Worst way to legislate; Amnesty or Anarchy? Navajo sovereignty; "Immigrants" + Welfare = True Love; Senate to "immigrant" felons: Mi casa = su casa

forthecause.us

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CNN Lou Dobbs - video:

Senate Immigration Reform Proposal Called a "Boondoggle" by Senator Coburn

The grand compromise on illegal immigration has a lot of Republicans and Democrats turning their back on both President Bush and their Senate leadership. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) is among those Republicans. And two leading authorities on our illegal immigration crisis. He said: "I think any time a piece of legislation comes together so fast and is written so fast, it is going to be full of errors, full of problems and people are just now starting to digest the piece of legislation and we are talking about cutting off amendments and cutting off debate. So it is the worst way to legislate. There should have been more hearings. We have had this as an open process. It should have gone through committee. It did not and coming to the floor it is kind of a boondoggle."

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CNN Lou Dobbs - video:

GOP Presidential Candidates Break from Bush on Immigration Reform

Illegal immigration was a central topic of the recent presidential debate. The candidates' responses demonstrated the sharp divide in the GOP when it comes to illegal immigration and what to do about it. Most of the candidates seemed eager to prove they don't support the amnesty legislation or the president. Senator John McCain defended immigration legislation his colleagues called disastrous, a bad bill, and a mistake. He said: "This is isn't the bill that I would have written, but it does satisfy our national security challenges, which are severe and intense. And we cannot allow 12 million people marching around America illegally, my friends." Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney drew applause when he said: "...enforce the law as it exists. The law that was passed in 1986..." Rudy Giuliani said: "The problem with this immigration plan is it has no real unifying purpose. It's a typical Washington mess." Among Republicans, all want English as the official language, with McCain qualifying his position, citing Navajo sovereignty in his state and Arizona's long history of "...a different culture, a different language which has enriched my state, where Spanish was spoken before English was."

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CNN Lou Dobbs - video:

Senate Debate on Immigration Reform Offers Boils Down to Only Two Choices: Amnesty or Anarchy

Some pro-amnesty senators are blatantly using scare tactics to defeat opponents of the grand compromise. One of those senators even raising fears of anarchy if the Senate doesn't pass the so-called comprehensive immigration reform bill. The strategy apparently is designed to block consideration of any other plan to deal with the immigration crisis. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) said a few weeks ago: "It is not amnesty. This will restore the rule of law. Without legislation, we will have anarchy." In an effort to drum up support, the architects of the Senate immigration bill have cast the debate in very narrow terms -- amnesty or anarchy. Critics say supporters are resorting to scare tactics and fearmongering and ignoring other options on the table. Rosemary Jenks of NumbersUSA said: "There's opposition from the left, there's opposition from the right. Basically everyone hates the bill. But they have decided that they would present it as a choice between this bill and the status quo."
[Our take: Sen. Arlen Specter has contributed to the anarchy we have today by tolerating non-enforcement of our nation's immigration laws since the last amnesty in 1986. Now he wants everyone to believe that this flawed Senate bill will restore the rule of law. If we already have laws that are not enforced, where can we expect the political will to come from for enforcing dozens of new laws? Like Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Senator Arlen Specter does not offer an answer to this obvious question. Let's face it, the best days of both men are long gone. At the next opportunity, voters in Arizona and Pennsylvania really need to get serious about retiring both men. The harm they have inflicted on our country is enormous and it has to stop.]

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CNN Lou Dobbs - video:

Senate Votes Down Amendment to Prohibit Felons from Becoming U.S. Citizens

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), an opponent of the immigration measure, said his amendment would close a gaping loophole, one that allows felons to become U.S. citizens. He said: "They blew their chance, and they've shown themselves unworthy of the trust and confidence of the American people when it comes to living among us in compliance with our laws." But supporters of the immigration bill called Cornyn's measure too broad, blocking not only gang members, sex offenders and drunk drivers from becoming citizens, but virtually all illegal immigrants who have committed lesser crimes, like doctoring documents to get work. Cornyn insisted only illegal immigrants already convicted of using false documents would be ineligible for U.S. citizenship.
[Our take: It is clear that amnesty supporters want even convicted felons to be eligible for U.S. citizenship. Those who have falsified documents to obtain jobs, social assistance benefits, and used the real Social Security numbers of others would be eligible for U.S. citizenship. The Senate bill even lets those who have stolen the identities of U.S. citizens to keep their ill-gotten Social Security benefits when they retire. The Senate bill does not specify how all this will be sorted out. Amnesty supporters have never expressed any sympathy for a U.S. citizen whose Social Security number has been stolen and perhaps used by dozens of illegal aliens. There's only one thing that is important -- AMNESTY. Damn the cost and damn anyone who gets in the way!]

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Center for Immigration Studies:

Senate Amnesty Could Strain Welfare System - Newest Data Shows Latin American Immigrants Make Heavy Use of Welfare

As they debate legalization for illegal immigrants, Senators would do well to keep in mind the most recent data on welfare use by the people in question. According to the Department of Homeland Security, nearly 60% of illegal aliens are from Mexico and 80% of the total are from Latin America as a whole. A Center for Immigration Studies analysis of 2006 Census Bureau data, which includes legal and illegal immigrants, shows use of welfare by households headed by Mexican and Latin American immigrants is more than double that of native households.

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CNN Lou Dobbs - video:

Former Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean Still in Federal Prisons - Don't Hold Your Breath for the Promised Congressional Hearing

Former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean remain in federal prisons in Mississippi and Ohio, serving 11 and 12-year sentences for shooting Mexican drug smuggler Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila. But they have not been forgotten by lawmakers considering immigration reform. Presidential candidate Duncan Hunter mentioned the case during the Republican debate. He said: "I've looked at their transcript. I would pardon Compean and Ramos right now." The agents' appeals were filed last month, and each claims at least a dozen errors were made during their trial. They include the trial judge's ruling that prevented jurors from hearing details of Davila's drug-smuggling activity, which continued while he was under immunity from U.S. prosecutors; the mandatory 10-year prison term for using a gun to commit a crime -- that law was intended for drug traffickers, not law enforcement officers -- and the treatment of Border Patrol policy violations as criminal offenses. Both appeals claim that cumulative effect of the errors cast doubt on the fundamental fairness of the agents' trial. Federal prosecutors have 30 days to respond to the appeals but have requested a routine extension.
[Our take: We haven't forgotten last year's promises made by various House members to hold hearings on this case. Of course, no such hearing ever materialized, nor do we expect such a hearing. These agents are virtually alone in their struggle to undue an injustice perpetrated on them by the Bush administration's capitulation to pressure from the Mexican government. This leads us to wonder how Congressional leaders can delude themselves into believing that they will have the political will to enforce dozens of new immigration reform laws when they do not even have the will to correct the misapplication of a law already on the books that has resulted in two innocent men going to jail for carrying out their duties? This should be a red flag... nobody is serious about drug enforcement, border security, crime, or injustice. Amnesty is all that counts and if it invites a new wave of illegal immigration, that's okay too.]