Postcards - and video - from the edge

Forthecause.us:

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Presidential Candidate Duncan Hunter Expresses 'Fierce Disappointment' Over Senate Amnesty

Proposal Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) said he vows to oppose the amnesty legislation supported by Senators Edward Kennedy and John McCain, which provides a vast new immigration benefit to millions of illegal aliens who have broken our laws to live in the United States. "I opposed the 1986 amnesty act because of this same reason. It proved to be the draw that we predicted it would be. I am deeply disappointed to see history repeating itself," he said.
Hunter believes the reform package will confirm to the world that the U.S. does not really mean what it says when it comes to immigration enforcement. "As a result of the citizenship benefit included in this legislation, despite the fine print, we will see a stampede across our borders," he said. "This vast new amnesty and expansive guest worker program will surely be ridden with fraud and abuse, and ultimately lead to millions of public-assistance-dependent immigrants. I believe that this package will result in lower wages for America’s already-struggling families by encouraging the importation of cheap foreign labor rather than investing, developing and growing a domestic workforce that will sustain our economy far into the future."
Hunter also said border enforcement must be first and it must be comprehensive. "To do otherwise is to repeat the mistakes of the past. This Senate bill is bad for Americans, bad for our workers, bad for law enforcement and, most importantly, bad for national security."

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CNN Lou Dobbs

video: Mexican Drug Violence Spills Over into U.S. - Governors Want More Border Patrol Agents

Felipe Calderon, the president of Mexico is trying very hard to deal with an out of control illegal drug industry in his country. The war between the drug cartels and Mexican troops is escalating; the toll from what has been an especially violent week, includes government officials, soldiers, journalists and innocent civilians. Some of the violence spreading to our side of the border. Just 20 miles south of the Arizona border, the deadliest battle so far in Mexico's war against the drug cartels that control much of the country. Twenty two people in the Sonoran town of Cananea are dead after federal troops stormed a ranch. Fifteen drug cartel members, five policeman and two civilians. In the capital, gunman assassinated Jose Lugo, a top anti-narcotics official in the attorney general's office. The Mexican government's response has been to deploy 22,000 federal troops to battle drug traffickers nationwide. Still, violence is escalating. Kidnappings occur regularly, including this week's abduction of a Mexican television news crew. So far this year more than a thousand people have been killed by drug cartels according to Mexican media reports. And the violence is spreading to U.S. border communities. The governors of Arizona and New Mexico wrote President Bush this week demanding more Border Patrol agents.

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CNN Lou Dobbs

video: Criticism of Immigration Reform Bill Rising - From All Sides

The Bush administration's effort to the impose pro-amnesty legislation on American citizens tonight facing an uncertain future at best. That so-called grand bargain on comprehensive immigration reform is facing already blistering criticism, even from members of the pro-illegal alien lobby. At the same time, there is rising criticism of one of the bill's key provisions, an electronic system that would verify new hires. A pilot program already in use is a failure. The bill would give illegal students tuition advantages denied to American citizens. Illegal aliens would be given immediate legal status through a Z visa. They can bring in their children, spouses and parents, and eventually seek a green card and citizenship. A guest worker program allows an additional 400,000 low-skilled workers into the United States. The draft bill also has lots of loopholes and waivers. For example, the Department of Homeland Security secretary can approve a waiver to allow illegal aliens to bring in additional family members for humanitarian purposes or to ensure family unity. Rosemary Jenks of NumbersUSA said: "For just about every rule there is a massive exception. The exception a lot of times is big bigger than the rule. So, yes, there are loopholes everywhere you look in the bill."

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CNN Lou Dobbs

video: Qualification for In-State College Tuition - Students Must be in U.S. Illegally

A component of the illegal immigration compromise could reward tens of thousands of illegal alien students in this country. The bill could give illegal aliens an advantage denied American citizens who are struggling to pay high college tuition costs. The Dream Act, a fast track to a green card and in-state tuition for students in the country illegally, is now alive in the Senate immigration deal. It's meant for students like these whose parents brought them here illegally as children. But there are serious concerns the Dream Act gives illegal aliens discounted tuition that other Americans don't get. Kris Kobach of the Immigration Reform Law Institute said: "It discriminates against those students who are here lawfully. Indeed, under the terms of the state statutes, and under the terms of the Dream Act, in order to qualify for the benefits, you have to be illegally present in the country."

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CNN Lou Dobbs

video: Current Employer Verification System Cannot Handle Massive New Load

The new so-called comprehensive immigration reform compromise would require employers to ensure all employees have the right to work in this country legally. But it appears the computer system under this government proposal is riddled with considerable problems, from prone to frequent errors, to simply won't work. Right now with 16,000 employers signed up to use the system, critics say it has an error rate of about 11 percent. The Basic Pilot cannot detect when a worker is using documents and information that belong to someone else. Case in point, although Swift & Company meat packing participated in Basic Pilot, recent immigration raids of to their plants netted more than 1,000 illegal workers. The program is being upgraded to give employers photos to help with verification, but so far critics are unimpressed. They say Basic Pilot cannot do the job.

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