Illegal Immigration

[Haggis@wk]

Wouldn't the surest way to take immigration reform off Congress' agenda would be for Republicans to say, "Great! Let's vote!"?

[Haggis@wk]

Obama Takes Immigration Reform Off Agenda.

“Immigration reform has become the first of President Barack Obama’s major priorities dropped from the agenda of an election-year Congress facing voter disillusionment. Sounding the death knell was Obama himself.”

I wonder if it had anything to do with this: Poll: Most support Arizona immigration law.

“Seven in 10 U.S. adults support arresting people who can’t prove they’re in the United States legally, a poll about Arizona’s new immigration law indicated.”

[jamiebk]

Obama Takes Immigration Reform Off Agenda.

HUH?????????????


Democrats pledge to move toward 2010 vote on immigration reform

By Alexander Bolton - 04/29/10 07:56 PM ET
Senate Democratic leaders said Thursday that they are serious about having a vote on immigration this year.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and other Democrats made that pledge as they unveiled their outline of an immigration reform plan, which has been widely viewed as a political exercise to help Reid and other Democrats with Hispanic voters, a growing electoral bloc.

Democratic strategists say the issue is not a clear winner like the Wall Street reform bill; Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), the plan’s primary author, acknowledged that dealing with an estimated 10.8 million illegal residents is “morally complex” and “politically explosive.”

Even so, Democrats see it as more divisive for the Republican Party, which is under pressure from Tea Party conservatives to be tough on illegal immigrants but also does not want to lose Hispanic voters.


Schumer insisted a bill could get done this year despite widespread skepticism on and off Capitol Hill that the divisive issue can be tackled.

“In the past several weeks, pundits and columnists, reporters have almost all been saying the prospects for comprehensive immigration reform looked weak. I completely disagree,” Schumer said.

Lawmakers downplayed politics and challenged Republicans to help them fix “a broken system,” taking a similar approach to the argument they used to persuade GOP lawmakers to begin debate on Wall Street reform.

“What I say to my Republican colleagues: Work with us to fix this broken system, secure our borders and do other things that we’ve got to do; don’t just say no,” Reid said at a press conference late Thursday.

Reid emphasized that Schumer had put together his proposal after “months” of negotiations with Republicans.

“Those negotiations have been built on the bipartisan work of Senate colleagues in previous years,” Reid said, making reference to legislative pushes that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) made during George W. Bush’s presidency.

That line was similar to the argument Reid and other Democrats made in recent days by highlighting the contributions of Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) to the Wall Street reform bill.

In a bid to win GOP support, Democrats say they have made securing the nation’s borders the top priority in the bill.

The bill focuses on three areas: It would tighten security along the nation’s northern and southern borders; register illegal immigrants with the federal government and set them on a path to citizenship if they pay fines, learn English and stay out of criminal trouble; and crack down on employers who hire illegal workers.

“Our proposal will require the government to secure the border first before we adjust the status of a single person here illegally — just what many of our colleagues are saying on the other side of the aisle,” said Schumer, who insisted the border security proposals he is advancing are tougher than those considered during Bush’s tenure.

Schumer also highlighted a proposal to implement a nationwide worker-verification program, which would require every worker to carry a national identification card with biometric information within six years.


That proposal has already drawn fire from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), but Schumer said it is essential to stem the tide of illegal workers.

“Our proposal recognizes that no matter what we do on the border, we’ll only succeed in dramatically reducing future illegal immigration by creating an employment verification system that holds employers accountable for knowingly hiring illegal workers,” he said.

The ACLU panned the proposal in a press statement earlier in the day, saying it would “usher government into the very center of our lives.”

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said in an earlier interview that it was not realistic to expect the federal government to completely secure the border with Mexico.

“It’s a challenge beyond description to say we’re going to stop every single truck and car and to make sure they’re not harboring illegal immigrants,” Durbin said. “But we can commit ourselves, and this bill does, to dramatically increasing the resources in that effort to show we’re serious about it.”

Some immigration groups greeted the legislative framework warily because of the strict employment-verification measure and other restrictions on immigrants but acknowledged it as an important first step.

“The proposal revealed today is in part the result of more than a year of bipartisan negotiations and represents a possible path forward on immigration reform,” Ali Noorani, executive director of Reform Immigration for America.

“This framework is not there yet,” Noorani added.

Reid said that he expected President Barack Obama to fully support the effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform, despite comments from the president Wednesday that some in the media interpreted as a splash of cold water on the idea.

“I don't want us to do something just for the sake of politics that doesn't solve the problem,” Obama told reporters Wednesday night aboard Air Force One.

[Haggis@wk]

Maybe, but it won't pass. It's not only the Republicans that are against any type of Amnesty, the Congressional Black Cacus has always been cool towards it and too many Democrats remember their constituents reaction the last time they tried this. I AM worried about the periord between early Nov and late Jan when the lame ducks can get up to all sorts of mischief. THAT the the thing voter have to be aware of.

[jamiebk]

Maybe, but it won't pass. It's not only the Republicans that are against any type of Amnesty, the Congressional Black Cacus has always been cool towards it and too many Democrats remember their constituents reaction the last time they tried this. I AM worried about the periord between early Nov and late Jan when the lame ducks can get up to all sorts of mischief. THAT the the thing voter have to be aware of.

I don't disagree but its wrong to say that O-man has taken reform off the table. We may not like what is being proposed, but it is on the table

[Haggis@wk]

Ouch, Arizona "Punches back twice as hard," to quote a recent presidential candidate.

[piqaboo]

I need to read the law carefully - do I need to take Altoid's birth certificate when we visit her aunts and uncles in the land of Az?

[Shapley]

Holder Admits He Never Read Arizona Immigration Bill Before Criticizing It - Says He Still Hasn't Read It.

The Democrats don't read their own bills before voting on them, why should they read someone elses?

[Shapley]

Obama's Aunt Granted Asylum, Won't Be Deported

Hmmm.

[Haggis@wk]

Secure the borders

I need to read the law carefully - do I need to take Altoid's birth certificate when we visit her aunts and uncles in the land of Az?

No.
Arizona is hurting, parts of it, as the video confirms, are "no go" areas for American citizens. If this law is so unpopular why are 22 other states getting ready to enact the same law? Americans deserve to be safe in their own country and right now many aren't.

Now, even Mexico, who illegal immigrants are locked up when they are discovered, is suing Arizona for making illegal immigration a misdemeanor. This is going to be a political disaster for anyone Left or Right who tries to push Amnesty.

Wanna bet that if the Dems lose the House the lame ducks will pass Amnesty, Cap and TX, and any other disastrous law out their they couldn't normally pass?

2011 is going to be a frightening, frightening year in many dimensions.

[dai bread]

Having viewed the video, all I can say is "Good God!"

I am duly thankful for the several thousand kilometres of moat that surround these islands.

[Haggis@wk]

I am duly thankful for the several thousand kilometres of moat that surround these islands.

Slightly OT, but a documentary on NZed "Fisheries" folks, including the law enforcement people is coming to us on Discovery (or maybe another one) and the previews seem exciting. I have to look up the Fisheries lady I went to school with in 1991 and see if you can google her to she if she's still employed. She was very short, no more that 5'

[Haggis@wk]

Illegal immigrant who killed nun in accident was released by feds

The Virginia man suspected in a drunken-driving crash that killed a Catholic nun in Prince William County this weekend is an illegal immigrant and repeat offender who was awaiting deportation and who federal immigration authorities had released pending further proceedings, police said Monday.

There are fewer illegals in detention this year than was in detention last year.

[Haggis@wk]

The Washington Timesreports that the state of Arizona has essentially ceded parts of the southern border to Mexican drug cartels in what — I hope — is a tactical retreat:

The federal government has posted signs along a major interstate highway in Arizona, more than 100 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, warning travelers the area is unsafe because of drug and alien smugglers, and a local sheriff says Mexican drug cartels now control some parts of the state.

The signs were posted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) along a 60-mile stretch of Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, a major east-west corridor linking Tucson and Phoenix with San Diego.
They warn travelers that they are entering an “active drug and human smuggling area” and they may encounter “armed criminals and smuggling vehicles traveling at high rates of speed.” Beginning less than 50 miles south of Phoenix, the signs encourage travelers to “use public lands north of Interstate 8″ and to call 911 if they “see suspicious activity.”

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, whose county lies at the center of major drug and alien smuggling routes to Phoenix and cities east and west, attests to the violence. He said his deputies are outmanned and outgunned by drug traffickers in the rough-hewn desert stretches of his own county.

“Mexican drug cartels literally do control parts of Arizona,” he said. “They literally have scouts on the high points in the mountains and in the hills and they literally control movement. They have radios, they have optics, they have night-vision goggles as good as anything law enforcement has.

And blogger the Hyacinth Girl has experienced the warnings firsthand:

On a recent trip to Phoenix, I pulled off the I-8 to let the dogs out and let the kid get her wiggles out. I’d stopped at this place before; it has some abandoned buildings I like to look at. About ten minutes after I’d stopped, a sheriff’s SUV pulled up and a very nice lady sheriff asked me politely but with some urgency if I could gather my wayward puppies and child and leave immediately.

I asked her why, as I’m pretty familiar with Arizona and the freedom within its borders. She explained that it was too close to sunset for us to be on that particular side of the freeway, as the drug and human traffickers would be out very soon. “They’ll shoot you if they don’t know you,” she said, “Even if you’re just here with you kid and obviously not a threat.”

Needless to say, I gathered everyone, and even though Mr. HG needed some convincing on account of his problems with authority, we got out of there posthaste.

But hey, at least they didn’t ask her for her identification or something.

We are in trouble when we can't protect the sovereignty of our country