Thousands of Phone Calls Keep Immigration on the Front Burner in Congress

We asked you to make a lot of phone calls to House Leadership and Members of the House Judiciary Committee this week, and you responded in huge numbers, keeping immigration issues alive and well on the minds of Congress.

The calls to the House Judiciary Committee were in support of passage for clean passage of Rep. Bob Goodlatte's bill (H.R. 704) to end the Visa Lottery. The committee marked up three bills on Thursday morning, but was called back to the main chamber for votes before it was able to get to Rep. Goodlatte's bill. It should be back on the calendar for markup next week, and as soon as we know the details, Roy will be asking for your calls again.

We also asked you to urge House Leadership to bring Rep. Lamar Smith's mandatory E-Verify bill to the floor for a vote before the August recess, and you had the phones ringing off the hook. On Monday, you brought the Capitol switchboard to its knees, causing many to receive busy signals throughout the afternoon. In the district offices, there were reports of more than 50 calls an hour to House Leadership.

Again, thank you for your efforts. We may not be able to get Chairman Smith's E-Verify bill to the floor before the August recess, but you sent Leadership a strong message that we're not going away until there's a vote on H.R. 2164.

MORE E-VERIFY COSPONSORS: Cosponsors to Chairman Smith's bill continue to add up. This week, 7 more Members cosponsored the bill, bringing the sponsorship list to 38. Check your Action Board for faxes that urge your Members of Congress to cosponsor both Rep. Smith's and Sen. Grassley's E-Verify bills. https://www.numbersusa.com/hub?action=r ... 4574&lid=9

BILL TO HALT AMNESTIES: This week, Chairman Smith introduced another piece of legislation that would prevent "backdoor" administrative amnesties. https://www.numbersusa.com/hub?action=r ... 4574&lid=9

The Hinder the Administration's Legalization Temptation (HALT) Act would prevent the Administration from using deferred action or parole to set free illegal aliens detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Current federal law allows the executive branch to issue deferred action or parole to illegal aliens on a case-by-case basis, but the HALT Act would prevent the Administration from issuing these "backdoor" amnesties on a massive level.

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) will introduced the same bill in the Senate. Rep. Smith's bill has 22 cosponsors.

Thanks again for all your activism this week! Have a great weekend, and we'll let you know when the Visa Lottery is rescheduled for mark up.

Thanks,
Chris Chmielenski
Director, Content & Activism

received by e-main from NumbersUSA on Fri, Jul 15, 2011 4:45 pm