06/19/13 Right now, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) is meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) to talk about immigration reform.  Immediately following the 2012 elections, Speaker Boehner said to ABC News “This [immigration] issue has been around far too long…A comprehensive approach is long overdue, and I’m confident that the president, myself and others can find [...]
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06/19/13 Opponents of immigration reform are getting ever wackier. On Monday, we wrote about a protest in Kansas that took place over the weekend at Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s house.  The peaceful protest (you can see video here) left pairs of shoes at Kobach’s doorstep, to signify all the individuals and families that he and [...]
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06/19/13 Since the CBO score applauding the economic merits of immigration reform came out yesterday, Sen. Jeff Sessions has been working hard to try and discredit the score by claiming that its analysis is all wrong. “CBO did not provide enough information to assess the assumptions it made about the educational background of illegal immigrants and [...]
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06/19/13 The Senate Gang of 8 immigration bill received good news yesterday when the CBO reported that the legislation would save the country $197 billion in its first decade, and an additional $700 billion in the next 10 years after.  Here’s a roundup of some of the commentary today on what the score means: From Ezra [...]
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06/19/13 Arizona Republic: House’s Boehner Calls Bill Lax on Border Security By Dan Nowicki Des Moines Register: Iowa Poll: 54% of Iowans Favor Creating Path to Citizenship By Jens Manuel Krogstad Washington Post: ICE Director John Morton Stepping Down By Josh Hicks New York Times: Immigration Bill Would Slash Deficit, Budget Office Finds By Ashley Parker [...]
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06/18/13 The following is a statement from Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice, reacting to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scoring of the Senate’s immigration bill: The CBO score shows that there are now 197 billion reasons for Congress to do the right thing and pass immigration reform this year, and 700 billion more reasons over [...]
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06/18/13 Congratulations, Jeff Sessions–you got your wish! For weeks now, the junior Senator from Alabama — and leading anti-immigrant voice in the Senate — has been complaining about the upcoming Congressional Budget Office score for the Senate Gang of 8 bill.  The CBO usually scores a bill for 10 years, which Sessions didn’t think would be [...]
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06/18/13 This afternoon, the House Judiciary Committee is continuing their markup of the SAFE Act (known on twitter as #HATEAct), which is already the worst anti-immigrant bill in recent history.  (View the press conference denouncing it here.) Rep. Steve King (R-IA), however, apparently just can’t help himself: King just attempted to insert a birthright citizenship amendment onto [...]
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06/18/13 This week, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has begun to talk tough about how he plans to move immigration through the House—with a majority of the majority, he says, and no violation of the Hastert rule. At a closed-door meeting with conservatives today and a press conference after, Boehner talked trash about the Senate immigration [...]
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06/18/13 House Members, DREAMers & National Immigration Leaders Denounce the SAFE Act Leaders Call on the House to Get Behind Real Immigration Reform with Citizenship at the Heart Washington, DC – Today, the House Judiciary Committee began marking-up a new immigration bill, HR 2278, introduced by Rep. Trey Gowdy and other Republicans.  The bill, which they [...]
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06/18/13 National Journal reports that anti-immigrant House members are asking why Republicans should pass legislation that would give citizenship to “11 million undocumented Democrats.”  This fear of citizenship – and future voting behavior – courses through much of the immigration debate and underscores many Republican amendments designed to make the path to citizenship less attainable.  As [...]
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06/18/13 The House Judiciary Committee is meeting today to markup H.R. 2278, the so-called “SAFE Act,” an extremist anti-immigrant bill which would criminalize all undocumented immigrants.  Below is a collection of responses to the bill: Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL): The Arizona SB1070 law was substantially struck down by the Supreme Court?  No matter, the Republicans want [...]
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06/18/13 USA Today: House proposal to further criminalize illegal immigration criticized By Alan Gomez National Journal: Sens. Hoeven, Corker Push New Border-Security Amendment By Rebecca Kaplan NBC Latino: Legislation to criminalize undocumented immigrants takes center stage today By Sandra Lilley Houston Chronicle (Editorial): Cornyn: The Great Pretender? Associated Press: House committee takes up tough immigration bill [...]
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06/18/13 Below are remarks from Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), who delivered a speech on the House floor about today’s markup of the SAFE Act in the House Judiciary Committee: Remarks on Immigration, U.S. Congress, June 18, 2013 Mr. Speaker – Later today, the Judiciary Committee will mark-up the first immigration-reform bill offered by Republicans in the [...]
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06/17/13 Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) voted twice against the Gang of 8 immigration bill working its way through the Senate last week, and immigration reform advocates have been calling him out on it ever since. “Sen. Mark Kirk, where are you?” asked a Chicago Tribune editorial of his position on immigration reform. Kirk is often hailed as [...]
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