Immigration Blog

Obama on Immigration, Now and Then

By Jerry Kammer, June 12, 2013

In his Tuesday speech on immigration reform, President Obama ignored the Senate bill's proposal for a major expansion of unskilled immigrants into the U.S. economy. Read more...

Here's a Checklist of the GOP Senators Who Voted to Advance S.744

By David North, June 12, 2013

The Senate voted Tuesday to consider S.744 by 82-15, with three abstentions.

All 54 Democrats voted to move the bill to the floor, as did 28 of the Republicans. Fifteen GOP members, including Sens. Grassley (Iowa) and Sessions (Ala.) voted to keep it off the agenda.

Three Republicans did not vote on the issue: McCain (Ariz., a likely supporter of the massive comprehensive immigration reform bill), Murkowski (Alaska), and Coburn (Okla.). Read more...

False Promise: Immigration Policy in the President's First Term

By Stanley Renshon, June 12, 2013

Given the poor state of the economy, the president's reelection prospects in 2012 were uncertain. His most fervent supporters still adored him, but there were fewer of them. And many others questioned whether he had been successful in addressing their number one concern — the economy.

However, not every voting group cared only about the economy. Members of the community from Spanish-speaking backgrounds cared a great deal about the economy, but also immigration reform because it touched so many members of their community. Read more...

From 2002, a Cautionary Tale for the Gang of Eight

By Jerry Kammer, June 11, 2013

The enforcement flat-liners at the New York Times editorial board are at it again. On Saturday they again denounced critics of the Gang of Eight reform bill. This time, instead of labeling them "hardliners" as it so often does, the board classified their bad guys as "die-hard obstructionists" and "dead-enders". Read more...

Amnesty, Government Surveillance, and High-Tech Companies

By Ronald W. Mortensen, June 11, 2013

Why do America's high-tech business elites support amnesty for 11 million illegal aliens who have so little to do with their industry or their fortunes?

Is it because of loyalty to the illegal aliens working for the janitorial contractors that clean their facilities?

Is it because they want their domestic servants who are illegally in the United States to be legal so they can pay them higher wages and benefits? Read more...

It's Quite Indirect, but Every Bit Helps

By David North, June 11, 2013

One way to discourage the use of nonimmigrant workers (aka guest workers) is to make sure that these workers can sue employers that abuse them. That runs up the costs of the workers to the employers, and thus makes them think twice about hiring them in the future.

One of the problems with getting economic justice for nonimmigrant workers is that they are not — quite appropriately — in the United States all the time; they may well be back in their homeland when they become aware that there are ways that they can seek justice from their U.S.-based employers, but there they are in Mexico or Central America, and the employer is in the United States. Read more...

The President's Reelection Immigration Policy

By Stanley Renshon, June 11, 2013

No one expects a president up for reelection not to make use of the benefits of his office. One of them is to announce new examples of federal largess, be they grants for a "promising neighborhood" program; "a major expansion of Skills for America's Future, an industry-led initiative to dramatically improve industry partnerships with community colleges and build a nation-wide network to maximize workforce development strategies, job training programs, and job placements"; or plans to "Win the Future" by making grants for better energy efficiency.

What Americans do not expect is that their president will abruptly and summarily subvert the administrative machinery of the executive branch to further his own reelection prospects. But that is exactly what President Obama did. Read more...

Looking at the Mavericks in the House Voting on DACA

By David North, June 10, 2013

The big picture on the House of Representatives vote on DACA last week — 224 to 201 in favor of its repeal — is that party lines largely held as the restrictionists won with a substantial but not overpowering majority.

A more detailed look shows nine members voted against their party, six Republicans who voted against repeal and three Democrats who voted for; plus nine non-voters. That's a total of 18 House members to watch more closely as the summer progresses.

So, who are they and why did they vote (or not vote) as they did? Read more...

Soros' Prophets of Baal

By James R. Edwards Jr., June 10, 2013

George Soros' dollars are funding a pep rally for the Senate's obese amnesty bill, S. 744. On Wednesday, while the Senate is expected to be debating the legislation, Soros' pet project, "Bibles, Badges, and Business" (BBB), will gather its modern-day prophets of Baal on Capitol Hill to try to create the impression that Christians, law enforcement, and business owners favor mass amnesty, open borders, and the disadvantaging of American citizens who can't find full-time jobs (rightly known as "the least of these"). Read more...

Rubio, McCain, Reid Talk Strategy on Reform Bill

By Jerry Kammer, June 10, 2013

Some excerpts from Sunday morning's "Al Punto" program on Univision, where Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), and Harry Reid (D-Nev.) responded to questions from host Maria Elena Salinas:

Salinas to Rubio: You said this week that you would be inclined to vote against the legislation that you yourself helped to write unless there were some amendments that would strengthen even more the security of the border. Would you be willing to throw everything overboard? Read more...