Thread: Another Immigration Battle Brewing in Congress

Illegal immigration continues to be one of the top issues among conservatives and all Americans across the country, and why wouldn't it be? Despite the rhetoric coming from some Washington leaders on the need to secure our borders and clamp down on the flow of illegal aliens, little to nothing has been done. Bills are passed calling for more border patrol agents -- then, only a fraction is actually hired. Bills are passed calling for a security fence on America's southern border -- then, political moves are made to defund it and slow its construction. Now, another bill has emerged in Congress which actually has bipartisan support and addresses some of the core concerns of the American people. As the debate heats up, we will soon see which politicians are on the side of security and the rule of law and which need to be voted out in November.

As noted in a Human Events article by James R. Edwards Jr., "House Democratic leaders face a bitter civil war over immigration issues. Blue Dog Democrats, who tend to be more conservative, stand behind H.R. 4088, the Secure America through Verification and Enforcement Act (SAVE), but the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Rep. Joe Baca (Calif.), and open-borders Democrats favor some form of amnesty for the 12 million illegal aliens."

The SAVE Act is sponsored by Blue Dog Rep. Heath Shuler, (D-N.C). It takes an enforcement-only approach to illegal immigration and shutting off the "jobs magnet."

The centerpiece of H.R. 4088 is phasing in the E-Verify program. Over four years, all employers would eventually use this web-based system. The Shuler bill adds 8,000 Border Patrol officers, border security technology, federal judge slots, and 1,200 interior enforcement agents.

Investor's Business Daily (IBD), in an editorial supporting the SAVE Act, describes the E-verify program as follows:

E-verify is a Web-based system to cross-reference Social Security numbers and other pertinent information. Some 56,000 employers already use the system.

The system screens all applicants, so racial profiling is not an issue. As we've noted, in states where local authorities have ramped up enforcement, illegal immigration has declined dramatically, and many of those already here have left under a process some have called self-deportation. The risks soon exceed the benefits.

The bill is cosponsored by 49 Democrats and 98 Republicans -- a true bipartisan effort. However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is leading the fight to prevent the bill from coming to the House floor for a vote. So, even though the bill is authored by a Democrat, many House Republicans are now supporting a "discharge petition" which would force a vote on the measure. The IBD editorial notes:

An outraged Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner said in support of the discharge petition:

"In just the past year, this (Democratic) majority voted to cut funding for the border fence, opened the door to illegal immigrants to receive taxpayer-funded services without showing proof of citizenship and overturned a successful GOP proposal to prevent taxpayer-funded federal benefits from being awarded to illegal immigrants."

If 33 of the original Democratic co-sponsors of the SAVE Act who have not signed the discharge petition were to do so, the bill would proceed to the floor where serious debate on a major issue could begin. But that would require Democrats' going on record in an election year and doing more than blowing smoke on border security.

"Blowing smoke" is a key point. A discharge petition requires 218 signatures to bring about a floor vote. According to IBD, the current petition has 185 signatures. However, of the 49 Democrats who have cosponsored the SAVE Act, only 10 of them have signed the petition. What's going on with the other 39?

You can help get this bill moving by telling your representative to support the SAVE Act.

Well I know that my rep. D Ed Pearlmutter isnt signing the petition. Even thought I have response letters from my faxes to him showing his Overwhelming support for the save act. What a Liar how can our reps send us letters showing support but do the complete opposite? If I told a customer that I would have their job done on friday and decided not to do it I wouldn't get paid! maybe our elected shouldnt get paid either for not following through with their promises! We need to pressure em.

Is This the link to the article SouthOfNashville?

http://www.gopusa.com/theloft/?p=689

Originally Posted by jimpasz

Is This the link to the article SouthOfNashville?

http://www.gopusa.com/theloft/?p=689

Yes it is. Is this another duplicate post, lol...Man....

No its not a dup great post, just a reminder to post the link for the articles you post, so there is no problem with copyright. Your posts are always good reading

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-3104--0-0.html