Congress feels constituent pressure during recess week as more cracks appear in the amnesty bandwagon

Congress may have been out of session all week, but it didn't keep immigration out of the headlines. That's partly because the White House decided to leak parts of its immigration plan last weekend while Members of Congress were on their way back home. But it's also because of the outrage many Members faced in their districts - thanks, of course, to many of our NumbersUSA activists.

Gang of Eight member, Senator John McCain, reportedly faced the most heat earlier this week. He thought his scheduled town halls would be an opportunity for him to explain his party's position on the upcoming sequester deadline, but instead, he faced angry constituents who confronted him for his role in pushing an amnesty for 11 million illegal aliens.

McCain's town halls were covered by nearly every major news network, but he wasn't the only one to get an earful from constituents. Our Local Activism Coordinator Melanie Oubre has sent more than two dozen alerts in the past week, notifying activists of town hall meetings in their area. She's compiled a list of comments from many of those town hall meetings in her blog.

Also in the last two weeks, you've sent nearly 150,000 faxes to Congress! Please keep up the great work! We've seen the impact your actions have had in the statements made by Members of Congress and the writings of columnists and analysts.

WHITE HOUSE RELEASES ITS IMMIGRATION PLAN

As I mentioned earlier, the White House leaked portions of its amnesty bill last weekend. You can learn more about the details in this news story and in Roy's blog.

While Senators McCain and Marco Rubio tried to distance themselves from the White House release, this comment from conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer sums it up best:

"...there is no real difference between the proposals."

Krauthammer is like several Republican-oriented voices that spoke out in favor of some kind of amnesty after the November election. This week he made clear that none of the amnesties being considered is worth supporting because they don't require hard triggers for mandatory E-Verify, border security, and a fully functioning entry/exit system to halt visa overstays.

White House Domestic Policy Advisor Cecilia Munoz is the point person on immigration for President Obama, but a new document uncovered by the Center for Immigration Studies reveals that, when serving as the Senior Immigration Policy Analyst for the National Council of La Raza, Munoz urged Congress to repeal workplace verification and opposed a biometric national ID card. (See the story here.)

Workplace verification is a key ingredient to any "comprehensive immigration reform" bill and a crucial part to stopping future illegal immigration. While NumbersUSA supports E-Verify, the Gang of Eight have been talking about a biometric national ID card. With Munoz's apparent opposition to any serious workforce enforcement, there shouldn't be much room for negotiation.
We'll continue to monitor how Munoz's past positions influence the immigration debate in the coming months.

CHRIS CHMIELENSKI
Fri, Feb 22nd