Republicans may be ready to tackle immigration

By Frosty Wooldridge

Our entire Congress, at all costs and at every juncture, avoids addressing the immigration fiasco facing our nation.  Legal and illegal immigration continue as sacred cows—not to be touched, not to be changed, not to be addressed no matter how much damage they do to the American worker.  With 46 million Americans subsisting on food stamps and another 14 million unemployed, you may notice that both presidential candidates refuse to address or fix the problem.

Both the Congress and both candidates know that eight million illegal alien migrants live and work in America. (Source: www.FAIRus.org; www.Cis.org; www.NumbersUSA.org)  At the same time, those illegal migrants tap into $346 billion annually across 15 federal agencies as they gobble up American tax dollars. (Source: Edwin Rubenstein, www.TheSocialContract.com)

President Dan Stein of The Federation for American Immigration Reform, www.Fairus.org, spoke about a potential breakthrough this week with the Republican Party. 

Plan to Introduce Tech Visa Bill This Week

Stein said, “Republican House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (Tex.) will likely introduce a bill on Tuesday to do away with the diversity visa lottery – which randomly allocates 55,000 visas a year to applicants from countries with low immigration to the U.S. In turn the 55,000 green cards would be made available to foreign graduates of U.S. PhD and master’s programs in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM). Two new visa categories would be created: EB-6 for PhDs and EB-7 for master’s grads.

“Reception to the legislation has been mixed. While leaders on both sides of the aisle often give lip service to increasing skilled immigration, many House Democrats – including Immigration Policy and Enforcement Subcommittee Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-Cali.) – do not support ending the diversity visa lottery. They accuse Republicans of trying to limit diversity in legal immigration but are also likely worried about the new alliances the party is forging with tech companies that support the bill.

“FAIR sees the bill as a mixed bag. To the extent that the diversity visa lottery is a reckless and inefficient device for administering visas, we are pleased to see a bill that eliminates it. And we’re pleased to see a focus instead on skilled immigration. However, with tens of thousands of unemployed highly skilled and educated American STEM workers – and half of recent college grads unemployed or underemployed – the increased number of green cards for foreign STEM grads will impose more competition for jobs.

“It is rumored that the House could vote on a bill by Thursday. Senator John Cornyn (R-Tex.) introduced similar legislation in the upper chamber this spring. Democrats have introduced a bill that adds 55,000 STEM visas without eliminating the diversity visa lottery.”

Federal Officials Send Mixed Messages to California
Pelosi Asks Governor to Sign Sanctuary Bill – ICE Says No

“AB 1081 is awaiting a signature from California Governor Jerry Brown and diametrically opposing forces are trying to influence his pen,” said Stein. “AB 1081, known as the Trust Act, grants state and local law enforcement the discretion to ignore all U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers. It specifically prohibits them from honoring ICE detainers unless the illegal alien has been convicted of, or charged with, a “serious or violent felony.” Even then, the bill grants California law enforcement the discretion to ignore the detainer.

“Late last week, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Cali.) sent a letter to Governor Brown urging him to sign the bill. She was joined by 21 other California Democrats.”

Pelosi writes: “The measure is designed to enhance public safety and protect civil liberties, while also promoting fiscal responsibility at the state and local levels.”

“Incredibly, Pelosi and her colleagues focus on the beneficiaries of the bill – illegal aliens – and blatantly ignore the effects of releasing criminal aliens onto California streets,” said Stein. “These implications are not lost on John Morton, Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“In a recent letterto FAIR’s Executive Director Julie Kirchner, Director Morton says anti-detainer policies “undermine public safety and hinder ICE’s ability to enforce the nation’s immigration laws.” Morton also acknowledges that in jurisdictions that have adopted similar policies, ICE has been unable to remove aliens “without their being released back into the community.” And, of those released “ICE has been able to independently locate and arrest only a few.”

“There are also Californians who can speak to the deadly consequences of sanctuary policies. Jamiel Shaw’s son, Jamiel Shaw Jr., was murdered by an illegal alien gang member in 2008. Just days before murdering Shaw, Pedro Espinoza was released from Los Angeles jail after serving time for a violent felony. He was not deported because of the city’s sanctuary city policy prohibiting city officials from inquiring about immigration status.”

Mr. Shaw is asking Gov. Brown to reject AB 1081 on behalf of his deceased son, “So that no family has to ever experience the pain we have.  My family’s tragedy should be a wake-up call that releasing criminal illegal aliens back onto the street after they’ve been arrested will just lead to more tragedies.”

VIDEO
A two minute video clip with cuts of Shaw voicing opposition is available for use at
YouTube: Jamiel Shaw Asks Gov. Brown to Veto Bill.

You can contact Dan Stein at www.FAIRus.org. Better yet, join 250,000 Americans from all walks of life to help reduce all immigration into the United States to ensure a viable and sustainable future.

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Frosty Wooldridge is a member of the board at FAIR.

Frosty Wooldridge has bicycled across six continents – from the Arctic to the South Pole – as well as eight times across the USA, coast to coast and border to border. In 2005, he bicycled from the Arctic Circle, Norway to Athens, Greece. In 2012, he bicycled coast to coast across America.  His latest book is: How to Live a Life of Adventure: The Art of Exploring the World by Frosty Wooldridge, copies at 1 888 280 7715/ Motivational program: How to Live a Life of Adventure: The Art of Exploring the World by Frosty Wooldridge, click:

www.HowToLiveALifeOfAdventure.com