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Amnesty, shamnesty. Delayed in the Senate (Bumped)
I originally title this "Dead" in the Senate but after reading more I've realized that was too optimistic.
Continued from Amnesty, shamnesty. Maybe it'll die in the Senate -- Part 2
Below the fold:
- Senate puts off immigration action
- Catch-and-release still rules
- Senate to open debate on immigration bill
- Critics in Senate Vow to Alter Immigration Bill
- Immigration Compromise Faces New Opposition
- Mending and Amending
- Editorial: No to amnesty for illegal aliens
- Opposition Grows Along With Amendments to Senate Immigration Bill
- The Amnesty Fraud
- Sex Slavery Ring Exploited Illegals
- Fred Thompson predicts immigration reform bill will fail
- Border Patrol: No border fence in Texas until 2008
- Measure to remove guest worker program from bill fails
*** *** *** Fold (but please don't spindle or mutilate) *** *** ***
Senate puts off immigration action
By Julie Hirschfeld Davis (H/T: Don Surber)
WASHINGTON - Senate leaders agreed Monday that they would wait until June to take final action on a bipartisan plan to give millions of unlawful immigrants legal status.
The measure, which also tightens border security and workplace enforcement measures, unites a group of influential liberals, centrists and conservatives and has White House backing, but it has drawn criticism from across the political spectrum. In a nod to that opposition, Senate leaders won't seek to complete it before a hoped-for Memorial Day deadline.
"It would be to the best interests of the Senate ... that we not try to finish this bill this week," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., as the chamber began debate on the volatile issue. "I think we could, but I'm afraid the conclusion wouldn't be anything that anyone wanted."
The bipartisan compromise cleared its first hurdle Monday with a bipartisan Senate vote to begin debate on a separate immigration measure. Still, it faces significant obstacles as lawmakers seek dozens of modifications to its key elements. ...
The White House has begun an active lobbying effort to drum up support for the measure, especially among Republicans who voted against an immigration overhaul last year.
President Bush is still hoping to sign the bill by summer's end, said Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman. ...
Read the whole thing. We just won an important skirmish but the war's far from over.
Catch-and-release still rules
Michelle Malkin
Yeah, yeah, DHS and the White House say they've ended catch-and-release policies for illegal aliens. Here's a reality check from a West Virginia law enforcement official: It is not the number of illegal immigrants that concerns Burgoyne and Bise as much as it is the way the federal government treats them.
In each of the 98 cases in Ohio County, representatives of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Pittsburgh have identified each individual as illegal, set a court date, and then released them.
"And what do you think the odds of them showing up for that court hearing, especially since most of them are set two years down the road?" [Ohio County Sheriff Tom] Burgoyne said. "One time we arrested four illegal immigrants, and they were sent to ICE in Pittsburgh. After their hearing with ICE, they were set free so they took a taxi back to Wheeling so they could look for their car.
"They even came to my house after asking around, 'Where does the sheriff live?' But when I asked them if they would be back in this area for their court date, they just all smiled real big and said, 'Si, senor,'" he said. "I'm sure most of these folks are hardworking people who are just trying to survive, but the laws are the laws."
Reader Rob Ives sent me an e-mail along similar lines: ...
Update and bump. Original timestamp 2007.05.21.21:36
I'm not sure what to make of this next one, which seems to contradict the item I linked at the top of this post. I guess maybe it ain't really over till the fat lady goes back to Mexico. Senate to open debate on immigration bill
By Stephen Dinan, The Washington Times
The Senate voted yesterday to begin debate on an immigration-reform bill, turning aside objections from senators who said the legislation is being rushed and acting even as Senate offices were being flooded with calls and faxes urging the deal be blocked.
Immediately after the 69-23 vote to proceed to the bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that he will extend the debate an extra week -- a concession to Republicans, but also an indication that he is committed to producing a bill this year rather than forcing a stalemate.
"If we put rhetoric aside, we have the opportunity to pass a law that treats people fairly and strengthens our economy," he said, even as he acknowledged that he has doubts about parts of the bill, which most senators saw for the first time yesterday. ...
The Bush administration and a group of senators had been meeting in private for months to write the bill and announced the deal Thursday, drawing an immediate flood of calls, faxes and e-mails telling lawmakers to scuttle the agreement.
It wasn't long before those calls bore fruit.
"Already by Friday afternoon, we had some of the Republican offices calling us and saying: 'Would you tell your members we're definitely going to vote no, and will you call off the phone calls?' " said Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, which has deemed the bill an amnesty for illegal aliens and whose members already have sent 185,000 faxes to Senate offices.
Groups on both sides of the issue are unhappy with the bill. Some are demanding that the legislation be killed, while others are urging lawmakers to try to fix it on the Senate floor.
One of the first amendments, from Sen. Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico Democrat, will cut the proposed guest-worker program in half from 400,000 new workers, Mr. Reid said.
That vote, which could take place today, will be the first test of the fragile coalition backing the bill. ...
I would have posted nice excerpts from these about 1:30 this morning if TypePad hadn't decided to take an extended break. Got some catchin' up to do. Just read 'em:
Editorial: No to amnesty for illegal aliens
Don Surber
I have never used this space to promo a Daily Mail editorial.
Well, there is a first time for everything.
Today’s lead editorial is “No to amnesty for illegal aliens“: AMERICA is a nation of immigrants. True. It is also a nation that follows the rule of law. Congress has passed laws regarding immigration. Those who cannot obey those laws are not wanted.
The editorial goes on to quote Fred Thompson, Shelley Moore Capito and Robert C. Byrd.
If anyone thinks West Virginia is not affected by the Bush administration’s refusal to enforce immigration laws, they have another think coming. On Monday, the Daily Mail had story about problems with the border in Wheeling: ...
Opposition Grows Along With Amendments to Senate Immigration Bill
WASHINGTON — Less than a week after touting a breakthrough on a new immigration reform bill, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle on Tuesday started tearing apart the original proposal on how to handle the 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States.
The bill's future is unclear after the Senate test vote late Monday garnered the 60 votes needed for lawmakers to begin debating the 1,000-page document but Senate leaders agreed to postpone finishing the legislation until next month.
Opposition to the bill, which many senators complain has only just made it in final form into their inboxes, is coming from the right and left. Normal allies of comprehensive immigration reform, pro-immigrant groups and many business consortiums are looking askance at the legislation. Not one union group has voiced support for it.
Some Republicans call the bill amnesty with a renewable visa system while some Democrats oppose the proposal that makes skills and education more important than family ties.
The Senate on Tuesday will take up a handful of amendments to the bill from Republicans and Democrats.
Some of those amendments are being offered by:
— Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., who wants to cut the temporary worker program in half to 200,000 per year;
— Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who wants to make English the official language of the United States and prevent entry if an immigrant can't pass the current English proficiency test;
— Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who propose killing the guest worker program;
— Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who wants to allow federal law enforcement to use information from immigrant visa applications in investigations;
— Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Robert Menendez, D-N.J., who want to give more weight to families for earning green cards; and
— Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who plans to speak against the bill for a few hours Tuesday morning with votes on amendments expected in the afternoon.
In a nod to that opposition, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid conceded that the Senate won't be able to complete the bill before a hoped-for Memorial Day deadline. ...
The Amnesty Fraud
By Thomas Sowell
Nothing is more common than political "solutions" to immediate problems which create much bigger problems down the road. The current immigration bill in the Senate is a classic example.
The big talking point of those who want to legalize the illegal immigrants currently in the United States is to say that it is "unrealistic" to round up and deport 12 million people.
Back in 1986 it was "unrealistic" to round up and deport the 3 million illegal immigrants in the United States then. So they were given amnesty -- honestly labeled, back then -- which is precisely why there are now 12 million illegal immigrants.
As a result of the current amnesty bill -- not honestly labeled, this time -- will it be "unrealistic" to round up and deport 40 million or 50 million illegal immigrants in the future?
If the current immigration bill is as "realistic" as its advocates claim, why is it being rushed through the Senate faster than a local zoning ordinance could be passed?
We are, after all, talking about a major and irreversible change in the American population, the American culture, and the American political balance. Why is there no time to talk about it?
Are its advocates afraid that the voting public might discover what a fraud it is? The biggest fraud is denying that this is an amnesty bill. ...
Sex Slavery Ring Exploited Illegals
Ed Morrissey
Federal, state, and local authorities busted a sex-slavery ring here in Minneapolis last night, arresting at least 25 people and closing down eight brothels. The women involved all appear to have been illegal immigrants exploited by coyotes for their pimping business: The women came mostly from Mexico and Central America.
When they arrived in Minnesota, the women had their passports and other identifying documents taken away and they were forced into a world of prostitution. In one night, two women serviced more than 80 men in a south Minneapolis house.
On Monday, in what might be one of the biggest such cases in Minnesota, 25 people were charged in federal court with running eight brothels. Eighteen of the suspects are illegal immigrants, according to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court.
This is a horrific case, and one which points out the need for strong border control. The men conned the women into crossing the border, and then they took advantage of their illegal status to force them into prostitution. The pimps forced one woman to service over 40 men in a single night. ...
This shows that border security affects the entire country. Minnesota sits 1,500 miles from the southern border, and yet the Star Tribune notes that human trafficking is a rising problem here. Last year, the legislature discovered that 43% of human service agencies in the state had provided assistance to victims of human trafficking -- and yet no one had ever been charged with the crime, at least until now.
Regardless of whether one agrees that normalization should accompany border security, the need for border control seems rather obvious. ...
Fred Thompson predicts immigration reform bill will fail
CHICAGO - The immigration reform bill worked out late last week by Senate Republicans and Democrats likely will fail, former senator and possible presidential candidate Fred Thompson said here Sunday.
Thompson, speaking at the National Restaurant Association annual show, said the bill will not win the support of the American people because they don't trust senators' promises to block illegal immigrants from crossing the Mexican border into the U.S.
"Nobody believes them. It goes to the bigger issue of the lack of credibility our government has these days," said Thompson, who was greeted with hoots and applause from the 2,300 convention attendees who filled a ballroom at the McCormick Place convention center. Thompson also was harshly critical of China, saying the military and economic threat the country poses is among the critical issues - along with untamed growth in entitlement spending - that are not being dealt with while the U.S. is fixated on the war in Iraq.
"I call it 'The Day After Iraq,' " Thompson said. "It's not a pretty picture." ...
Border Patrol: No border fence in Texas until 2008
James Osborne (Hat tip: Michelle Malkin)
McALLEN — Seventy miles of border fence will be built by the end of the year, but none of it in Texas, U.S. Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar told local officials on Monday.
“One 34-mile section will be built in Arizona in the Barry M. Goldwater range (a U.S. military artillery range in the southwest corner of that state),” he said.
“Several other chunks will be built in New Mexico, California and in other parts of Arizona. They’re seeing a combination of illegal incursions, and we will address these areas of vulnerability first.”
The rest of the 370 miles of proposed fence, which includes 135 miles in Texas, is still in the design phase but won’t be built until the end of 2008, the nation’s top border patrol official said.
Aguilar’s comments came three weeks after a U.S. Department of Homeland Security map laying out the future sites of the fence was leaked to the media, infuriating local officials up and down the border who said they’d been left out of the loop.
Since that time, Border Patrol and other federal agencies have called the map “preliminary” and participated in a series of public information sessions assuring leaders they will have a say when it comes to construction of the fence.
Measure to remove guest worker program from bill fails
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate on Tuesday defeated a measure that would have eliminated a guest worker program from the bipartisan immigration legislation announced last week.
The amendment, introduced by North Dakota Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan, was rejected with a 64-31 vote.
The immigration bill would offer the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants now in the United States a path to citizenship, boost border controls and establish a guest worker program that would grant two-year residency for up to 400,000 people.
It is the result of a deal struck after nearly three months of bipartisan talks and was endorsed by the White House last week.
But some Democrats don't like the guest worker program because they think it drives down wages for American workers and creates a permanent underclass of immigrant workers. ...
The Senate still has to debate and vote on an amendment being offered by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-New Mexico. His proposal would cut the guest worker program in half.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, one of the negotiators who crafted the agreement, said a similar measure to the Bingaman amendment passed last year with 79 votes.
Graham said passage of the amendment "would throw things out of kilter but not completely off track." ...
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