Thread: GOP Senators: Illegals Are Beneficial, Amnesty Is Not Amnesty

GOP Senators: Illegals Are Beneficial, Amnesty Is Not Amnesty



25 Sep 2017

Illegal immigrants are good for the U.S. economy, GOP Sen. James Lankford said today while he introduced a multi-stage amnesty for many young illegal immigrants, including the 690,000 illegals covered under the expiring “DACA” amnesty.

Lankford and GOP Sen. Thom Tillis were asked by a reporter if their amnesty legislation would allow illegal immigrants to compete against Americans for jobs, and Lankford answered:

The job issue is an interesting issue, because those individuals are already in the job market. Many of these DACA students are actually DACA young adults, they already have access to the job market right now because they’ve been given deferred action. So they are in higher education, they are in the job market, they are currently a part of our economy, currently. That continual competition in our economy doesn’t hurt us, that continues to help us. It actually hurts us to put those individuals out of the economy.

Cheap-labor immigration inflates the economy with more consumers and workers, and it also transfers roughly 5.2 percent of Americans’ wages and salaries — or roughly $500 billion each year — to company owners and investors, according to a September 2016 report by the National Academies of Sciences. But it also drags high-tech investment, drives up Americans’ housing costs, and steers business investment away from distressed areas, including many places in Oklahoma and North Carolina. For example, 36 percent of zip codes in North Carolina had fewer jobs or businesses in 2015 than in 2000, according to a new report by the Economic Innovation Group. In Oklahoma, 22 percent of zip codes had fewer jobs and businesses in 2015 compared to 2000, which was a two-decade period of massive cheap-labor immigration.

Tillis — who is a strong advocate for business’ greater use of foreign workers — declined to answer the workplace competition question and instead offered to subsequently provide information to the reporter.

The SUCCEED bill would allow illegals who say they entered the country younger than 16 by mid-2012 to apply for citizenship. The authors say the bill would cover up to 1 million people, but recent estimates by the Migration Policy Institute say that roughly 3.3 million younger illegals meet the ‘dreamer’ age and date-of-entry requirements. That inflow is equivalent to three new foreigners for every four Americans born in 2017.

In comparison to the Democrats’ fast-track Dream Act, the two Senators’ bill would help GOP politicians by delaying citizenship for Democratic-boosting illegals. But it would immediately provide business groups with millions of illegal-immigrant consumers and workers, and also deny President Trump the political leverage he needs to win passage of the popular RAISE Act which would raise Americans’ income by trimming the inflow of cheap foreign workers.

Both Senators also denied their amnesty is an amnesty, even though it would allow the illegal migrants to compete for jobs and education slots in the United States, full access to welfare and aid programs, and also citizenship. That immediate residency — not voting rights — is the primary goal of the many millions of foreigners who sneak into the country illegally, and of the 138 million people who would like to migrant into the United States.

Tillis denied his legislation is an amnesty, saying:

This is a path, that admittedly, at some point, allows someone to go through the naturalization process. But we think that it is a balanced resolution to a vexing problem that has not been solved for 30 years, and we’ll have to take the hits. We’ll take the hits on the far left for saying you’re not getting them to citizenship soon enough, and you’ll take it on the far right, for saying you’ve ever going the opportunity to pursue citizenship, after they’ve done all that is required for them to continue to have the protected status that is in this bill.


Lankford argued:

This is not an amnesty bill where we take those individuals and just say, ‘We’re going to give you a quick route to citizenship and just ignore the realities of what happened coming in.’

The balancing act that we really want to make here is we didn’t want to ever basically encourage future illegal activity and tell [illegal immigrant] adults ‘Bring children with you, and you get special recognition, you get special path in, if you bring children if with you when you commit an illegal act. I don’t want to rewards the adults for bringing a child with them when they did it, but I also want to recognize for those children, they were children, many of them two or three years old when they came.

They have grown up in this country, they know no other place. So it is a reasonable option for us to be able to say ‘Let’s take those kids, that had no other option, that came with other adults that brought them illegally, put them in line, not force them to return back to home country, but put them in line here, the only country they’ve known, allow them to be in that line and to be able to get there.’ [That is] an almost identical length of time if they had come from Mexico or Guatemala or Honduras and they started the line there. It would take 15 years to 18 years if they had started there. We’re just allowing them to start the line here

But the illegals benefit by ‘starting the line’ while living in the United States, even as millions of would-be legal immigrants are stuck in their home countries. The bill would also allow the naturalized migrants to sponsor their own parents — and various relatives — for green cards and citizenship. That provision would reward the parents who brought their children into the United States.

The two Senators’ rejection of the amnesty term is a reflection of an extensive behind-the-scenes effort by pollsters to pick soft words which might mollify deep Americans’ opposition to cheap-labor amnesty.

The two Senators also describe their legislation as a merit-immigration bill because it defines “merit” as working nine months out of the year, even at minimum wage. That low bar would help farm-economy employers in Oklahoma and North Carolina, and it is very different from Trump’s RAISE Act. The RAISE would allocate immigration cards to the skilled foreigners who are most likely to raise Americans’ productivity and wages.

The Lankford bill is supported by the libertarian Niskanen Center in D.C. “We’d expect that the Tillis/Lankford solution would have, conservatively, a small but positive effect on native-born wages,” said Jeremy Neufeld, an immigration expert. “It’s probably higher because it doesn’t just keep the labor force from contracting but also raises average human capital per worker,” he added.

The amnesty bill does not include measures to repatriate the illegals who do not meet the bill’s requirement that illegals compete with Americans for jobs, college places of military slots.

Nor does it impose any penalties on the parents who brought their children into the United States. It does not include any security provisions, such as a border wall, but Tillis said he would like to combine his measure with a weak border-security bill developed by Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn.

Utah GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch joined Tillis and Lankford, saying he supports the legislation. Hatch is also a repeated sponsor of the so-called Immigration Innovation bill, dubbed I-Squared.

That legislation would an unlimited number of foreign college-grads to compete for white-collar jobs sought by each year’s cohort of 800,000 skilled American college graduates.

Four million Americans turn 18 each year and begin looking for good jobs. However, the government imports roughly 1 million legal immigrants to compete against Americans for jobs.

The government also hands out almost 3 million short-term work permits to foreign workers. These permits include roughly 330,000 one-year OPT permits for foreign graduates of U.S. colleges, roughly 200,000 three-year H-1B visas for foreign white-collar professionals, and 400,000 two-year permits to DACA illegals.

That Washington-imposed policy of mass-immigration stimulates the economy with foreign consumers and workers, spikes profits and Wall Street values by cutting salaries for manual and skilled labor offered by blue-collar and white-collar employees. It also drives up real estate prices, widens wealth-gaps, reduces high-tech investment, increases state and local tax burdens, hurts kids’ schools and college education, pushes Americans away from high-tech careers, and sidelines at least 5 million marginalized Americans and their families, including many who are now struggling with opioid addictions.

The vast majority of Americans tell pollsters that they strongly oppose amnesties and cheap-labor immigration, even as most also want to favor legal immigrants, and many even sympathize with illegals.

Amid the huge inflow of new workers, wages for men have remained flat since 1973, and the percentage of working Americans has declined steadily for the last few decades.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...y-not-amnesty/

James Lankford is a disgrace to our country, a disgrace to the Southern Baptist Convention, and a disgrace to the state of Oklahoma. Selling out your fellow citizens is not compassion, it's betrayal. Since he graduated from seminary, I'm sure he's familiar with Judas. Look in the mirror Lankford, for you are he.

A Sellout!

The three of them, have no business being in Congress.

Originally Posted by lorrie

A Sellout!

The three of them, have no business being in Congress.

They are a disgusting Menace in the US Congress.

Could someone please copy the following and post it. I am not able to convert it. Thank you.

https://www.tillis.senate.gov/public...-two-pager.pdf

This is just a big amnesty for millions of illegal foreign citizens. Shame.

GOP bill will offer 2.5 MILLION Dreamers citizenship

Note To Senator Lankford: American citizens are beneficial, Amnesty is amnesty. American citizens elected you to represent them not foreign illegal aliens. You are disgraceful.

(Got the majority of the PDF - go to link for all wording)


Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and James Lankford (R-OK) have introduced the SUCCEED Act,

a fair and merit-based solution to address the legal uncertainty facing undocumented children. The SUCCEED Act clari es the law by providing undocumented children with the opportunity to earn and keep legal status if they meet speci c requirements, pass an extensive criminal background check, and follow one or a combination of three merit-based tracks to demonstrate they are productive members of their communities.

The SUCCEED Act is based on four core principles:

COMPASSION. The President and the vast majority of the American people believe that undocumented children came here through no fault of their own, and children should not be punished for the actions taken by their parents. Though they were not born here, these young people know no other country but America. The SUCCEED Act creates legal certainty for undocumented children by providing them with an opportunity to remain here.

MERIT. The SUCCEED Act isn’t a free pass: it requires that once undocumented children become adults, they either maintain gainful employment, earn a postsecondary or vocational degree, or serve honorably in the military. They have the opportunity to stay in the U.S. on a long-term basis, as long as they work hard, give back to society, pay their taxes, and follow the law.

PREVENTION. If curbing illegal immigration is not a priority, we will never be able to solve the problem. The SUCCEED Act deters illegal immigration by directly addressing one of its main causes: visa overstays. Additionally, the SUCCEED Act provides an opportunity for the Congress and the President to reach a deal that pairs a commonsense solution for undocumented children along with signi cant border security enforcement.




FAIRNESS. The SUCCEED Act is a solution for undocumented children and only the children. It bars chain migration during the legal process and is also fair to lawful immigrants in the U.S. who are going through the naturalization process.


How is the SUCCEED Act di erent than the DREAM Act?
The SUCCEED Act has more rigorous requirements for undocumented children to earn and keep legal status. Additionally, the SUCCEED Act includes provisions that deters illegal immigration, prevents chain migration, and makes paying o tax liabilities a requirement for keeping legal status.

Why not just codify DACA into law?

DACA was never intended to be a long-term solution for undocumented children. The SUCCEED Act is a long-term solution that allows undocumented minors to earn and keep legal status and stay in the U.S. on a permanent basis.

Does this cover all undocumented children and young adults who were covered under DACA?

Many of the eligibility requirements are similar, and most DACA recipients should be eligible as long as they have maintained a clean criminal record and commit to one or a combination of the three merit-based tracks.
How does this screen applicants for criminal or gang activity?

All applicants are required to go through an extensive criminal background check, which

PREVENTION. If curbing illegal immigration is not a priority, we will never be able to solve the problem. The SUCCEED Act deters illegal immigration by directly addressing one of its main causes: visa overstays. Additionally, the SUCCEED Act provides an opportunity for the Congress and the President to reach a deal that pairs a commonsense solution for undocumented children along with signi cant border security enforcement.

FAIRNESS. The SUCCEED Act is a solution for undocumented children and only the children. It bars chain migration during the legal process and is also fair to lawful immigrants in the U.S. who are going through the naturalization process.

will include information obtained from INTERPOL or any other international or national law enforcement agency in the alien’s country of nationality, country of citizenship, or country of last habitual residence. Additionally, any individual who is convicted of a felony or signi cant misdemeanor would have their conditional legal status revoked.

In addition to a conviction for a felony, what are the “signi cant misdemeanors” that would result in the termination of an individual’s legal status if they are convicted?

Signi cant misdemeanors include domestic violence, sexual abuse or exploitation, burglary, unlawful possession of a rearm, drug distribution, and driving under the influence.

What are the economic benefits and costs of the legislation?

A Niskanen Center analysis of the SUCCEED Act found that it would create 117,000 new jobs, increase GDP by $81 billion, and net federal revenue by $22 billion over ten years. The cost of this program would be mostly administrative in running background checks, collecting biometrics, and processing cases, etc. to screen for any individuals with a criminal past or gang affiliation.

Step I: Meet All Eligibility Requirements For Conditional Status

Obtain a high school diploma or equivalent (if over 18 years of age). Arrived in the U.S. before the age of 16 and present since June 15, 2012. Pass a thorough criminal background check. Submit biometric and biographic data to DHS. Pay o any existing tax liabilities. Be a person of good moral character as de ned by current U.S. law. Sign a waiver from future immigration bene ts if they violate certain terms of their status.

Step II: Apply For And Maintain Conditional Status Years 0–5

Undocumented children can apply for Conditional Permanent Residence (CPR) status and keep their status until they turn 18. Once they turn 18, they will need to apply for a ve-year renewal, at which point they are required to commit to pursuing one or a combination of three merit-based tracks: Maintain gainful employment for 48 out of 60 months. Earn a postsecondary/vocational degree. Serve honorably in the military for at least three years.

Step III: After Ful lling Requirements, Re-Apply For Conditional Status Years 5–10

If during those initial ve years an undocumented child meets their merit-based obligations, maintains a clean criminal record, and pays their taxes, they would become eligible to renew their CPR status for an additional ve years.

Step IV: After Ful lling Requirements, Become Eligible For A Green Card Year 10

Once a participant has maintained CPR status for 10 years and has demonstrated they are a productive, law-abiding member of society, they would become eligible to apply for Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) status.

Step V: Minimum Five-Year Waiting Period As A Green Card Holder Year 15+

After a mandatory ve-year waiting period in LPR status, they would become eligible to apply for naturalization if they meet the requirements or remain in LPR status.

Myths vs. Facts

MYTH: The SUCCEED Act addresses the legal status of undocumented children before securing our borders.

FACT: Senators Tillis and Lankford have made it clear that the SUCCEED Act must be paired with a border security solution in order to help stop illegal immigration, human tra cking, and drug tra cking along our borders.

MYTH: The SUCCEED Act’s requirements will be too tough for undocumented children to meet.

FACT: That’s simply not the case. It’s true that the SUCCEED Act has a longer process and more stringent eligibility requirements than other legislation, especially when it comes to individuals with criminal backgrounds. However, the bottom line is that it’s a fair and compassionate solution, and as long as one works hard, follows the law, and pays their taxes, they can stay in the U.S.

MYTH: The SUCCEED Act is unfair to legal immigrants in the U.S. who are waiting to be naturalized.

FACT: Undocumented children would not be able to “cut the line” or receive special treatment or privileges over immigrant children who are already in the U.S. lawfully and going through the naturalization process.

MYTH: The SUCCEED Act can be used as a backdoor way for participants to bring their family members to the U.S. and make them citizens, or to provide bene ts for relatives who are here illegally.

FACT: Individuals would not be able to petition immediate relatives to im- migrate to the U.S. (also known as chain migration) while they go through the legalization process. Additionally, no bene ts or special treatment shall be given to the relatives of undocumented children who are in the U.S. illegally.


MYTH: The SUCCEED Act would encourage more illegal immigration.

FACT: The SUCCEED Act includes proactive measures that will help deter illegal immigration, including curtailing visa overstays, a major source of illegal immigration.





https://www.tillis.senate.gov/public...-two-pager.pdf

Of course this is yet another mass amnesty bill.

If these pro-amnesty senators were serious, they would have at least coupled this amnesty bill with the RAISE Act, mandatory nationwide E-Verify, and a crackdown on sanctuary cities.

They can go SUCCEED on their soil

Boot them all out