Thread: House approves two pro-enforcement amendments; NDAA to be amnesty-free

Week of May 30
	This Issue: House approves two pro-enforcement amendments; NDAA to be amnesty-free

On Thursday, the House of Representatives approved two immigration-enforcement amendments to the Commerce, Justice, and Science spending bill. Both amendments were offered by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) and passed mostly along party-lines with a few Republicans digging in their pro-amnesty, anti-enforcement heels, and a few Democrats, facing tough races in the fall, attempting to show their constituents that they don't stand with the rest of their caucus on the issue. Rep. King's first amendment would reallocate $5 million to the Justice Department for the sole use of investigating a recent report from the Center for Immigration Studies that found the Administration had released more than 36,000 criminal illegal aliens from custody while awaiting deportation. The amendment passed, 218-to-193, with Democratic Reps. Barber (AZ), Barrow (GA), Lipinski (IL), Peterson (MN), and Rahall (WV) voting in favor of the amendment. It's further evidence that, despite some media reports, Members of Congress in toss-up districts need to support immigration enforcement rather than side with amnesty advocates. Rep. King's second amendment is one that's offered nearly every Congress and would deny funds appropriated to the Justice Department from being used to reimburse municipalities that provide sanctuary to illegal aliens. The amendment passed 214-to-194. The House is in recess next week, but in the next few weeks, Leadership will likely bring to the floor the spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security. We should see votes on several immigration amendments to that legislation. NO AMNESTY IN NDAA Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, has announced that Senate Democrats will not include Rep. Jeff Denham's (R-Calif.) ENLIST Act in the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act. This is a significant victory considering House GOP Leadership supported Denham's effort to include his military amnesty in the NDAA. What's maybe more interesting, though, are the comments from Gang of Eight spokesman Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.): We are not going to go along with minor fixes that fail to address the huge systematic problems of our immigration system today. ... If the oil is leaking in your car, your muffler has a hole in it, and you have a flat tire you don't change the windshield wipers. But that's what they want to do with this ENLIST Act. Republicans are barely even considering that, but it doesn't even scratch the surface of our immigration system. Sen. Schumer claims that he provides a voice for the 11-18 million illegal aliens living in the United States, but he's made it clear that he's not interested in passing legislation that grants amnesty to just one segment. Sen. Levin's decision coincides with an announcement by the Obama Administration stating that it's delaying a review of deportation policies until later this year. The administration worries that taking further steps to curb even more deportations would provide House Republicans with more reason to not act on immigration reform. The White House warns, however, that it will take steps to end nearly all immigration enforcement if House Republicans don't act by the end of the summer. chris chmielenski Fri, May 30th

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