Immigration deal under threat

[Soldier4Christ]

Immigration deal under threat 
GOP proposal to make it harder to qualify for green cards

A broad bipartisan immigration deal was threatened Tuesday as the Senate prepared to vote on a Republican proposal to make it harder for millions of illegal immigrants to qualify for green cards.

The proposal by Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., would eliminate extra points that illegal immigrants could get toward lawful status for work done while they were in the U.S. illegally, owning a home, or having health insurance. The proposed merit-based system would award the most credit for employment criteria such as education and skill level.

The Senate also planned to consider a bipartisan bid to require employers to recruit U.S. workers before giving a foreign laborer a job under the measure's controversial new temporary worker program.

Showdowns were expected on Democratic efforts to allow more family-based immigration under the bill and more Republican proposals to make the path to legalization for illegal immigrants more burdensome.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., an architect of the bill, said he would oppose the family changes despite his sympathy for the efforts.

"I'm going to stay with the agreement," Kennedy said of the so-called "grand bargain" he struck with conservative Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and other Republicans and Democrats from across the political spectrum.

That leaves in doubt the fate of a proposal by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., to allow more than 800,000 people who had applied for permanent legal status by the beginning of the year to get green cards based purely on their family connections - a preference the bill ends for most relatives who got in line after May 2005.

A close vote was also expected on a bid by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to bar illegal immigrants who have defied deportation orders from gaining legal status. That could cut down substantially on the number of unlawful immigrants who would be able to take advantage of the measure's path to legalization.

The bill, a top domestic priority for President Bush that poses a perplexing political dilemma for Republicans and Democrats, is widely regarded as the best chance for Congress to take action on immigration - possibly for years to come.

"There are a number of threats and opportunities before us," said Frank Sharry of the National Immigration Forum, part of a coalition of liberal groups pushing hard for passage despite some grave concerns with the measure.

Kennedy said lawmakers who listened to their constituents over a Memorial Day break last week heard that, "the American people want action on immigration reform."

"We know that we are facing some challenges," Kennedy said, referring to a host of amendments that could scuttle the deal.

"Those of us, the dozen or so, who have put this bill together are finding it very, very hot to handle," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.

Specter said he'd like to support some of the changes being put forth this week, "but if we're to keep this bill intact to the extent of being able to pass it, there are going to be a lot of very tough votes."

In addition to Menendez's proposal, several Democratic presidential hopefuls have proposed family-related changes.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is proposing allowing more spouses and minor children of legal permanent residents to immigrate to the U.S., by exempting them from visa caps.

The Senate also is considering a bid by Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., to more than double, to 90,000 a year, the number of green cards available for parents of U.S. citizens.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., plans an attempt to phase out the point system that gives little credit for family ties to a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident.

[Greg F]

1-800-417-7666. (English number) will direct you right to your Senators . . . please tell them you oppose this bill. The recording will be for the legislation (the pro-amnesty groups get a straight line into the Senators aides while the rest of us go to a comment line . . .)

People should be more upset that than they are (it was barely on the news last night) that they killed an amendment to the amnesty bill that would have barred giving legal residence to felons. In other words, 600,000 felons who are currently illegal and could be deported will be given the right to remain in the country legally. They did pass Kennedy’s amendment that will bar sexual offenders from residence . . . which he put in to kill the stricter amendment barring all felons . . . but the Senate then voted to allow murderers, armed robbers, credit card fraudsters (which is how a lot of the Muslim terrorists fund themselves), and all other felons to be given the Z visa and stay. Here in Florida, where I live, we will probably get over 10% of them . . . over 60,000 new criminals to legally walk our streets with full rights when they get out of jail. It’s horrible to think about but they will be walking the same streets as my daughter.

[Soldier4Christ]

All of this and much more is hard to think of as actually being considered as good by our elected officials. They forget that they are elected and can be elected right back out of office. They actually deserve much more than just being elected out of office.

[islandboy]

Heard this morning that the deal died from lack of enough votes to put it through. I think the whole thing needs to be trashed and for them to start the process over again with the wants of the America People considered. I have been reading lots of comments on blogs and forums, and lots of people are angry that our laws that elected officals uphold to the max where US citizens are concerned are getting sweeped under the rug with this bill.
I am sure most of these people are hard workers, just like most Americans are. I understand they say they want a better life for their famlies, well so do most Americans. But the illegals have broken our laws and should not be rewarded for doing so. When we break our laws the only reward we get is jail time, with loss of rights, and loss of family time. The law is the law, no shortcut deals for breaking it.

[Soldier4Christ]

Yes, it did fail this time around anyway. Unfortunately it was left in a position to come back again.

_________

Immigration bill
fails in Senate 
Controversial 'amnesty' measure pulled,
but supporters say it'll be back - soon

A plan to reform America's immigration laws and allow millions of illegal aliens now within its borders to pay a fine and become legal has floundered in the Senate and been set aside – for now, although its backers say the plan will return, and probably soon.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the issue may be brought up again, with McConnell advising, "I wouldn't wait a whole long time to do it."

Indeed, as Fox News reports, "all the GOP lawmakers who spoke with Fox News were upbeat that the legislation could be revived soon – even within a matter of weeks, with one negotiator noting that last year's bill was first pulled from the floor by then-Majority Leader Bill Frist before it was brought back up again and passed."

And Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said he and Reid are confident the bill will be back.

The proposal tied tougher border security and enforcement of legal immigration status in the workplace to a procedure to legalize most of the estimated 12-20 million illegal aliens already in the U.S. Also involved was a controversial temporary worker program and a procedure involving an evaluation of merit for future immigration.

The proposal floundered in a 2nd vote that would have sped up the Senate's handling of the White House-backed "comprehensive" immigration reform. The divided Senate refused by a wide margin to limit debate on the plan. The 45-50 vote was 15 short of the 60 votes needed to move the legislation along.

Democrats then set the bill aside and took up other proposed legislation.

President Bush has made immigration reform a focal point of his recent domestic policy, but Republican senators said they would not be hurried into a decision, offering a series of amendments to the plan.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., watched as the plan he helped craft disintegrated, and warned the issue would experience a resurrection.

Critics said the plan would simply give amnesty to illegal aliens who broke United States law to enter the country, as well as create a separate "class" of cheap workers who would undermine the U.S. wage structure

Eagle Forum, a leading pro-family organization founded by Phyllis Schlafly, praised the "tireless efforts" of the American people in voicing their opposition to and successfully defeating S. 1348, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007.

"It became obvious that the longer the Senate debated the so-called comprehensive immigration bill, the more the grassroots opposition increased," said Eagle Forum president Phyllis Schlafly.

"The United States Senate finally listened to the overwhelming opposition to this amnesty bill," said Eagle Forum Executive Director Jessica Echard. "With calls running hundreds to one opposed, there was no question that we don't want new laws. We simply want our immigration laws, which already exist, enforced."

Eagle Forum organized a coalition of outside groups to oppose the bill, similar to the coalition used to successfully defeat the Harriet Miers nomination in 2005.

"This vote sends the message that the American people can still call the shots on how they are governed. The power of the White House, Big Business, cultural and religious elites was not enough to drown out the overwhelming public opposition to this bill. What a great day for grassroots America!" Echard stated.

The plan would have allowed illegal aliens in the country as of this year to pay fees and fines and get renewable four-year visas to live and work in the U.S., puts holders of those visas on a path to citizenship under certain circumstances, and set up the temporary worker problem allowing 200,000 guest-workers annually to enter the U.S.

It also would have added 20,000 border agents, 370 miles of barrier fence and other efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.

As WND reported earlier, the issue has torn at the Republican Party, with its grass-roots opposing the plan publicly praised by President Bush.

Just two days after President Bush slammed critics of his immigration policy, the Republican National Committee reportedly fired all 65 of its telephone solicitors, as donors were said to be furious over the president's stance to give legal status to millions of illegal aliens.

"Every donor in 50 states we reached has been angry, especially in the last month and a half, and for 99 percent of them immigration is the No. 1 issue," a fired phone-bank employee told the Washington Times.

Ousted staff members told the paper Anne Hathaway, the committee's chief of staff, summoned the solicitors and told them they were out of work, effective immediately.

They claim the reasons they were given were an estimated 40 percent plunge in small-donor contributions, as well as aging phone-bank equipment the RNC said would cost too much to modernize.

The committee, however, is denying any drop-off in the influx of cash.

"Any assertion that overall donations have gone down is patently false," RNC spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt told the Times via e-mail. "We continue to out-raise our Democrat counterpart by a substantive amount (nearly double)."

As WND reported, opponents of the controversial immigration deal forged by the White House and a bipartisan group of senators in private meetings "don't want to do what's right for America," according to President Bush.

"The fundamental question is, will elected officials have the courage necessary to put a comprehensive immigration plan in place," Bush recently told students and instructors at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Ga.

A recent Rasmussen poll showed only 26 percent of American voters favored the Senate plan.

The public is most passionate about enforcement, the survey indicated. About 72 percent of voters said it's "very important" for "the government to improve its enforcement of the borders and reduce illegal immigration."

The figure jumped to 89 percent among Republicans, while 65 percent of Democrats and 63 percent of unaffiliated voters believed enforcement is "very important."