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Immigration Tag

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on August 02, 2015 64 Comments
While Jeb's Telemundo interview this week has been getting attention for his statements about amnesty immigration reform, there is another interesting tidbit in there about Iran that sheds some light on his push back against Mike Huckabee's comments evoking the Holocaust. Personally, I'm not surprised that Jeb is promising action on immigration reform to Spanish-speaking audiences; he promises the same thing to English-speaking audiences and has been quite defiant about maintaining his position throughout the primary. Here's a transcript (translated from Spanish) of part of the immigration portion of the interview:
José Díaz-Balart: How do we resolve the problem of 11 million undocumented and what do you think is the formula for the border to be secured and deal with those those people who are here and contribute to the economy with their hard work? Jeb Bush: Look, first of all, to arrive here legally has to be easier than to arrive here illegally. So one must have a commitment with a border, and JUST as important, there’s 40 percent of the undocumented that arrived  here legally, that have a legal visa and they overstayed  And they don’t go back. We must have a plan to solve that. It’s not the most complicated thing in our country, we can do it. We can accomplish it. But for the 11 million people, I believe that they come from out of the shadows they get a work permit, they pay taxes naturally, they pay small fine they, learn English. They don’t get benefits from the federal government, but they come out of the shadows. And they obtain a legal status after some time. I believe that’s the place where one could obtain consensus to solve this problem.

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 28, 2015 15 Comments
This might be funny if it wasn't such a serious subject. Earlier this month, as a fashion photo shoot was taking place on Miami Beach, a boat carrying illegal immigrants approached the beach, and the passengers proceeded to run onto and across the beach. The incident was captured on video which you can watch below. Obviously, a border fence wouldn't have prevented this incident. In fact, this is the way immigrants from Haiti, Cuba and other countries came to America for years. This shows that immigration enforcement is not just about a fence or the land border. Joe Saunders reported at BizPac Review:
Caught on video: Gang of brazen illegal aliens swarms Miami beach, interrupt modeling shoot Videographer Ekaterina Juskowski told the News Times Broward-Palm Beach she was shooting video of a model friend about 6 a.m. July 10 when a boat started approaching shore quickly. Thinking it was simply scuba divers, she said, she turned off her camera – but turned it back on when she saw the men pouring off the vessel, out of the surf and onto the sand.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 23, 2015 20 Comments
On Wednesday, July 22, 2015, I was on a panel at the Annual Meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).  Keynote speakers at the Annual Meeting include Scott Walker and Ted Cruz. The topic of my panel was Freedom of Thought in Higher Education. The panel chair was Utah State Senator Howard Stephenson, and fellow panelists Dr. Peter Wood, President of the National Association of Scholars, and Robert Shibley, Executive Director of The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). The panel was the best attended workshop of the day, with over 100 attendees, mostly state legislators. [caption id="attachment_135470" align="alignnone" width="600"]William A. Jacobson Cornell ALEC Annual Meeting 2015 [L-R - Robert Shibley, Peter Wood, Howard Stephenson, William Jacobson][/caption]My portion focused on the anti-Israel academic boycott and broader boycott movement (BDS). About one-third of the more than 100 mostly state legislators in attendance had heard of BDS. I covered the history of BDS, which was created at the anti-Semitic 2001 Durban Conference, and how systematic academic boycotts pose systemic risk which is appropriate for narrowly tailored legislation that protects the system without unduly infringing on academic freedom and free speech. I discussed, among other things, my challenge to the tax exempt status of the American Studies Association.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 20, 2015 56 Comments
During the summer of 2013, we began to see immigration amnesty activists use the Why do you want to deport my daddy? tactic against Republicans. The tactic involves sending children to confront candidates -- with the video rolling. It all was a set up, in the hope the candidate would do something stupid or mean. Most famously, Speaker John Boehner was confronted by well-coached children while eating at his usual breakfast spot: A similar confrontation just happened to Scott Walker, and it was all a set up by a "social justice" activist group seeking to stop deportations. The Washington Post reports, Scott Walker tells undocumented worker that immigrants must follow the law:

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on July 18, 2015 23 Comments
Following the Chattanooga terror attack, the media seems confused about what had happened or at least why it had happened. Ted Cruz, however, experiences no such confusion and issued a powerful statement.
“In the wake of this vicious attack on our nation we need to rid ourselves of two dangerous delusions, first and foremost that a ‘lone gunman’–as President Obama described the shooter–is somehow isolated from the larger threat of radical Islamic terrorism. In the modern world, no one acts in isolation. Through social media ISIS, al Qaida, and other groups are infiltrating our nation with impunity while our government will not even admit that radical Islamic terrorism is a problem. “The second delusion is that this attack is somehow isolated from previous episodes, notably those in Little Rock, Arkansas and Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009—both of which were attacks on American military facilities. The Obama administration was woefully reluctant to call either an act of radical Islamic terrorism, instead suggesting ‘workplace violence’ as a justification for the killings. Finally, after years of effort, the victims of Fort Hood were properly recognized as victims of attacks by foreign terrorists when they received Purple Hearts on April 15, 2015. Likewise, the victim of the Little Rock attack received a Purple Heart on July 1, 2015.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 15, 2015 13 Comments
Obama has received justified criticism for not giving a statement about the killing of Kate Steinle in San Francisco by an illegal immigrant who had a long criminal record and had been deported five times. The silence stands in contrast to Obama issuing statements and otherwise commenting on the death of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and others. That criticism comes mostly from conservative media. The mainstream media has slightly touched the story, but nowhere near as extensively as other cases. Surely, with all the criticism, at least one reporter at today's press conference would have asked a question about Kate's murder. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/kate-steinle-killed-felon-san-francisco-laid-rest-article-1.2287802 The press conference primarily addressed the Iran nuclear deal, but other issues were raised towards the end, including prison reform, revoking Bill Cosby's Medal of Freedom, and Obama's upcoming trip to Kenya.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 13, 2015 10 Comments
At this point, the Obama administration silence on the murder of Kate Steinle by an illegal immigrant with a long criminal record who had been deported five times is even more deafening. They just don't care. Kate Steinle isn't important to Obama. Because there's no political gain in Obama's base on this issue, or the issue of sanctuary cities. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/kate-steinle-killed-felon-san-francisco-laid-rest-article-1.2287802 Sad. Pathetic, actually. Kate's brother spoke out on The Kelly File tonight:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 13, 2015 64 Comments
I have a column posted at National Review, Trump’s Lesson: Voters Are Furious about Illegal Immigration As I've told readers before, I write elsewhere from time to time in order to gain exposure to new audiences. For this post, I particularly wanted it at National Review because it would speak to an audience for whom the Republican primaries and illegal immigration matter. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/421077/trumps-lesson-illegal%20immigration-makes-voters-furious Here is an excerpt:
But something happened on the way to the denunciations and purges [of Trump]. Kate Steinle was murdered in San Francisco, a sanctuary city. Steinle was killed in broad daylight on a popular pedestrian pier in a business and tourist district, by an illegal immigrant with a long criminal record who had been deported five times and recently was released from custody....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 11, 2015 14 Comments
Kate Steinle was killed by an illegal immigrant who had been deported at least 5 times and had a lengthy criminal record. That's an inconvenient fact for the Obama administration, apparently, because unlike in numerous other cases of interracial violence, for Kate Steinle the President had no words of comfort. Megyn Kelly made that point, and it is devastating: Here was White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest two days ago when asked about sanctuary cities. Can you find an actual answer in his answers?

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 11, 2015 1 Comment
Ann Coulter's new book Adios, America! is currently number two on the New York Times bestsellers list. It is her eleventh book to reach such a distinction. She recently sat down for an interview with John Phillips of PJTV, and if you watch the video below, you'll hear Ann explain the book's success despite a blackout from many mainstream media outlets. Coulter speaks at length about immigration, legal and illegal, as a political issue and claims that American media has largely decided that the debate is settled and doesn't want people to even think about it. She points out how bad amnesty would be for the country and doesn't limit her criticism to Democrats. Fans of Marco Rubio should consider themselves warned.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on July 09, 2015 38 Comments
The presiding federal Judge in Texas vs. United States Andrew Hanen is not playing around. Wednesday, Judge Hanen threatened to hold Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson in contempt of court. Under Johnson's watch, and after Judge Hanen blocked President Obama's immigration overreach, approximately 2,000 individuals "erroneously" received work permits. To date, Johnson has yet to correct the mistake to Judge Hanen's satisfaction. The Associated Press reports:
A federal judge in Texas has threatened to hold Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and other top immigration enforcement officials in contempt of court for not fixing problems that led to work permits being mistakenly awarded under President Barack Obama's executive immigration action after the judge had put the plan on hold. The Justice Department had said about 2,000 individuals had been sent three-year work authorizations after U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, Texas, temporarily blocked the immigration action on Feb. 16. In a court order Tuesday, Hanen said government officials have yet to fix the problem. The judge also requested Johnson and four other officials attend an Aug. 19 hearing to explain why the issue hasn't been fixed and to "be prepared to show why he or she should not be held in contempt of court."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on July 09, 2015 54 Comments
Donald Trump thought it was a good idea to pick a fight with former Texas Governor Rick Perry, apparently. "Failed at the border" is a pretty serious charge, and one that the good Gov decided to address. "Hey Donald, I saw your tweet the other day but I think you might need to borrow my glasses to get a good look at the steps I took to secure the border while I was the Governor of Texas. I cant support what you said, but no one knows the concern Americans have about our porous border than I do."

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 03, 2015 11 Comments
The Obama administration has received sharp rebukes from federal trial and appeals courts for his post-election plan to grant DREAM Act-like status through administrative rules.   That plan, which would have granted de facto amnesty to approximately 5 million people, now is on hold until further argument this month in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. But under the radar, Obama has been accomplishing a more sweeping de facto amnesty through deliberate non-enforcement of the deportation laws.   This has not receive a lot of attention, as the nation went from one social crisis to another over the past few months. Baltimore - Charleston - Confederate Flag - Gay Marriage - Obamacare. All those and more have dominated the media and political attention for months. The Washington Post just published a report on the major policy shift deliberately, Obama administration scales back deportations in policy shift:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 29, 2015 19 Comments
The Supreme Court today refused to accept a case which sought to allow states to supplement a federal voter registration form so as to require proof of citizenship to vote. Such proof is particularly important given how freely many states are handing out drivers licenses to illegal immigrants, and the Obama administration's unilateral implementation of quasi-amnesty deferrals (some of which were stopped in court). It's just not enough anymore that someone is here legally (or at least, is not being deported). The Petition for Certiorari and other filings in Kobach v. United States Election Assistance Commission are here. The 10th Circuit decision is here. ScotusBlog summarized the issues:
Issue: (1) Whether Article I, Section 2 and the Seventeenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution require the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to defer to the states’ determination that provision of documentary evidence of citizenship is necessary to enforce the states’ voter qualifications; and (2) whether Article I, Section 2 and the Seventeenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution permit a dual voter rolls system in which some voters who are qualified to vote for federal office holders are not also qualified to vote for those “in the most numerous branch of the state legislature.”
Bloomberg Politics reports on the development:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 20, 2015 12 Comments
As with most Ann Coulter books, her new volume Adios, America! has liberals in a twist. Here's the book's self-description:
Ann Coulter is back, more fearless than ever. In Adios, America she touches the third rail in American politics, attacking the immigration issue head-on and flying in the face of La Raza, the Democrats, a media determined to cover up immigrants' crimes, churches that get paid by the government for their "charity," and greedy Republican businessmen and campaign consultants—all of whom are profiting handsomely from mass immigration that's tearing the country apart. Applying her trademark biting humor to the disaster that is U.S. immigration policy, Coulter proves that immigration is the most important issue facing America today.
Adios America Cover Media Matters quickly developed the meme for attacking the book:

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 31, 2015 19 Comments
According to a recent poll from Rasmussen, a shockingly high number of Democrats think that non-citizens should be allowed to vote in America's elections:
Most Democrats Think Illegal Immigrants Should Vote Are voters ready to let illegal immigrants vote? A sizable number, including most Democrats, are. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that one-out-of-three Likely U.S. Voters (35%) now believes that illegal immigrants should be allowed to vote if they can prove they live in this country and pay taxes. Sixty percent (60%) disagree, while five percent (5%) are undecided. Fifty-three percent (53%) of Democrats think tax-paying illegal immigrants should have the right to vote. Twenty-one percent (21%) of Republicans and 30% of voters not affiliated with either major political party agree.
The reason so many Democrats support this idea is obvious. It would increase their voter ranks immensely. It's stunning that any Republican would agree with such an idea.

Posted by Amy Miller on May 26, 2015 17 Comments
Today the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request filed by DOJ attorneys to lift an order banning the implementation of President Obama's "executive amnesty" plan. In their ruling, the court held that a previous injunction put in place by U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen would remain in place---because the federal government was "unlikely to succeed on the merits of its appeal for the injunction." Translation? They've got nothing. This isn't a final ruling, but the 42 pages of the decision contain a thorough takedown of the challenge to the injunction, as well as a discussion on the merits of the states' case against the federal government. When addressing the matter of the "public interest," the Court sides decisively with the states (and teases out a major inconsistency in the government's reasoning):
The last factor, “where the public interest lies,” id. (quoting Nken, 556 U.S. at 426), leans in favor of the states. The government identifies several important interests: It claims a stay would improve public safety and national security, provide humanitarian relief to the family members of citizens and lawful permanent residents, and increase tax revenue for state and local gov- ernments. To the contrary, however, and only by way of example, on March 16, 2015, the Attorney General, in opposing a motion to stay removal in an unre- lated action, argued to this very panel that “granting a stay of removal . . . would impede the government’s interest in expeditiously . . . controlling immi- gration into the United States.” Presumably, by referring to “the government’s interest,” the United States is referring to “the public interest.”

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 21, 2015 10 Comments
Obama's executive amnesty fiasco seems to get messier by the week. In early May, the DOJ filed a document disclosing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, (USCIS) had "erroneously" issued 2,000 work permits were issued despite the temporary injunction prohibiting their dispersal. "The government sincerely regrets these circumstances and is taking prompt corrective steps, while gathering additional information about these issues, including how these errors occurred," wrote the DOJ. Yesterday, Texas accused the Justice Department of running interference for the Department of Homeland Security who flubbed Obama's executive amnesty edict. Lead by Texas' Attorney General Ken Paxton, Texas requested proof that executive amnesty has in fact, halted. "In today’s filing with the federal district court, the states argued for increased oversight of the administration's compliance with the court's injunction, and for the opportunity to look into whether the defendants should be sanctioned for their misrepresentations to the court," said a statement from Paxton's office. According to Paxton, “the newly-revealed admission that even more expanded work permits were granted to 2,000 illegal immigrants raises serious questions about the Obama Administration’s reliability moving forward. Increased oversight is needed to hold the federal government accountable for its apparent inability to report accurate information to the court.”
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