Illegal Immigration
6/22/2007 | Illegal Immigration
Hutchison to vote against reviving stalled immigration bill
Houston Chronicle
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, who has been under intense pressure from the White House and Republican leadership to support a sweeping immigration overhaul, nevertheless announced today that she will vote against reviving the legislation when it returns to the Senate floor next week. She was joined today by the state's other senator, Republican John Cornyn, who had been expected by the bill's supporters to take such a stance. They had aggressively lobbied Hutchison in hopes of adding her vote to the 60 necessary to revive the stalled legislation. "I could not support (bringing the bill to a vote) in its present position," Hutchison, criticizing the legislation as amnesty for illegal immigrants, said today.
Recommended Guests:
David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDemos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle ForumJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USAJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin6/21/2007 | Illegal Immigration
GOP challenges Bush on immigration reform
AM New York
House Republicans, in opposition to Senate bill, also detail ways they think U.S. has failed on border and law enforcement. With no chance of passage, the measure underlines the party's split. WASHINGTON — In a sharp rebuke to President Bush, House Republicans unveiled legislation Tuesday that would bar illegal immigrants from gaining legal status in the U.S., require tamper-proof birth certificates for Americans and make English the nation's official language. The measure's core principles include gaining control of the border and enforcing existing immigration laws. It does not provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, as the Bush plan does.
Recommended Guests:
David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDemos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle ForumJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USAJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin6/20/2007 | Illegal Immigration
Reluctant Dems on Immigration Reform
Time
Congressman Heath Shuler was the odd man out at a press conference last month rallying opposition to then not-yet-finalized Senate immigration bill — the other seven legislators facing the media that day were all Republicans. But the freshman North Carolina Democrat, one of only six members of his party in the 104-member House Immigration Reform Caucus, didn't mind being the lone Democrat on that panel: Elected with just 54 percent of the vote in 2006, his seat is a major Republican target in 2008, and the No. 1 issue he hears about when he goes home is immigration.
Recommended Guests:
David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDemos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle ForumJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USAJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin6/19/2007 | Illegal Immigration
Sen. Reid fast-tracks revived immigration bill
Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON — Senate leaders Monday relaunched a controversial proposal to overhaul the nation's immigration laws, offering a new version of legislation that faltered earlier this month. Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) used his prerogatives as majority leader to reintroduce the bill and bypass the usual committee process, putting it on the calendar for quick consideration. A final vote is likely next week. "I applaud Sen. Reid's action to bring the immigration bill back to the floor and the determination of so many of our colleagues to do the challenging work we were elected to do," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the bill's leading Democratic proponent.
Recommended Guests:
David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDemos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle ForumJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USAJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin6/18/2007 | Illegal Immigration
Immigration issue at a boil
Recordnet.com
Comprehensive immigration reform is in jeopardy because it is a complex compromise with too many moving parts and too many competing interests. Employers want a guest-worker program; unions want to kill it. Reformers want to introduce a point system that preferentially admits skilled and educated immigrants; immigrant groups naturally want to keep the existing family preference system. Liberals want legalization now; conservatives insist on enforcement "triggers" first. There is only one provision that has unanimous support: stronger border enforcement. I've seen senators stand up and object to the point system, to chain migration, to guest workers, to every and any idea in this bill - except one. I have yet to hear a senator stand up and say he or she is against better border enforcement.
Recommended Guests:
David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDemos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle ForumJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USAJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin6/15/2007 | Illegal Immigration
Senate Leaders Agree to Revive Immigration Bill
New York Times
WASHINGTON, June 14 — Senate Democratic and Republican leaders announced on Thursday that they had agreed on a way to revive a comprehensive immigration bill that was pulled off the Senate floor seven days ago. The majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, and the minority leader, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, said they expected the bill to return to the floor before the Fourth of July recess. In a joint statement, Mr. Reid and Mr. McConnell said: “We met this evening with several of the senators involved in the immigration bill negotiations. Based on that discussion, the immigration bill will return to the Senate floor after completion of the energy bill.”
Recommended Guests:
David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDemos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle ForumJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USAJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin6/14/2007 | Illegal Immigration
Immigration issue still lacks a solution
Chicago Sun-Times
Harry Reid, the Senate's majority leader, affected 'umble and syrupy sadness about the Senate's inability to pass the immigration bill that he pulled from the floor last Thursday for a transparently meretricious reason. Saying time was too precious to expend on what would have been limited debate on a limited number of Republican amendments to the bill, he vowed: ''Everyone that's been home, there are two issues that are foremost in their minds: No. 1 is the Iraq war and No. 2 are gasoline prices. We're going to deal with that as soon as we finish with this immigration legislation.'' So the Senate took Friday off, wasted Monday in the predictable futility of failing to pass a nonbinding resolution expressing constitutionally irrelevant lack of confidence in the attorney general, then debated lowering gasoline prices -- or cooling the planet; or something -- by spending taxpayers' money to raise food prices. It took up legislation to quintuple the mandated use of mostly corn-based ethanol. For such silliness, Reid scuttled the bipartisan attempt to improve the eminently improvable immigration status quo.
Recommended Guests:
David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDemos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle ForumJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USAJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin6/13/2007 | Illegal Immigration
Bush Pleads for GOP Immigration Support
Time
Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions stood up at Tuesday's lunch for Senate Republicans and baldly told President George W. Bush what was wrong with his immigration proposal: it would give amnesty to 12 million illegal immigrations, it would reduce illegal immigration by only 13%, and it doesn't go far enough to enforce border security. Bush acknowledged that Sessions, like many conservative Republicans, has serious issues with the immigration bill, but he also managed to diffuse the tension over the issue that has split his party for the last two years. "Even though we disagree on this bill, I look forward to being in Alabama," Bush joked to Sessions, whose fundraiser the President is due to attend in Alabama on Friday, and the room burst out laughing.
Recommended Guests:
David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDemos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle ForumJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USAJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin6/12/2007 | Illegal Immigration
Bush to Push Immigration Bill at Capitol
Breitbart.com
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush, wading deeper into an issue that bitterly divides his party, hopes a personal appeal can help persuade skeptical Republicans to resurrect and pass his immigration bill. Over lunch Tuesday in the Capitol, Bush planned an effort to change enough minds among GOP senators to salvage one of his top domestic priorities. The measure, which legalizes up to 12 million unlawful immigrants and tightens border security, stalled last week in the face of broad Republican opposition. Bush "will talk about the fact that immigration reform is too important to let this opportunity pass, and this is the best opportunity that we have had in decades to reform the broken immigration system," said Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman. It's the president's latest and most overt attempt to sell Congress on the immigration overhaul, which was shaped by his views and drafted by an unlikely liberal-to-conservative coalition in close consultation with two Cabinet secretaries.
Recommended Guests:
David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDemos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle ForumJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USAJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin6/11/2007 | Illegal Immigration
Bush Renews Push to Save Immigration Bill
Wall Street Journal
Advocates of immigration overhaul still hope to gain Senate passage by August -- if a weakened President Bush can win over Republicans facing grass-roots conservative pressure to kill the bill. Majority Leader Harry Reid threw a monkey wrench into the bill's progress Thursday night by abruptly pulling the measure from the Senate floor after twice falling short of the votes needed to cut off debate. Mr. Bush must now redouble efforts to win over reluctant conservatives like fellow Texan Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison if he is to regain steam -- and have any hope of winning passage in the even more perilous House. This recovery process begins Tuesday, when the president is to come to the Capitol to meet with Senate Republicans. Traveling in Europe, Mr. Bush began calling key Republican players from his plane, including Sen. Jon Kyl (R., Ariz.), one of the main Republican architects of the compromise, and devoted his weekly radio address -- broadcast from Poland -- to the topic.
Recommended Guests:
David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDemos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle ForumJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USAJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin6/8/2007 | Illegal Immigration
Deep Divisions Derail Immigration Bill
ABC News
The Senate divisions that derailed a White House-backed immigration bill for now, at least mirror the U.S. society's deep differences over the issue, according to polling data, lawmakers and analysts. Those gaps will challenge any effort to get the measure back on track. While most Senate Democrats appeared to back the bill, several liberal members said it did too little to keep immigrant families together and protect jobs for U.S.-born workers.
Recommended Guests:
David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDemos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle ForumJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USAJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin6/7/2007 | Illegal Immigration
Immigration Deal Survives Senate Hurdles
ABC News
A proposed immigration overhaul narrowly survived several strong Senate challenges Wednesday, but it suffered a potentially deal-breaking setback early Thursday. Shortly after midnight, the Senate voted 49-48 to end a new temporary worker program after five years. The vote reversed the one-vote outcome on the same amendment offered both times by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. two weeks ago. Six senators switched their votes, reflecting the issue's political volatility.
Recommended Guests:
David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDemos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle ForumJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USAJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin6/6/2007 | Illegal Immigration
Fate of Senate immigration bill in doubt
Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans on Tuesday accused Democrats of trying to rush a vote on immigration reform, casting doubt on the fate of the White House-backed bill that would tighten border security and legalize millions of illegal immigrants. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he wanted to close debate on the bill by this week's end despite Republicans' objections, which could doom the fragile compromise legislation that backers say would help fix a broken immigration system through which millions of illegal immigrants have slipped into the United States.
Recommended Guests:
David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDemos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle ForumJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USAJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin6/5/2007 | Illegal Immigration
Border Agents Warn Immigration Bill Will Compromise National Security
TownHall.com
A group of former Border Patrol Agents convened on Monday to warn U.S. senators that the current immigration bill would compromise national security if signed into law. Chairman of the National Association of Border Patrol Officers Kent Lundgren said, “First and most dangerous, is the fact that there will be no meaningful criminal or terrorist record checks of the applicants. If the amnesty passes, we will legalize them despite what past history they may have. Despite what the Administration and Congress say about record checks to ease voters’ minds, they are lying about it.”
Recommended Guests:
David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDemos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle ForumJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USAJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin6/4/2007 | Illegal Immigration
Senate Set to Slug It Out Over Immigration Bill
Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON -- The Senate faces a contentious debate next week on immigration, with backers of a compromise overhaul bill hopeful it will hold up. The landmark immigration bill, the outcome of talks between congressional leaders and the White House last month, has stirred deep passions on both sides. During a recess last week, many senators' offices were bombarded with phone calls, emails and visitors critical of the legislation, while supporters organized their own postcard drives, rallies and opinion pieces in local newspapers. The measure would tilt policy toward immigrants with skills, lay out a path for illegal immigrants here to gain citizenship and beef up border security. Next week, the Senate is set to vote on more than a dozen amendments, including ones aimed at allowing more relatives of immigrants to join them in the U.S. and making it harder for illegal immigrants already here to gain legal status.
Recommended Guests:
David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDemos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle ForumJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USAJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin6/1/2007 | Illegal Immigration
Border Safety at Focus of TB Case
Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON -- Investigators are looking into whether Homeland Security agents last week positively identified a man infected with a drug-resistant form of tuberculosis when he arrived at the U.S. border, but ignored instructions to detain him because he didn't look ill. The line of inquiry by congressional and Homeland Security investigators raises further questions about the security of U.S. borders. When news of the TB case first broke, it appeared that the patient had slipped into the country undetected. Andrew Speaker, 31 years old, drove as far as New York City before going to a hospital, despite an international search by U.S. authorities. The Centers for Disease Control had caught up with Mr. Speaker in Rome, where it advised him not to use commercial aircraft.
Recommended Guests:
David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDemos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle ForumJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USAJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin5/31/2007 | Illegal Immigration
Fraud feared in deal worked out on immigration
San Diego
WASHINGTON – Opponents of immigration overhaul legislation in the Senate are warning that it could draw an influx of illegal border crossers with phony documents who want to settle permanently in the United States, repeating the fraud that was rampant after passage of an immigration law in 1986. Backers of the measure, already battling charges from conservatives who say the proposal amounts to an amnesty, acknowledge the problem and promise to fix it before the bill becomes law.
Recommended Guests:
David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDemos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle ForumJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USAJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin5/30/2007 | Illegal Immigration
Bush challenges lawmakers on immigration bill
USA Today
President Bush challenged lawmakers Tuesday to support the immigration overhaul bill, asking them to have the courage needed to approve comprehensive changes. Speaking at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center near Brunswick, Ga., Bush stressed administration efforts to tighten the borders. He cited a doubling of funding for border security, and said a decline in arrests reflect a decrease in illegal crossings. The measure pending in Congress, the result of a deal struck between the Senate and the White House, would allow people who immigrated illegally before Jan. 1 to apply for provisional legal status when the bill takes effect.
Recommended Guests:
David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDemos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle ForumJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USAJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin5/29/2007 | Illegal Immigration
Immigration: Debate still surrounds 'imperfect bill'
USA Today
WASHINGTON — Immigration overhaul is a top priority of the U.S. business community, which faces a growing array of conflicting state and local laws that require businesses to police workers' immigration status and that impose fines on firms that hire illegal workers. But that doesn't mean businesses — from construction companies to landscapers, high-tech firms to farmers — are pleased with the compromise immigration bill now under debate in Congress. The bill is the result of a deal struck between the Senate and the White House.
Recommended Guests:
David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDemos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle ForumJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USAJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin5/25/2007 | Illegal Immigration
Majority Favor Changing Immigration Laws, Poll Says
New York Times
As opponents from the right and left challenge an immigration bill before Congress, there is broad support among Americans — Democrats, Republicans and independents alike — for the major provisions in the legislation, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll. Taking a pragmatic view on a divisive issue, a large majority of Americans want to change the immigration laws to allow illegal immigrants to gain legal status and to create a new guest worker program to meet future labor demand, the poll found. At the same time, Americans have mixed feelings about whether the recent wave of immigration has been beneficial to the country, the survey found, and they are sharply divided over how open the United States should be to future immigrants.
Recommended Guests:
David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDemos Chrissos, Writer/Producer, RapidResponse Media, Inc.Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle ForumJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USAJoe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin