Showing posts with label Immigration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Immigration. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

The Merry Band of Chuck Schumer Republicans Keep Pushing the Amnesty Train Down the Tracks

I've got a very basic question for Marco Rubio, John McCain and the rest of the Schumer Republicans: why pass any new immigration law when the current administration won't enforce our existing laws?

Daniel Horowitz at RedState briefs us on the latest Amnesty news from Capitol Hill:

The Senate just voted 82-15 to proceed with debate on the amnesty/immigration deform bill. Every Democrat voted yes, laying waste to the notion that there are still moderate red state Democrats. 15 Republicans voted to stand with We the People against the La Raza foreign lobby/K Street juke box:

Barrasso, Boozman, Crapo, Cruz, Enzi, Grassley, Inhofe, Kirk, Lee, Risch, Roberts, Scott, Sessions, Shelby, Vitter

McCain, Murkowski, and Coburn were not present for the vote. The former two would have voted for it anyway. [Update: Coburn voted yes on the second procedural motion to proceed.]

The rest of the Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell, all voted to proceed with debate, thereby sealing the fate of the bill and ensuring that a phony cosmetic compromise is hatched to pass the bill and pressure the House.

We will hear a lot of statements about the need to proceed with debate in order to “strengthen” the bill. It’s akin to advocating for debate on Obamacare so we can fix the beast. This bill is beyond fixing, and even if there was a way to fix it, Democrats along with McConnell and Cornyn have made it clear that their idea of tweaking the bill is strengthening the enforcement after legalization. Rubio actually plans to offer amendments to place provisions in the bill that he originally claimed were a part of the legislation to begin with (the Zuckerberg ads still tout that original speech).

We will hear the establishment say that the status quo is unacceptable. Yes, the status quo of constant amnesty before enforcement is unacceptable. But just because the status quo is bad doesn’t mean we should make it worse just for the purpose of passing “something.” By that same logic, we should have passed Obamacare because there were problems with our current healthcare system. The status quo of Obama promulgating cap and trade regulations by executive fiat is unacceptable, so we need to pass a compromise cap and trade bill to fix the problem.

Now that we have brought the amnesty-first supporters out of the shadows, we need to call the following members and ask them what part of enforcement first don’t they understand:

Alexander (R-TN)
Ayotte (R-NH)
Blunt (R-MO)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Chiesa (R-NJ)
Coats (R-IN)
Cochran (R-MS)

Coburn (R-OK)
Collins (R-ME)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Fischer (R-NE)

Flake (R-AZ)
Graham (R-SC)
Hatch (R-UT)
Heller (R-NV)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Johnson (R-WI)
McConnell (R-KY)
Moran (R-KS)

Murkowski (R-AK)
Paul (R-KY)
Portman (R-OH)
Rubio (R-FL)
Thune (R-SD)
Toomey (R-PA))
Wicker (R-MS)

Remember, Alexander, McConnell, Cochran, Graham, and Cornyn are up for reelection.

As we noted yesterday, it is quite evident that Democrats have 60 votes to pass any amnesty bill. They are aiming to work with McConnell and Cornyn to insert one or two shiny objects into the bill, so they can bring along another 15-20 Republicans into the fold. This way they will have the GOP share in the blame of another failed amnesty, and place enormous pressure on the House to jump off the cliff instead of following the prudent enforcement-first approach of the House Judiciary Committee - a position supported by the vast majority of the country.


To add insult to injury, we discovered today -- thanks to Judicial Watch -- that the Department of Homeland Security isn't even performing rudimentary background checks on those illegals impacted by the Obama "DREAM Act". You may remember the Obama "DREAM Act"; it was the Executive Action the president engaged in extra-constitutionally because a Democrat Congress wouldn't pass the real DREAM Act. Remember "If Congress doesn't act, I will"?

So instead of sane policies like securing the border, our ruling elites -- with but a few exceptions -- simply pass more laws and regulations that are certain to be ignored by the Executive Branch. Millions of more poverty-stricken, poorly educated, undocumented Democrats will come "out of the shadows" and jump to the front of the line behind the legal immigrants who are trying to follow the process.

I say no more. Nothing passes. Nothing. Not until we have border security. Call and write your nearest Senators using the list above.

Tell them in no uncertain terms: don't pass any Amnesty laws when our current immigration laws are being ignored by a lawless administration.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

DUDE: "Saudi policeman lashes amnesty applicants with belt"

And that's not my headline: that's the Saudi newspaper's.

A Saudi policeman was caught on camera using his belt to beat expatriates at an immigration department after they packed its offices to benefit from an amnesty announced by the Gulf Kingdom for illegal migrants.

Newspapers said a YouTube film showing the officer beating men and shoving women out of the department in the Western Red Sea port of Jeddah has triggered public furor across the country and prompted the suspension of the cop involved.


Saudi Minister of Interior Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, a brother of King Abdullah, ordered an investigation into the incident and the “immediate suspension of the officer” after seeing the film, Alsaudeh Arabic language daily said.

It quoted a department spokesman as saying the behavior of the officer is “unacceptable and unjustified.”

Wait just a second, Hoss: you mean to say that the Saudis don't have open borders? Or driver's licenses for illegals? Food stamps and welfare? Free health care?

Could someone please email John McCain and Lindsey Graham?


Friday, May 24, 2013

POTUS refuses to meet with border agents, but welcomes illegal aliens into Oval Office for photo op

I'm not one to criticize the president for forgetting to salute a Marine while boarding Marine One. He had at least enough class to realize his mistake, exit the chopper and shake hands with the young man. That said, the press pool was in attendance, so...

But I digress. As The Washington Examiner reports, Obama has invited a bevy of illegal aliens to events for photo ops in support of open borders, Amnesty and a permanent Democrat majority. Most recently, he entertained a trio of illegals in the Oval Office.

President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden met with three illegal immigrants who have been granted deferred action legal status in the Oval Office Tuesday...


...All three immigrants apparently received “deferred action” legal status pursuant to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s June 15, 2012, directive. Under the congressionally unauthorized program, any illegal immigrant under the age of 31 can apply for legal status if they claim they entered the country before their 16th birthday and have been in the country for at least five years. Virtually every immigrant who has applied for deferred action, 99 percent, has been granted legal status.

These actions by the administration are plainly unlawful. The DREAM Act was rejected by Congress; these executive actions merely mimic that which American legislators rejected.

Say, that Valerie Jarrett's a looker, eh?

But, again, I digress:

Meanwhile, Obama still refuses to meet with any border security enforcement officers about any aspect of immigration reform...

The union of law enforcement officers charged with protecting our nation’s borders, the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council, has been highly critical of the program because it makes their jobs almost impossible to perform. But Obama has refused to meet with them on that issue, or the immigration bill currently in the Senate.

On Thursday, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., co-signed a letter to Obama asking him to meet with the ICE officers.

“To be effective any immigration reform bill must heed the warnings from our federal immigration agents,” the letter reads. “Unfortunately, far from being included in the process, ICE officers have been shut out and have even had their day-to-day operations handcuffed by DHS officials to the point of being unable to carry out their sworn duties. These brave whistleblowers have been left with no other option but to file a lawsuit in federal court to fight the abuse of power from DHS leadership.”

Once more, I'll ask you to consider the following dichotomy:



It would seem that the far Left Democrat Party believes that illegal aliens and terrorists are noble -- and conservatives, veterans and others who believe in America's Constitution are criminals.


Hat tip: BB.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

NEW HERITAGE INFOGRAPHIC: The Gang of Eight's Amnesty Scam

While the country focuses on an endless series of scandals emanating from the Executive Branch, the Senate is quietly preparing to vote on the Gang of Eight's Amnesty bill.

...It will go to the Senate floor after the Memorial Day recess. Heritage has pointed out the problems with this “comprehensive” approach — including the staggering costs of amnesty and a failure to secure the border.


This bill would be an unmitigated economic disaster. As the brilliant Milton Friedman said long ago, "open borders are incompatible with a welfare state."


Monday, May 13, 2013

CHAOS AND CORRUPTION ON THE SOUTHERN BORDER: A Texas Rancher Speaks

On the way to Blogcon, I struck up a conversation with a longtime Texas rancher who was headed home. We ended up talking about the real situation on the border. "Rancher X" owns a large ranch near MacAllen, Texas. The following is not word for word, but captured from my notes during a two hour discussion.


The entire border area is dominated by corruption. There are corrupt judges, corrupt ICE agents, corrupt sheriffs, and it's not just me saying that: you can read about indictments and convictions every week. It seems like there's a new federal indictment of a district judge, a border patrol agent, a local sheriff, etc. coming down that often.

We're one of the poorest areas in the country, so lots of federal dollars are headed here. So it's not fair to say that all of the corruption is just fueled by the drugs, humans and other stuff smuggled over the border. Also, I shouldn't say "smuggled", because it's just flowing over the border. All of the money corrupts every layer of government. Remember that officials get elected with money, and they are put into office by money.

Mexico: a Preview of the Chaos to Come Here in the U.S.

Here's something important to consider : As people lose confidence in law enforcement and judges, the civil society decays.

That's what's happened in Mexico. And we're just a couple of decades behind them.

In Mexico, I think we're seeing a preview of the United States in maybe 20 or 30 years.

Here's another important concept: don't spend more money on border security!

The money you spend on border security, getting more and more layers of law enforcement involved, is financing drug cartels. You know why? Because these layers of "human security" are corruptible by large amounts of money.

On a Physical Barrier or a Security Fence

A fence is a no-brainer. There are fences on the border in the cities. And they work. They're not perfect, but they drive smuggling traffic into the unprotected rural areas.

Do you have a fence at home? Most people do. Since when is anyone against a fence?

Only on the Mexican border do people oppose a fence.

In fact, there was an 18-foot levy built near us a while back and even that, while not for security reasons, drove smuggling traffic away.

The Hidden Secret: Oil and the Cartels

So here's the deal no one talks about with the border. The oil business and the cartels are intimately linked together. How "official" that linkage is up for debate. How high up the cartels and the oil companies are linked is up for debate.

So here's the backdrop. The whole south Texas border area is an oil field. The oil companies dominate the state. The landowner, ranchers like us, are subservient to the oil companies.

There are all kinds of right-of-ways and roads and oil infrastructure on the ranches. Which means oil tankers, maintenance trucks, all kinds of vehicles are entering and leaving our ranch every day. We might have 300 or 400 trucks coming in and out of our ranch.

Here's the deal with that: no one knows what those trucks are. Are they smuggling stuff? Or are they legitimate? No one knows, no one knows who is coming or going. Including the oil companies!

Why don't the oil companies know who's coming or going? Because they sub out the work. And the subs sub out the work. And on down the line. Who's authorized to be using the oil companies' infrastructure? No one knows who's authorized.

A Dirty Little Secret: The Border Patrol and Oil Infrastructure

Here's something crazy: the border patrol is not authorized to operate on oil company infrastructure, ostensibly for reasons of safety. So you've got heavy trucks, loaders, cranes moving heaven knows what.

A typical load might be 6,000 pounds of pot. This kind of volume demands 18-wheelers. And 18-wheelers demand oil field infrastructure.

And the oil companies do not involve themselves with the detail of these logistics. The details aren't visible to the oil companies, intentionally or unintentionally.

It's like a UPS driver on your street. How do you know whether that's a real UPS driver? Unless you had some way of authenticating and verifying that driver, you don't know if it's a legitimate UPS truck.

The oil companies have lost control of the border area. Because of the subcontracting, the oil companies appear to have some level of "plausible deniability". They can claim they don't know or don't have control of their infrastructure.

In the early 20th century, the oil companies locked up huge swaths of lands. And the infrastructure is extremely difficult to track ownership of. There are thousands of companies and joint ventures involved, and these J.V.s are "classified" as trade secrets, so you can't find out who is really responsible for the roads or whatever. There is no way for the landowners or the federal government to control oil field traffic. Under Texas law, the mineral estate (the oil company) is the dominant estate. It is actually called "Dominant Estate Law".

Why spending more on border security is nonsensical

Here's how high volume human smuggling operates. Our ranch has miles of highway frontage. These huge criminal operations run massive, sophisticated convoy operations.

They'll put a scout vehicle out on the highway to see if the border patrol is around. There are scouts and enforcers and what not. Sometimes these people are being held hostage or as sex slaves and are coming across the border against their will. The enforcers are there to prevent escapes.

But back to the scouts: if it's all clear, some Suburbans will pull up. Each Suburban can hold 30 people, seriously. So once nightfall comes, the vehicles pop open and everyone starts moving.

And a single Border Patrol unit is trying to catch 100 people? Seriously? For those 100 folks, Border Patrol might catch 7, 40 might perish, and the rest make it to the U.S.

Most of the border area is sand. And the Border Patrol can't do pursuits because the catalytic converters can cause huge brush-fires. And it's not just sand, there are huge bee colonies. Aggressive bee colonies that are crazy dangerous.

And the Border Patrol isn't like it's incorruptible. There are corrupt BP folks.

The Private Prison Scam

We have major private prisons in our area. Here's how the private prison scam works.

While Mexico has a "return treaty", meaning if we catch a Mexican national, we can return them through official channels. But OTMs [Other Than Mexicans] often don't have return treaties.

In our district, when you catch an OTM, there's a hearing with mandatory detention. Mandatory detention, which ties right into private prisons and the money used to fund those detentions.

These folks can spend 17 years in prison. And you're paying for it all.

A few years back, there were thousands of Eritreans captured trying to cross the border. I don't even know what an Eritrean is. But if there's no return treaty, they're languishing in private prisons. And you're paying for it.

Upset about illegal kids in schools?

That's a spit in the bucket compared to the private prison business. The costs are unbelievable. And the medical care is probably far better than what these folks could get in their home countries.

The federal government pays for those private prisons with your tax dollars and I guarantee private prisons are expensive. They are publicly traded companies and their stock prices have generally skyrocketed thanks to all this "homeland security" hoopla.

More Security Spending Isn't the Answer

The money you and your community sends to the border is incentivizing the wrong behavior.

All this money is being spent and it's having the consequence of just robbing legitimate citizens of their freedoms -- like no search and seizure. All of this homeland security stuff just means I am stripping down to get on an airplane - the immigrants and drug smugglers don't go through the checkpoint - they just walk around it or drive around it because it's an oilfield with roads.

More money spent down here has just made things worse. It adds more layers of government and more nooks and crannies that get corrupted. Things keep getting worse, and it's government corruption behind much of it.

Example: a while back, a bunch of sheriffs got arrested. They were literally part of the cartels. They weren't paid enough to take risks and they certainly don't have the resources to pursue the smugglers.

So the money you send to the border isn't really spent on security. How much do you hear about illegal immigration in Alabama. Well, I've got news for you: it's happening. You think the cartels can't buy some boats?

So think before you advocate for more "border security". The border security bulls*** is counter-productive.

When you send more money, think about more border patrol agents sitting on the highway and the scouts avoiding them.

That money adds layers of government, susceptible to corruption, and it takes away money to police your community.

You want to secure the border - prosecute corrupt public officials. It's much better use of our prison space.

I think the key points of the corruption issue and the actual inconvenience to law abiding citizens are the most logical and motivating things to consider. People are so quick to demand border security but they don't make the connection that putting police on the border means taking that money out of the budget of the cities around the country for police on their city streets.

Plus, 99 percent of the drugs and immigrants are just passing through to get to the cities around the country where the pay is higher and there are huge markets for drugs. We are in sparsely populated rural areas. We aren't smoking all those tons of weed--they are going to cities around the U.S.

And a border wall won't work everywhere, but it's one hell of a good start.

Friday, May 10, 2013

I'm sure there were no illegal aliens involved in this little dust-up

PoliceMag relays some startling footage from a Miami drug dealer's house.

Suspects involved in a drug trafficking operation opened fire on investigating Miami-Dade Police detectives in a deadly gunfight captured by the video surveillance cameras of a marijuana grow house.

The dramatic footage, which was played Thursday at a court hearing, shows the rapidly unfolding gunfight at the west Miami home. Plainclothes detectives had visited the home on July 31 for a "knock and talk" during their investigation.


After arriving, they began to question Luis Estevanell, 60. Estevanell's cohort, Gerardo Delgado, emerges from a parked BMW and opened fire at the officers while attempting to take cover behind a tree.

The officers returned fire striking Delgado several times as the suspect continued firing. Three rounds from Delgado struck John Saavedra, who can be seen falling outside the screen.

Thank heavens no LE folks were injured or worse.

Oh, and hey, Gang o' Eight: these folks are just doing the jobs Americans won't do, right?


Hat tip: BadBlue Guns.

Saturday, May 04, 2013

GOOD NEWS: Illegal Border Crossings Triple thanks to 'Gang of Eight'

As anyone with an IQ over 12 could have predicted, talk of "Amnesty" has touched off a veritable tidal wave of illegal immigration:

For months, Stand With Arizona has been reporting (most recently here, here and here) on the massive increase in border crossings since Obama and the ‘Gang of Eight’ started promising amnesty for millions of illegal aliens. 
And I have been interviewed by two dozen media outlets from the Washington Post and L.A. Times to CNN and even FoxNews. Each time I begged them to report the truth about what border agents were telling me – that a tidal wave of new alien arrivals was overwhelming agents and ranchers – especially in Texas.
We showed them emails and faxes, even one handwritten note from a border agent with the numbers. We even told them how DHS stopped releasing monthly statistics on apprehensions after the border crossing spike became known.
The national media ignored the evidence for 9 weeks – until now.
One of the reporters we spoke to, Anna Werner, from CBS News, is now reporting that arrests of illegal aliens crossing into the United States have nearly tripled in recent months in anticipation of the ‘Gang of Eight’ amnesty. To her credit, Werner spoke to border agents to verify the numbers we showed her back in March, and presented them on the CBS Evening News (video).
In March, 7,500 illegals were arrested in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, which includes McAllen, CBS quoted agent Chris Cabrera as reporting. That’s up from 2,800 in January. And that January number itself is up 200% over 2012. In February, nearly 4,800 illegals were arrested in the Rio Grande. 
CBS even reported (as we did at the time) how overwhelmed agents in McAllen used their station’s carport to process nearly 900 illegals caught over three days in March, as they ran out of space to handle the massive influx.
...CBS interviewed one rancher, Juan Mercado, who lives on border property his family has owned since the 1850s, and is now under seige. Illegals usually come across his property, but recently Mercado has seen a tidal wave of illegals streaming across... “I’m being invaded by people who have no permission to be on my property,” Mercado said. “By smugglers, by illegals.”
Mercado is left exposed by the failed border security policies of Obama and Napolitano’s DHS. So, as we reported last year regarding Texas ranchers turning to AK-47′s to defend themselves, Mercado is now relying on his own security system: a gun.
...Is that the best the Feds can do? Leave it to Americans on the border to fend for themselves as they concern themselves with blanket amnesty to satisfy slave-labor addicted big businesses, and ethnic intimidation groups? ENOUGH! 
Secure the border NOW. KILL THIS BILL!

Call your Senator and DEMAND it: 202-224-3121.

If YOU are sick and tired of hearing about a “path to citizenship” and “immigration reform” and just want to see the border secured, the rule of law upheld and amnesty for illegals stopped, then put your name where your heart is, and join the 170,000 who have signed the petition:


Gang of Eight's Stuttering Cluster of an Immigration Bill Deconstructed With a Single Infographic

Courtesy of the Heritage Foundation:


A better question is: "What's not wrong with the Gang of Eight's ludicrous bill"?

[The bill gives DHS Secretary] Janet Napolitano freedom to do pretty much whatever she wants and the authority to let in anyone she pleases... Just in case anyone is concerned that senators aren’t reading the 844-page immigration reform bill from the Group of Eight closely before returning from recess next week, note that Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) is tweeting as he goes, calling out concerning elements of the legislation:

• #Gof8Fact pg 11 of #Gangof8 bill says that Secretary of Homeland Security can alter legal immigrant status of #DREAM and ag. workers.

• #Gof8Fact pg 65 of #Gangof8 bill says Homeland Security Secretary can waive inadmissibility for humanitarian purposes and public interest

• #Gof8Fact pg 66 of #Gangof8 bill says Sec of Homeland Security gets discretion on whether to start legal proceedings to remove illegals

• Still going through #Gangof8 bill. #Gof8Fact pg 69 says Sec of Homeland Security can extend time allowed to apply for legal status

One report states that the bill would give legal status to 57 million, including non-immigra​nt visas.

This bill is utter garbage. It must be stopped. Call your Senator now at 202-224-3121 and demand they crush this bill.


Thursday, May 02, 2013

GRAPHIC: 5 Ways the Immigration Bill Is Like Obamacare

From the peerless Heritage Foundation:


Here's an idea regarding outrageous bills such as Obamacare and "Comprehensive Immigration Reform". Bills so complex and so lengthy that no one, not a single legislator, is able to read or comprehend them before being forced to vote.

This idea builds upon Thomas Jefferson's suggestion to James Madison: that bills passed by Congress should lay in stasis for at least a year in order to facilitate public review and open debate. I propose:

Any bill passed by Congress shall, prior to being signed into law by the President, be published into the Congressional Record. It shall be be open to public discourse and debate for a period no less than a number of days equal to or greater than the number of pages required for publication in the Congressional Record before it may be signed into law.

A bill that requires 2,000 pages should require at least 2,000 days of public review and debate.


Saturday, April 27, 2013

Someone Break the News to Marco Rubio: Amnesty Costs 70 Times More Than Enforcement

I respect Marco Rubio. I supported him in his Senate run. Most importantly, I believe he means well.

But the allure of power has proven too strong for him. Ensconced in the Beltway Bubble, Rubio's fallen for what I call "the legislation delusion". Roughly translated, it is the belief that complex, multi-faceted legislation can solve humanity's problems.

Obamacare is the quintessential example of law run amok: it represents tens of thousands of pages of regulations, arbitrary thresholds, segmentation of families into static classes, and other symptoms of a master planner's delusions.

What the Statist terms "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" is similarly -- and fatally -- flawed. It represents dizzyingly complex regulations, dependent upon arbitrary conditions, restrictions, and dictates all requiring millions of pages of flowcharts. It is the product of the proverbial "Mastermind": one who believes he or she can better orchestrate mankind than the entirety of the civil society.

And, as history has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, Masterminds must always turn a blind eye to the financial ramifications of their plans. One need only review the cost of Amnesty.

The cost of amnesty: $999 billion. The cost of attrition by enforcement: as little as $14 billion. Amnesty would cost up to 70 times as much as enforcing existing law.

$999 billion cost of Amnesty (Mass Legalization)

Source: The Heritage Foundation
Summary: The Heritage Foundation issued two studies in 2007 pointing out that the big problem with mass legalization is that (a) most illegal aliens are low-skilled and therefore do not earn enough money to pay enough taxes to cover the government benefits they receive; and (b), amnesty would eventually make them eligible for the full array of welfare and medical benefits offered by local, state and federal governments. They found the cost of allowing illegal aliens to remain in the United States, and eventually to become citizens, would be $3.7 trillion through the year 2056. That works out to a present cost of $1 trillion, at a 5 percent discount rate. In other words, immediately upon passage of an amnesty bill, the United States government would need to put $1 trillion into an investment earning 5 percent per year if it were honest about paying for the costs of amnesty.

$14 billion cost of attrition through enforcement option #1.

Source: Congressional Budget office Estimate for H.R. 4437.
Summary: This option is the bill H.R. 4437 sponsored by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner that passed the House of Representatives in 2005. This bill would have been so effective in combating illegal immigration that some 1 million illegal aliens marched in cities around the United States on May 1, 2006 to protest it. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would cost $1.9 billion over the 5 years 2006-2010, which we extrapolate out to the year 2056 using a linear model to account for cost increases. Then we use a discount rate of 5 percent to bring the future costs back to a single present cost figure. The resulting cost was actually $13.5 billion, which we round up to $14 billion to facilitate comparison to the other cost figures.

$177 billion cost of attrition through enforcement option #2.

Source: Congressional Budget Office Estimate for H.R. 4088.
Summary: This option is the SAVE Act (Secure America Through Verification and Enforcement Act) that was introduced in the House of Representatives in 2007. This is a strong attrition through enforcement bill. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would cost $40.7 billion over the 10 years 2009-2018, which we extrapolate out to the year 2056 using a linear model to account for cost increases. Then we use a discount rate of 5 percent to bring the future costs back to a single present cost figure.

We conservatives are immigrants. We are first-generation immigrants or the descendants thereof. But we, as opposed to those whom the "Gang of Eight" would legalize, have followed a lawful process. We and our forebears have come to America's shores through Ellis Island and other ports of entry, applied for citizenship, and have become the law-abiding citizens that have shaped the country.

That is not what "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" represents: it instead grants legal status to those who have broken the law, stolen their way into the country without background checks, without any vetting of their connection to drug cartels or terrorism, and without even a modicum of examination.

There is only one acceptable response to the Gang of Eight's master plans. Seal the border, prove it is sealed over a substantial period of time, and then -- and only then -- will the American people countenance "amnesty" or whatever term the Statist uses to describe legalized lawbreaking.


ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER: All 7 Billion Humans on Earth Have a Civil Right to U.S. Citizenship

If there has ever been a more malevolent Attorney General in American history, I'd like to know about it.

Attorney General Eric Holder told MALDEF, the Mexican American Defense and Educational Fund on April 24th, that he believes illegal aliens have a “civil right” to be put on a path to US citizenship.

HOLDER: Creating a pathway to earned citizenship for the 11 million unauthorized immigrants in this country is essential. The way we treat our friends and neighbors who are undocumented – by creating a mechanism for them to earn citizenship and move out of the shadows – transcends the issue of immigration status. This is a matter of civil and human rights. It is about who we are as a nation. And it goes to the core of our treasured American principle of equal opportunity.


It’s also about the law and whether it and our sovereignty mean anything or not. Holder answers in the negative — they don’t. Anyone anywhere in the world can come here by hook or by crook, and crooks like Holder will make them citizens.

Consider the import of an Attorney General refusing to enforce our nation's most important laws: those underpinning equal protection, national sovereignty and national security. We have a government that intentionally ignores its own laws in pursuit of centralizing more power. There's an adjective for governments like this: tyrannical.

Had we statesmen or real leaders running the House of Representatives -- not clownish, cowardly buffoons like John Boehner and Eric Cantor -- Eric Holder would have been impeached long ago.


Hat tip: BadBlue News Service.

Friday, April 26, 2013

WHO NEEDS AMNESTY? Obama Administration Conspiring with Mexican Government to Rip Off American Taxpayers

If there's an award for real investigative journalism, this year Judicial Watch should win it hands down. Its investigations into rampant criminality by the Obama administration culminated this week with a truly appalling revelation: the White House and the Mexican government are working together to rip off the American taxpayer.

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released documents detailing how the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is working with the Mexican government to promote participation by illegal aliens in the U.S. food stamp program.

The promotion of the food stamp program, now known as “SNAP” (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), includes a Spanish-language flyer provided to the Mexican Embassy by the USDA with a statement advising Mexicans in the U.S. that they do not need to declare their immigration status in order to receive financial assistance. Emphasized in bold and underlined, the statement reads, “You need not divulge information regarding your immigration status in seeking this benefit for your children.”

...The documents obtained by Judicial Watch show that USDA officials are working closely with their counterparts at the Mexican Embassy to widely broaden the SNAP program in the Mexican immigrant community, with no effort to restrict aid to, identify, or apprehend illegal immigrants who may be on the food stamp rolls...

...“The revelation that the USDA is actively working with the Mexican government to promote food stamps for illegal aliens should have a direct impact on the fate of the immigration bill now being debated in Congress,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “These disclosures further confirm the fact that the Obama administration cannot be trusted to protect our borders or enforce our immigration laws. And the coordination with a foreign government to attack the policies of an American state is contemptible.”

Who needs Amnesty? The Obama administration and the Mexican government are collaborating in bankrupting this nation. Each year, hundreds of billions of dollars are stolen through rampant waste, fraud and abuse of America's wealth redistribution programs. And the White House is actively encouraging it.

Our nation is going broke and the Democrat Party is actively trying to send it over the cliff.


Hat tip: BadBlue News Service.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

IT'S COME TO THIS: Law enforcement officials now suing their bosses to be allowed to enforce the law

I refer, of course, to the most lawless administration in American history.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano does not have the authority to refuse to enforce laws that require illegal immigrants to face deportation, according to the federal judge hearing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement union’s lawsuit against DHS.

“The court finds that DHS does not have discretion to refuse to initiate removal proceedings [when the law requires it],” U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor said Wednesday, per Business Week. O’Connor asked DHS and the ICE union to offer additional arguments before he makes a final ruling on the legality of President Obama’s “deferred action on childhood arrivals” program, which invoked prosecutorial discretion as a means of allowing people to stay in the country if they would have qualified for amnesty under the Dream Act, which never passed Congress.

The judge’s comments come one day after Napolitano scolded the union, during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill, for challenging the policy she and Obama have implemented.

“There are tensions with union leadership, unfortunately,” Napolitano told Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., on Tuesday. “Here’s what I expect as a former prosecutor and attorney general: that is that law enforcement agents will enforce the law in accordance with the guidance they are given [by] their superiors.”

In response to the court, Senator Jeff Sessions reamed out Napolitano for her lawless behavior.

[The federal judge] said that the Secretary [of the Department of Homeland Security] doesn’t have the ability to direct agents not to do what Congress has explicitly required them to do...

This Secretary has proven that she’s not willing to have the laws of this country enforced. And has even been sued by her own law enforcement officers. This is just a dramatic example of the problems I’ve been hearing from federal law officers. They needed to be respected, they needed to be affirmed in their duties on a daily basis out confronting people who are unlawfully here... And they’ve been undermined in that. And their morale has plummeted. And the Secretary hasn’t even talked to them...

I’ll tell you who else hasn’t talked to them, the people who wrote this bill. Chris Crane, the head of the Association, wrote, called, publicly asked the opportunity to participate in these discussions and at least tell them what the real world is like. But no, they had the Chamber of Commerce, they had the Ag people, they had certain union officials, they even had La Raza—they’ve all been meeting and talking. But not the people who are out there struggling every day trying to make sure we have a lawful system.

This administration. Is. Out. Of. Freaking. Control.


Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Politico lets the cat out of the bag: immigration "reform" would give Democrats a permanent majority

Well, anyone with an ounce of sense knew this was the case, but this is the first time I've seen it in black and white. I refer, of course, to the Obama administration's press release blog, otherwise known as Politico:

Immigration reform could be bonanza for Democrats


The immigration proposal pending in Congress would transform the nation’s political landscape for a generation or more — pumping as many as 11 million new Hispanic voters into the electorate a decade from now in ways that, if current trends hold, would produce an electoral bonanza for Democrats and cripple Republican prospects in many states they now win easily.

...Republican Mitt Romney ... would have lost the national popular vote by 7 percentage points, 53 percent to 46 percent, instead of the 4-point margin he lost by in 2012, and would have struggled even to stay competitive in GOP strongholds like Texas, which he won with 57 percent of the vote...

...Texas, where the unauthorized immigrant population is second only to California’s, had an estimated 1.65 million undocumented immigrants in 2010, according to statistics from the Pew Hispanic Center. Romney won the state in 2012 by just under 1.3 million votes...

...In Arizona, Romney won by 212,000 votes — and there are an estimated 400,000 undocumented immigrants in the state as of 2010... Even Georgia, which isn’t a border state and doesn’t immediately come to mind when thinking of immigrant-heavy states, would be affected: Georgia had an estimated 425,000 undocumented immigrants in 2010, per Pew Hispanic Center’s estimates, and Romney won there by 308,000 votes...

If all those immigrants had voted in 2012 and President Obama had won 71 percent of them — the percentage he won among Latinos nationally — he would have come in less than 50,000 votes short in Arizona, within about a half-million votes of winning Texas and 125,000 votes shy in Georgia.

Politico quotes the quintessential loser and establishment RINO consultant Steve Schmidt -- you know, the genius behind the McCain 2008 campaign -- who says that Republicans are bound to get some Hispanic votes if they support Amnesty.

Say Steve-o, what's the track record to support this conjecture? Let's look, just for fun.

--1980 Jimmy Carter, 56% Ronald Reagan, 35% +21

--1984 Walter Mondale, 61% Ronald Reagan, 37% +24

--1988 Michael Dukakis, 69% George H.W. Bush, 30% +39

--1992 Bill Clinton, 61% George H.W. Bush, 25% +36

--1996 Bill Clinton, 72% Bob Dole, 21% +51

--2000 Al Gore, 62% George W. Bush, 35% +27

--2004 John Kerry, 58% George W. Bush, 40% +18

--2008 Barack Obama, 67% John McCain, 31% +36

--2012 Barack Obama, 71% Mitt Romney, 27% +44

In other words, over the last 9 election cycles, Democrat presidential candidates won the Hispanic vote by an average of 33 percentage points. But I'm sure the brilliant strategist Steve Schmidt can turn things around, even though a huge chunk of illegals are de facto Democrats, i.e., dependent upon government largess.

If the Gang of Idiots -- which is the phrase they prefer, I hear -- get their way, the entire United States will become a supersized version of California. Only with crappier weather.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

And now, a public service announcement on immigration from Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

Brought to you courtesy of the Sunday talk shows, which iOwnTheWorld watches so you don't have to.


As Dave Cutler wrote recently, we need comprehensive immigration law enforcement. Passing more laws -- when our current ones aren't enforced -- makes no sense, unless you're a Democrat or a miscreant. But I repeat myself.


Saturday, April 20, 2013

The Gang of Eight's Immigration Deception [Cutler]

Guest post by Michael Cutler

The “Gang of Eight,” aka the “Eight Gangsters,” are concocting Comprehensive Immigration Reform legislation. Purportedly this legislation is needed to address the presence of the officially-estimated population of 12 million illegal aliens.

While the legislation is referred to as being “Comprehensive,” there is nothing truly comprehensive about their approach, other than the fact that it would provide nearly all illegal aliens who are in the United States, or who will arrive in the months to come, with lawful status and ultimately, a pathway to United States citizenship. It would also increase the number of visas for many thousands of foreign workers and allow them to compete unfairly with American workers.

A History of Deception

The “one time” amnesty of 1986 was supposed to involve approximately one million illegal aliens. Over 3.5 million actually came forward. If history were to repeat itself, Comprehensive Immigration Reform would involve between 30 and 40 million aliens.

And that is just one of the deceptions inherent in the coverage of the current debate. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) was on ABC’s “This Week” last Sunday, and expressed concern that pledges to secure the border between the U.S. and Mexico won’t be kept, leading to a massive influx of illegal aliens.

“It looks like…it will give amnesty now, legalize everyone that’s here effectively today and then there’s a promise of enforcement in the future,” Sessions said about the proposed legislation. “Even if you pass laws today that appear to be effective, it doesn’t mean they’re going to be enforced.”

“And we have in this administration,” he added, a failure to enforce. So that’s a big deal right now.”

The Border Deception

Another deception is the claim that the United States has just four border states. Any state that has a seaport or international airport is as much a border state as are those states found along America’s northern and southern border. Simply stated, there are 50 border states.

Boston Bombing Suspects: Grassroots Militants from Chechnya

Guest post by Stratfor Research

Summary

The identities of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing -- Chechen brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26 -- appear tentatively to confirm several of Stratfor's suspicions. From this profile, the simple nature of the attack, their efforts to rob a convenience store and their lack of an escape plan, we can at least say at this point in time that they were what we refer to as grassroots militants. Despite being amateurs, such militants clearly still pose a significant threat.

Analysis

Just after 10 p.m. on April 18, the Tsarnaev brothers were identified after having robbed a convenience store in Cambridge, Mass., just three miles from Boston, hours earlier. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer, who responded to the robbery, was shot and killed and found in his car by fellow responding officers. The two suspects later hijacked an SUV at gunpoint, releasing the driver unharmed. Authorities later caught up to the suspects, and a car chase ensued.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

The Gang of Eight's Secret Amnesty Deal: Enforcement Will Not Come First [Sessions]

Guest post by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

When the Gang of Eight was first formed a publicly stated principle was the enforcement would come first—before legalization. Today, on the Sunday shows, Gang of Eight members admitted that they abandoned this principle and that, in fact, legalization—or amnesty—would come first.

This proposal offers immediate legalization with unfulfilled promises of enforcement in the future. This is contrary to the commitment they made to the American people and raises the same core problem as the 2007 proposal that was rejected by the American people. This should not surprise given that Gang of Eight has refused to meet with ICE officers while consulting with the special interests. The proposal will not stand up to scrutiny.

Another area of great concern in this proposal is the impact it will have on low-income Americans and those individuals and communities suffering from chronic underemployment. The guest worker program in this proposal represents only a fraction of the increase in legal foreign workers that will be rapidly introduced. Including those illegal immigrants that are legalized, this bill, over ten years, will result in at least 30 million new foreign workers—more than the entire population of Texas. While this may mean lower wages for the business lobby, and more political power for AFL-CIO leadership, it will be bad for American workers—union and non-union. And it will expose taxpayers to enormous long-term costs, including trillions in unfunded liabilities for Medicare and Social Security from which low-wage foreign workers will draw more benefits than they pay in. These programs need strengthening, not further weakening.


Editor's Note: A 1,500-page bill negotiated in secret is not acceptable. A bill that brings amnesty for illegal aliens before the border is provably secure is not acceptable. I am sick and tired of gangs of this and gangs of that operating as some sort of super legislature, negotiating in secret with special interests like the AFL-CIO, but hiding their machinations from the public and even other Senators.

This bill must be rejected.