Immigration
April 25, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
A federal judge has found that a suit by federal immigration agents seeking to block President Obama’s deferred-deportation initiative is likely to succeed on the merits. The initiative in question, which was announced by Obama and Janet Napolitano last year, allows a deferral of the deportation of illegal aliens if they came to the country under the age of 16, are in school or have obtained a high school diploma,
»
April 24, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Senator Jeff Sessions’ staff has begun assembling summaries of key provisions of the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill. They released the first one, which deals with how the act treats “dreamers,” this afternoon. It is titled, “Immigration Bill S. 744 Allows Milllions of Illegal Immigrants to Become Citizens in 5 Years – And Bring Their Relatives On An Expedited Basis.” * Those who qualify for the broad DREAM Act fast-track
»
April 24, 2013 — Scott Johnson
The Gang of Eight immigration bill is an adjunct and analogue to Obamacare. Claims by proponents on its behalf lack veracity. Indeed, the operative assumption should be that the opposite of such claims is closer to the truth. Heather Mac Donald cuts through a lot of blather in “The real risks of amnesty.” It sounds like 1986 all over again, only worse. She writes: Mickey Kaus has demolished the Senate
»
April 23, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Yes, for the reasons set forth below, via Eliana Johnson and Mediaite. When Rubio was running for the Senate in 2009, he told a Florida political blogger that, with regard to immigration, “the most important thing we need to do is enforce our existing laws.” He added: If you go to people and say: “Look, well you’ve been here for so long that even though you broke the law we’re
»
April 23, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Janet Napolitano is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the comprehensive immigration bill. Naturally, she supports this legislation, which is a crucial element of her boss’s agenda. In response to questioning from Sen. Cornyn, Napolitano has admitted that the “90 percent effectiveness rate” standard cannot reliably be calculated because we don’t know who is crossing the border undetected. Yet the 90 percent effectiveness rate is a key criterion for
»
April 23, 2013 — Scott Johnson
In a New York Post column Ralph Peters draws five “Lessons of Boston,” all of them worthy of discussion. Lesson no. 3: “Our immigration system is one of terrorism’s best allies.” Victor Davis Hanson elaborates at length in the course of his NRO column “Obama’s psychodramas.” Analyze this: The checkered immigrant family of the two Boston bombers is a tragic advertisement of almost everything wrong with our current immigration policy.
»
April 22, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
The Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the Gang of Eight immigration bill seemed calculated to prevent reasoned debate. Both hearing dates occurred within less than a week of the release of the nearly 900-page bill, making it impossible for witnesses fully to analyze the Gang’s proposal. Moreover, only five of the 20 witnesses called during the two dates oppose this legislation. Two of these five adverse witnesses admitted that they
»
April 22, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
That’s the question posed by the Daily Caller. The answer, unfortunately, appears to be that Rubio did not tell the truth to Levin and his audience. During his appearance on Levin’s program on April 17, Rubio referred four times to the creation of a commission led by border governors. This statement is typical of how he described the commission and its role: If, in five years, the plan has not
»
April 22, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Earlier this afternoon, Paul described today’s immigration hearing, including the testimony of Mark Krikorian, one of the few witnesses called so far who are critical of the Gang of Eight’s proposal. I thought it would be of interest to our readers to post Krikorian’s testimony verbatim; this is, of course, just his prepared testimony and not his answers to the Senators’ questions. His testimony, while measured and even understated, shows
»
April 22, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
I’m spending the day watching the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the Gang of Eight immigration bill. Thus far, there have been two panels and a total of 11 witnesses. Unfortunately, none addressed, or is qualified to address, the core issue of border security. The first panel dealt with the issue of agricultural workers. All three witnesses testified in favor of the legislation, which would provide a path to a
»
April 21, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Paul Ryan is scheduled to discuss immigration reform during a joint appearance in Chicago on Monday with Luis Gutierrez, a left-wing, pro-amnesty representative from Illinois. Gutierrez is part of the House’s “Gang of Eight” which is working on comprehensive immigration reform legislation along the same basic lines as its Senate counterpart. I take the fact that Ryan is appearing in Chicago with Gutierrez to be a bad sign. So too
»
April 21, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Supporters of the Schumer-Rubio comprehensive immigration reform legislation are arguing that enacting this bill into law will make America safer. Dick Durbin made the argument on Meet The Press today, and it seems to be emerging as a Gang of Eight talking point. Durbin cited four aspects of the Schumer-Rubio bill that, he claims, will maker us safer: (1) securing the border (allegedly), (2) allowing 11 million people to come
»
April 20, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Anyone who considers Marco Rubio suitable for the presidency should read this piece by Rich Lowry. We would expect a president to be able, at a minimum, to hold his own in negotiations with the smartest people in the opposition party. As Lowry shows, Rubio has failed that test: If you are going to have any hope of passing a sweeping amnesty bill in a divided Congress, you need a
»
April 19, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
John O’Sullivan at NRO has an excellent post called “The Assimilation Vacuum and the Boston Bombers.” He writes: The first point that strikes me is that these young men should have had every reason to be happy in the United States and grateful to the country for its giving them sanctuary. Their uncle seems to have developed just such a loyalty. In addition, the young men were apparently well-integrated into
»
April 18, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Marco Rubio appeared on Mark Levin’s program yesterday to argue in favor of the Gang of Eight’s immigration reform bill. In my view, Levin asked good question and received, for the most part, weak or slippery answers. You can listen to interview, which is well worth 17 minutes of your time, here. Levin devoted most of the interview to border security. He got Rubio to admit that the efficacy of
»
April 17, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
In a conference call yesterday, Marco Rubio said that his comprehensive immigration reform bill will “require a lot of communication.” To that end, Rubio communicated his view about the path to citizenship provision. Rubio argued that illegal immigrants living in the country already have a “path to citizenship.” They can return home, immigrate legally back to the U.S. in ten years, and then apply for a green card, the first
»
April 16, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Senator Jeff Sessions has expressed concern that the Gang of Eights’s immigration legislation is being rushed and that other senators won’t have sufficient time to comment and propose changes. Said Sessions: The gang has met privately for months, in close consultation with the special interests, to draft this legislation. Is the public not entitled to have at least as long to review it before their representatives are asked to vote
»
