Immigration Tag

The Senate is debating the amended amnesty immigration bill. Technically it's the Leahy amendment as modified by the Hoeven-Corker amendment. A vote is expected around 5:30 p.m. Eastern. UPDATE -- the cloture motion passed by over 60 votes (still awaiting final count). (Apparently several Senators who would vote yes are delayed and not present, so Harry Reid is keeping to vote open to get as many Yes votes as possible to reach the artificial 70 goal.) -- FINAL COUNT 67-27, with 15 GOP yes votes: Corker Ayotte Chiesa [Christie appointee] Collins Flake Graham Hatch Heller Hoeven Kirk McCain Murkowski Alexander Rubio Wicker [live video removed] https://twitter.com/DLoesch/status/349300986961080321 https://twitter.com/robertcostaNRO/status/349300294989004802 https://twitter.com/trscoop/status/349297398411042817 https://twitter.com/DanaBordeaux/status/349294668154023937 https://twitter.com/allahpundit/status/349288583892443138

That's what today's vote on the Corker amended immigration bill is about. The Senate bill cannot pass the House, there's been no public debate and consensus within the Republican Party on the key issues of legalization and citizenship for law-breakers, and most if not all of...

One of the things I learned from Obamacare was that each section of the law could take many hours to understand because of cross-references to other sections and other laws.  Amendments make the problem even greater. Put that problem into a 1000+ page  bill, and it is...

If the bill is so great, why does a liberal business group need to call itself conservative?...

From Jeffrey Lord at The American Spectator, Heritage, Levin Call for Immigration Debate: Paul Ryan issued a challenge. The Heritage Foundation picked up the challenge. Mark Levin wants to see this debate as well. It’s time — past time — for a full and open discussion in the conservative...

I wonder who will give it. So many choices. ...

Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this? Video via Hot Air: But wait, Senate rejects border fence: Senators on Tuesday rejected building the 700 miles of double-tier border fencing Congress authorized just seven years ago, with a majority of the Senate saying they didn’t want...

From Mickey Kaus: “Multiple triggers”/Legalization is immediate. DHS just  has to write border  “plan.”  The most any “triggers” can possibly do is delay green cards  and citizenship. “90 % effectiveness”/ If not reached, triggers only toothless commission. … Also: “90%  effectiveness”–as defined by DHS–is really more like 50%. “Pay back...

While you were watching the Obama Scandals and the NSA leaks, Harry Reid was moving the Gang of 8 immigration bill to a vote. The Gang of 8 got a big boost when Sen. Kelly Ayote endorsed the bill this weekend. But hope is not lost. ...

Supporters of the Gang of 8 bill are going to have to do a lot better at making the argument for amnesty than playing off Marco Rubio's birthday. From a senior executive at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce: In honor of Senator @marcorubio’s birthday, please send a...

On April 25 we wrote about a federal court case which held Obama's DREAM policy unlawful, but reserved decision on whether to issue an injunction,Federal Court finds Obama DREAM policy illegal, but may not require actual deportations:

There are many news reports about the preliminary decision issued by Judge Reed O’Connor in the Northern District of Texas in a lawsuit brought by ICE agents challenging the Obama administration’s administrative DREAM provisions which direct Homeland Security not to commence removal proceedings as to people who meet the criteria. A copy of the decision is embedded at the bottom of this post. Copies of the Amended Complaint and Motion for Preliminary Injunction are at the links. The news accounts tend to overstate the breadth of the opinion. The ruling related only to the initiation of removal proceedings, and would not require any particular prosecutorial diligence once initiated, since that issue was not before the Court. Thus, assuming the Judge finalizes the ruling, the Obama administration would be required to commence removal proceedings, but absent further challenges, could allow Obama to delay actual deportations. The Judge reserved decision on the issue of whether injunctive relief was the proper remedy, and requested further briefing.

Since that time, both the plaintiffs and the government have submitted supplemental briefs arguing for and against, respectively, the issuance of an injunction prohibiting the Obama administration from further implementing the policy. Two private groups have sought to intervene in the case on the side of the government. The U. Texas-Austin student group University Leadership Institute is devoted to supporting "DREAM" policies allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the country, get in-state tuition, and defer deportation.  ULI also seeks changes in the law to support these goals:

ULI has received extensive training from experienced political consultants on effective communication and messaging.  Our thorough knowledge and new training on messaging and communication has permitted us to more effectively reach out to different communities, including religious groups, businesses, students, activists, and politicians.  Our newly formatted messages have proven to be more effective with the mainstream public and have also allowed us to form coalitions with unlikely allies.

The ULI not only seeks to submit a brief supporting the government position, it and certain individual students who have benefitted from the DREAM policy seek to become defendants in the case, which would allow them a

I received an insightful email from reader Karen Sacandy: Dear Professor Jacobson: I'm among your many grateful readers, but at this time, the Democrats are like Thomas Crown in the flick, "The Thomas Crown Affair," who created a distraction over here, while over there, he was stealing...

The Obama administration has turned the immigration laws into a bigger joke than they already were, through administrative decisions not to enforce the laws. Obama unilaterally created rules allowing so-called "Dreamers" to stay under certain conditions, and no surprise, 99.2% of those applying are getting approved.  That policy...