Introduction:
If I were living in poverty south of the border, I'd try to move to the U.S. myself, especially if the United States government offered food stamps and other unmerited benefits and presented very slim chances of deportation or punishment.

One sure way to attract more illegal immigrants -- and reward the ones who are already here -- is to implement the immigration "reform" bill now under consideration.  The bill is being produced in a cloud of secrecy, of course, so its effects won't be known until after it becomes law.  The illegal immigrants who benefit from the new law will, by and large, be dependent on government handouts, so naturally they will automatically vote for the Democrats who perpetuate such dependency.

The so-called "Gang of Eight" that's working on the bill, as of this writing, is made up of four Republicans, one of whom could be voted "most likely to switch parties at any moment," two outright RINOs, one pro-immigration libertarian Republican, and four left-wing liberal Democrats.  This gives the committee the "bi-partisan" veneer so greatly admired by the news media.

Perhaps some good will come from this discussion:  For one thing, we can see more clearly who the RINOs are, and perhaps also we can sound the alarm about the prospect of a National ID card as a "solution" to this problem.  A mandatory National ID card would not fix immigration or any other problem, and even if it did, the majority of us who play by the rules would be the ones to suffer.  But that subject is covered on another page.

15 "Republicans" Who Voted For Amnesty Bill.  These fifteen need to be primaried and thrown out of office.

Immigration's Gang of 8: Who are they?

Graham Reaching Out To Gang Of Eight Members For Bill To Block Deportations For Youths.  South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham confirmed Thursday [112/1/2016] he is in the process of reaching out to former "Gang of Eight" members to help him craft legislation that would protect immigrants who illegally entered the country as children from deportation.

Memo: Soros' Investments Led To Senate Passage Of 'Gang Of Eight' Immigration Bill.  Left-wing billionaire George Soros' non-profit network, the Open Society Foundations (OSF), is confident about the future success of its work in the field of immigration activism and may embark on a massive campaign on immigration issues in the near future.  That's according to a candid 62-page document reviewing OSF's work on immigration reform discussed in May at the group's board meeting in Montgomery, Ala.  The document, which is one of 2,500 stolen from OSF in a massive hack and released over the weekend, shows that the Soros group believes that its $7.7 million investment in groups pushing for immigration reform was responsible for the passage of the Senate's 2013 comprehensive immigration reform bill.

Immigration reformers eye Gang of 8 revival.  Lindsey Graham doesn't sugarcoat his prediction:  Republicans are going to get thrashed in the November election, especially among Latinos.  And it's going to trigger another run at immigration reform in Congress next year, the South Carolina senator says.  "I'll tell you what I'm going to do in 2017," the plainspoken GOP deal maker said in a recent interview.  "I'm going to take the Gang of Eight bill out, dust it off and ask anybody and everybody who wants to work with me to make it better to do so."

Comprehensive immigration reform is back as senators eye new effort to pass 'Gang of Eight' bill after presidential election.  Republican Sen.  Lindsey Graham doesn't expect Donald Trump to win the White House, in fact he thinks Latino voters will be the billionaire's downfall.  And so, after the November election, Graham, who ran for president this year as well, said he expects the Senate will once again take on comprehensive immigration reform.  'I'll tell you what I'm going to do in 2017,' Graham said, according to Politico.  'I'm going to take the Gang of Eight bill out, dust it off and ask anybody and everybody who wants to work with me to make it better to do so.'

Record 61 million immigrants in U.S., 15.7 million illegally.  There are a record 61 million immigrants and their American-born children in the United States, including an estimated 15.7 million illegally here, according to a new analysis of 2015 U.S. Census data.  The estimated number of undocumented immigrants is one of the highest ever.  The analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies found that 45.3 million, or three-fourths of the 61 million, are legal immigrants and their children.  The report out Monday [3/7/2016] notes that the so-called "Gang of Eight" immigration bill supported by GOP presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio would have doubled that number of legal immigrants.

Bombshell Expose' — Conservative Radio: Limbaugh, Ingraham, Hannity and Levin Were All Part of Gang-of-Eight "Gaslighting".  The New York Times has just laid virtually all of talk radio's top conservative punditry naked to their enemies by revealing a coordinated effort, between them and top DC politicians, to "tamp-down" opposition to comprehensive immigration reform, and "gaslight" the national republican audience. [...] We already knew the aspect of Fox News via Rupert Murdoch, Roger Ailes, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly meeting with Chuck Schumer, Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio capturing promises to deliver favorable opinion for immigration reform. [...] However, we did not know how far the scope of the influence was extended, nor did we know Rush Limbaugh was a direct participant.  We also did not know that Laura Ingraham and Mark Levin were lobbied to participate.  How would we know?  How would anyone know?  They never told their audience.

Donald Trump Financed The Gang of 8.  Trump has claimed that no one would be talking about illegal immigration had he not brought it up, which is of course complete nonsense.  Even his own talking points dispute that.  Trump has repeatedly referenced the ominous "Gang of 8" as a way of attacking Senator Marco Rubio's record since the proposed bill would've offered a path to citizenship for the illegals The Donald promises to kick out.  The Gang of 8 bill was proposed in 2013 so if nothing else, we know immigration was a discussion 3 years ago.  Putting aside the fact that Donald proposes roughly the same wall that was already put forth in the Gang of 8 bill (roughly 1,000 miles), why hasn't anyone asked Mr. Trump why he sent so much money to the group?

Rubio: 'Gang of 8' immigration bill [was] never meant to pass.  GOP presidential hopeful Marco Rubio on Monday [2/15/2016] said a controversial immigration reform bill he helped negotiate in 2013 was never meant to pass the Congress.  As a member of the so-called "Gang of 8," the Florida senator negotiated an immigration compromise between Republicans and Democrats.  But the bill never made it past conservatives in the House who complained it provided a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

Rubio: [the] Gang of 8 Bill [was] Never Intended to Become Law.  Marco Rubio on Monday [2/15/2016] insisted the immigration reform bill he helped spearhead through the Senate was never intended to become law and that the authors of the bill expected conservatives in the House to make it "even better."  "The Senate immigration law was not headed towards becoming law," he told a questioner at a town hall in Rock Hill, S.C.  "Ideally it was headed towards the House, where conservative members of the House were going to make it even better."

Marco Rubio: Gang Of Eight 'Was the Best We Could Do' In Senate at That Time.  Speaking to voters in South Carolina, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) defended his participation in the Senate Gang Of Eight immigration reform bill, arguing that the bill that passed in the Senate as written wasn't the final draft of the law that would be signed by President Obama.

Yes, Rubio's Amnesty bill provided legal status, work permits for criminals.  S. 744 provided legalization for aliens convicted of multiple misdemeanors — so long as the alien was convicted of them on the same day.  A single act resulting in three misdemeanors wouldn't count as three separate misdemeanors under S. 744.  In one instance, you could commit 10 misdemeanors, serve 10 years in jail, and yet not be a "criminal" as long as you were convicted at the same time for all of them.  Domestic violence and assault and battery are considered only class 1 misdemeanors in some states.  A single conviction in these cases wouldn't render the alien ineligible for the amnesty in Rubio's bill.

Why Did Rubio Push Gang Of Eight If He Was Aware of Security Risks?  If Rubio sat on the Intel Committee during his Senate tenure and was privy to information on the national security threats we face, how could he have simultaneously pushed the Gang of Eight immigration bill?

Marco's "Gang of Eight" Amnesty Bill Really Didn't Secure the Border First.  In a remarkable interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer following Thursday night's presidential debate, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)'s campaign spokesman, Alex Conant, admitted that the 2013 Gang of Eight bill, which Rubio co-authored and ushered through the Senate, did not secure the border first.

Gang Of Eight Defines Marco Rubio's Conservativism.  Marco Rubio, the young junior senator from Florida, is now the establishment candidate of choice for 2016.  As it should be expected with his new-found establishment status, Rubio's conservative bona fides are coming into question from talk radio and other sources of right-wing discontent.  Of particular concern is the senator's signature legislative action — the now-infamous Gang of Eight attempt at "comprehensive immigration reform."  On cue, National Review's Jim Geraghty rode out against the currents of conservative skepticism over Rubio last week to deliver a message:  the White House hopeful is "plenty conservative."

Ryan and Rubio: American Companies Will Go Bankrupt If We Don't Import More Foreign Workers!  In a Tuesday morning [12/28/2015] interview with radio host Bill Bennett, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) defended his omnibus bill's controversial expansion in the H-2B visa program, which would allow foreign workers to fill blue-collar American jobs, by arguing that if the provision were not included, American companies would be forced to shut their doors.

The Rubio Campaign's Unseemly Alinsky Tactics Against Cruz.  I was among the first national radio hosts to support Marco Rubio in his uphill Republican primary campaign for the Senate against the unprincipled Florida Governor Charlie Crist.  Back then, he ran as an unabashed Tea Party conservative.  I also supported Mike Lee and Ted Cruz, among others, in their campaigns against the entrenched GOP establishment.  But soon after arriving in Washington, Rubio decided to throw in with these politicians — including John McCain and Lindsey Graham and take an active leadership role in the Gang of Eight fiasco.  As he runs for the Republican presidential nomination, Rubio has attempted to redefine his position on immigration yet again, resulting in his utter incoherence on the subject.

Rubio Bill Expanded Visa Program Used by San Bernardino Terrorists.  When I was fighting the Gang of Eight bill in 2013, one of my observations was that this legislation provided much more than amnesty for illegal aliens already here.  It created a permanent open border policy across the spectrum of legal and illegal immigration.  One such provision was Section 2310 (page 426), which would have massively expanded the K-1 fiancé visa program, the very visa that San Bernardino terrorist Tafsheen Malik used to gain permanent residence in our country.  While the underlying premise of this program makes sense, it has been rife with fraud and 99.7% of requests for K-1 visas have been approved in 2014.  According to CIS, "[C]lose to half of the aliens initially slated for K-1 visas (and marriages) did not get married in the United States as planned."

Sens. Rubio, Graham Vote To Continue Muslim Immigration From Countries With Jihadist Movements.  The amendment, offered Sen. Rand Paul, would have suspended visa issuances to more than 30 Muslim countries with active Jihadist populations.  Graham and Rubio were both members of the Gang of Eight, which proposed legislation that would expand Muslim immigration, and Paul and Cruz were both opponents of the Gang of Eight bill.  Graham and Rubio's vote against curbing Muslim migration follows the attack in San Bernardino.

Marco Rubio: Another charming young man.  [Senator Marco Rubio's] only job throughout 44 years of life has been in the public sector, as a State Representative and House Speaker in Florida, and one term as United States Senator.  He has no business experience nor did he serve in the military.  We cannot afford to elect another life-long politician who has demonstrated no particular accomplishments and only one major legislation win in the Senate:  Comprehensive Immigration Reform, that was thankfully terminated in the House of Representatives.  Senator Rubio's highlight of his entire life is having been the architect and leader of the infamous "Gang of Eight" legislation that would had given amnesty to millions of illegal aliens without border protection first.  After seeing his poll numbers drop drastically, Senator Rubio claimed to have changed his mind, understanding finally that border security must occur first.

Marco Rubio still defending his "Gang of Eight" amnesty bill and green cards for illegals.  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is defending his controversial co-authorship of the 2013 "Gang of Eight" amnesty bill.  Rubio also suggested that while it defies the "majority position" of Republicans, he would plow ahead with his plan to provide green cards to illegal immigrants — a central plank of his Obama-backed bill.  In an interview with Sean Hannity, Rubio declared, "Now the majority position in our party is it should stop at just a work permit...  I personally am open to allowing people to apply for a green card."

The immigration system Marco Rubio wanted.  The 2013 Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform bill is the signature achievement of Marco Rubio's four years and ten months in the U.S. Senate.  Yet in the first four Republican presidential debates, in which Rubio has played an increasingly prominent role, he has not been asked even once about the specifics of the legislation.

Cruz Fought Amnesty, Rubio Fought Conservatives.  I remember the spring of 2013 like it was yesterday.  It was one of the busiest times of my career.  Republicans were working overtime to codify Obama's open borders agenda into law, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) was the ring leader of the effort.  The voice of the people was not being heard and we were subjected to fallacious talking points on a daily basis.  Along with several other conservative writers, I wrote dozens of articles exposing the details and the broader implications of the 1,000-page piece of bilge that is known as the "Gang of 8" bill.

12 Times the GOP Establishment Kicked the Conservative Base in the Teeth.  [#4]  Gang of Eight:  In 2013, Republican Senator Marco Rubio (along with John McCain and other DIABLOS) allied with far-left New York Democrat Charles Schumer to sponsor the "Gang of Eight" Immigration Reform Bill.  The bill not only guaranteed amnesty for illegal immigrants, but its border security provisions were filled with loopholes and waivers, and the whole thing was stuffed with special interest spending.

Why We Lose: Top GOP Consultant Rick Wilson Trashes Republican Base.  The first thing Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) did after the Tea Party elected him in 2010 was to join the Senate's Gang of Eight and roll over for Chuck Schumer on amnesty.

Marco Rubio Says He Wants Border Fence, Visa Tracking System, But Voted Against Both To Pass Gang Of Eight Bill.  In the brief immigration section of Thursday night's [8/6/2015] debate, Chris Wallace asked Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) if he agreed with Donald Trump that criminals were coming across the border.  Rubio ignored the question about documented illegal alien criminality and declared that he believes, "we need a fence," as well as an "e-verify and entry-exit tracking system."  Rubio's comments, however, conflict with several crucial votes he cast on the Gang of Eight bill that he co-authored with Chuck Schumer, which was endorsed by La Raza, President Obama, and the Chamber of Commerce.  The legislation would have issued more than 30 million green cards in ten years.

Jeb Bush Publicly Endorses 'Gang Of Eight' Amnesty Bill In New Hampshire.  Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, during a gaggle with reporters in New Hampshire on Friday [3/13/2015], came out publicly for the previous Senate's "Gang of Eight" amnesty bill that would have provided citizenship, public benefits and other goodies such as work authorization for every illegal alien in America.

McCaul Bill Breaks Republican Promise to Voters on Immigration.  Republicans won a historic midterm vote on the promise to take real action — not symbolic gestures — to end the immigration lawlessness.  It is essential that any immigration measures moved by the Republican Congress actually do the job.  Too often, Congress will pass anything on immigration except that which will actually work.  Indeed, the repudiated Gang of Eight bill was touted as the 'toughest border security [and] enforcement measures in U.S. history.'  Unfortunately, border legislation being marked-up on Wednesday [1/21/2015] in the House Homeland Security Committee again fails to include the measures necessary to fulfill its promises.

Obama's Amnesty Will Loot Social Security To Give Your Money To Illegal Aliens.  House conservatives correctly argued that the "Gang of Eight" bill and its various House companion bills would allow illegal aliens immediate access to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and various other welfare programs, such as food stamps.  While the proponents of the "Gang of Eight" bill tried to finesse the issue the bottom line was and is that once the government gives a Social Security number and card to an illegal alien that opens up a whole smorgasbord of federal, state and local benefits — and it also opens up the possibility of registering to vote.  Now the Federation of American Immigration Reform has produced a stunning report that details how Obama's planned illegal "executive amnesty" will provide the same free ride that the "Gang of Eight" bill did.

Former members of Bush administration push for immigration reform.  Just what exactly is "immigration reform," and why do we need it?  As far as I can tell, immigration reform has become a slogan with no compelling mandate.  We already have immigration laws on the books.  We have a system for people to legally immigrate to the United States.  And we have a system, at least in theory, to address those who are here illegally when they are caught.  We don't need reform.  We need to enforce the law.

Sen Bob Corker Frustrated with Conservative Amnesty Opponents.  On Thursday, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) showed disdain for conservatives who object to massive amnesty legislation that he wants a GOP-led Congress to enact. [...] "I get really frustrated with people on my side of the aisle who say that anything you do on immigration is amnesty," Corker reportedly said on Thursday [11/6/2014].  "I saw it play out in these congressional races, where people were actually trying to solve the problem, and the only word people used was amnesty."  Corker, who was behind the sham amendment to give cover to Republicans voting for the Senate's massive "Gang of Eight" amnesty bill, said he hopes that "we don't let demagogues prevail, and that we finally deal with this issue and put it behind us."

What Schumer Wrought.  Obama's policies were on the ballot — we have it on good authority (Obama's).  That includes "comprehensive immigration reform," as embodied in the Chuck Schumer's Senate "Gang of 8" legalization + immigration increase bill.  So how did it do?

Paul Ryan Suggests GOP Candidates In Midterms Should Run On Giving Illegals Citizenship.  Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) suggested that Republican candidates in this year's midterm elections should run on granting a pathway to citizenship for all of the country's illegal immigrants.  Ryan, who had reportedly been working behind the scenes with Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) to get House Republicans to support a broader immigration bill, said that he was "having problems" convincing conservatives to support immigration reform, which he said was "very important."  In a Wednesday [8/20/2014] interview with Bloomberg News, Ryan said he supported a "path to legalization" for all of the country's illegal immigrants.

Poll: Voters Overwhelmingly Oppose Executive Action On Immigration.  The poll, conducted by veteran Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway, also found that Americans disapprove of Obama's record on immigration.  And as one Republican aide on Capitol Hill describes it, the results of the poll are an "utter repudiation" of the Senate's Gang of 8 immigration bill.

Senator Kay Hagan Vowed to Oppose Amnesty in 2008, then Voted for 'Gang of Eight' Bill Anyway.  Sen. Kay Hagan's (D-NC) position on immigration seems to correlate with how close she is to facing voters at the ballot box.  "I oppose amnesty," Hagan said during a June 21, 2008 debate against then-incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC): [...] Hagan made stopping illegal immigration a major issue in her campaign.  "If we don't do that [secure the border first], the number [of illegal immigrants] is going to get larger," Hagan said in September 2008, according to local news outlet WRAL.  "That's where I want to start."

8 Insane Things Put in Place by John McCain's $100 Million Pro-Invasion Spending Bill.  So just when you thought McCain couldn't get any dumber or more malicious, we get word of his $100,000,000 bill that promote illegal immigration.  Consider the eight key facets of this epic treason:
[#1] Spends $100,000,000.
[#2] Asserts acts that are already illegal are now illegal.
[#3] Makes it a federal crime to tell someone where a DHS, HHS or Border Patrol bus carrying illegal aliens is spotted, coming from or headed.
[#4] Makes it a federal crime to prohibit a DHS, HHS or Border Patrol bus from moving from point A to point B. [...]

Gang of Eight Republicans Promise: We're Not Trying to Sneak Our Bill Through.  Senate "Gang of Eight" Republicans are vowing not to try anything sneaky, as Congress considers legislation to address the border crisis.  In a statement that underscores the remarkable distance the immigration debate has traveled since their bill passed the Senate with 68 votes last year, the four Republican authors say they do not support bringing up such a bill this year.

Obama AWOL as border crisis worsens.  John McCain, an immigration hawk.  Who knew?  Mr. McCain, the highest-profile Republican of the U.S. Senate's "Gang of Eight" that came up with amnesty as the solution to the immigration crisis — and it truly is a crisis — is finally taking a hard line against President Obama for his encouraging the tidal wave of illegal aliens swamping the southwestern border.  "There has to be a halt to this," Mr. McCain thundered Sunday on CNN.  "That's what we want, and the best way to do that is for planeloads of these young people to be returning to their country of origin and their families."  Of more than 57,000 children who have arrived at the border since October, only 1,254 had been sent home, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

Cantor Continues Push For Amnesty For "Kids" After Primary Defeat.  A day after he was stunningly ousted in his primary because of his embrace of amnesty legislation, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) continued to push for amnesty for the children of illegal immigrants.

Eric Cantor loss kills immigration reform.  Immigration reform is almost certainly dead on Capitol Hill this year.  Many top sources close to the issue privately acknowledged after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's shocking defeat Tuesday night that the already uphill battle for immigration reform was dealt the knockout blow.

Steve King Denounces 'Creeping Effort' to Push 'rrational' Amnesty This Year.  On Saturday, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) denounced the "creeping effort" in Congress to pass what he said was an "illogical" and "irrational" "comprehensive amnesty" bill this year.  Appearing on Breitbart News Saturday [...], King said Republicans and Democrats are "looking for some kind of opening" to grant amnesty to "some sympathetic group," which would then allow them to keep broadening categories until all of the country's illegal immigrants are given amnesty.

Eric Cantor: Brazenly Lying to the People of Virginia in Order to Ram Amnesty Down Our Throats.  Send a message to the Beltway Elites who brazenly lie to the American people to push their unpopular and unreasonable agendas.

The "Gang of Eight" and Immigration Reform: "Bordering on a National Security Nightmare".  In the wake of the recent elections, immigration has risen to the top of the list of newsworthy stories — in part pushed to that position of significance by statements made by key members of Congress and the President that "Pathways to Citizenship" must be provided to what they claim is a population of 11 million illegal aliens.  Some politicians, particularly those from the Republican Party, are being stampeded to act irrationally in a move to appeal to a segment of the American electorate, "Latino Voters."

Cuccinelli: 'If Amnesty Goes Through, It Can Turn Around Momentum' in GOP Base.  Former Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli, a Tea Party favorite who barely lost a run for governor last year, believes Republicans are well-positioned to make major gains this election season — as long as they avoid the sort of missteps that have plagued them in the past. [...] Cuccinelli said the public remains "revolted" by Obamacare but success at the polls may hinge on "how they handle it."  Congressional Republicans could still stymie success by taking dubious actions like passing immigration reform.

Jarrett pulls back from suggesting Obama has 'commitment' from Boehner on immigration.  White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett pulled back Friday morning from comments she made suggesting that House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) had made a commitment to President Obama to take up immigration legislation this summer.  Jarrett had told an investors conference in Las Vegas on Thursday that she believes that Boehner will allow a comprehensive immigration reform bill, or a package of bills, to come up for a vote after a series of GOP primaries this summer in order to avoid spoiling the chances of some Republican incumbents.

Complete Cantor Turnaround: No Amnesty In NDAA.  House Majority Leader Eric Cantor changed direction entirely Friday, saying through a spokesman that he doesn't plan to allow any amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would grant amnesty to illegal aliens through the ENLIST Act.  "No proposed ENLIST amendments to NDAA will be made in order," Cantor spokesman Doug Heye said in an email to Breitbart News.

Business Execs: Amnesty Legislation Will Be Last Act Of Lame-Duck Session.  Two of the most prominent CEOs that have been lobbying Congress for immigration reform and amnesty legislation indicated on Monday this Congress's final act could be passing sweeping amnesty legislation in the lame-duck session.

Hey GOP, Meet Four Dreamers Who Want Your Amnesty.  Many in the Republican Party don't understand the political ramifications of amnesty.  If they did, they wouldn't support it.  GOP reform advocates don't understand that Democrats are pushing immigration reform because they want the country to turn permanently Democrat and to lurch leftward and unhook from America's founding principles of individual liberty and limited government.  Republicans who support amnesty don't understand the inertia of culture.  They think the new citizens who will benefit from their amnesty can be reasoned with and persuaded by the force of argument to vote for Republicans.

Conservative activists fight back on immigration.  Activists opposed to immigration reform are urging congressional candidates to sign a pledge that they won't vote for immigration reform.  The move apparently began on Laura Ingrham's national radio show and is being pushed by Tea Party groups all across the country.

Schumer's little secret on immigration.  Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday [4/28/2014] predicted Congress would pass an immigration reform bill this year.  "I want to let you in on a little secret.  We are going to pass that bill and sign it into law this year," Schumer said at the Citizenship Now immigration hotline in New York, according to the Daily News.  Schumer, a member of the "Gang of Eight" that helped push a immigration package through the Senate last year, said Republican leaders in the House have become increasingly aware the party will lose future elections without a deal.

What Can I Do to Get You to Buy This Amnesty Today?  [I]t's important to understand that the amnesty/enforcement problem isn't specific to Obama.  It's true that he is a faithless executive, whose public lies and brazen usurpation of congressional authority are without precedent in our history.  Republican proponents of amnesty telling us to trust Obama should be ashamed of themselves.  But there are systemic reasons that enforcement has to be fully in place before starting any amnesty.

President Obama may accept deal offering 11 million undocumented immigrants legal status.  In a major shift, President Obama on Friday [1/31/2014] opened the door to a potential election-year compromise on the contentious issue of immigration reform.  Obama said for the first time that he might accept a deal that would offer the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. legal status instead of full citizenship.

House Immigration Reform Outline Looks Eerily Similar to Gang of Eight Amnesty Legislation.  Late yesterday the House released the framework for an immigration overhaul, which includes amnesty for people brought here illegally by their parents when they were children.  As usual, the outline (which will be used to develop legislation) is full of promises for border security first, with a fix in the immigration system second.

House GOP leaders back limited path to legal status for illegal immigrants.  House Republican leaders on Thursday [1/30/2014] endorsed a limited path to legal status for some illegal immigrants, in a move Democrats said could open the door to a deal on comprehensive immigration legislation.

Ted Cruz: House GOP's Amnesty Push Will Ruin Hopes of Retaking Senate.  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) thinks that the House GOP leadership's renewed push this week to grant amnesty to illegal aliens would destroy the Republican Party's chances at retaking the Senate in 2014.  Cruz questioned how establishment Republicans unilaterally caving to Democrats on everything from the farm bill to the budget to the debt ceiling and more could think amnesty is a good idea at this time.

National Journal: Paul Ryan Will Lead House on Amnesty After GOP Primaries.  The National Journal's Major Garrett is out with a new report detailing how House GOP leadership plans to push an immigration bill that would grant amnesty to America's at least 11 million illegal aliens in 2014, a bill that would move after GOP primary season and have House Budget Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) leading the way.

Illegal Aliens Hounding GOP Rep from One Town Hall to Another.  Pro-amnesty activists are acting "with an increased sense of urgency" these days, the New York Times' Ashley Parker reported on Saturday [11/23/2013].  The "urgency" of these activists is such that they are repeatedly sending the same groups of illegal aliens to a certain congressman's town hall events to garner some rank-and-file GOP support for amnesty.

'Dreamer' Website Teaches Illegal Immigrants 'How To Lie Successfully'.  If you're an illegal immigrant worried about being caught, help is only a mouse click away.  An article from the radical website DreamActivist.org will give you a quick lesson on how to lie about your status.  It's all part of the aggressive pro-illegal immigration 'Dreamer movement' that is leading the fight for "comprehensive" immigration reform, with a boost from President Barack Obama and many in Congress.

Immigration Expert: Paul Ryan Most 'Open Borders Person in Congress'.  Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) Executive Director Mark Krikorian said on Thursday [12/5/2013] that House Budget Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is by far the most open borders-minded member of the U.S. Congress — even more so than Democrats like Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), who is aggressively and publicly calling for President Barack Obama to halt deportations of illegal aliens.

Cantor Relentless in Push for Amnesty for Illegal Alien Youth.  House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) says he is continuing to try to grant amnesty to illegal alien youths via his GOP version of the DREAM Act, known as the KIDS Act.  "We should not be holding kids liable for the acts of their parents," Cantor said in an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

7 Ways That Republicans Fail Politics 101:  Do you ever notice that Barbara Boxer, Chuck Schumer, and Harry Reid don't ever join any "gangs" of Republicans that are trying to undermine Democrat policies?  You're never going to see a "Gang of 8" or "Gang of 12" that's trying to help pro-lifers or defend the 2nd Amendment.  So how much sense does it make for Republicans to join "gangs" of Democrats when the only question is how badly conservatives are going to lose out[?]

Public Revolts Against Obama, Political Establishment's Amnesty Efforts.  According to new national polling data from Pew Research, the American people have revolted against President Barack Obama's and the GOP establishment's efforts to grant amnesty to America's at least 11 million illegal immigrants through comprehensive immigration reform.  "Only about a third of the public (32%) approves of the job Obama is doing on immigration policy; 60% disapprove," Pew wrote.

Still more lies about immigration reform.  In the last week, the sponsors of the "gang of eight" immigration reform bill have had a bit of an epiphany.  Senator Marco Rubio has admitted that there needs to be a rewrite of the bill on border security.  President Obama, in a speech to La Raza, stated that the pro-amnesty group was not going to get everything it demanded.  Nonetheless, too many Americans are in the dark as to how utterly bad this bill is.

House Republican Circulating Petition to Push Immigration Reform.  The third House Republican to support the comprehensive immigration bill introduced by House Democrats is circulating a petition to House Republicans to pressure House Republican leaders to bring up comprehensive immigration reform legislation this year.  On Friday [11/1/2013], Rep. David Valadao (R-CA) said he was "hoping to get a decent number" of signatures, according to the Washington Post.

Lobbyists for Restaurant Chains Grease Wheels for Immigration Bill.  Fast food chains and other big restaurant lobbyists are turning their attention to efforts to try to grant amnesty to the 11 million illegal aliens in the country, Breitbart News has learned.

Amnesty Will Destroy America's Exceptionalism.  The influx of these new voters will reduce or eliminate Republicans' ability to offer an alternative to big government, increased government spending and favorite liberal policies such as ObamaCare and gun control. New voters will lean on our hard-pressed health care system and overcrowded public schools to demand more government services.  Amnesty advocates point to the assimilation of large numbers of immigrants in the early 20th century.  But that was followed by a slowdown of immigration from the 1920s to the 1960s, which allowed newcomers to assimilate, learn our language and adapt to our system of government.

Amnesty Is Republican Party Suicide.  A Harris poll found that 81 percent of native-born Americans believe the schools should teach students to be proud of being American, compared to only 50 percent of immigrants who had become naturalized U.S. citizens.  Only 37 percent of naturalized citizens (compared to 67 percent of native-born citizens) think our Constitution has a higher legal authority than international law.

No, Amnesty For Illegals Is Not Urgent, Mr. President.  Giving millions of illegals amnesty would flood the job market with competition for low-skilled jobs that those here legally, both immigrants and natives, could do.  Adding insult to injury, plenty of them would qualify for affirmative action preferences at the expense of the Americans whose livelihoods they are taking.  There are other costs, too.  Obama's immigration reform would entitle millions to welfare benefits.  A recent study by the Heritage Foundation found that providing amnesty for illegals would cost the U.S. roughly $108 billion a year as the welfare spigot is opened.  The average illegal immigrant household, if legalized, would consume $28,000 more in services annually per household than it pays in taxes — a huge amount when spread over 11 million people living here illegally.

Issa Confirms: Drafting Bill to Grant Legal Status to Some Illegal Aliens.  A spokesman for House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) confirmed to Breitbart News on Wednesday [10/23/2013] that the chairman is currently drafting legislation that would grant legal status to at least some of America's 11 million illegal immigrants.  "Congressman Issa is currently working on a proposal that would offer temporary status for some qualifying aliens already present," Frederick Hill, Issa's spokesman, wrote in an email.

Republicans fear the power of 17 million newly legalized loyal Democrats.  Republicans' new worst fear isn't defaulting on America's debts.  If an immigration policy favored by the White House and Senate Democrats should become law, 17.3 million newly legalized immigrant voters would emerge by 2036, eager to reward the party that gave them a path to citizenship.  The White House has shifted gears and put its policy team in immigration overdrive, zooming past the debt crisis that threatened to sink the republic and on to the task of normalizing the estimated 11 million U.S. residents who have no legal basis for being there.

Senate immigration bill adds 17 million potential voters to U.S..  The Senate immigration bill would add 17 million new potential voters to the U.S. within 25 years, according to a report from the Center for Immigration Studies, released Thursday [10/10/2013] that argues the influx could have a major effect on American politics.  That 17 million is in addition to the 15 million already built in from existing immigration levels through 2036, the researchers said.  By comparison, the last four presidential elections were decided by an average of 4.5 million voters.

Immigration Agents Rip House Lawmakers Pushing Amnesty.  U.S. Immigration Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agents have expressed strong concerns over House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and other Representatives pushing for immigration legislation that would legalize the status of America's at least 11 million illegal immigrants.

Protest Backfires: Rep. Pete Olson Now Opposes Conference with Senate on Amnesty.  Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX) publicly came out against a conference committee with the Senate's "Gang of Eight" legislation at a town hall in his district.  A video of the event was provided to Breitbart News by local Tea Party activists.  In early questioning on immigration, Olson described the Senate bill as "DOA," [...]

How Obamacare killed amnesty.  Susan Jones had a good story up at CNS Friday [8/23/2013], catching Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius telling a Latino group in Philadelphia Thursday [8/22/2013] that amnesty was key to them getting access to Obamacare.  "The (Obamacare) bill is crafted in such a way that those who are undocumented will not have access to the tax credits or shopping in the (health insurance) marketplace," Sebelius said.

Marco Rubio and the immigration surrender.  This is call-to-arms, fife-and-drum stuff.  The question is whether there are enough American patriots left to hear the music, and answer.  [Senator] Rubio warned that if a comprehensive immigration bill is not passed by Republicans, he believes "this President will be tempted, if nothing happens in Congress, he will be tempted to issue an executive order like he did for the DREAM Act kids a year ago, where he basically legalizes 11 million people by the sign of a pen.  Now, we won't get an E-Verify, we won't get any border security.  But he'll legalize them."

Rubio: If we don't pass immigration reform, Obama might legalize illegals by executive order.  Amnesty shills on the left have warned, with increasing volume lately, that King Barack might decide to grant de facto amnesty to illegals via executive order for the remainder of his term if nothing passes Congress.  That's their way — and now Marco Rubio's way — of trying to scare House Republicans into action.

No Conference.  Chuck Schumer has spent the better part of a year saying how essential it is that immigration reform be dealt with in a comprehensive bill.  But he has had a sudden change of heart.  He now says he is fine with the incremental approach emerging in the House. [...] Nothing if not a shrewd political operator, Schumer knows that the best chance for the Gang of Eight bill is a House-Senate conference and that the only way to get there is incremental legislation in the House.

Capsizing the Republic — Cloward and Piven on the Southern Border.  Glenn Beck pointed out last week that we, as a nation, are being ruled by 535 people in the Congress — 535 politicians are forcing 350 million into accepting Amnesty and the majority don't want it.  Why are we letting this happen? [...] It's an invasion that is being invited in by treasonous individuals on both sides of the political aisle who stand to gain from the destruction of America, the plundering and redistribution of our resources, and the subjugation of the freest society the world has ever known.

Rubio the Appeaser.  This morning [8/13/2013] Senator Rubio again made the argument that I mentioned the other day, that Congress needs to pass an amnesty to prevent President Obama from just amnestying all the illegals administratively without giving any enforcement in return.

Schumer's Euphoria Over GOP's Immigration Is Giveaway.  With an endorsement like Chuck Schumer's, it has to be bad.  House Republicans should wonder why the Senate's most partisan Democrat is happy with their "piecemeal" immigration reform strategy.

Let There Be Amnesty!  There's still a real chance that the Captain Schettinos of the House Republican brain trust will rescue Obama's presidency by passing an amnesty.  But some in the open-borders crowd are getting nervous about John Boehner's ability to achieve Obama's objectives.

Plan B on immigration reform for amnesty supporters: Have Obama issue an order granting temporary amnesty.  He did it once before for the DREAMers in a cynical but effective bid to drum up Latino turnout before the election.  Why wouldn't he do it again ahead of the midterms, with Democrats desperate to rally their base to hold back a Republican tide?  Remember, this is a guy willing to ignore key provisions of his own landmark health-care law, with not even a pretense of having the legal authority to do so, if it'll help Democrats politically.

The August Amnesty End-Run Around the Conservative Base.  One difference between the two major parties is that Democrats harness the energy of their base to fight legislative battles; Republicans make end-runs around their base to obviate their energy.  Let's examine the GOP's strategy for dealing with immigration.  Instead of harnessing their energy to fight amnesty and hang it around the necks of Democrats in the red state electoral landscape next year, they are trying to outflank the conservative base with subterfuge in order to pass amnesty.

Amnesty Driven by Voodoo Economics.  Amnesty will grow the economy, they argue.  Well, if there are more people, technically the economy will be bigger.  But each person may be poorer.  A growing economy is only 'better' if the economy grows faster than the population increases.  Otherwise, each individual is worse off among a larger crowd.

One good reason to be glad Congress gets nothing done.  Technically, the problems of border security and criminal residence within our borders should not even be part of an immigration bill; they should be dealt with as law-enforcement issues.  If we had a Congress that was serious about protecting and defending our Constitution and our common welfare, this would not even be up for discussion.

Report: Senate immigration bill includes nearly $300 million in slush funds for immigrants' rights groups.  A former senior policy analyst at the National Council of La Raza supervised the drafting of a U.S. Senate bill, passed on June 27, that would give an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants a path to citizenship if the House of Representatives goes along.  And La Raza figures to enlarge its budget significantly, thanks to slush funds buried deep in the legislation.

La Raza In Line To Pocket Reform-Bill Slush Funds.  The avowed purpose of the immigration bill passed by the Senate and pending in the House is to provide a "path to citizenship" for the illegal immigrants in exchange for tough new enforcement measures that would prevent other such incursions in the future.  But buried deep within the immigration bill are hidden multimillion-dollar slush funds for left-wing nonprofit groups to provide services to the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants now in the U.S.  Once enacted, the slush funds would total almost $300 million over three years and grow over time.

Rubio Has Not Said a Word About Immigration Bill Since it Passed.  After being the face of the Senate's immigration bill, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has not said a word about it since it passed more than three weeks ago, and has not come to the bill's defense even when other Republicans have attacked it.  As the National Journal noted, Rubio did not even respond when House Republican leaders "trashed" the bill as being like Obamacare last week.

Thomas Sowell: Paul Ryan's argument for immigration reform 'utter nonsense'.  On Tuesday's broadcast of Laura Ingraham's radio show, economist and Intellectuals and Race author Thomas Sowell blasted Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan argument for immigration reform.  During a June appearance on Ingraham's show, Ryan had said the U.S. might face labor shortages unless immigration policy is overhauled.

The Sudden Decline of Marco Rubio.  Rubio's immigration reform bill is so full of pork, favoritism, and outrageous provisions that it has probably ruined his chances at becoming president.

Former Border Patrol agents call Senate's immigration plan 'a huge waste of resources'.  Deploying 20,000 more U.S. Border Patrol agents along the southwestern border as proposed in an immigration reform bill passed by the Senate would be "a huge waste of resources," according to former border agents, who say that money should be used to track down dangerous criminal aliens nationwide.

Possible House GOP plan on immigration: A path to legalization, not citizenship?  [Scroll down]  How are you going to get Democrats to agree to a "path to legalization"?  The whole problem with the Gang of Eight bill is that Schumer and the Democrats demanded that legalization happen right away, without any border security trigger.  If the House insists on security first, Schumer et al. will walk and start screaming about second-class status for illegals.

House GOP Won't Pursue Comprehensive Immigration Bill.  House Republicans emerged from their hotly anticipated closed-door meeting on immigration Wednesday united against the Senate-passed bill, but no closer to an agreement on their own policies to address the controversial issue.  However, House GOP leaders released a joint statement declaring that the chamber would move forward on immigration in a piecemeal fashion, rather than attempting the comprehensive approach taken by the Senate.

A Political Train Wreck.  Most of the Republican House members who gathered this week to discuss immigration understand that passing anything like the Obama amnesty bill would be politically harmful to them.  Even Jay Leno has gotten knowing laughs with a crack about "undocumented Democrats."  Ann Coulter has written that "if illegals were Republicans, Chuck Schumer would be a 'Minuteman,' patrolling the Mexican border 24-7."  The Left knows this too.

Stopping Amnesty Is up to You.  With campaign bundlers able to buy so much political influence, what is to stop them from pressuring the passage of an amnesty bill with mountains of cash to fill many a campaign war chest ahead of the 2014-midterm elections?  The short answer is — you.

What will happen to the missing millions of immigration reform?  Depending on which estimate you accept, there are about 11 million, or maybe 11.5 million, illegal immigrants currently in the United States.  Much of the ongoing debate over comprehensive immigration reform has focused on what to do with them. [...] But one factor Rubio did not mention that night, and in fact none of the Gang of Eight stressed during the debate, is that nobody believes all of the 11 million, or 11.5 million, currently illegal immigrants will apply for legalization if the reform envisioned by the Gang becomes law.

William Kristol and Rich Lowry agree: Kill the Bill.  We are conservatives who have differed in the past on immigration reform, with Kristol favorably disposed toward it and Lowry skeptical.  But the Gang of Eight has brought us into full agreement:  Their bill, passed out of the Senate, is a comprehensive mistake.  House Republicans should kill it without reservation.

Walking into the Gang of Eight Trap.  The Gang of Eight bill would allow illegal immigrants to apply for legal status almost immediately.  Critics have argued that this is a flawed approach to reform because, once the legal status is granted, Democrats will seek to renegotiate every other aspect of the proposal.  Or the Obama administration could simply ignore the bill's major provisions, just as it continues to ignore current immigration law.

Treasonous Immigrationists and the Death of America.  When people have come to your land mainly to make money and have loyalty lying elsewhere, it doesn't bode well for assimilation.  The kicker here is that flooding a nation with unassimilable foreigners may do no more for diversity over the long term than pythons in the Everglades.  Sure, the swamp is currently more diverse — with tens of thousands of fascinating non-indigenous creatures added to the mix — but how diverse will the ecosystem be when they decimate native species?  Thus have Florida authorities decided that amnesty for the snakes probably isn't the best idea.

Lew Urges Newly Sworn U.S. Citizens to Back Pathway for Illegals.  Treasury Secretary Jack Lew congratulated new U.S. citizens at a naturalization ceremony for their "extraordinary accomplishment," telling the honorees that their citizenship "took hard work" since "nobody gave this to you."  Lew then praised the Senate immigration reform bill for offering citizenship to individuals living in the U.S. illegally.

Pro-Growth Reform.  Any legislation that runs 1,200 pages is almost by definition flawed, and the immigration reform that passed the Senate late last week is no exception.  The bill would nonetheless improve America's ability to legally attract more of the world's human talent, and the Republican-run House now has a chance to make it better.

Obamacare train wreck undermines amnesty push.  Just like the employer mandate was essential to getting a CBO score that said Obamacare would not add to the debt, E-Verify is now essential for convincing Americans that the Schumer-Rubio bill will, in Sen. Chuck Schumer's words, make illegal immigration "a thing of the past."  But, like Obamacare and the employer mandate, once the 11 million illegal immigrants currently in the country get amnesty, E-Verify will have outlived its usefulness.  Businesses already complain at the existing voluntary E-Verify system, and those complaints will only get louder as a new E-Verify system becomes mandatory.  Does anyone, anywhere, believe Obama would not delay implementation of E-Verify too?

Amnesty by any Other Name.  Much of what occurred during this past week was simply a ploy designed to make the American public think that a tough new immigration bill was passed, when in reality, amnesty was given to upwards of thirty million illegal aliens, rule of law and enforcement was circumvented and our Republic was degraded and endangered.

Rand Paul Takes On 'Amnesty' Opponents.  Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) may have voted against the Senate's "Gang of Eight" immigration reform bill last week, but he seemingly does not count himself among the conservative critics of the bill who oppose any and all forms of "amnesty" for illegal immigrants currently living inside the United States.  In an interview with WNDtv, Sen. Paul took on the critics of so-called "amnesty" who oppose efforts to "normalize" illegal immigrants and absorb them into the United States.

The Editor says...
Frankly, I won't be disappointed if Rand Paul turns out to be the next President.  But he seems to be giving up the defense of our borders, assuming that illegal aliens are here to stay, and trying to find the best way to accomodate them.  My view is very different:  Anyone who comes to this country should have a marketable skill, not just a late-term pregnancy, and should be willing to assimilate into American culture.  That means speaking English and applying for citizenship.

Further elaboration can be found in <!-- HTML comments -->.

After Gang of Eight, a new conservative message: Won't get fooled again.  Many conservatives gave Sen. Marco Rubio the benefit of the doubt when he said securing the border first was a top priority for the Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform effort.  Later, when those conservatives realized that Rubio's plan would first legalize the country's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants, and only then put new border security measures in place, they expressed deep disappointment and disillusionment.

Sen. Lee: 'From Day One, The Country Was Misled About What Was in The Bill'.  Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) took to the Senate floor on Thursday to speak against the immigration reform bill, which later passed 68-32, stressing that many falsehoods were told about the legislation through misleading talking points, and that the American people, "from Day One," were "misled about what was in the bill."

The Gang of Eight's Bill Will Never Become Law.  Not unless House Republicans have completely taken leave of their senses, in which case, for the first time in my lifetime, talking about a new party won't be crazy.  As many flaws as the Gang's bill has, we can never repeat too often that it is fundamentally misconceived in a manner that cannot be made right with a fence or even with improved interior enforcement, valuable as those things may be in their own right.  The fundamental problem with the bill is what it does with legal immigration.  Instead of reforming our Ted Kennedy-inspired, irrational 60s-era immigration regime, it perpetuates it and even makes it worse.

For immigration bill, Senate passes 'Motion to Waive All Applicable Budgetary Discipline'.  The Congressional Budget Office found that the Gang of Eight reform bill would increase the on-budget deficit by about $14 billion in the coming decade.  Any deficit reduction that would come from the bill would be the result of mostly-young, newly-legalized immigrants paying Social Security taxes but not collecting benefits until much later than the period examined by the CBO.

Comprehensive Rejection.  Perhaps the one thing that's certain about the House of Representatives and immigration is that the bill that just passed the Senate could never, ever pass the House.  Indeed, it's difficult to overstate how little regard Republicans there have for it, even with the border-security amendment added by Senators Bob Corker and John Hoeven.  "Just like all the senators, I haven't read it yet," quips Representative Tim Huelskamp of Kansas.  The House should "fold it up into a paper airplane and throw it out the window.  Oh, is that not the right answer?"

Enforcement Holiday: Immigration Bill Allows Criminal Illegals 'Safe Harbor'.  A provision in the "Gang of Eight" bill would amount to a 2.5-year-long law enforcement holiday, during which time law enforcement will be forced to suspend deportation efforts against criminal illegal aliens and allow them to apply for legalization.  What that means is that while illegal immigrants "come out of the shadows," as Gang of Eight members like to say, and fill out their applications for legalization or amnesty, enforcement of America's interior immigration laws will be suspended completely.

Republican Party Won't Survive Amnesty Bill and Neither will America.  The Republican Party won't survive the passing of the Democrat's illegal immigration amnesty bill.  This shouldn't be too complex for the D.C. geniuses:  if you betray your party's base to pander to the opposition's base, they win, you lose.  If you screw the white working class to pander to the Hispanic vote, whites will stay home.  If you destroy your base's trust in government, by passing yet another 2000 page bill no one has read, Republicans will stay home.  Republicans are too busy working and raising a family to waste their time voting for a bunch of cynical, lying politicians.

Boehner tells House Republicans he won't bring Gang of Eight bill to the Floor.  Jonathan Strong, a reporter for NRO, tweets that "Boehner just told R[epublican]s the House will not bring up the Senate immigration bill."  This is a tactical move on Boehner's part, largely taken to head off a conservative revolt that would tear the party apart in advance of the 2014 mid terms.  Simply put, by not bringing the bill to the floor, but allowing some stand-alone immigration reform bills to be voted on, Boehner is not taking any chances that the Senate bill will pass.

The GOP Implodes.  It is dramatic to watch.  The Republican Party is imploding.  Collapsing in on itself as party leaders and corporatists find themselves doing battle with the party's base over immigration. [...] The furious backlash comes after fifteen Republicans in the Senate abandoned the party base over the immigration issue, voting for the phony Corker-Hoeven "border security" measure that in fact makes it explicitly clear that the final decision as to whether the border is to be secured is left to the discretion of President Obama's Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano.

Passage of the Amnesty Bill Will Spell the End of Our Republic.  On Monday, June 24, 2013, the U.S. Senate passed a cloture motion (which ends debate) on the Schumer-Corker-Hoeven Amendment to the Gang of Eight's horrifying illegal alien amnesty bill — mislabeled "immigration reform."  The true purpose of this amnesty proposal is to capture future votes for the Democratic Party.  Those who do not acknowledge that blatantly obvious fact either suffer from some debilitating mental illness or are working for the other side.

The Reason Democrats and RINOs Want Immigration Reform — Votes.  Sen. Marco Rubio may well be sincere about trying to reform our immigration laws but if he thinks Democrats are on the same track, he's — dare I say it — stupid.  So is Sen. Lindsay Graham, a RINO, who's pushing the immigration bill, because it's "the only way to get back in the good graces with the Hispanic community."  Oh, please, what nonsense.  I am Hispanic and we Hispanic Americans only belong to the American community and vote for what's best for America and this immigration bill as presented by the Gang of 8 is very bad.  Considering the fact that illegal immigrants have been storming our walls for decades why are we now acting like it is the most important legislation that must be passed now?

Poll: 77 percent of Americans oppose Schumer-Rubio's welfare benefits for immigrants.  According to the latest United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll, 77 percent of Americans oppose giving government benefits, like food stamps and Medicaid, to illegal immigrants before they become citizens.  Not only do 90 percent of Republicans oppose such a policy, but 65 percent of Democrats do as well.

The Stories They Told.  Republicans (and red state Democrats) used to tell voters amazing things about their opposition to amnesty.  Then they got elected and supported legislation that actually weakens border security and puts people on a path not just to legalization, but to citizenship, before ever securing our borders.

Mass illegal alien amnesty violates our founding principles.  Our founding fathers recognized that fulfilling these fundamental duties is impossible without an orderly immigration and entrance system that discriminates in favor of those willing, as George Washington put it, to "get assimilated to our customs, measures, [and] laws."  Assimilation, not amnesty, is at the heart of the American experiment.  And "secure the border, period" — not "secure the border first" as a pesky precondition to a mass illegal alien bailout — is an ongoing, never-ending obligation of our government.  Border security is not something you finish and hastily check off a list in order to move on to another politically correct campaign promise.  It is the most basic duty of government and it remains the federal government's biggest failure.

What's Really Inside the Amnesty Bill? We've Got to Pass it to Find Out.  It is the nature of comprehensive reform of any kind that so much is slipped in, or reinterpreted by the bureaucrats who write the rules, or otherwise disguised or hidden, that, like Obamacare, we really won't know what's in the bill until it is passed and implemented. [...] At one time, the United States Senate was known as "The world's most deliberative body."  What can you say about them now?

10 Problems with the Gang of Eight Immigration Bill.  The immigration debate barrels ahead in the Senate this week — and the Gang of Eight wants you to believe it's a done deal.  The media and many Senators have been trumpeting a new amendment to the bill by Senators Bob Corker (R-TN), John Hoeven (R-ND) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY), saying it would fix the border security holes in the original legislation.  But Heritage experts have explained why the amendment is deeply flawed and "does not even promise a reduction in illegal immigration."

DeMint: Immigration Bill Is "Going to Cost Americans Trillions": Sarah Edwards.  Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint appeared on Fox News's "Your World with Neil Cavuto" this afternoon to challenge the Congressional Budget Office's report that immigration reform will boost the economy.  "People are projecting without any data," DeMint said. "This bill is going to cost Americans trillions of dollars."  DeMint said that despite claims by the Gang of Eight, Republicans did not lose the 2012 election because of immigration reform.  They lost because they did not inspire the Hispanic voting base.

Republicans: What Are You Smoking? Proponents tell us we have an immigration crisis.  Exactly how does one define crisis?  They told us we had a health care and health insurance crisis, too, and they gave us Obamacare, making matters worse on both counts.  We do have a national debt crisis and the most anemic economic recovery since World War II, yet proponents ignore these genuine crises while demanding we act immediately on immigration reform.  They say that this bill would not constitute amnesty, that we already have de facto amnesty today.  But they also tell us that some 11 million illegals are living in the shadows.  Which is it?  They can't have it both ways.  If they have amnesty, they're not living in the shadows.

In shift, Republican Senator Rubio now fully embraces U.S. immigration bill.  Republican Senator Marco Rubio, shifting his tone on the U.S. immigration bill he helped to write, said on Tuesday [6/25/2013] he is now fully satisfied that the measure will do what it takes to secure the southern border with Mexico.

ObamaCare, ObamaPhones, Now Maybe ObamaCars!?  Laura Ingraham, this week's guest host of The O'Reilly Factor, [...] said we're now finding out that the 1,190-page bill is laden with "poison pills" like "giveaways for Hollywood," a $1.5 billion youth unemployment stimulus to satisfy Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and "the salmon sweetener" for senators from Alaska.  Part of the Sanders provision could even provide for free cars, motorcycles, or scooters for young people to use as transportation to jobs.

Immigration reform passes key Senate test in 67-27 vote.  The Senate voted 67-27 Monday [6/24/2013] to advance a border security amendment to bipartisan immigration legislation, building momentum for a final vote later this week.  Fifteen of the "yes" votes were Republicans, suggesting supporters could hit the 70-vote threshold they hope to reach in the final vote.

Hollywood Gets Special Breaks in Senate Immigration Bill.  You can add Hollywood to the long list of industries and special interests securing carve-outs and favors in the Corker Amendment to the Senate immigration bill.  Film studios and record companies already receive preferential treatment for visa applications.  The Corker Amendment, however, goes even further and, in specific circumstances, waives any fees studios have to pay for these applications.  These fees are used to underwrite immigration enforcement.

Why Is Congress Rushing A Bad Immigration Bill?  The Senate's Democratic leadership and bipartisan Gang of Eight were in such a hurry to stop debate on their 1,200-page immigration bill that they didn't want anyone to read it.  It's the latest in a long line of political travesties that threaten the future of our 237-year-old republic.  Sadly, those who pass our laws can't be bothered even to read them these days.  But if they did, they might be shocked to discover that the "Immigration Reform Bill," after the Corker-Hoeven amendment, has turned into a giant piñata stuffed with all kinds of hidden pork and goodies to make it easier for senators to choke down.

Democrats put Blacks in the Back of the Bus.  [Scroll down]  But by including Title V they've tacitly admitted that yes, blacks will be devastated by this sudden influx of people who will be willing to work in worse conditions and for less pay than blacks.  Given that the whole immigration bill is really just a political ploy — we know that if illegals were going to vote Republican there would be no huge push for legalizing millions of low skilled workers — black Americans might want to rethink their political loyalties.

Immigration Day: 'Gang of Eight' Republicans, Once Critical of Obamacare, Go All-In.  The Senate is expected to vote on the 1200 page immigration bill on Monday afternoon [6/24/2013].  The new immigration legislation, which incorporates changes from the Corker — Hoeven amendment, was dumped on the laps of Senate staffs on Friday, leaving members and their offices 75 hours to read through all the pages.

Amnesty Now, New Border Agents by 2021.  Remember, we have to pass Amnesty now.  Like right now.  Because we have to secure the border.  In 2021.  Maybe.

One More Metaphor for the Gang of 8.  I've been trying to think of the right metaphor for the giant Corker-Hoeven amendment, the one that is reportedly giving the Gang of 8's immigration bill enough votes to pass the Senate.  Sure, it's a fig leaf — but a fig leaf is usually something insignificant-yet-real.  This is something grandiose that's a fraud.  The best I can come up with is this [...]

Pass the Immigration Bill and Kiss Your Base Good-Bye, Republicans.  Democrats get this, some Republicans don't:  You have to satisfy your base.  In 2012 Obama built out from his base, satisfying them enough on ObamaCare and then using wedge issues to build out from the base and attract low-information voters. [...] Republicans haven't learned anything from 2012.  Passing the Rubio-Schumer bill is an excellent way for Republicans to throw the 2014 election and grant Barack Obama unchecked power during his last two years in office.

Immigration: If the Bill Passes.  There are lots of reasons to believe that most of what is promised in the current so-called comprehensive immigration-reform bill won't be honored if it is passed by the full Congress and signed by the president.  First, this administration does not have a reliable record of living up to its policy promises. [...] Second, this administration feels that law is a fluid concept, the degree of enforcement predicated on perceived social justice. [...] Third, the recent history of immigration legislation is one not of the rule of law, but more of popular pressure and politics.

Brewer Backs Senate Immigration Bill: 'Victory for Arizona'.  Arizona governor Jan Brewer is giving her state's senators a vote of confidence for their work on immigration reform.  Both Arizona senators, John McCain and Jeff Flake, are members of the Gang of Eight, the Senate group working on the bill.  "I think that what we're seeing taking place in the Senate is a victory for Arizona," she said on Fox News on Sunday [6/23/2013].

Casino Crony Kickback: Reid, Heller Slip Las Vegas Tourism Handout into Immigration Bill.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) have inserted a provision that amounts to little more than a handout to Las Vegas casinos into the repackaged immigration reform bill, Breitbart News has learned.  This provision, a brazen example of crony capitalism, was inserted into the immigration law enforcement section of the bill despite the fact that it has nothing whatsoever to do with "immigration" or "law enforcement."

Sen. Bob Corker: Short border security amendment seems long because it has big letters.  Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., pushed back at the idea that he and Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., authored a massive immigration proposal, saying that the amendment is only 119 pages long — and even that page length is misleading, he said.  "Triple-spaced, big letters," Corker said.  "Got a lot of seniors in this body," he cracked.  Corker said that three or four legislative pages works out to about one conventional page of text.

The item immediately above was also posted under Liberals think you're stupid.

Repackaged amnesty bill allows Napolitano to nix border fence.  Another loophole inserted into the new version of the "Gang of Eight" immigration bill allows Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano (or any of her successors) to nix the construction of a required border security fence if she does not find it to be an "appropriate" use of resources.

Holes in the Border as Big as the Holes in Their Amnesty Bill.  Just like they did with Obamacare, some in Congress intend to "Pelosi" the amnesty bill.  They'll pass it in order to find out what's in it.  And just like the unpopular, unaffordable Obamacare disaster, this [...] 24-lb disaster of a bill is not supported by informed Americans.

Democrats to Shut Off Debate On a Bill No One Has Read.  Tomorrow [6/24/2013], Harry Reid will call for cloture on the Gang of Eight's immigration bill as amended by Corker-Hoeven, a 1,200-page bill that no one — literally no one, given the fact that it was drafted by committee — has read.  It is a remarkable moment in American history.

Democrats say they didn't concede on immigration bill.  Democrats who wrote the immigration bill insisted they didn't give up any core principles in agreeing to more fencing and adding 20,000 Border Patrol agents to the southwest border, telling Univision that illegal immigrants will still get legal status well before the new security kicks in.

New amendment adds jobs bill to Gang of Eight immigration plan.  Opponents of the Gang of Eight immigration bill have spent the weekend looking for hard-to-find changes in a piece of legislation that was substantially re-written by the Hoeven-Corker amendment.  But there's one big change that's right out in the open — impossible to miss, in fact.

Gang Of Eighters Place Full Confidence In Janet Napolitano.  Forget the host of other inanities in this bill that make it 1986 redux.  The first thing that should stop lawmakers in their tracks is the gifting of border security control to DHS's Janet Napolitano.

'Gang of 8 Members Jeff Flake & John McCain Face Recall Petitions.  A new website is asking Arizona residents for their signatures to recall Senators Jeff Flake and John McCain for supporting the immigration-amnesty bill.

Senator Flake is Failing Arizona!  Senator Jeff Flake is not representing Arizona voters, conservatives, or American citizens, even though he is our employee and ran under the Republican ticket. [...] Jeff is showing us his true colors — he is as blue as they come, a RINO, a Liberal Democrat in everything but official party designation.

Inability to Speak English Helps Get You Disability Bucks.  If leftist quislings are able to ram through the amnesty bill with help from RINO traitors, 46 million mostly unskilled Third World peasants will be flooding the USA by 2033, according to the Congressional Budget Office.  It is doubtful that — as the economy collapses under the burden this will place on society — there will be that many openings for landscape workers and chamber maids.  But not to worry, your tax dollars provide special disability benefits targeted at those who don't speak English.

Border Security Promises Can Be Canceled.  One more scam in the "Gang of Eight" immigration reform bill needs to be exposed and understood by the public, congressmen, reporters, and opinion leaders:  any of the promises to secure our national borders can be canceled later by a Congress in the future — or simply ignored.  Even what is actually written in the law can later be revoked or left unenforced by the Executive Branch.

The Worst Piece of Legislation in American History.  As we noted on Friday, even though Schumer completely repackaged the amnesty bill with only 3 days to comb through 1190 pages, the fix is in.  Every Democrat is prepared to vote for this bill, and at least 10-12 Republicans couldn't care less about their constituents.  They have the votes.  They don't care about the American people.  Amazingly, there is a supermajority of Senators who are more in tune with the whims of foreign lobbies than with the security needs of the American people.

Pat Buchanan: Hispanic influx from immigration bill could break US into 'two countries'.  On Andrea Tantaros radio show last week, conservative columnist and author Pat Buchanan warned of an unintended consequence of the immigration reform bill, a bill which doesn't place a high priority on assimilation.

Drunk on Amnesty.  One of the reasons for that speed is that Gang of Eight proponents don't want the American people to know what's in the bill — the same way they didn't want us to read the last bill they passed in a blind haste, ObamaCare.  (And look how that's working out.)  If we have time to study the bill, we'll notice things like the provision that waves drunk-driving illegal aliens right to the head of the line for legalization, ahead of all those poor chumps who have been struggling to legally comply with America's immigration laws.

Corker Amendment Permanently Offers Citizenship to Those Overstaying Their Visa.  Just as public anxiety about the weak border security provisions in the Senate immigration bill was building, GOP Sen. Bob Corker stepped forward with an amendment to "fix" the problem.  The result of his efforts, however, has been a "Christmas tree" measure, covering items far beyond border security.  Breitbart News has learned exclusively that one provision of Corker's amendment will allow workers who stay in the country past their visa will remain on the "path to citizenship."

Senators Introduce 'Female Amendment' to Gang of Eight Bill.  Thirteen female senators in favor of "comprehensive immigration reform" introduced a so-called "female amendment" on Wednesday [6/19/2013] to the Gang of Eight's immigration bill in an attempt to garner the support of more women voters.  The amendment would create a "Tier 3" point system that would add 30,000 more visas without reducing the number of visas in other merit-based tiers.

Paper Promises That Border Will Be Secured [Are] Not Enough.  The Gang of Eight says it has — presto! — fixed the big border security holes in their must-be-passed-yesterday amnesty package.  After the 1986 fiasco, skeptics won't settle for promises on paper.

Corker-Hoeven Immigration Bill Amendment Created by Gang of Eight.  Sens. John Hoeven (R-ND) and Bob Corker (R-TN) introduced a "border security" amendment to the "Gang of Eight" immigration bill on Thursday [6/20/2013].  When asked by Breitbart News, however, both Republicans conceded that Gang of Eight members were involved in writing the measure.

As with anything the Congress creates, the immigration bill is loaded with riders.
Amendment Would Give Amnesty/Legal Status to Any Would-Be Immigrant Displaced by 'Climate Change'.  This is a political game, and a political game moreover from which half of America is being excluded from playing.  What's going on is that Liberals are offering absurd amendments to be "traded away" in exchange for Conservatives dropping their non-absurd demands, such as for increased border security.

Ted Cruz and Rand Paul Just Might Save America.  Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas (of course) is marshaling his forces to oppose the villainous Gang of Eight and their foul scheme to break America's border, bank and sovereignty.

Cruz Launches Petition to Kill Immigration Bill.  Sen. Ted Cruz , R-Texas, has made no secret of his opposition to the immigration bill currently being debated in the Senate.  Now, he has launched a petition against it.  Cruz sent an email to supporters asking them to sign the online petition, Breitbart.com reports.

Senate votes 54-43 to reject Cornyn plan for border security 'trigger'.  The Senate on Thursday rejected Sen. John Cornyn's (R-Texas) immigration reform bill amendment that would have put mandatory border security triggers in place before immigrants were given legal status.  The Senate voted 54-43 to table the amendment, which was seen as crucial to get more Republican support for the legislation.

Immigration Bill: A Plan To Shaft America's Poor.  The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which calculates the cost of legislative proposals, pretty well signaled that the poor in the U.S. should prepare to get the shaft if the Senate Immigration Bill, now being debated in Congress, becomes law.  It's a sign of a bad bill, and no responsible legislator should support it.  CBO said that the bill will benefit the federal budget by $197 billion in the first decade, and about $700 billion in the second, based on the idea that illegal immigrants will finally be paying taxes into the system.

It's Magic Fig Leaf Day!  Today [6/20/2013] is the day scheduled for the unveiling of the Corker-Hoeven amendment, the long-awaited Magic Fig Leaf that will contain enough tough-sounding security provisions to give wavering senators an excuse to support the Schumer-Rubio "Gang of 8" immigration amnesty bill.

National Review Hammers Gang of Eight for Promoting Amnesty.  In a new editorial, the folks at National Review came out strongly against the immigration plan being sponsored by the "Gang of Eight," a group of Senators that includes Marco Rubio (R-FL), calling the bill "Rubio's Folly."  National Review urges Senator Rubio to vote against the bill he has helped craft.

Right rips Rubio as Republican immigration votes slip away.  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is feeling the heat as potential GOP allies are now turning against his immigration reform bill.  Republican colleagues who were previously viewed as possible "yes" votes are keeping their distance from the 1,075-page measure.  On Wednesday [6/19/2013], conservative activists ripped Rubio and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) — both sponsors of the bipartisan immigration measure — at a Capitol Hill rally.

Cruz announces amendment to block pathway to citizenship.  Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz announced an amendment to the Senate immigration bill to block a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants on Wednesday [6/19/2013].  Cruz previously attempted to insert the amendment to prevent a pathway in the Judiciary Committee mark-up of the legislation.  The Texas Republican has been a vocal opponent of allowing illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, explaining that is is unfair to those who waited in line to come to the country legally.

Mr. Rubio goes to Washington.  [W]ho knew that a young freshman senator could be manipulated by the likes of Chuck Schumer and John McCain?  Who knew that a tea party favorite could be cajoled into joining the compromising Gang of Eight?  Who knew the Gang would make him their leading face on a piece of legislation that sounds reasonable and far-reaching.  Who knew that that legislation would fail to do the one thing that it must do above all else, namely, secure the border?

CBO: 75% of Illegal Immigration Would Continue Under Senate Immigration Bill.  The advocates of S. 744, the immigration bill under consideration in the U.S. Senate that would legalize many of the illegal aliens already in the United States, have argued that the proposed legislation would also secure the border and prevent future illegal immigration.  However, the cost estimate of the legislation that was released on Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office says that the legislation would actually allow the flow of new illegal aliens into the United States to continue at a rate equal to 75 percent of the current rate of illegal immigration.

Rubio Flips Again, Helps Sink Biometric Visa Tracking Amendment.  The Senate voted down an amendment to the upper chamber's immigration bill proposed by Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) that would require a full biometric visa tracking system placed at every land, sea, and air port of entry in the United States before legalized immigrants could receive green cards.  The measure, which was also called for by the 9/11 Commission in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks, would establish a biometric exit-entry system.

The Amnesty Mob vs. America.  You can try to put "conservative" lipstick on the lawless amnesty mob.  In the end, however, it's still a lawless mob.  The big government/big business alliance to protect illegal immigration got a lot of mileage using foolish Republicans Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan as front men.  But the true colors of the open-borders grievance-mongers always show through.

CBO Analysis Confirms: Gang of Eight Bill is a Disaster.  The Congressional Budget Office released its analysis of the Gang of Eight's immigration proposal today, and spinning is in full swing.  The fact is, however, that the basic facts can't be spun:  the bill is a disaster.  As with Obamacare, the Gang structured its bill to make it "score" artificially well from a budget perspective.  They did this by delaying the newly legalized immigrants' eligibility for most federal welfare benefits for ten years, which takes those benefits outside of the ten-year window that is scored by the CBO.

Senate Just Proved It Can't Be Trusted On Border Security.  In 2006, Congress passed the Secure Fence Act, requiring 700 miles of double-tiered fencing get built along the Mexican border.  Though the fence would only cover a fraction of that border, President Bush told Americans:  "This bill will help protect the American people.  This bill will make our borders more secure.  It is an important step toward immigration reform."  "We have a responsibility to secure our borders," he added.  "We take this responsibility seriously."  Seriously?  A year later, Congress quietly passed a law that largely neutered the fence requirement, and today, only 36 miles of it have been built.

Marco Rubio brings two new faces to the GOP.  The Gang of Eight (GOE) scamnesty bill would grant legalization to more than 30 million migrants — and the number could be far higher — over the next 10 years, who will then have further access to taxpayer-funded services, programs and handouts.  Moreover, demographic electoral analysis clearly shows that virtually all these new "Americans" would vote for socialist politicians (read: liberal Democrats), just as they did in their native lands.

America does not need immigration reform.  The term "illegal immigration" is oxymoronic.  Immigration is by necessity a legal process.  Many attempt to cloud the issue by speaking of how inhumane it is for us to keep so-called illegals in the shadows.  First of all, we didn't put them in the shadows. [...] There are some who have entered our borders illegally who have never taken a dime of public assistance.  Instead, they have worked hard, effectively putting no burden on our economy or on Americans.  But we operate under the rule of law.

An abundance of villains in the great immigration scam.  Villains abound in the great immigration scam, now playing out in Congress, and not all of them are Democrats.  Some are fat cats of the Republican persuasion, and the satisfied smiles on their faces suggest Cheshire blood lines.  An endless supply of poor, hungry and illiterate peasants, preferably from the Mexican interior where poverty grinds so exceedingly fine that crumbs and scraps look like Christmas dinner, is crucial to keeping the scam going for the corporate and personal elites.

Will Boehner Lose His Speakership Over Immigration Reform? 'Maybe,' He Says.  John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he might lose his job as House speaker over immigration reform, but he insisted he will not bring a bill to the House floor that does not have majority support of both Republicans and Democrats.

Obama runs immigration bill from White House, according to new report.  The White House is playing a larger role in developing the Gang of Eight's immigration bill than its supporters publicly admit, according to a forthcoming article in The New Yorker.

Where Were You On The Gang Of Eight Deal When It Mattered?  I can't feel sorry for Rubio.  He was caught working on behalf of the employer-interests trying to adjust Chuck Schumer's immigration bill in order to make it even more damaging to the economic prospects of low-skill workers.  On top of that, Rubio is trying to maintain his own viability as 2016 presidential candidate.  Rubio shouldn't be the focus anymore.  He has made the choice to be Chuck Schumer's shill.  Rubio is for amnesty without enforcement.  He is for a guest worker program that will hurt the lowest-skill Americans and current residents.  His function in the immigration debate is to fool right-leaning voters into believing the bill isn't so bad.  So don't be fooled.

Lindsey Graham's "breakthrough" immigration victory math: 2/3 of Republicans vote against.  There's one sentence in Lindsey Graham's prediction of a "breakthrough" passage of the Gang of 8 bill which is particularly troubling:  "I think we are going to get plus 70 votes," he said.  "I've never been more optimistic about it."

Goodbye America — Heather MacDonald on Amnesty Bill.  This post is about a Mark Levin interview with Heather MacDonald which you must hear.  Heather MacDoanald, a Manhattan Institute scholar, is a John M. Olin fellow and a Contributing Editor to City Journal.  She is a journalist and a political commentator who advocates for secular conservatism.  Mark Levin interviewed her on Friday [6/14/2013] and it is one interview every American should hear, particularly if they want to understand more about the immigration bill.

Shamnesty's New ID rules would threaten citizens' rights.  Sensible immigration reform will strengthen American society and economy.  But it must also respect the rights of U.S. citizens and those aspiring to join them.  Buried in the comprehensive immigration reform legislation before the Senate are obscure provisions that impose on Americans expansive national identification systems, tied to electronic verification schemes.  Under the guise of "reform," these trample fundamental rights and freedoms.

Gang of 8 vs. VAWA.  Byron York notes some of the shortcomings of the pending Gang of 8 bill's treatment of illegal immigrants with criminal records:  You're only blackballed when you are convicted of three misdemeanors — an achievement, given the tendency of overworked prosecutors to accept misdemeanor pleas for felony charges.  Even three misdemeanors can be waived by Janet Napolitano — or whoever is Secretary of DHS — "in the public interest."  And you have to have been convicted of the misdemeanors on separate days.

Rubio's Folly, Cont.  It is painful to watch Marco Rubio's maneuverings on immigration. He is refusing to say whether he will vote "yes" on his own Gang of Eight bill after spending months drafting, defending, and helping shepherd it to the floor.

Sessions: Let's Face It, This Immigration Bill is Beyond Repair.  Washington is bickering over whether the Cornyn amendment to the Gang of Eight framework is a deal-breaking and onerous "poison pill," or a totally inadequate "Trojan horse."  The New York Times published a piece pondering that exact question on Friday [6/14/2013]. It quoted Chuck Schumer panning the plan as a "nonstarter" and "deal-killer," without specifying a single policy flaw.  How does any of this go "too far"?

Fat chance: At 24 pounds, immigration bill is too big for many to swallow.  At 1,075 pages long, it's not the biggest bill to come through in recent years — that honor still belongs to the health care law — but the immigration legislation pending in the Senate is challenging the ability of voters to get their brains around its complexity. [...] One group has weighed the printed bill and said it comes to 24 pounds.  That doesn't include the 448 pages of amendments that have been filed to try to change the measure.

Law means nothing without the will to enforce it.  [Scroll down]  The left continually proves this.  The Defense of Marriage Act is law, but Barack Obama simply refuses to enforce it.  We have long had sanctuary (i.e., lawless) cities and those that refuse to obey federal drug laws.  And, of course, there are literally thousands of more obscure laws on the books that are routinely ignored by states and localities, and our government has been trampling much of the supreme law of the land — the Constitution — for 100 years.  Even more to the point here, the Obama administration has refused to enforce immigration laws already on the books and has granted a form of amnesty by executive order.  So why suppose that a few more immigration laws would make a difference?

Marco Rubio's Insider Problem.  The problem is a simple one: Rubio was originally sold to the Republican base as not just a good speaker or an inspiring life story, but as a change agent, one of the few politicians who could actually move the country right.  His acceptance of the Gang of Eight's approach to wheeling and dealing their way to a 1,000+ page immigration measure — which invests more faith in government, skews its way toward more corporate interests, and which no one believes will solve the real long-term problems with our immigration system — is as typical Washington as it gets.

Fears of National ID With Immigration Bill.  Driver's license photographs and biographic information of most Americans would be accessible through an expanded Department of Homeland Security nationwide computer network if the immigration legislation pending before the Senate becomes law.  The proposed expansion is part of an effort to crack down on illegal immigration by requiring all employers to confirm the identity and legal status of any new workers by tapping into a Homeland Security Department system called E-Verify, which is now used voluntarily by about 7 percent of employers in the United States.

Immigration reform? Or a comprehensive transformation of America?.  First of all, it's not reform — it's surrender.  The bill crafted by the Gang of Eight cares only about two constituent groups — big money and big votes.  Employers are clamoring for legalization of the 10 to 20 million illegal immigrants in this country so they can expand their work force of cheap labor, and politicians are clamoring for legalization so they can pander to new voters in order to expand their partisan agendas.

Immigration reform bill establishes a national biometric database of all Americans.  Smile, you're on Obama-cam. Because buried deep inside the Senate immigration reform plan is a comprehensive national ID system.  Wired broke the story last month.

Could Our Immigration System Be Even More Irrational? Sadly, Yes.  The U.S. has a terrible immigration system, which was designed largely by Ted Kennedy for the purpose of increasing "diversity," without giving any thought to American interests.  If we would simply adopt the Canadian system, it would be a vast improvement.  Unfortunately, the Gang of Eight's bill does not move in the right direction, i.e., an immigration policy that is designed to serve the best interests of the United States.  Rather, it would make our immigration system even more irrational and destructive than it is currently.

Paul Ryan: I'll debate anyone who says earned legalization under the Gang of Eight bill is "amnesty".  Now that [Marco Rubio is] safely elected, he's comfortable arguing that the status quo is "de facto amnesty," which apparently entitles him to rubber-stamp gigantic concessions to Democrats prioritizing legalization over border security while trying to distract conservatives with cheap social-issue panders.  Question for Rubio:  How soon after he made the statement quoted above did he come to realize that we have "de facto amnesty" now, which in turn requires a terrible comprehensive reform bill to solve it?  The day after election day?

GOP Gets Dumber And Dumberer On Immigration.  Ann Coulter wondered on Thursday how dumb Republicans were on immigration.  That day, two prominent GOP reform advocates — Sens. Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush — rushed in to provide the answer.

Democrats for Illegal-Alien Drunk Driving?  Mickey Kaus hears from a reliable source that Democrats are choosing a curious hill to die on to defend the current language in the Gang of Eight's immigration bill.

Mark Levin hammers 'neo-statists' Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan and Karl Rove on immigration.  On his Friday [6/14/2013] radio show, conservative talker Mark Levin challenged support from for this current of immigration reform coming from prominent Republicans, particularly Jeb Bush and Karl Rove.  Levin, author of "Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America," began his attack by arguing some members of the Republican Party make policy gestures without mentioning the U.S. Constitution.  "It amazes me how few Republicans in elected office actually talk about the Constitution," Levin said.

In The House Too, The Fix May Well Be In.  Earlier this year, when comments by Ryan caused me to suggest that amnesty legislation will pass the House, I was told by a good source that, although Ryan is greatly respected by House Republicans on fiscal issues, his views on immigration don't carry much weight.  However, the Democrats probably need fewer than two dozen House Republican votes to pass amnesty.  And Ryan isn't among the squishiest two dozen Republican House members.  If he's on board for amnesty and a path to citizenship, then it seems extremely likely that the requisite number of Republican votes can be had.  Ryan will also provide a bit of cover for Republicans who may be inclined to back amnesty.  This is part of the role Marco Rubio is playing in the Senate.

Tantaros to Rubio: Do You Realize that You're Destroying Your Political Future by Supporting the Immigration Bill?  Talk show host Andrea Tantaros had a very pointed and uncomfortable question for Sen. Marco Rubio today.  She interviewed the Florida Republican about his support for the Gang of Eight's "comprehensive" immigration reform bill, which puts legalization for millions of illegal aliens ahead of the border security that a majority of American voters want.

Cornyn signals he's ready to cave on border security amendment.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., may have called off Senate floor debate after Democrats and pro-amnesty Republicans failed to get 60 votes against a border security amendment yesterday [6/13/2013], but it appears that Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is already willing to vote for final passage if some minor tweaks are made to the current bill.

Rubio: 'I'm done' if immigration bill includes gay marriage.  Sen. Marco Rubio said Thursday that if Democrats expand his immigration bill to extend benefits to gay spouses, he'll have to scuttle the legislation.  "If this bill has something in it that gives gay couples immigration rights and so forth, it kills the bill.  I'm done," Mr. Rubio said Thursday [6/13/2013] during an interview on the Andrea Tantaros Show, according to Yahoo News.  "I'm off it, and I've said that repeatedly.  I don't think that's going to happen and it shouldn't happen.  This is already a difficult enough issue as it is."

Rep. Steve King: 'Illegal aliens' invaded my office.  Rep. Steve King, a Republican from Iowa and the House's leading immigration hawk, complained Thursday [6/13/2013] about young immigrants who had shown up to protest his bill that would defund President Barack Obama's deferred action program.  King wrote on Twitter that "20 brazen self professed illegal aliens have invaded my DC office.  Obama's lawless order gives them de facto immunity from U.S. law."

Rubio: Legalize Illegal Immigrants So They Can Fund Border Security.  On Thursday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said one reason illegal immigrants must be legalized as soon as possible is so they can help fund border security measures by paying taxes and fines.  During an interview on "The Andrea Tantaros Show," Rubio, as Byron York points out, first said there was no choice but to legalize at least 11 million illegal immigrants because he said the country "cannot wait another four years" to enact immigration reform.

Bachmann: Immigration Bill Would Cost $6 Trillion, Harm Hispanics, Blacks.  Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) delivered her case Friday [6/14/2013] against the comprehensive immigration reform proposal, saying it would cost $6 trillion and particularly harm blacks and Hispanics.  "What I'm asking all of us to consider are the profound implications of what this will mean, because amnesty will cost a fortune," Bachmann said at the Road to Majority Conference in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Faith & Freedom Coalition.  "We're looking at a $6 trillion cost for amnesty.  Just the retirement benefits alone for illegal aliens — which must be born by the American people — is something like $2.7 trillion."

Senate Says No To Border Security-First Amendment.  The Senate has rejected an amendment to the Gang of Eight bill calling for a "border security first" approach to immigration reform.  A motion to table the amendment, which was authored by Republican senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa and previously defeated in the Judiciary Committee, passed 57 to 43, largely on party lines.  The measure would have required the Department of Homeland Security to demonstarate effective security of the southern border for six months before illegal immigration are granted legal status.

How to lose 2016 in one easy amnesty bill.  To say that there is disgust growing in the ranks is an understatement.  If adults who broke the law to come here illegally get citizenship, it will be a spit in the face of millions of legal immigrants who followed the rules, and many millions more who wait patiently on the other side of the oceans and borders.  It will send a message of lawlessness which will encourage more lawlessness.  Marco Rubio and others are imploding the party to achieve Chuck Schumer's dream.

Immigration Disaster Moves Forward In the Senate.  I can understand why Democrats would vote for the bill: over the next ten years, it will result in somewhere between 30 million and 57 million new legal immigrants, the vast majority from Mexico.  They and their descendants will be predominantly Democratic voters, and the Republican party as we know it — i.e., as a reasonably conservative party — will probably become extinct at the national level.  Moreover, the addition of tens of millions of low-skilled immigrants will lead to the greatest expansion of the welfare state since the Great Society.  So what's for Democrats not to like?  But why would any Republican vote for the bill?

Graham, Cornyn trade public blows over Gang of 8 border amendment cost.  [South Carolina Sen. Lindsey] Graham, a Republican member of the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" that authored the comprehensive immigration reform bill, told reporters that Cornyn's amendment, which would increase the threshold for border security, "as constructed, it's gonna add 20 plus billion dollars" to the cost of reform.  "It's kind of odd:  we think sequestration's a good thing, but we're gonna throw money at the border.  That's a little schizophrenic," Graham said.

The Editor says...
It's a matter of priorities, Senator, not schizophrenia.  There is plenty of money for the border fence, but that money is currently being given to the illegal immigrants in the form of food stamps and last-minute obstetrics.

Schumer: 'Illegal Immigration Will Be a Thing of the Past'.  After the U.S. Senate voted to pass the motion to proceed to floor debate on the "Gang of Eight" immigration bill, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) claimed that this bill would solve illegal immigration and secure the border.  "Illegal immigration will be a thing of the past," Schumer said on the Senate floor, celebrating the passage of the motion to proceed.

The Editor says...
I suppose the Congress can make any illegal act a thing of the past, just by legalizing it.  So the immigration will continue; it just won't be illegal.  Apparently that's what he means.

How Amnesty Serves the Left.  At the moment, there is just one, singular force holding back the IRS from making an all-out, systematic assault on conservative Americans as a way of life in this country.  That force is the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.  Were the body not in GOP hands, the IRS targeting of a significant number of citizens for their political beliefs would have already fallen from the headlines.  No hearings would be held.  No one would be asked to resign.

Rubio Invokes Bible to Defend Immigration Bill.  On Tuesday [6/11/2013] Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) cited "Biblical compassion" as a reason to support the "Gang of Eight" immigration bill.  Rubio told CBN that he supports the bill because "[o]ur faith has always been about compassion and it compels you to do something. [... "]

You'll have to pass this bill to find out what's not in it.
ICE Council President: Gang of 8 bill and Amendments Don't Repair Dismantled Enforcement Authorities.  Texas Senator John Cornyn has just introduced an amendment to the Gang of 8 bill that is supposed to add more border security to the legislation.  But according to ICE Council President Chris Crane, the amendment does nothing to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents to enforce the law.

Contra McCain, the Gang of Eight Will Give Convicted Criminals Amnesty.  This morning on the Senate floor, Gang of Eight member Senator John McCain declared that the Gang's immigration bill needed to pass in order to remove a "very huge stain on the conscience of the United States of America." He also made the following statement about the bill's path to citizenship:  "Anyone who has committed crimes in this country is going to be deported."  That's not what the Gang of Eight bill says (see Section 2101).

The Mother of all Scams and Shams.  Today, amid ongoing scandal eruptions in D.C., the Mother of all Scams and Shams — another mass illegal alien amnesty masquerading as border security — will come before the Senate for a vote.  The open-borders lobby and their willing tools — looking at you, Rubio — are counting on you to be distracted, apathetic, and unorganized.  This country cannot afford to let them win.

Reid Blocks Senate Vote on Border Security Amendment to Immigration Bill.  On Wednesday [6/12/2013], Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) blocked a vote on the border security amendment to the "Gang of Eight" immigration bill offered by Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).

Lee Calls Bill 'Just an Immigration Version of ObamaCare'.  Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) wrote in the Deseret News yesterday that he initially joined a bipartisan reform group but left because the compromise was looking too much like ObamaCare.  "Many critics compare the 'gang bill to the failed 1986 immigration law, which also promised border security in exchange for amnesty but did not deliver on its promises. But the 'gang' bill actually reminds me of a more recent piece of legislation: Obamacare," wrote Lee.

Do You Trust This Administration?  Obama was intent on giving the [Gang of Eight's immigration] bill a push as the Senate begins to debate it this week.  Obama claimed that "This bill would continue to strengthen security at our borders" — which the bill simply does not do, despite promises from lawmakers and attempts at amending the legislation.  What the bill does do is give federal agencies more power.

Grassley: Constituents Want Border Security First, Legalization After.  The "Gang of Eight" immigration bill pushing through the Senate right now legalizes America's at least 11 million illegal immigrants first, then promises to improve border security later, but the constituents of Iowa — according to the state's GOP senator — think that border security should come before legalization.

Kelly Ayotte's Amnesty Folly.  Announcing her support for the Gang of Eight immigration bill on Sunday morning's [6/9/2013] Face the Nation, Senator Kelly Ayotte (R., N.H.) called it a "thoughtful, bipartisan solution to a tough problem."  Thoughtful is one thing her support for that bill is not.  In an op-ed published on her website, Ayotte shows no sign of knowing what the main objections of the bill's critics are, much less of having grappled with them.

Why Schumer-Rubio is a fraud — the nutshell version.  Mickey Kaus has produced an excellent, easy-to-use "pocket guide" to the reasons why the Schumer-Rubio immigration reform bill (S.744) is fraudulent.

Why S.744 is a Fraud.  As a public service, kausfiles provides this handy pocket guide to the provisions of the bill that promise tough future enforcement, etc. — and the reasons why they don't do what they pretend to do.

Gang of One.  On immigration reform, Senator Marco Rubio is the indispensable man.  If he bails, it fails.  Which is why supporters of overhauling our immigration system were alarmed by two statements Rubio made last week.

Obama scandals hurt Rubio's play for House support on immigration.  Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., visited House conservatives this week to discuss immigration policy, but his effort to garner support for the Gang of Eight's Senate bill failed, according to Republican sources — in part, because his efforts were hampered by the wave of scandals hitting President Obama's administration.

False: Obama Claims Immigration Bill Requires Illegals to Learn English.  As Breitbart News has previously reported, when illegal immigrants apply for "registered provisional immigrant" status under the provisions of the bill, the first step in legalization, they do not need to demonstrate that they can speak English.  When they apply for renewal of their RPI status, they still do not need to prove they can speak English.  Only when illegal immigrants apply for their "legal permanent resident" status, or green card, would they be required to demonstrate their ability to speak English or prove that they are currently enrolled in a course "to achieve an understanding of English and knowledge and understanding" of civics.

Schumer: Put Aliens Who Forged Documents on Path to Citizenship.  Americans might generally think that if someone forges a document and uses a Social Security number that does not belong to them, they should go to jail.  Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., believes if you are an illegal alien and you do these things, you should become a U.S. citizen.  He made his case for this in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Immigration Shake-up: Cornyn to Introduce Tougher Border Enforcement Triggers.  With the political media's attention trained on scandalmania, coverage of the immigration reform push has gotten short shrift in many quarters.  In recent days, we've seen signs of trouble in paradise, with Marco Rubio huddling with skeptical House conservatives, and Democrats fretting that they don't have the votes to pass the 'Gang of Eight' package through the Senate.  Rubio, the GOP point man on this issue, has also begun chirping about abandoning his own "gang's" proposal absent significant border security upgrades.

Senate Aide: Rubio 'Trying to get out of the Gang of Eight'.  A high-ranking senate aide told Breitbart News on Wednesday that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is searching for an escape hatch from the "Gang of Eight" immigration bill.  "Rubio and his staff are trying to get out of the Gang of Eight," the aide said.  "They're looking to use other Republican members as their parachute to get out."

Rubio threatens to vote against immigration bill.  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Tuesday [6/4/2013] threatened to vote against the Gang of Eight immigration bill he helped draft unless there are further changes to the legislation.  In an interview with conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Rubio said more needed to be done to "strengthen the border security parts of this bill so that they're stronger."  Asked if he would still back the bill if amendments to tighten border security failed, Rubio said "no."

Rubio Fronts for Schumer, Durbin.  [Scroll down]  The current power grab would conversely give political backing to the Democrats, potentially adding millions of new-found voters in support of liberal causes.  The bill in question is the "gang of eight" proposal (S.744), which would grant legal status to an estimated 11 million Hispanics now illegally in the country (probably an understatement of the numbers), allegedly subject to safeguards and restrictions.  It's in effect an instant amnesty, though its backers say it isn't, with the safeguards (maybe) to be added later.

Is the Senate Immigration Bill Really In Danger?  Senator Marco Rubio said Tuesday that the Senate immigration bill does not have the 60 votes it needs to pass.  Monday, he said "there will have to be improvements" to the legislation.  He even threatened to walk away from the bill if the push for votes becomes a "horse trading" exercise.  Yesterday [6/4/2013] on Hugh Hewitt's radio show, he made his boldest comments to date, saying that he would vote against his own bill if amendments to strengthen it don't pass on the Senate floor next week.  But his fellow Gang of Eight members don't seem alarmed.

Conservative senators sign letter detailing Gang of Eight failures.  Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to their colleagues Tuesday [6/4/2013] detailing how S. 744, a.k.a. the Gang of Eight immigration bill, fails to secure the border, enforce the law, and improve legal immigration.

Black Leaders: Immigration Bill Will 'Harm' African American Workers.  Several black leaders of various political persuasions have banded together to warn Congress of the harm they think the "Gang of Eight" immigration bill will inflict upon black workers if passed.  The group, the Black American Leadership Alliance, wrote to members of the Gang of Eight, the Congressional Black Caucus, and members from states with the highest levels of black unemployment.

Immigration bill lacks the 60 Senate votes needed to pass.  The immigration reform bill headed to the Senate floor lacks the 60 votes it needs to advance and will likely have to be partially rewritten to win congressional approval, proponents of the bill said.  Democratic and Republican sources working to build support for the bill agreed that garnering the necessary GOP votes would require amending the legislation to strengthen its border security components.

'An Assault on the U.S. Taxpayer'.  The Senate immigration legislation that includes access to federal entitlement programs for illegal aliens after a waiting period is a "travesty" and "an assault on the U.S. taxpayer," Robert Rector, senior research fellow on domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation, said an event on Wednesday [5/29/2013] at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Amnesty's Message: Send Us Your High School Dropouts.  [B]efore Franklin Roosevelt began establishing an American welfare state, and before a series of Roosevelt's successors decided they would make no serious effort to secure our national borders, immigrants to America had at least two things in common:  The ability to get to a place that was hard to reach and the ability to survive there on their own.  Now America is becoming a magnet for high-school dropouts.

Ted Cruz opens up on immigration.  [Scroll down]  As Cruz explained it, the five amendments he offered — all five were shot down by the Democrat/Gang of Eight bloc — would have salvaged key parts of the bill.  The first was border security, which Cruz said the current bill "leaves to the subjective, amorphous discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano."

Immigration Bill Swells to Over One Thousand Pages.  The Senate Judiciary Committee has increased the already-sizable length of the "Gang of Eight" immigration reform bill to more than a thousand pages during the markup process, Breitbart News has learned.  The final length of the bill remained a mystery during its drafting process.  Some estimates from media outlets, including from the Washington Post's David Nakamura, placed the bill length at the time at longer than 1,500 pages.

Is Gang of Eight's $3,000 bonus to hire new immigrants constitutional?  Few things are more fundamental to our Constitution's guarantee of liberty than the right to make a living and the right to a fair playing field when it comes to getting a job.  Yet it is inarguable that the Senate Gang of Eight's immigration bill would tilt that playing field toward newly legalized immigrants at the expense of citizens.  Could that make the bill unconstitutional?

Unless he switches to the Democratic party...
Immigration could spoil Marco Rubio's presidential chances.  Rubio's immigration proposal is a sprawling plan that would legalize millions of currently illegal immigrants and give new powers to the secretary of Homeland Security, while promising enhanced border security within a few years.  It's a promise many Republicans didn't believe a few years ago.

McCain-Rubio Amnesty Bill Ends Conservatism in America.  For all practical purposes, what the Gang of 8 amnesty bill does is permanently ensconce 11 million plus illegal immigrants in our country in return for mostly waivable promises of border security that will never be fulfilled and a permanent liberal majority.  This is a phenomenal deal for Democrats and people who came to this country illegally; so it's easy to understand why they'd back the deal.  Why there are so many conservatives in Congress who are willing to put conservatism's neck in a noose and jump off a stool is harder to say.

Menendez — Looks like we don't have the votes for that immigration bill after all.  That Gang of 8 thing may not have been such a shoe-in after all.  Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) has come back to report that, despite having sailed through the Judiciary Committee and garnering the support of at least four Republicans, they may still be coming up short.

The United States of El Norte.  There are only two sure consequences of the current 800-page immigration hairball before Congress.  The first is that a minimum of 11 million citizens of other countries, more Mexicans than anyone else, will become permanent, undeportable residents of the U.S., and can immediately begin working to get all their relations here.  Second, the bill, if we are foolish enough to pass it, would create a powerful incentive for millions more south of the border to come here once word gets around that if you can sneak into El Norte now, you're here to stay.

Enough With the Bipartisanship.  The Senate formed a Gang of Eight (only in Congress are compromising cliques called "gangs"), while everyone speculated in hushed tones whether Sen. Marco Rubio, considered on-the-fence on immigration, would join the effort.  A bill was hammered out.  Amendments were added and subtracted, including one that would have protected same-sex couples under the immigration system.  It was withdrawn, naturally, because lawmakers were worried "the coalition would fall apart," according to Sen. Lindsey Graham.  These are nearly the same circumstances that led to the Simpson-Mazzoli Act, Congress's failed attempt to control illegal immigration in 1986.

House-Senate showdown coming over border security.  If there were an organized opposition to comprehensive immigration reform — and there really isn't, compared to the political/business/activist/lobbying complex in favor of it — the opposition would pound daily on the key weakness at the heart of the Senate Gang of Eight bill.  That weakness is simple.  The bill proposes to legalize 11 million currently illegal immigrants before imposing greater border security and workplace enforcement.  In that, the gang's priorities are different from the American people's.

GOP Senator preserves loophole giving illegal immigrants immediate welfare access.  Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) backed down from a previous promise his spokeswoman made to Breitbart News that he would consider voting in favor of amendments to the Senate's immigration bill that would close a loophole allowing illegal immigrants immediate access to state and local welfare.  When Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) actually offered an amendment that would close the loophole during Tuesday's Senate Judiciary Committee markup of the bill, Flake joined Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and all the committee Democrats in opposing the amendment.

'Yes we can' chant breaks out as Senate panel passes immigration bill.  The Senate Judiciary Committee's passage of a sweeping immigration bill was expected.  But the explosion of chants of "Yes we can! Yes we can!" and "Leahy! Leahy!" came as a surprise.  The "Gang of Eight" bill passed by a wide 13-5 margin early Tuesday evening [5/21/2013].  Amid the cheering, Democratic committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont could be seen motioning spectators to come up and participate in the celebration.

Meanwhile, at the White House...
La Raza (The Race) Partners with Feds to Hire Government Employees.  The National Council of La Raza (translation:  The Race) has partnered with the Office of Personnel Management to encourage Hispanic activists and members to burrow into the federal government.  A workshop sponsored by La Raza/The Race will take place in New Orleans on July 23, 2013.  Senior Executive Service (SES) employees are federal government employees in special executive management positions, often with salaries approaching $200,000 per year (and well past that with benefits).

Obama refuses to meet border agents, invites illegal immigrants to Oval Office.  President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden met with three illegal immigrants who have been granted deferred action legal status in the Oval Office Tuesday [5/21/2013].  Meanwhile, Obama still refuses to meet with any border security enforcement officers about any aspect of immigration reform.

Immigration Bill passes committee, no same-sex green card sponsorship.  The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a sweeping immigration reform bill on Tuesday [5/21/2013], setting millions of undocumented immigrants on a path to legal residency and possible citizenship.  But an amendment that would have allowed U.S. citizens the right to sponsor their same-sex partners for green cards was withdrawn.

Immigration fight moves to House, with deep divide over legalization.  There will be an event on Capitol Hill this week that will tell us a lot about the future of comprehensive immigration reform.  On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the Senate Gang of Eight reform proposal.  It doesn't have any great official purpose; the Gang bill hasn't even made it through the Senate Judiciary Committee, much less the full Senate, and is not before the House.  So the House committee meeting will be all talk.  But the session could tell us a lot [...]

Amnesty Opposition Grows.  The union representing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials will officially oppose the proposed Senate immigration reform legislation on Monday, according to an advance statement obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.  The National Citizenship and Immigration Services Council (USCIS Council) says the legislation fails to address its top concerns about the current system, including the pressure on USCIS officers to approve visa applications without thorough review and the bureaucratic barricades that prevent them from coordinating with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials.  Sources say it is highly unusual for the USCIS Council to weigh in publicly on legislation.

What is the real number of illegal border crossings?  Those who believe the border is still far from secure are more likely to oppose the Gang of Eight's approach, insisting that heightened security measures be in place before the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants are legalized.  Now, a new report from the Council on Foreign Relations could have a significant effect on the conversation — and cast real doubt on whether the government's border security statistics are reliable.  If the report is correct, more illegal immigrants are making it past U.S. authorities than officials say.

Poll: Conservative Support for Marco Rubio Plummets.  The latest Public Policy Polling data bears sobering news for Senator Marco Rubio, showing his support among conservatives has substantially decreased since last month.  When asked for their preferred GOP candidate, only 17% of "very conservative" respondents favored Rubio, while only 18% of "somewhat conservative" respondents favored Rubio.

Strain shows between Rubio, Gang of Eight on immigration reform.  Members of the Senate's Gang of Eight fought off poison-pill amendments during a second day of marking up comprehensive immigration reform legislation in the Judiciary Committee.  But signs of strain have begun to show within the group.  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) expressed disappointment Tuesday [5/14/2013] after senators rejected a proposal to strengthen the system for tracking visa holders entering and exiting the country.

Crumbling coalition? First cracks in immigration deal emerge.  Senators fended off changes to the immigration bill in committee on Tuesday, but the first cracks emerged in the carefully crafted compromise between business groups and labor unions, leaving even some supporters frustrated at the defensive votes they had to cast.  The second day of voting in the Senate Judiciary Committee underscored the fragile nature of the immigration compromise — but also the power of the "Gang of Eight," the bipartisan group that drafted the compromise and has defended it against changes from the right and left.

Hidden in Immigration Reform: Bio-Metric Data Base of All Adult Americans.  Deep within the diseased bowels of the 800 page immigration reform bill is a profound threat to privacy in the US; an authorization for the Department of Homeland Security to create a bio-metric data base of every adult male in the US.

Biometric Database of All Adult Americans Hidden in Immigration Reform.  The immigration reform measure the Senate began debating yesterday would create a national biometric database of virtually every adult in the U.S., in what privacy groups fear could be the first step to a ubiquitous national identification system.  Buried in the more than 800 pages of the bipartisan legislation is language mandating the creation of the innocuously-named "photo tool," a massive federal database administered by the Department of Homeland Security and containing names, ages, Social Security numbers and photographs of everyone in the country with a driver's license or other state-issued photo ID.

Gang's Immigration Bill Funnels $100M to Leftwing Community Organizers.  A little-noticed section of the Gang of Eight's immigration reform bill could funnel up to $100 million in taxpayer-provided funds to leftwing community organizers for helping to "integrate" newly legalized immigrants into American society.  At the heart of the 24-page scheme (pp.383-407) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.  The entity, called the "United States Citizenship Foundation" (USCF), will be created by politically appointed immigration officials to disperse $100 million in congressionally appropriated grant money to private organizations specializing in outreach to immigrant communities.

Chuck Schumer says he's losing sleep over gay rights amendment.  Sen. Chuck Schumer, a leader of the Senate Gang of Eight, would not commit Thursday [5/9/2013] to voting for an amendment in the immigration bill that would allow gay Americans to sponsor their foreign partners for green cards.  Schumer stressed that he backs the amendment, but all four Republican negotiators say they would not be able to support the immigration bill if the language were included.

Jason Richwine, Heritage immigration expert quits.  The Heritage Foundation announced the resignation Friday of senior policy analyst Jason Richwine, co-author of a controversial report critical of the Senate's immigration reform bill.  After Heritage issued the report this week, news articles pointed out that Richwine had argued in his Harvard dissertation that there was a long-standing difference between the IQ of white Americans and immigrants.

Amnesty study author Jason Richwine resigns from Heritage Foundation.  Richwine first joined the Heritage Foundation in 2010 after earning his doctorate in public policy in 2009 from Harvard University while on an American Enterprise Institute dissertation fellowship.  Richwine's Harvard dissertation asserted that, "No one knows whether Hispanics will ever reach IQ parity with whites, but the prediction that new Hispanic immigrants will have low-IQ children and grandchildren is difficult to argue against."

The Crucifixion of Jason Richwine.  How low will supporters of the Gang of Eight immigration bill go to get their way?  This low:  They've shamelessly branded an accomplished Ivy League-trained quantitative analyst a "racist" and will stop at nothing to destroy his career as they pave their legislative path to another massive illegal alien benefits bonanza.

Bill Gives DHS Sec. 'Virtually Unlimited Discretion to Waive Any Manner of Crimes,' ICE Council Warns Congress.  [Scroll down]  The letter concludes that ICE officers would continue to be "powerless" to protect the public and do their jobs if the bill becomes law:  "If this legislation were enacted tomorrow, ICE officers would continue to be powerless to effectively enforce our nation's laws and provide for public safety as S. 744 does nothing to end these dangerous agency- and department-level directives."

You Can't Wish Away the Facts About Immigration Amnesty.  The Heritage Foundation this week released a study estimating that the Senate immigration bill will cost taxpayers $6 trillion over the next 50 years, the expected life cycle of the persons legalized by the path to citizenship.  The study has touched off a tremendous controversy — and what's most notable about the onslaught is how brazenly it ignores the study's contents.

Gang of Eight Members Vote Against Amendment Securing Borders Before Amnesty.  An amendment submitted by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley requiring the security of the Nation's borders before granting amnesty to more than 11 million illegal immigrants, has been voted down by the Senate Judiciary Committee 6-12.  Every Democrat on the Committee voted against the amendment.

Amnesty Background Check Prevents Law Enforcement From Deporting Criminals.  What good is a background check that doesn't actually penalize criminals?  Like the rest of Amnesty 2013, it exists only to aid the Democratic Party's culture of criminality.

Rand Paul: Gang of Eight bill will die in the House.  Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., predicted that the Gang of Eight's comprehensive immigration reform bill will die in the House unless senators amend it with precise border security language, rather than delegating authority to President Obama and his adjutants.

Amnesty and the Welfare State Don't Mix.  Heritage's highly anticipated report on the cost of amnesty, released earlier today, puts the price tag at $6.3 trillion — a figure that becomes available as the Senate prepares for a May 9 markup of the "comprehensive" immigration reform bill proposed by the "Gang of Eight."

Ted Cruz Seeks to Ban Illegal Immigrants in U.S. from Citizenship.  Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a newly elected Republican with a penchant for making headlines, filed an amendment that would bar undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States from ever earning citizenship. [...] Cruz also filed amendments that he says would "strengthen border security measures; reform the high-skilled temporary worker program; modernize, streamline and expand legal immigration; and prohibit federal, state or local entitlement benefits for those here illegally."

Amnestied Illegals Will Get $9.4T in Benefits; Increase Debt $6.3T.  Granting amnesty to illegal immigrants would cost $6.3 trillion, according to a new report by the Heritage Foundation.  "Unlawful immigration and amnesty for current unlawful immigrants can pose large fiscal costs for U.S. taxpayers," states the report by Robert Rector and Jason Richwine, Ph.D.  Not only would the federal deficit increase, but the cost of benefits and services to millions of newly minted citizens would reach nearly $10 trillion.

Report: Legalizing illegal immigrants to cost $6.3 trillion.  Driving the costs in the Heritage report are simple demographics:  Illegal immigrants are more likely to lack a high school education, and more than a third of households headed by illegal immigrants live below the poverty line, meaning those households consume more in services than they pay in taxes.

Fleeing Communism only to find it in America.  What other country in the world rewards law-breakers with citizenship for anchor babies, voting rights, free education, free housing, free health care, welfare, and chain migration?  La Raza should be so proud!  Our own officials are subtly promoting Reconquista of southern California, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas.

[So-called] Conservatives Hit Back At Heritage's $6 Trillion Immigration Reform Estimate.  The intra-conservative war over the working immigration reform legislation was ramped up today [5/6/2013] when the Heritage Foundation's economic analysis gave the opposition a major piece of ammunition in the form of a study showing that the reform legislation could cost $6.3 trillion.

Does Marco Rubio really support deporting 4 million illegal immigrants?  You've heard the false choice thousands of times from pro-amnesty Republicans:  We must either give the 11 million illegal immigrants currently in the country today citizenship, or we must round them up for mass deportations.  This is, of course, ridiculous.  There are plenty of other ways to deal with the 11 million illegal immigrants currently in the country.

What amnesty for illegal immigrants will cost America.  The economist Milton Friedman warned that the United States cannot have open borders and an extensive welfare state. [...] An exhaustive study by the Heritage Foundation has found that after amnesty, current unlawful immigrants would receive $9.4 trillion in government benefits and services and pay more than $3 trillion in taxes over their lifetimes.  That leaves a net fiscal deficit (benefits minus taxes) of $6.3 trillion.  That deficit would have to be financed by increasing the government debt or raising taxes on U.S. citizens.

The Rubio Amnesty.  [Scroll down]  So the Republican establishment turns its hopeful eyes, once again, to so-called comprehensive immigration reform.  The same senators who pushed such a bill in 2007, prominently including Republicans John McCain and Lindsey Graham and Democrat Chuck Schumer, are at it again.  They have devised a plan that would ease the path to legality for illegal immigrants while making some gestures toward enforcement.  But a new element this time around is Marco Rubio.

Amnesty Cost to Taxpayers: $6.3 Trillion.  Granting amnesty to an estimated 11 million unlawful immigrants will cost taxpayers at least $6.3 trillion, according to a new report by Heritage Foundation scholar Robert Rector.  The highly anticipated report, released today, becomes available as a Senate committee is set to mark up a "comprehensive immigration reform" bill May 9.  "No matter how you slice it, amnesty will add a tremendous amount of pressure on America's already strained public purse," said Rector, Heritage's senior research fellow in domestic policy studies.

Cost of Amnesty to U.S. Taxpayers: $6.3 Trillion.  Heritage President Jim DeMint said on Fox News this morning, "There's no way that you can look at this and say that it's good for the American taxpayer, and that includes immigrants who are here lawfully."  "You can't get around these costs. Congress is not considering the cost," DeMint said.  "It's unfair to those who came here lawfully."

Senate skips details in rush to pass immigration bill.  Among other things, the bill sets pay scales for "Animal Breeders; Graders and Sorters; Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse; and Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch and Aquacultural Animals."  The Gang dictates, for example, that graders and sorters will be paid $9.84 an hour in 2016, equipment operators $11.58 in 2015, and nursery and greenhouse workers $9.64 in 2016.  Despite the bill's far-reaching scope and extraordinary level of detail, Democrats are trying to move it through the Senate with unusual speed.

Sessions: Special Interest, Extremist Groups Wrote Immigration Bill.  Senate Budget Committee ranking member Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) claimed on Breitbart News Sunday [5/5/2013] that the "Gang of Eight" U.S. Senators did not in fact write the 844-page immigration bill, but special interest groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the SEIU, and AFL-CIO and extremist advocacy groups like the National Council of La Raza actually wrote the legislation.

DeMint: Immigration reform will cost trillions.  Former Sen. Jim DeMint said on Sunday immigration reform will cost the country trillions of dollars, neatly encapsulating the conservative opposition to the bill.

Rubio goes fake mean.  Really?  We're going to deport a significant chunk of the 11 million — and not just because they've arrived since 2011 (the cutoff), but because they don't scratch together enough money (initially, $1,000) for fines?  Would Sen. Schumer and Cecilia Munoz go along with this characterization of the legislation?  Answer:  no.

Obama, in Mexico, Credits Latinos for Winning Presidency.  Speaking to a Mexico City crowd on Friday [5/3/2013], President Barack Obama said he would not be president if not for Latino voters, and then he pledged immigration reform in the United States to legalize those who are here illegally.  "Without the strong support of Latinos, including so many Mexican-Americans, I would not be standing here today as president of the United States," Obama said.  "That's the truth."

With one click, key part of immigration bill becomes ten times more costly.  Late Tuesday [4/30/2013], the bipartisan Gang of Eight released a new version of its comprehensive immigration reform bill to the Senate.  Now 867 pages — up from the original 844 — the bill, known as a substitute, is filled with corrections and rewordings of portions of the first bill.  But it appears there are some substantive changes — including a whopping change that makes a key part of reform ten times more expensive than previously thought.

5 Ways the Immigration Bill Is Like Obamacare.  Nancy Pelosi wasn't kidding when she said Congress would have to pass Obamacare "to see what's in it."  That's because the bill gave federal agencies free rein to write regulations that would become the real-world version of the law — and even though it passed in 2010, the regulations are still being written today.  The immigration bill does the same thing — it gives over congressional authority to federal agencies, allowing unelected bureaucrats to think up all the details later.

Why the Immigration Bill Can't Be Fixed.  [Reason #4]  The bill puts vast discretion in the hands of Janet Napolitano and people like her.  The modern trend in legislation is for Congress to decide little of substance, but rather to set up an agency or commission to make findings, promulgate rules and essentially legislate within its sphere.  Such agencies inevitably promulgate liberal rules, so this system works well for Democrats, not so well for Republicans.  Why on Earth would Republicans agree to repose vast, unfettered discretion in the likes of Janet Napolitano, who have already publicly announced that they only intend to enforce the portions of federal law with which they agree?

'Gang of Eight' Bill: If Border Not Secure at Any Time in First Five Years After Law Passes — Form a Commission!  The immigration bill proposed by the "Gang of Eight" in the U.S. Senate includes a provision to create a commission to study the failure of securing the border's "high-risk sectors" during any or all of the first five years after the 844-page legislation becomes law.

Boston Bombings May Doom Immigration Deal.  A Quinnipiac University poll taken this week said in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings 23 percent of voters changed their opinion on whether to allow a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.  And that was before two Kazakh nationals, both in the country illegally, were arrested Wednesday for trying to destroy evidence at the behest of the surviving bombing suspect.

Sessions: 'Gang of 8' bill would legalize 32 million immigrants.  An analysis of future immigration flow released Friday [5/3/2013] by Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions shows that more than 32 million immigrants would receive legal status over the next decade and an additional 25 million would be granted non-immigrant work visas under the Gang of Eight's immigration bill.

Obama to Lefties: Don't Worry, We're Not Going to Pay Them Tuesday for an Amnesty Today.  This was the same strategy regarding the 1986 law — once you have the amnesty, gut the enforcement.  By the end of FY 1991, 2.5 million illegals were safely amnestied, out of the eventual total of 2.7 million.  For that reason, Orrin Hatch and Ted Kennedy felt confident enough to try to repeal the ban on hiring illegals, which was the core of the amnesty-for-enforcement bargain in the 1986 law.  In other words, once the pro-amnesty side got what it wanted, it moved to welsh on the deal.

Saul Alinsky and the Gang of Eight.  At the press conference introducing their bill, the Gang of Eight evoked the spirit of Ted Kennedy.  But the 24 pages of the 844-page bill (pages 370-94) dealing with "immigrant integration" stand as a rousing tribute to Saul Alinsky.  If this bill becomes law, you can be sure, as night follows day, that federal dollars will pour into radical left-wing activist groups to promote "immigrant integration."

Gang of 8's Immigration Reforms Will Give Bureaucrats New Powers to Harass Employers.  Immigration reform might not be able to fix every shortcoming of U.S. policy.  But it at least shouldn't make matters worse.  That, unfortunately, is exactly what it will do if the bipartisan "Gang of 8" senators' proposal to change the high-skilled visa program is included in the final legislation — and that too in the name of protecting American jobs.

New immigration bill has more waivers and exceptions per page than Obamacare.  The Senate's "Gang of Eight" has released a new version of the immigration bill that contains 999 references to waivers, exemptions and political discretion.  The revised 867-page bill contains multiple changes from the first 844-page version, released April 18, but Democrats have not announced any delay to the committee review of the complex bill that begins next week.  The bill includes roughly 1.14 waivers or exemptions per page.  By comparison, the 2,409-page Obamacare law includes 0.78 waivers and exemptions per page.

Immigration bill grants amnesty to employers of illegals; no prosecution for bogus IDs.  The debate is raging over whether the latest immigration bill is an amnesty for illegal immigrants, but one part is clear:  The legislation would forgive businesses that have employed those immigrants illegally.  Employers who have allowed illegal immigrants to work off the books can come forward safely and provide their work history without fear of prosecution, and businesses that knowingly employed someone using a bogus or stolen Social Security number likewise would get a pass, according to an analysis of the bill by the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that wants a crackdown on immigration.

Could there be another wave of illegal immigration?  It is true that net migration from Mexico fell to virtually nothing during the depths of the Great Recession.  That did not mean Mexicans stopped coming to the U.S., but rather that the number of Mexicans entering the U.S. and the number leaving were about the same.  But in the last year or so, there have been signs of an increase, and now a new poll suggests many Mexicans would come to the U.S. if they had the chance.  And many of them would come illegally if necessary.

About that one-year window to apply for provisional legal status...  [Scroll down]  [T]he "DREAM kids" exception has no age cap, so anyone who was (or who claims to have been) brought here as a child — ever — would be eligible for that expedited path.  Toss in the criminal background screening process, plus the effort it would take to verify adherence to the bill's cut-off date, and you're staring at a dizzying "reform" maze that will be extraordinarily difficult to administer properly.  Raise your hand if you believe all of this can be accomplished within one year.  Anyone?

Amnesty: Solidifying Marxist Control of America for Decades.  If Obamacare is the Cloward and Piven solution to health care, Amnesty is its twin in regards to immigration.  The 'new and improved' immigration legislation being pushed by progressives on both sides of the aisle is a sure way to collapse America from within.  This monstrous bill would open the floodgates to illegal immigrants, ushering in up to 33 million people as new American citizens over the next decade who would have preferred status over regular Americans.  And this may be a conservative estimate as the bill allows for spouses and children to be brought over as well.  There are a myriad of confusing, arbitrary and Marxist regulations in this 844 page bill being used to shove this long-anticipated, Communist move down America's throat.

Today's Gang of 8 Fraud: The Fence!  Psst, Krauthammer! Rubio has already caved on the border fence: [...] The bill he "negotiated' only requires (on page 24) that the Department of Homeland Security come up with a "Southern Border Fencing Strategy" to identify where fencing, including double-layer fencing, infra-structure, and technology should be deployed along the Southern border.

Can Marco Rubio Save Marco Rubio From Himself?  Run away, Marco, run as fast as you can.  Run away from the electoral Hiroshima that is this immigration reform bill.  It's a fraud and a scam, and we know it's a fraud and a scam, and you telling us from every mic and every camera you can get in front of that it's not a fraud and a scam is making us wonder just what [...] is going on with you.  Do you actually think it's not a fraud and a scam?  In that case, we worry that maybe you're not as bright as we thought [...]

The Amnesty bill is a mockery of the rule of law.  One question that proponents of endless amnesty can never answer is how they ever plan to stop future waves of illegal immigration if they continue to telegraph the message that deportations are taboo.  That as long as they can reach our shores and "become part of the fabric of society," they are here to stay.  Indeed, Marco Rubio presciently warned about this lax attitude towards enforcement when he was running for Senate in 2009.

Ask Obama why he's got a fence around the White House.  "Look, I think the country's sort of reached a consensus on legalization as a decent thing to do," Krauthammer said.  "The real problem is enforcement, and what are the triggers.  My feeling is that Democrats give lip service to enforcement, because all they care about is legalization."  "And then they'll get lax, and they won't care about it, and we'll have a replay of '86," Krauthammer warned.

Immigration bill guts E-Verify for years.  The Senate's complex immigration bill would instantly gut the popular E-Verify system that is widely used to exclude illegal immigrants from jobs, and then create an enforcement gap for several years before the arrival of a replacement system.  "There's no doubt that the bill eliminates E-Verify immediately upon signing," said Kris Kobach, secretary of state of Kansas, told The Daily Caller.

Read the Fine Print, Senator.  The Senate bill unveiled last week would explode the number of people on food stamps and Obamacare.  Shockingly, the bill also would put left-wing community organizations in charge of educating immigrants about citizenship — a blatant attempt to herd future voters into the Democratic Party.  Senators John McCain and Marco Rubio, two Republicans pressing for passage of this bill, haven't mentioned these shenanigans.  Have they even read the bill?

The Left has a history of breaking immigration promises.
A History Lesson for Marco Rubio.  Florida GOP senator Marco Rubio seems well-meaning enough.  I know we both share, as second-generation conservative Americans, a common passion for this great land of opportunity.  But when it comes to comprehending the real agenda of the open-borders zealots he's allied himself with, Rubio doesn't have a clue.  And his abject ignorance threatens all of us who cherish American sovereignty and exceptionalism.

Eric Holder's Reckless Charge.  During a speech to the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Attorney General Eric Holder said that creating a "pathway to earned citizenship" was a "civil right." [...] Attorney General Holder's claim is more than simply silly; it is also pernicious.

Schumer-Rubio Bill Creates Millions of New Voters in Just 5 Years.  Republicans anxious about the political implications of providing a "path to citizenship" for 11 million illegal immigrants console themselves that they will have at least 13 years to broaden the party's appeal to Hispanics.  It is true that most illegal immigrants will not be eligible to become citizens for at least 13 years.  The Schumer-Rubio bill, however, creates an expedited citizenship process for millions of illegal immigrants. These immigrants are eligible for citizenship in just 5 years.

Immigration reform could be [a] bonanza for Democrats.  The immigration proposal pending in Congress would transform the nation's political landscape for a generation or more — pumping as many as 11 million new Hispanic voters into the electorate a decade from now in ways that, if current trends hold, would produce an electoral bonanza for Democrats and cripple Republican prospects in many states they now win easily.

Big Sis: Obama Admin Can Pick Which Laws to Enforce.  During her testimony on the "Gang of Eight" immigration bill before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday [4/23/2013], Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano declared that she, President Barack Obama and other political officials at the top of this administration have the authority to decide which laws to enforce, and which ones to ignore.

Pat Buchanan calls 'Gang of 8' proposal acts of 'madness,' 'suicidal folly' for GOP.  Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says the "Gang of Eight" immigration reform bill will, if passed, threaten national security and destroy the Republican Party's ability to compete on a national level.  Buchanan, author of "Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?" told radio host Laura Ingraham on Monday that passing a "blanket pardon" of illegal immigrants would be "an act of madness," particularly in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks in Boston.

Nobody will know what this bill really means until it is implemented.  That's dangerous.
The Immigration Power-Grab.  Just as the 2,700-page health-care-reform law granted enormous discretionary authority to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius — which has resulted in more than 20,000 pages worth of subsequent rules and guidelines for implementation — the Gang of Eight's comprehensive immigration-reform bill would do the same for Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano and her successors.  The 844-page bill contains 129 instances of what the DHS secretary "shall" do to implement its myriad provisions, 102 mentions of what she "may" do, and 35 cases in which implementation will be based on what the secretary "determines."  On five occasions, the bill affirms the DHS secretary's "unreviewable discretion" to waive or alter certain provisions as she sees fit.

Did Rubio lie to Mark Levin?  On April 17, Sen. Marco Rubio went on Mark Levin's radio show to sell the immigration amnesty bill from the "Gang of 8," of which Rubio is a prized member.  He brought up the legislation's goal of apprehending 90% of illegal border crossers (in "high-risk" sectors) — alluding no less than four times in 17 minutes to its creation of a "border commission."  He used virtually identical language all four times.

Immigrants More Likely to Identify as Liberal, Put International Law Over Constitution.  A country whose educational institutions are less patriotic and more liberal will play a crucial role in the shaping of a less patriotic and more liberal population.  Immigrants who tend to get their identity more from education than national culture (tellingly immigrants are more likely to rank professors higher than soldiers, in contrast to native-born Americans) are more likely to lean left.

The worthless 'triggers' in the Gang of Ocho's immigration bill.  Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has staked his entire political future on producing an immigration reform bill with "real" border security "triggers" that will guarantee this latest "path to citizenship" is not just another amnesty.  Today [4/16/2013], Rubio and the fellow members of his Gang of Ocho immigration group released a 19-page outline of what is in the bill.  Only two "triggers" are identified.

If Rubio's Amnesty is So Great, Why is He Lying?  When Republicans start lying like Democrats, you can guess they are pushing an idea that's bad for America.  During his William Ginsburg-like tour of the Sunday talk shows last weekend, Sen. Marco Rubio was the Mount Vesuvius of lies about his immigration bill.

Immigration bill would spend $50 million to advise illegals.  The Senate's Gang of Eight immigration bill offers $50 million in taxpayer-funded assistance to help illegal immigrants file for the multi-stage amnesty offered by the controversial bill.  The proposed spending is intended to help illegals get "registered provisional immigration status," which is the first stage of the legalization process.

Rep. Lamar Smith: Immigration Bill Worse Than We Thought.  Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said today that the Senate immigration bill is even worse than feared, since it legalizes illegals' relatives and even those previously deported:  "It's hard to believe, but the Senate immigration bill is worse than we thought.  Despite assurances, the border is not secured before almost everyone in the country illegally is given amnesty.  The bill guarantees there will be a rush across the border to take advantage of massive amnesty."  Rep. Smith says the Senate immigration bill shreds current immigration laws.

Is Sen. Rubio's Staff Misleading The Public On The Immigration Bill's Contents?  The misinformation from Senator Marco Rubio's office regarding the Gang of 8's immigration reform bill — regarding what the bill does and does not do — continues.

The Gang of Eight bill: Not bad, but terrible for America.  [Scroll down]  Here's the clincher:  "(G)iven that the E-verify and watered-down visa tracking system don't have to be implemented for 10 years, we will be dealing with many more illegals."  Still sorrier is that "(b)y the time the 10-year deadline comes due to grant the RPI illegals green cards and citizenship (unconditionally within 3 years), we will probably have more illegals than we have now."

The Gang of Eight's big government power grab.  Libertarians believe individuals should be empowered to choose where they live regardless of where governments tell them they can, while conservatives believe the federal government must play a key role in protecting U.S. sovereignty.  So it is in no way surprising that libertarian groups like the Cato Institute and Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Refom have been highly supportive of the Gang of Eight's efforts to increase immigration to the United States.  But no matter how strong your limited-government principles are, when you go to bed with a liberal like Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., you are going to wake up with big-government fleas.

Rubio Reason for Legalizing Illegals: 'They Are Driving on Our Streets Without a Driver's License'.  Sen. Marco Rubio (R.-Fla.), one of eight senators who have crafted legislation that would put illegal aliens on a path to U.S. citizenship, explained in a Senate floor speech yesterday that one of the reasons he wants to do this is that he believes illegal aliens are currently driving on U.S. roads without drivers licenses and auto insurance and his bill would encourage them to get licenses and buy insurance.  Rubio explained that under his bill ilegal aliens who "have committed serious crimes" will be deported.  However, the proposal will apparently not deem as a serious crime the habit of routinely driving without a driver's license.

Rubio Calls Illegal Aliens 'Undocumented' — Repeatedly.  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), a leading member of the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" pushing immigration reform, has taken to using the term "undocumented" to describe illegal aliens.  The term, which is not always accurate, is common on the left and frequently mocked on the right.

Laughable Senate Amnesty Bill: Same DHS That's Freeing Illegals to "Dictate Border Security".  The 17-page document laying out the forthcoming bipartisan Senate "Gang of Eight" immigration reform legislative proposal shows the senators are fully entrusting the Department of Homeland Security with all steps of border security.

Gang of Eight immigration reform fails accountability test.  [Scroll down]  It is in such a context that the 844-page Gang of Eight immigration reform bill released in the wee hours of Tuesday morning appears so frightening.  The bill says "the secretary shall" hundreds of times, with each instance representing a new transfer of congressional authority to executive branch bureaucrats.  Not only does the bill create a new bureaucracy — the Bureau of Immigration and Market Research — with power to control how many immigrant guest workers enter the country each year, it sets their wages and determines which industries can hire them.

Immigration Bill Is a Trojan Horse for Spending.  The contentious immigration bill (S. 744) put together by the Senate Gang of Eight is a spending Trojan Horse with several provisions that simply declare open season on spending, allowing agencies to spend "as necessary."  The bill exploits a loophole in the Budget Control Act (BCA) that allows Congress to spend more than allowed under the spending caps adopted in 2011.  By designating spending in the immigration bill as "emergency requirements," the bill would enable lawmakers to spend billions outside existing budget enforcement procedures.

On immigration, the Gang of Eight security promise that wasn't.  [Scroll down]  The bill requires that the head of the Government Accountability Office then review the report to determine whether the Commission's recommendations are likely to work and what they will cost.  And then — the process stops.  "The Commission shall terminate 30 days after the date on which the report is submitted," says the bill.  There is nothing about the Commission going from "being an advisory panel to a policy-making one."  The strict trigger that Gang sources advertised as being in the bill just isn't there.

Immigration bill contains 400 waivers, exceptions and exemptions.  The Senate's pending immigration bill includes roughly 400 exemptions, exceptions, waivers, determinations and grants of discretion.  The bill's complexity is forcing opponents and supporters to comb through its 844 pages before they can declare their conditional support or opposition to the high-stakes measure.

That's it? That's your hearing?  The hearing lasted for about two hours and was limited to one round of questions for two witnesses — economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin (who supports the bill) and Peter Kirsanow of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission (who opposes it).  Both witnesses were good.  But, as Kirsanow testified, they had received the nearly 900-pager only about two days ago, and thus lacked anything close to enough time to review and analyze it sufficiently.  Given this fact, and the brevity of the proceeding, the hearing was a farce.

They Lied to us Then About Immigration; They are Lying Now.  It is impossible to quantify how much the last two decades of illegal immigration — a direct result of the '86 amnesty — has cost us in education, healthcare, welfare, refundable tax credits, and criminal justice.  It is impossible to quantify how much the 1965 Kennedy bill has upset the balance of the country, ballooned the welfare state, and created a permanent Democrat majority in many parts of the country.  Now, instead of being ashamed of his past failures and lies, Chuck Schumer is back pushing amnesty for the people who were never supposed to come here as a result of his original amnesty.

Immigration Bill Contains 'MarcoPhones'.  The 844-page immigration reform bill the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" dropped in the dead of night contains a lucrative handout that would give taxpayer-funded free cell phones to some people who live or work near the U.S. border with Mexico.  Pages 43 and 44 of the bill detail what one conservative blogger, Javier Manjarres of Shark Tank, has already described as the "ObamaPhone" from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).

Unauthorized immigrants may have to pay $2,000 to earn legal status.  Unauthorized immigrants may have to pay $2,000 as part of a bipartisan U.S. immigration reform plan, a person familiar with the talks told The New York Times.

The Editor says...
But of course, you'll be able to get a waiver (like the exemptions labor unions get for Obamacare), or you could just refuse to pay the fee, and wait for the government to give up on the payments (like the money dished out after Hurricane Katrina, or your delinquent college loan).

1,500 Page Immigration Bill to Drop One Day Before [its] Only Hearing?.  According to an ABC News report, senators from the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" pushing immigration reform are expected to drop their bill, estimated at around 1,500 pages, on Tuesday [4/16/2013], mere hours before the only scheduled Senate hearing on the topic.

Giant Bills Make Bad Laws.  The Gang of Eight — four Democratic and four Republican U.S. senators — have been meeting behind closed doors since January to produce "comprehensive immigration reform."  That will mean a multi-thousand-page bill that no one reads.  You know the saying "fool me twice."  Americans got bamboozled in 2010, when the 2,572 page Obama health law was rushed through Congress unread.  The surprises buried in that law are causing havoc.

Three Questions on Immigration.  "Comprehensive immigration reform," a deal on which is reportedly imminent, has a lot of moving parts — too many, in truth, as with most "comprehensive" legislation.  Among the costs of comprehensivism is that debate over such bills often gets bogged down in the many details.  Americans seeking to evaluate any deal should ask three questions about it to cut through the noise.

Senate GOP: Gang of Eight Deal Could Cost Trillions in Welfare.  Senate Budget Committee Republican staff on Thursday [4/4/2013] released a description of what they claim is a "major flaw" in the immigration reform plan being pushed by the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" — a loophole that will end up being a multi-trillion dollar entitlement spending increase, with the burden falling on American taxpayers.

Senators close to historic deal that would allow 11 million illegal immigrants to become U.S. citizens.  Even with one of the largest hurdles to an immigration overhaul overcome, optimistic lawmakers cautioned on Sunday [3/31/2013] they had not finished work on a bill that would provide a path to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants.  The AFL-CIO and the pro-business U.S. Chamber of Commerce reached a deal late Friday [3/29/2013] that would allow tens of thousands of low-skill workers into the country to fill jobs in construction, restaurants and hotels.

ICE union head [comments] on immigration reform.  Chris Crane, ICE officer and National ICE Council president representing 7,000 ICE agents, officers, and employees, expressed concern in a statement issued Friday [3/22/2013] that the "the immigration bill being crafted behind closed doors" by the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" senators "will be rushed to passage without proper public consideration and proper input from the law enforcement community."

The Perfect Amnesty Storm.  The recent release of illegal immigrants in detention, the Obama administration's renewed push for amnesty, and the planned furlough of thousands of border patrol agents will result in more illegal crossings, immigration experts and border officials say.  "It's the perfect storm," said Stuart Harris, the vice president of Local 1929 of the National Border Patrol Council in El Paso, Texas.  The planned furloughs of border patrol guards and the push for immigration reform has now given illegal immigrants the perfect opportunity to come across the border, he said.

Up to 11 million illegal residents to be granted U.S. citizenship.  A gang of eight Republican and Democratic senators has hammered out an immigration reform deal that could allow 11million illegal immigrants to gain legal status and, eventually, American citizenship.  The agreement includes strict enforcement measures like stepped up border security and visa exit tracking that must go into effect before any illegal residents are given official status.