Sunday, May 26, 2013

Gang of 8 Bill Still No Better After Amendments

OFF THE WIRE

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.