Illegal Immigration

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Senate Votes to Keep Temporary Worker Program

New York Times

WASHINGTON, May 22 — A comprehensive immigration bill survived a significant test on Tuesday as the Senate voted to keep a provision that would let hundreds of thousands of temporary foreign workers enter the country each year. If the guest worker program, part of the “grand bargain” negotiated with the Bush administration by a bipartisan group of 12 senators, had been stripped from the bill, the fragile deal could have collapsed. Despite the vote on Tuesday, supporters of the bill were clearly on the defensive.

Senate Puts Off Action on Immigration

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate leaders agreed Monday that they would wait until June to take final action on a bipartisan plan to give millions of unlawful immigrants legal status. The measure, which also tightens border security and workplace enforcement measures, unites a group of influential liberals, centrists and conservatives and has White House backing, but it has drawn criticism from across the political spectrum. In a nod to that opposition, Senate leaders won't seek to complete it before a hoped-for Memorial Day deadline. "It would be to the best interests of the Senate ... that we not try to finish this bill this week," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., as the chamber began debate on the volatile issue. "I think we could, but I'm afraid the conclusion wouldn't be anything that anyone wanted."

Immigration: What's in the New Bill?

Wall Street Journal

Senate Republicans and Democrats reached a delicate compromise on an ambitious bill to overhaul the nation's immigration policy. The deal would provide legal status to some 12 million immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally and offer an eventual path to citizenship. It aims to staunch the flow of future illegal immigrants by boosting border security and creating a guest-worker program. It would also recalibrate a longstanding policy that gives preference to immigrants with family in the U.S. by giving added weight to immigrants with job skills, including education and English proficiency.

Senate's 'Compromise' Immigration Bill 'Bad for America'

Standard Newswire

Immigration Activist Proposes Alternative to Senate Compromise Republican Senators have compromised the party position on immigration, saying Republicans and Democrats have "reached an immigration deal." However, fellow conservative Colin Hanna, president of Let Freedom Ring, says this so-called "Grand Compromise" is "Neither grand, nor a compromise. It's amnesty, and it's bad for America," Hanna said. Today, Mr. Hanna revealed an alternative and innovate solution. "None of the current proposals for dealing with the almost 20 million illegal aliens currently in the US - mandatory deportation, voluntary deportation or some form of amnesty – enjoys the support of the American public," Hanna said. "Within the next day or so, the Senators who are so self-congratulatory right now will taste the wrath of millions of American citizens who have made it clear that they will not support amnesty. This is a legislative blunder with electoral consequences." Hanna explains, "Let Freedom Ring has developed a workable alternative that could be acceptable to Republicans and Democrats alike. Each side will need to give a little to reach this newly-defined middle ground, but each side can also live with it. If the Senate won't listen, we'll turn our attention to the House." The groundbreaking proposal includes legalization without amnesty. Instead illegal aliens currently in the country will be required to admit wrongdoing, pay a significant fine, agree not to seek citizenship, become apart of a national database and swear loyalty to the United States. "This clearly isn't amnesty. It's closer to a plea bargain, and it begins exactly as it should: with an admission of guilt," stated Hanna. "For the good of the nation, all parties need to find a way to negotiate the details without compromising their principles. The American public expects both leadership and cooperation from their elected representatives, and the time for action is now."

Immigration: Legalization Without Amnesty

StandardNewsWire

Immigration activist Colin Hanna, President of Let Freedom Ring, Inc., and its immigration project WeNeedAFence.com, will hold a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC at 12:30 PM on Thursday, May 17 to introduce a new strategy designed to break the legislative logjam in the development of immigration reform legislation.

Immigration: Which bill will the Senate take up this week?

Washington Post

Less than a year ago, Sen. John McCain of Arizona was the most visible Republican in the fight for immigration reform, having joined forces with Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (Mass.) in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to clamp down on border security and create a guest-worker program for the nation's 12 million illegal immigrants. Now, a renewed effort is underway, but this time without McCain as Kennedy's co-star. As he stumps in Iowa and New Hampshire, McCain has handed off day-to-day negotiations on immigration to his staff and to fellow Senate Republicans Jon Kyl (Ariz.) and Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.). In his formal presidential announcement speech in New Hampshire last month, he made no mention of the issue.

Outrage: Maryland pro-immigrant group publishes how-to guide for illegals.

RapidResponseMedia

A Maryland-based immigrant-advocacy group is distributing guidebooks instructing those targeted by federal immigration agents during job-site raids not to cooperate with authorities if they are arrested or detained. The eight-page, two-color illustrated book lists what rights "people who are not United States citizens" have if detained by immigration agents, details what to do if served with a warrant or charged with a crime, and urges them to remain silent if they are arrested.

Police to Review Clash at LA Rally

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Police Chief William J. Bratton on Wednesday promised an investigation into the conduct of police who dispersed an immigration rally, after videos captured officers using force with reporters and firing rubber bullets into crowds. Bratton said officers fired 240 "nonlethal" rounds to clear MacArthur Park late Tuesday. News images showed police hitting a television cameraman to the ground, shoving people who were walking away from officers and injuries from the rubber bullets, including a Hispanic man with welts on his abdomen and back. Lines of officers moved through the park firing the rubber rounds. "The events of yesterday, with all (the training) that we do, should not have occurred," Bratton said at a tense news conference. "We should not be engaged in attacks on the media."

Bullet 333David Bossie, President, Citizens United
Bullet 333Rev. Clenard Childress, Jr., Assistant Director, Life Education and Resource Network
Bullet 333Demos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.
Bullet 333Ward Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights Institute
Bullet 333Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of Representatives
Bullet 333Len Deo, President, New Jersey Family Policy Council
Bullet 333Chuck Donovan, Senior Research Fellow-DeVos Center for Religion a, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle Forum
Bullet 333Tim G. Echols, President/Founder, TeenPact
Bullet 333James Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLC
Bullet 333Steve Elliott, President, Grassfire.org
Bullet 333Joseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDaily
Bullet 333Todd Friel, Radio Host, Way of the Master
Bullet 333James Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Bullet 333Rick Green, President, Torch of Freedom Foundation
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA
Bullet 333Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian Church
Bullet 333Peter Lillback, President, Westminster Theological Seminary
Bullet 333Gary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation Network
Bullet 333Ryan Messmore, William E. Simon fellow in Religion and a Free Soc, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Joe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin
Bullet 333Jeff Myers, Incoming President, Summit Ministries
Bullet 333Jesse Lee Peterson, Founder and President, Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny
Bullet 333Phyllis Schlafly, President and Founder, Eagle Forum
Bullet 333Don Shenk, Executive Director, The Tide
Bullet 333Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate
Bullet 333Lorianne Updike, President & Executive Director, The Constitutional Sources Project
Bullet 333Timothy Watkins, Producer/Director, Renegade Productions

U.S. to Plug Border-Security Gap

Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Homeland Security will soon start using a database of stolen passports maintained by Interpol, a move that will help fix a glaring weakness in U.S. border security. But it comes nearly two years after the international police organization made the information available to Washington. For years, Washington has worried about the dangers represented by lost and stolen passports. Stolen passports, especially blank ones that can be filled in with false information, are of particular concern because they can't easily be detected by immigration officers. Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, stolen blank passports have been called the "terrorist's golden ticket" because they facilitate unhindered travel.

Immigration Rally Turnout Lower Than '06

ABC News

Magda Ortiz believes a recent raid in a largely Mexican neighborhood of Chicago made people too afraid to march in an immigration rights rally, which drew far fewer protesters than turned out last year. Ortiz, a 27-year-old legal resident from Mexico and mother of two, pushed through crowds on the city's lakefront with a stroller bearing a sign that read: "Bush, think about the moms. Stop the raids."

MAY DAY: Immigration Rallies Planned Nationwide...

Breitbart.com

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Demonstrators demanding a path to citizenship for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants hope that nationwide marches will spur Congress to act before the looming presidential primaries take over the political landscape. Marches, meetings and voter registration drives were planned Tuesday from California to New York, a year after 1 million flexed their economic muscle in a nationwide boycott during last year's May 1 activities. Though this year's turnout will likely be lower, organizers say immigrants feel a sense of urgency to keep immigration reform from getting pushed to the back burner by the 2008 presidential elections. "If we don't act, then both the Democratic and Republican parties can go back to their comfort zones and do nothing," said Angelica Salas, director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. "They won't have the courage to resolve a major situation for millions of people."

Illegal Alien-related Felony Cases Swamping Federal Courts

Washington Times

Illegal alien-related felony cases are swamping federal courts along the southwest border, forcing judges to handle hundreds more cases than their peers elsewhere. Judges in the five, mostly rural judicial districts on the border carry the heaviest felony caseloads in the nation. Each judge in New Mexico, which ranked first, handled an average of 397 felony cases last year, compared with the national average of 84.

Federal Raid Triggers Chicago Protest

Breitbar.com

CHICAGO, April 25 (UPI) -- Residents of a predominately Hispanic Chicago neighborhood took to the streets in protest after heavily armed U.S. immigration agents raided businesses. "Soldiers bombarded our neighborhood," Baltazar Enriquez told the Chicago Sun-Times. "It looked like they were marching into Iraq."

Candidate Giuliani Shifts His Tone On Immigration

New York Times

A decade ago, as mayor of New York, Mr. Giuliani used that historic backdrop to champion the cause of immigrants, calling attacks on people who came here legally a blow to “the heart and soul of America.” And from City Hall he often defended illegal immigrants, ordering city workers not to deny them benefits and advocating measures to ease their path to citizenship.

L.A. Police Sued Over Immigrant Policy

Breitbart.com

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Illegal immigration opponents have sued the Los Angeles Police Department, taking aim at its long-standing policy of ignoring most suspects' immigration status. The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Superior Court seeks to force officers to inform federal immigration officials when illegal immigrants are arrested on drug charges. The department prohibits officers from inquiring about the immigration status of suspects, a policy strongly supported by Police Chief William Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

98% of Illegals Arrested Were Not Prosecuted

News Max

EL PASO, Texas -- For all the tough talk in Washington on immigration, illegal aliens caught along the Mexican border have almost no reason to fear they will be prosecuted. Ninety-eight percent of those arrested between Oct. 1, 2000, and Sept. 30, 2005, were never prosecuted for illegally entering the country, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal data. Those 5.2 million aliens were simply escorted back across the Rio Grande and turned loose. Many presumably tried to slip into the United States again.

President Renewing Efforts on Immigration

The Washington Post

President Bush will relaunch his push for an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws today in Arizona, with a fresh speech on the border and a new congressional leadership that is friendlier to his views, but with the same dynamics that scuttled his last attempt: a cooperative Senate but bipartisan opposition in the House.

Illegal Border-Crossers Rarely Prosecuted

CBS News

EL PASO, Texas, April 7, 2007 (AP) For all the tough talk out of Washington on immigration, illegal immigrants caught along the Mexican border have almost no reason to fear they will be prosecuted. Ninety-eight percent of those arrested between Oct. 1, 2000, and Sept. 30, 2005, were never prosecuted for illegally entering the country, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal data. Nearly 5.3 million immigrants were simply escorted back across the Rio Grande and turned loose. Many presumably tried to slip into the U.S. again.

US Immigration Officials Arrest 62 At Pork Plant

Reuters

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Federal immigration agents arrested 62 sanitation workers during a Wednesday morning raid at Cargill Inc.'s pork plant in Beardstown, Illinois, some on identity theft charges and others for being illegal immigrants, immigration officials said. The arrests disrupted meat production at the plant for about three hours, but no Cargill employees were arrested, immigration and company officials said.

Oklahoma May Target Illegal Immigrants And Their Employers

Los Angeles Times

Frustrated with the federal government's response to illegal immigration, Oklahoma is poised to become the next state to pass a tough law targeting illegal immigrants and the businesses that employ them. A sweeping measure moving through the Legislature would deny welfare benefits, in-state college tuition rates and numerous state subsidies to those in the country illegally. It would also empower police to detain illegal immigrants and require businesses that do work for the state to prove that their employees are legally in the country.

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