Is There a Last Gasp for Immigration Reform?
CBS
Updated 5:47 p.m. Eastern Time
Among the many initiatives Democrats are trying to get passed in the lame-duck session is an immigration bill known as the DREAM Act that would allow certain young undocumented immigrants to apply for citizenship.
The DREAM Act is a major priority of Hispanic groups, who represent a growing and crucial voting bloc. Without them Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, among other western Democrats, would now be preparing for retirement.
What these groups want is comprehensive immigration reform, something Reid promised to get done this year back in April, vowing "no excuses" for failure. They aren't getting it, but they view the DREAM Act as a start: The bill would allow illegal immigrants who entered the United States as children (before age 16), have lived in America for five consecutive years, have no serious criminal record and who have a high-school degree or GED certificate to apply for citizenship on the condition that they attend college or serve in the military for two or more years.
Republicans have hammered the DREAM Act as amounting to "amnesty" for illegal immigrants.
"The American people did not vote for amnesty in this past election," Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) said Wednesday. "I think it's clear, as Senator McCain said, the national consensus is and he's accepted this, that we have to have lawfulness in the immigration system before we start giving millions amnesty--as this bill will do."
Reid has vowed to bring the DREAM Act up for a vote in the lame duck session of the Senate. But it's a heavy lift. For starters, Republicans say they will block any and all other legislation until the Bush tax cuts have been extended and the government, which runs out of money on Friday, has been funded. (The House on Wednesday afternoon passed a bill to fund the government through December 18th, and the Senate is expected to follow suit, but that's not a permanent solution.)
In addition, the DREAM Act is just one of the issues Democrats are trying to deal with before the new, more Republican Congress takes over next year. President Obama is pushing hard for the Senate to ratify the new START arms treaty with Russia before the new year for fear that it will otherwise fall apart; Democrats are also vowing to pass repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, something that could take two weeks of Senate time if (as Republicans insist) it goes through a full amendment process.
Also to be dealt with is an extension of unemployment benefits, which expired Tuesday, putting two million people in jeopardy of not seeing checks this holiday season. Keep in mind all this has to happen before senators go home for the year, something that will happen at the very latest on December 24th.
And then there's the fact that Reid may not have the 60 votes he needs to pass the bill. There are at least two Democrats (Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mark Pryor of Arkansas) who have signaled they would vote against it, and even if the Democratic caucus holds together, Reid would still have to peel off two Republicans to overcome a filibuster - no easy task. (It looks Republican Sens. Dick Lugar of Indiana and Bob Bennett of Utah would back the bill, but Nelson and Pryor offset them.)
Moderate senators like Scott Brown of Massachusetts do not look eager to embrace the bill; his spokesman referred to it as "backdoor amnesty," according to Politico. The DREAM Act also isn't a sure thing in the House: Democrat Steny Hoyer said today that he has not yet determined whether or not it will come to the floor, and even if it does, expect a number of Democrats to vote against it.
Behind closed doors, some Democratic senators are pushing hard for a DREAM Act vote - but Senate sources tell CBS News that they simply don't believe there is time to get the bill passed. And the prospects for passage of anything with a whiff of "amnesty" in the new Congress - when Republicans will hold the House and Democrats will need seven GOP votes to overcome a GOP filibuster in the Senate - are exceedingly slim.
If the DREAM Act doesn't get passed, expect to hear outrage from Hispanic groups, who will start to publicly wonder why they are standing with a Democratic Party that has failed to enact even their scaled-down demands. Of course, Republicans have not exactly opened their arms to Hispanic groups - see the Arizona immigration law and the fiery rhetoric of politicians like Tom Tancredo. It's hard to imagine much Hispanic anger toward Democrats materializing as support for Republicans.
There's a larger issue here too, and that's what the struggle to pass the DREAM Act says about the prospects for comprehensive immigration reform. The DREAM Act reflects effort to provide a path to citizenship for what might be considered model illegal immigrants (a concept some, of course, might object to): Those who came to America as children, who have not committed serious crimes, who have gone to school and who plan to go to college or serve in the military.
"The prospect for comprehensive immigration reform are pretty low, and the DREAM Act gives an example of that," Bryan Griffith of the Center for Immigration Studies told Hotsheet.
---
UPDATE: Stephen Miller, Republican Press Secretary to the Senate Judiciary Committee, responds to this story: "If passed, the DREAM Act would be one of the most significant changes to our immigration laws in years. It would grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens and seriously compromise efforts to secure the border...[the bill provides] amnesty and safe harbor for a number of criminal aliens, such as those who have been convicted of DUI's; authorizing millions of new workers in the midst of a severe recession; and putting those here illegally ahead of those playing by the rules and waiting patiently in line."
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Personally, Mexico, I'm broke. Sorry dude, I got nothin' for ya. If I could afford an Ivy League college education, I'D be the one enjoying it, not you. Get out of my pocket already.
Friday May 13, 2011. Tell them to say NO to Obama's request to extend FBI Director Meuller's term by 2 years.
Obama is a fan of Hugo Chavez, dictator of Venezuela who asked the citizens of Venezuela to do away with Presidential term limits. They eventually did.
Obama is following Chavez's plan exactly and is trying to set a "legal precedence" with the office of Director term limit being extended. If he is successful, he will come back and ask for the presidential term limit to be extended. Obama wants to be king and dictator over the USA. He despises our Constitution, refuses to abide by federal court decisions.
He should be impeached for failing to uphold his oath of office.
________________________
LET'S SEE IF I GOT THIS
CORRECT?
IF YOU CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER
ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOR.
IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER
ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY.
IF YOU CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER
ILLEGALLY, YOU GET SHOT.
IF YOU CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER
ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED.
IF YOU CROSS THE CHINESE BORDER
ILLEGALLY YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM AGAIN.
IF YOU CROSS THE VENEZUELAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU
WILL BE BRANDED A SPY AND YOUR FATE WILL BE SEALED.
IF YOU CROSS THE CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY
YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO POLITICAL PRISON TO ROT.
_________________________________________________
IF YOU CROSS THE U.S. BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET !
A JOB, A DRIVERS LICENSE, SOCIAL SECURITY CARD,
WELFARE, FOOD STAMPS,CREDIT CARDS,
SUBSIDIZED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE,
FREE EDUCATION, FREE HEALTH CARE,
A LOBBYIST IN WASHINGTON BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF
PUBLIC DOCUMENTS PRINTED IN YOUR LANGUAGE,
THE RIGHT TO CARRY YOUR COUNTRY'S FLAG WHILE YOU
PROTEST THAT YOU DON'T GET ENOUGH RESPECT,
AND, IN MANY INSTANCES, YOU CAN VOTE.
I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE I HAD A FIRM GRASP ON THE "SITUATION"!
IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP AMERICA !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9IGKRzdzZ8&feature=player_embedded
.youtube.com/watch?v=tsH8xvjTAlo
.youtube.com/watch?v=Btj6IeOFkis&feature=player_embedded
http://immigrationcounters.com/
.ojjpac.org/memorial.asp
.immigrationshumancost.org/
.newswithviews.com/Wooldridge/frosty580.htm
.youtube.com/watch?v=muw22wTePqQ
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/02/immigration-costs-fair-amnesty-educations-costs-reform/
http://www.rense.com/general81/dtli.htm
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=41045
http://www.cairco.org/econ/econ.html
http://www.diggersrealm.com/mt/archives/003335.html
Every Non-representative including obama and holder should be IMPEACHED! for not upholding the oath of office they swore to defend the Constitution! If these clowns were to do their job, this would all be a Moot point!
Anchors and their criminal parents go, period, and cut the phony tears, you knew you were breaking the law when you crossed the border.
Next shut down any business hiring illegal labor. Oh and owners go to jail.
Got a better idea? Lets hear it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9IGKRzdzZ8&feature=player_embedded
.youtube.com/watch?v=tsH8xvjTAlo
.youtube.com/watch?v=Btj6IeOFkis&feature=player_embedded
http://immigrationcounters.com/
.ojjpac.org/memorial.asp
.immigrationshumancost.org/
.newswithviews.com/Wooldridge/frosty580.htm
.youtube.com/watch?v=muw22wTePqQ
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/02/immigration-costs-fair-amnesty-educations-costs-reform/
http://www.rense.com/general81/dtli.htm
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=41045
http://www.cairco.org/econ/econ.html
http://www.diggersrealm.com/mt/archives/003335.html
Every Non-representative including obama and holder should be IMPEACHED! for not upholding the oath of office they swore to defend the Constitution! If these clowns were to do their job, this would all be a Moot point!
Anchors and their criminal parents go, period, and cut the phony tears, you knew you were breaking the law when you crossed the border.
Next shut down any business hiring illegal labor. Oh and owners go to jail.
Got a better idea? Lets hear it!
For a demographic that knows no other home, the loyalty, allegiance, and holding all things Mexico dear says otherwise. Speaking English and actually knowing the subtleties of the language are what exposes the imposters, and divulges which language is a distant second.
Nothing like hearing a person that's been in the country all their life, and speak English at the level of a neophyte. And what kind of people use this type of despicable deceptive tactic at the behest of Americans who keep saying no?
People who have an agenda that is predicated on race alone. People whom are immersed in Raza Studies, the Occupied America: A History of Chicanos racial hatred guised as textbooks, and the Reconquista of America. People who are encouraging and validating precisely the wrong type of "immigrants" into America. People who actually believe they will have control of the Southwest United States with a deluge of unwanted parasites who constantly belly ache that these lands were stolen from them and the irritating adolescent wordplay that these criminals are immigrants or undocumented.
How serious a transgression is being an illegal alien, or offspring thereof? Is this ever taken into consideration, or do these racists scrupulously hold this level of contempt for the country and what it stands for? For these so-called students, many of them bray vacuously that illegal entry is no worse than driving without a license, walking amongst us as if normal, tossing a candy wrapper to the ground, and jumping a fence is what constitutes a pathway to citizenship that will remain unearned, disrespected, and never practiced.
The deception is that Mexicans come here for work. Next, comes social services theft, ID fraud, tax evasion, ID theft, Social Security theft, Section 8 subsidized rent fraud, employment fraud, voter fraud, property damage, murder, robberies, burglaries, ad nauseam, and the blatant theft that a group of people would do to any country - birthright fraud of the 14th Amendment.
This is the most discreditable demonstration a demographic can bring to any civil society. They should be ashamed, but sycophants know no such shame.
Anyone with a Hispanic surname will strongly defend illegal aliens proposing we cut them slack. We are tired of the violin-tinged sound bite speak such as: they are just trying to feed their families doing jobs Americans won't do. No, they come here to rob resources from American citizens and consider seven states of the United States as Aztlan.
What is the anxiety with endless assertive attempts to heave the Latino agenda down our throats, the malarkey of revisionist history presented to us, remonstrations demanding illegals are here to stay, and Reconquista? Eventually, you wear out your multiple decks of race cards.
Americans have had enough. Using criminals as human shields of previous generations of criminals, inventing illegal aliens are undocumented students, and signifying American dissenters are anti-immigrant only authenticates their La Raza grandiloquence and opportunistic quest for colonization.
Much of Europe acutely regrets allowing the illegal import of the culturally disparate to overwhelm its cities pretending to come to work or feed their families. Ask Europe how the enormous continental transforming deluge of "immigrants" is working out for them. No other country is as diverse as we are, and none tolerates such an unheard-of mass-invasion of illegal aliens from Mexico as the U.S. does - until now.
No more pretending you don't hear us. No more amnesties (we've had seven).
Americans will answer and extinguish the coming threats of the illegitimate Hispanic vote. This arrogant Mexican infantile posturing has got to end. It is heading to a height in which Americans will be forced to act and eradicate this menace to our sovereignty and the future of our nation.
In the first Civil War, Americans waged a bloody war against our own compatriots on a scale that will pale in comparison to rout the noisy nonstop invader who screams his plan to take our country away from us while his is burning. Those who do not learn from mistakes of the past will have the opportunity to repeat them, and Americans will again indulge them?