So I guess it's... open our doors, let everybody in.. and worry
about it later?
Goodbye USA as we used to know it!
Get rid of these legislators!!
Senate
Committee defeats all amendments to
substantially improve enforcement and the
bill...
The
Senate Judiciary Committee is about a third of
the way through its markup of the Gang of
Eight's amnesty bill, S.744, and after three
long markups and about 80 amendments considered,
the bill remains Amnesty First,
Enforcement Maybe Later. Read Roy's
blog for more details
On
Thursday, there were multiple opportunities
to make E-Verify more e ffective. Sen. Chuck
Grassley introduced two amendments that would
have: 1) required mandatory use of E-Verify by
all employers within 18 months and 2) delayed
the preemption clause allowing states that have
passed mandatory E-Verify laws to continue
enforcing them. Both amendments were rejected
by the Committee.
During
Tuesday's
markup, most of the attention centered
around an amendment offered by Sen. Jeff
Sessions that would have reduced the number of
green cards granted in the bill's first 10 years
from about 33 million to 23 million -- still
double the number of green cards issued over the
last 10 ye ars. Sen. Sessions was the only 'yes'
vote; the other 17 Senators on the committee all
voted 'no.' Read more about the Sessions'
amendment in my
blog.
The
committee did accept a handful of amendments
that were improvements but generally around the
margins and of minor consequence compared with
the whole bill. And the committee also rejected
a few amendments that would have made the bill
even worse.
Here's a list of the
noteworthy amendments from the two markups this
week:
Sessions #4 -
Requires completion of biometric entry-exit
system at all ports of entry -- defeated
Grassley #67
- Requires annual audits of at least 1% of all
firms receiving H-1B or L visas --- defeated
Cruz #5 -
Increases the number of annual H-1B visas from
110,000 to 325,000 -- defeated
Grassley #60
- Requires companies to make a good-faith effort
to hire Americans before applying for H-1B visas
-- defeated
Sessions #13
- Requires aliens who may be a threat to
national security to have an in-person interview
when applying for a visa -- passed
Grassley #69
- Strengthen requirements for Student Exchange
Visitors Program -- passed
Sessions #6 -
Prevent amendments to the visa waiver program
from taking effect until biometric exit-entry
system is completed -- defeated
Grassley #77
- Requires data from student and exchange
visitor program transferred to Border Patrol --
passed
Franken #2 -
Requires Inspector General to conduct annual
audits of E-Verify rate -- passed
Grassley #31
-- Requires USCIS to create a weekly re port of
E-Verify nonconfirmations and send to ICE --
passed
Coons #1 -
Require USCIS to contact individual when they're
run through E-Verify -- passed
Grassley #38
- Allows parents/guardians to lock their
children's Social Security numbers -- passed
Grassley #34
- Modify definition of identity theft to include
making up a SS number -- defeated
The
committee gets back to work on Monday and hopes
to pass it before the Memorial week recess, so
the full Senate can take it up in June.
Six House Reps. Denounce Gang of Eight Amnesty Bill
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) was joined by five other House Members on Tuesday denouncing the Senate Gang of Eight's amnesty bill, S.744. Rep. King was joined on the steps of the Capitol by Reps. Mo Brooks of Alabama, John Fleming of Louisiana, Paul Gosar of Arizona, and Steve Stockman and Louie Gohmert of Texas. The six Congressmen said they were concerned about the huge negative impact an amnesty for 11 million illegal aliens would have on the national debt, and they said they stood by the rule of law.The press conference took place as the Senate Judiciary Committee was continuing its markup of the Gang of Eight's bill.
"The 844 page bill, over in the Senate, whether amended or not, in what ways we can anticipate it might be, is still a terrible idea if you look at it from an economic perspective," said Rep. King. "At no stage in their lives does the Universe of those who would receive amnesty make a net financial contribution to this country. At no stage, not a single year, out of all those years. That's off of The Heritage Foundation's Report, Robert Rector's Report, which many of you will be familiar with.
"It destroys the Rule of Law. And the Rule of Law is an essential pillar of American exceptionalism. Many people come here because of equal justice under the law. If we reward people who break the law, they are unlikely to raise their children to respect it. The Rule of Law, at least with regard to immigration, would be destroyed."
While the Senate Committee was overwhelmingly opposing an amendment offered by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) that proposed to reduce the massive increases in green cards that would be granted under the Gang's bill, Rep. Brooks was saying that the U.S. couldn't open it's doors to every person in the world.
"In each of the past five years, 620,000 to 1.05 million foreigners have been given American citizenship," Rep. Brooks said. "No country on earth comes close to being as generous as America is with its citizenship.
"The immigration issue is not about whether America is compassionate and generous. We are. The immigration issue is about whether America has the financial resources to accept all the world's immigrants into America. There are hundreds of millions of foreigners who, if they could, would immigrate to America."
To watch the full press conference, click here.
