to Indian Spouses

By David North, May 23, 2013

The Senate Judiciary Committee decided that American spouses are not equal to spouses from India; the latter group is to have rights that will be denied to Americans.

Spouses of U.S. temporary workers in India, for instance, cannot work in the Indian economy, but their opposite numbers (Indians married to H-1B workers from that country employed here) would be allowed to work here legally according to language adopted by the committee this week. Read more...

Immigration Reform and the Government Trust Crisis

By Stanley Renshon, May 22, 2013

The process through which the Senate's immigration bill was developed and amendments for it were considered and discarded at a rapid pace is unfolding in the context of a genuine trust crisis in the American civic culture.

Over the past half-century, Americans have become increasingly distrustful and skeptical of their government, especially at the national level. Read more...

Judiciary Committee Takes Giant Step Backward on H-1B Workers

By David North, May 22, 2013

The Senate Judiciary Committee took a giant step backward on Tuesday, adopting a considerably softer set of rules for H-1B workers, thus pleasing the big high-tech firms while hurting American workers.

Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), and others created — off stage — a last-minute compromise on the subject, which passed the committee by a voice vote and led later to a 13-5 vote in the committee on the proposed bill itself (S.744). Read more...

Sen. Feinstein Issues a Confusing Warning about Terrorists at the Mexican Border

By Jerry Kammer, May 21, 2013

Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Monday warned about the vulnerability of the U.S.-Mexico border to penetration by Middle Eastern terrorist organizations. But her statement was marred by major ambiguity and several factual inaccuracies.

"There is evidence of actual and potential terrorists entering via the Southwest border, principally members of Hamas and Hezbollah," Feinstein said at a session of the Senate Judiciary Committee to consider immigration reform legislation. Read more...

S. 744 Would Eliminate Modest Existing Benefits for Some Groups of Aliens

By David North, May 21, 2013

One of the ironic glories, or better described, horrors, of S.744, is the vast array of different, usually powerless, populations who are hurt by its provisions.

The powerful, egged on by the greedy, have designed the bill to meet their various wants with little regard for the impact of the provisions on largely silent populations. Read more...