Legislation
Dear Mr. Smith, Your Pants are on Fire. Sincerely, The Facts
In response to a recent Roll Call article calling out the nativist lobby, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Lamar Smith wrote a letter to the editor making a series of claims—many of which he’s been making for the last 20 years—which simply don’t stack up to the facts. These myths also conveniently obsure the lack of any denial of ties to the nativist lobby. While many of Smith’s easy-to-swallow myths may stir the extreme end of a conservative base, they serve as a yet another distraction from having an open and honest immigration debate. Read More
State Lawmakers Conflicted Over Immigration Enforcement Measures
South Carolina State House. Photo by Joe Shlabotnik. As many states begin their legislative sessions this week, some lawmakers are conflicted over whether to proceed with strict immigration enforcement measures, forcing them to balance immigration measures with other pressing state priorities. Understandably, state legislators want to see something done about our national immigration problems, but many are expressing concerns over the potential harm Arizona copycat laws could have on their state—including expensive court battles, racial profiling and backlash from religious, state law enforcement and business groups. Read More
The Emperor (and the Anti-Fourteenth Amendment Crowd) Have No Clothes
What a difference a few weeks can make. Just last month, the papers were filled with stories about the amazing feats of DREAM Act students, whose commitment and love for this country is boundless, even as they risk deportation in order to tell their stories. This week, the papers are filled with stories of vicious state legislators who want to turn back the clock on civil rights by stopping “an invasion of illegal aliens” through an end to birthright citizenship. Where the DREAM Act movement is about hope and opportunity, this ugly new attempt to change the Fourteenth Amendment is about hate and deprivation. Read More
Legislators Intend to Burden States with Costly Immigration Litigation
State Legislators for Legal Immigration member, State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-PA) Yesterday, a group of state legislators gathered in a small room in Washington, D.C. to present their plan for reinterpreting the 14th Amendment—the amendment which states that all persons born in the U.S., and subject to jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of U.S. and the states in which they reside. Although the legislators proclaimed a desire to “protect the states” and to “love" the 14th Amendment, which was adopted after the Civil War to guarantee citizenship to the American-born children of freed slaves, you wouldn’t know it listening by to their blatant disregard for the American taxpayer—upon whom they plan on sticking costly litigation fees. Chairman of the House Immigration Subcommittee, Congressman Steve King (R-IA), also introduced a bill in the new Congress to end constitution citizenship. Read More
State Legislators Attack Fundamental Constitutional Values
Washington, D.C. – Today, State Legislators for Legal Immigration (SLLI), a coalition of state legislators, revealed their plan to challenge the 14th Amendment and the Constitutional definition of citizenship. Claiming that they need to correct a “monumental misapplication of the 14th Amendment” and protect their states from the “illegal alien… Read More
Will Conservatives Back Off Their Harsh Immigration Rhetoric and Party Politics?
Despite the very public failure on the part of the 111th Congress to pass any type of comprehensive immigration reform (including the collapse of the DREAM Act), Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) plans to reach out to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to work on the issue again in the 112th Congress. While Sen. Graham initially signaled that he would be open to working with Democrats to find immigration solutions, he later changed his tune to more traditional restrictionist rhetoric—even going so far as to call the DREAM Act a “nightmare.” The question becomes then, are politicians too polarized to come to a compromise or will public pressure to find a solution push past the politics of the issue and find a solution? Read More
President Obama Affirms Desire to Reform Immigration Next Session
Disappointed by Congress's failure to pass the DREAM Act during lame duck, President Obama made remarks today regarding the need to reform immigration in the next Congress. While the President acknowledged that border security is part of that conversation, he also acknowledged that "changing the politics" of how Congress and his administration engage the public on immigration is equally important—as is "doing right" by the many DREAM students who deserve a fair shot at the American dream. Read More
Not Without a Fight: DREAM Students Refuse to Back Down
Although the Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to achieve cloture on the DREAM Act on Saturday, DREAM supporters are refusing to go down without a fight. As disappointment turns to anger, DREAM Activists are again turning up the heat with statements aimed at “political leaders who chose to obstruct progress for personal gain” and messages such as “We Won’t Forget How You Voted.” Thousands of DREAM supporters—who participated in a massive mobilization effort for the bill’s passage—are also turning a critical eye to the administration as they look ahead toward the road to reform. Read More
Building on a DREAM: What the Obama Administration Can Do Right Now to Fix Immigration
Last Saturday, the United States Senate took key votes on two social issues—Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the seventeen-year ban on gays serving openly in the military, and the DREAM Act, a vital piece of immigration reform that would have allowed thousands of undocumented young people a chance to go to college, serve in the military and earn legal status. Both bills had passed the House of Representatives, had the backing of the White House and the support of a majority of the public, but by a vote of 55 to 41, the Senate failed to invoke cloture and proceed to debate on the DREAM Act. While the Senate failed, however, the movement did not. Now, more than ever, the administration needs to capitalize on the momentum of the DREAM Act, continuing to push for both legislative and administrative reform. Read More
Senate Fails to Bring DREAM Act to Final Vote
Today, the Senate failed to achieve the 60 votes necessary to achieve cloture on the DREAM Act, a bill to grant hundreds of thousands of undocumented children a chance to gain legal status if they enroll in college or join the military. 55 Senators voted in favor of the motion to proceed to the final vote on DREAM and 41 against. The vote broke largely along partly lines with Senate Republicans citing procedural arguments to excuse themselves from voting yes. However, some Democrats abandoned their party and voted against it too, while some Republicans broke ranks and voted for cloture. Read More
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