Immigration
May 20, 2013 — John Hinderaker
A group of conservatives that includes Paul and me have signed a letter opposing the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill. I didn’t contribute to drafting the letter, but I was proud to sign it because it sets out the key arguments against the proposal in a powerful and easily understandable way. The group is called the Coalition Against S. 744, and the letter is titled “The Wrong Way to Reform
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May 16, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
A reader provided me with several useful comments on my post regarding the Republican share of the Hispanic vote in presidential elections since 1980. First, he says that the figure I used for George W. Bush’s share in 2004 — 43 percent — is an outlier: In 2004, NEP (National Exit Poll) reported 44% for Bush, the highest of all ten polls. That result was widely and immediately challenged. Pew
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May 16, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Let’s put aside the Obama administration’s scandals for a moment, and return to an issue that will have a great deal more to do with America’s future: immigration. The proposed Gang of Eight bill will result in somewhere between 30 million and 57 million new immigrants over the next ten years. This is, in a nutshell, why the bill is so bad. The impact of such a mass influx of
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May 15, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Last week, Bret Baier’s Special Report program on Fox News featured interviews with Marco Rubio and Jeff Sessions about the Rubio-Schumer amnesty legislation. The interviews were given separately. Although Baier tried his best to make it into a point-counterpoint kind of affair, it couldn’t really be a debate because Rubio and Sessions didn’t appear together. I understand that Baier, naturally enough, would have preferred to have Sessions and Rubio on
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May 15, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Key elements of the Republican establishment insist that Republicans must support amnesty and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants in order to make major inroads with Hispanic voters. But an analysis of the Hispanic vote in the last nine presidential elections does not support this claim. It shows, instead, that other considerations help explain how Hispanics vote. Here is the Republican share of the Hispanic vote in those elections:
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May 14, 2013 — Scott Johnson
A political reporter whom I greatly respect, and who asks not to have the comment attributed to him, writes to comment on one possible side effect of the IRS scandal: “Not to be paranoid, but the IRS scandal may make it easier for the immigration-bill advocates to push their amazing bill through Congress while the public’s mind is elsewhere, if only because it gives the media another excuse not to
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May 13, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
President Obama tried today to catch up with the IRS scandal, condemning the IRS officials who targeted conservatives. Obama clearly perceives the threat this scandal poses to trust in government, and hence to his project of vast expansion of governmental power. It’s possible too that he feels genuine outrage about the IRS’s targeting of conservatives. But neither presidential outrage nor condemnation can mitigate the central concern that this scandal reinforces
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May 9, 2013 — John Hinderaker
As I wrote here, I am not a fan of trying to “fix” the Senate Gang of Eight’s immigration bill through amendments. I think it is fundamentally flawed in multiple ways and cannot be fixed, least of all by adding more provisions relating to border enforcement. But the Senate Judiciary Committee is marking up the immigration bill, and Republicans have offered a wide variety of amendments. To the extent this
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May 6, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
The Heritage Foundation has released its long awaited study of the cost to American taxpayers of legalizing the current population of illegal immigrants. The study, available here, estimates the cost at $6.3 trillion, at a minimum. Andrew Stiles at NRO does a good job of summarizing the study’s methodology and findings: The study seeks to calculate the total amount of taxpayer-funded benefits and services illegal immigrants would, if given legal
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May 6, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Mark Krikorian shows how the Schumer-Rubio immigration reform bill falls short of what Sen. Rubio promised when he touted it in advance on conservative Talk Radio. Here are some of the particulars Krikorian presents: 1. Rubio emphasized that to gain legal status, immigrants would have to pay their back taxes. But the bill Rubio helped write requires only that applicants “satisfy any applicable federal tax liability” that has previously been
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May 6, 2013 — John Hinderaker
I have gone back and forth with Senator Rubio’s office as to whether the Gang of Eight’s bill is fatally flawed because of the vast discretion it gives federal bureaucrats, including the Department of Homeland Security, in implementing the act. On the subject of DHS discretion, Rubio’s office said to us: I’d disagree with your description of the discretion given to the Administration as “vast discretion”, but the waivers &
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May 5, 2013 — Scott Johnson
Mickey Kaus comments on the statement we received on Friday from Senator Rubio’s office (posted here) in defense of the Gang of Eight immigration bill: Rubio: Illegals will pay fines or be deported! Ambassador of Amnesty Marco Rubio argues on Powerline–or rather, “Marco Rubio” argues, since the words are attributed only to his “office”**–that critics overstate the number of new immigrants who would be added by his legalization bill: There
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May 5, 2013 — Scott Johnson
On Friday morning President Obama spoke to an audience of young Mexicans at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. The White House has posted the text of the speech here. Obama is full of praise for Mexico. He “celebrates Mexico’s ancient civilizations and their achievements in arts and architecture, medicine and mathematics.” He praises Mexico’s modern art. He appreciates Mexico’s blend of cultures and traditions. At greater length
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May 3, 2013 — Scott Johnson
National Review helped launch Marco Rubio to prominence in his seemingly quixotic quest for the GOP Senatorial nomination against Charlie Crist and National Review has now declared the Gang of Eight immigration bill of which Rubio is a chief sponsor to be Rubio’s Folly (cover below). NR senior editor Jay Nordlinger appeared on Morning Joe briefly this morning to explain why, and Jay’s critique of the bill on the show
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May 3, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Last night, I posted Why the Immigration Bill Can’t Be Fixed, offering five reasons in support of that conclusion. Today Senator Rubio’s office requested an opportunity to respond to my five points; we were happy to oblige. If you haven’t already read my post, you should probably start there. Here are the rejoinders from Senator Rubio’s office: 1. The word “comprehensive” isn’t in the title… I assume you didn’t mean
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May 3, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Senator Jeff Sessions held a press conference this morning to introduce a new analysis that concludes the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill will actually result in at least 57 million new immigrants over the next ten years, significantly more than previous estimates. The issue is critically important, so Sessions’ statement is worth reading carefully and in its entirety: The Gang of Eight has stated, “this legislation does not significantly increase
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May 3, 2013 — Scott Johnson
President Obama is at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, where he spoke today to Future Democrats of America (i.e., young Mexicans) about American immigration reform, among other pressing subjects such as gun control. Speaking to the FDA, Obama didn’t directly address Operation Fast & Furious, but he did explain the rationale behind his refusal to enforce current immigration law (though he didn’t put it quite that way).
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