Thread: URGENT!! IS AMNESTY ALMOST LOCKED IN? ~~ Repubs CAVING?!?!

I called Rep. Olver and Senators Kennedy and Kerry...like that's going to help, but at least I'm in there slugging.

Come on everyone...make the calls!

Called Burr's & Dole's offices today. Both aides said they are
against any kind of amnesty. Went deeper & asked if amnesty
included leaving country for a few hours & Bush inflating
number of green cards -- they got flustered & said they are
not involved in policy making. Asked them if the senators
are upset about not being included in policy making
by helping to draft the bill that a republican president is
pushing. I tried to leave on some positive notes by thanking
them for voting against the senate bill last year.

We are GOOD!! With both ALIPAC & Numbersusa fighting the good fight, we're making waves
They've stirred the hornets nest and that nest is us

** From some of the information that I'm receiving by our Focus Campaign phone work, it can be said that there are those that are LYING and also those that don't know their ass from their elbow.
I'm now of the impression that the job of educating the lawmakers about the policies that they're voting on, has fallen on our shoulders!!
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From: Roy Beck, President, NumbersUSA
Date: Monday 12MAR07 3 p.m. EDT


Your phone calls made the difference today -- Hold the phones until further notice

HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADERS ARE DENYING ANY AGREEMENT WITH NEW BUSH AMNESTY

SO ARE MANY SENATE REPUBLICANS

Great news, friends. You all had a massive response this morning and afternoon to my midnight request for phone calls to Republican Senators and House Members.


WHAT YOU DO NOW


Stop phoning based on my Action Alert of this morning. We have taken those Phone Action Notes off your corkboards for now. The phone calls have served their purpose for the moment.

We will probably want to re-start phoning soon, but to a different target audience and a different message. I'll let you know.

Go to your customized Action Buffet and consider taking the other actions posted there:

www.NumbersUSA.com/actionbuffet

One big development today is that a bi-partisan bill to eliminate the visa lottery was introduced by Democrat Rep. Stephanie Herseth (SD) and Republican Rep. Robert Goodlatte (VA).

Read about it on our home page:

www.NumbersUSA.com

You will want to ask your own Representative to co-sponsor this and promote it as the opposite direction of ADDING immigration.


THIS IS WHAT REPUBLICAN OFFICES ARE TELLING YOU AND US IN RESPONSE TO YOUR PHONE CALLS TODAY


First, let me remind you of what I told you shortly after midnight:

Deep sources in Congress told us earlier in the evening that the White House is bragging to many Members of Congress that the GOP House leadership has now agreed to the new Bush plan!

Our sources were Members of Congress themselves. They told us the White House was describing its new plan as allowing illegal aliens to go through some kind of multi-step process in which they step out of the country and then step back in to claim their path to U.S. citizenship.

The Members of Congress asked us to mobilize you today to stop the White House momentum among Republicans.

Now, you are reporting back to us a consistent message from all House GOP leadership offices that they are denying any agreement with the White House on a "comprehensive" immigration bill.

Particularly important, the staff of the top two leaders -- Rep. Boehner (R-OH), House Minority Leader, and Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), House Minority Whip -- are saying they remain opposed to amnesty.

Top staff of Rep. Blunt told us that he has always opposed any plan that rewards illegal aliens with permanent residency and that he is not changing on that.

"We weren't in a position to cave in the first place, but we appreciate knowing of American citizens' support for our position," a Blunt official told me.

Our NumbersUSA staff has been taking calls all day from Republican offices saying that the White House is putting out false information if it says it is finding any support from them.

White House spokesmen today are denying having told any Members that they had support for their plan from House GOP leaders.

Our sources also told us over the weekend that the White House was identifying specific Senators -- who have good Immigration-Reduction Grades -- who supposedly had also agreed to the White House step-out/step-in amnesty ideas.

But those Senators' staffers (I didn't name all of them in my Alert) are calling us this afternoon and urging us to ask you to stop calling them because they say they are not caving to the White House amnesty ambitions.


OK, WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON?


Rosemary was at an event this weekend that included a number of the top advocates for amnesty and open borders in the country from business, labor, religion and Ford Foundation ethnic groups.

She heard them say that the push for an amnesty was bogging down until a few weeks ago when they were able to start convincing people that the momentum was in their direction and that passage was likely this year.

Basically, the open borders plan has been to create in the media and on Capitol Hill an aura of inevitability about the amnesty to cause Members to let down their guards and perhaps decide to join the bandwagon.

As you will see in the article below, the minimum goal for the amnesty crowd is to persuade 20 GOP Senators and 40 GOP Representatives to be willing to vote for an amnesty. With that assurance, Sen. Kennedy and the White House believe they can put 12 million illegal aliens on a path to citizenship.

We believe the White House is trying to get those 60 Republicans signed up so it can go to Kennedy and deal for a compromise that won't be quite as radical and with a lot more enforcement than the Democratic plan would have.

Our job -- your job -- is to do just what you did today and not let any Republican in Congress think he/she can get away with that kind of sell-out of the American worker, the American family and the American community.

Unfortunately, for the large Democratic part of our NumbersUSA membership, I have to say that the Democratic leadership in Congress has already agreed that it is willing to sell out Americans on immigration. Our only hope is to get most Republicans to resist. If we do, there are many indications that the Democratic leaders will get cold feet about bringing the amnesty to a vote for fear that voters will vote them out of the majority in '08. The Democratic leaders need enough Republicans joining in the sell-out to offer them political cover.


YOUR ACTIVISM IS THE KEY


This weekend, Rosemary heard a business lobbyist tell other open borders enthusiasts that a year ago phone calls and faxes in congressional offices were running 400-1 against amnesty or "comprehensive" legislation.

This lobbyist was using as a sign of the progress they are making with their "inevitability" campaign that now the constituency feedback is only running 200-1 against amnesty.

I'm sorry that the other side has increased its own mobilization but I am so proud of all of you that you are taking the leadership in keeping that kind of constituency image in the offices of Congress.

Where is the truth in what was going on this weekend. There can be no question that the White House was trying to con some Republican Members. But I'm not sure all the Republicans who are flat-out denying amnesty support today have truly been as non-supportive of the White House as they claim. We feel pretty certain that your calls today helped remind a lot of people what "200-1" looks like.

The open borders organizations are bringing in a few thousand people to lobby Congress later this week. Your phone calls today and your nearly 200,000 faxes since last Friday provide a wonderful dose of reality to congressional staffers before the amnesty lobbyists arrive.

If you have any doubt about the tenacity, the magnitude and the radicalness of our opponents, don't skip reading the article below.

THANKS,

-- ROY

Daily Labor Report
1MAR07

Immigration Overhaul Proponents Express
Optimism About Bill's Prospects This Year

Representatives of organized labor, business, Latino, and conservative organizations March 9 expressed optimism that Congress will pass a comprehensive immigration bill this year that combines stricter border enforcement with a path toward legalization for current undocumented foreign workers.

During a teleconference sponsored by the National Immigration Forum, several speakers suggested public sentiment has shifted from anger to a more pragmatic viewpoint that Congress needs to do something now to fix a broken immigration system. They added that the "A word"--the prospect of "amnesty" for about 12 million illegal immigrants--has lost much of its political sting and that a bipartisan bill must include some process for such individuals to remain in the United States legally.

Frank Sharry, the executive director of the National Immigration Forum, who moderated the discussion, said the "fundamentals" for enacting comprehensive immigration legislation "have never been better" given public pressure, congressional willingness to act, and both parties' awareness of the political benefits of successful legislation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has vowed to bring a bill to the Senate floor this spring, and "we're optimistic the House will move with the same dispatch," Sharry said.

Cecilia Munoz, senior vice president of the National Council of LaRaza, noted that the council had representatives from 32 states lobbying Congress this week on immigration and "it's hard to overstate the level of energy and enthusiasm." She added that both parties have a stake in a more successful outcome than in 2006, when the Senate and House passed divergent immigration bills and no conference committee was convened.

The Democrats feel pressure to show "they can deliver legislation that the country is demanding" while Republicans are fighting for "the soul of the party" and the votes of a growing Latino electorate, Munoz said. When some Republicans sought to ride voters' perceived anti-immigrant sentiment to victory in the 2006 election, Munoz said, "they overwhelmingly failed."

Craig Regelbrugge, senior director of government relations for the American Nursery and Landscape Association, said the business community's level of concern and engagement on the issue is "escalating rapidly." "Everyone in business understands the demographics that worker shortages are with us and are only going to get worse," he said.

Some growers experienced labor shortages of up to 30 percent last year and some were forced to abandon crops in the field, Regelbrugge said. "The concern is that this time around we need to get it right," he said, explaining that the 1986 immigration law "failed to recognize the long-term economic needs of business."

Business is seeking "expanded legal channels" for foreign workers "to come here for extended periods or even permanently," Regelbrugge said. He added that in contrast to last year, immigration reform proponents are seeing members of Congress "from all over the political spectrum" acknowledge that "we need to do something that goes beyond border enforcement."

Tom Snyder, the national political director of UNITE HERE, said the message from organized labor and the public is that "the status quo is intolerable," and "it's time for Congress to get it done." As the other speakers did, Snyder asserted all signs indicate "there's never been a better time" for enacting immigration reform. He added, however, that "the clock is ticking, and Congress needs to get rolling."

Tamar Jacoby, a self-described Republican who is a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute in New York, said it was striking that speakers from across the political spectrum were "all saying exactly the same thing, if in slightly different keys."

She commented that although "the political temptations are going to be strong" to derail an immigration bill as the 2008 election looms, there are strong, countervailing public pressures to "get it done" in 2007. Recent surveys show "a whole new mood" regarding immigration, indicating "less anger" among the public and more of a "pragmatic" sense of "how are we going to solve this," Jacoby said.

The secret to a successful package will be "finding the sweet spot" that attracts the 20 Republican senators and 40 Republican House members needed to pass a bill, Jacoby said. She acknowledged there will be some resistance in Congress but suggested "politicians are going to respond" when the public demands action and the issue becomes how to shape legislation that is definitely moving forward.

Asked to identify the potential "sweet spot," Jacoby replied that rather than last year's debate about "how many hoops" an undocumented worker must jump through to achieve legal status, now it will be "is the enforcement provision going to work?" The legislative goal must be to "go from a system where illegality is the norm to a system where people abide by the rules," she said.

Jacoby said last year's Senate-passed bill provides the "architecture" for comprehensive legislation but that "operational" details need to be ironed out. "Some of the vileness and silliness is draining out of the debate," she said.

Snyder, of UNITE HERE, said he is "not concerned" that no bill has yet been introduced because "a healthy process" is occurring behind the scenes. Congressional leaders are working to ensure the Senate bill "moves more smoothly" once it is introduced and to avoid the rancorous debate of last year, Snyder said.

Asked about potential differences between the legislation currently being drafted by Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) and last year's Senate bill, Sharry said sponsors are looking for "a bill that moves forward" and can garner large bipartisan support. That means "stronger and more targeted enforcement procedures" and a practical system for legalizing undocumented workers, Sharry said.

Accepting that people who currently are illegally in the United States are going to stay here, Sharry said, the key question becomes what the requirements are going to be. He said congressional sponsors are working to improve the bill in that regard.

Agreeing with Sharry, Jacoby reiterated that surveys show the public wants pragmatic solutions and is less concerned with getting tough on illegal immigrants who are already here. "Even the 'A word' is losing some of its sting," Jacoby said, referring to some politicians' past denunciations of amnesty for illegal immigrants.

Asked about the refusal of administration officials to endorse a "path to citizenship" for foreign workers in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Munoz acknowledged it was confusing and that her group was trying to clarify White House intentions. She added, however, that President Bush has always supported a "path to citizenship" when he discusses the issue.

"Most of us feel that without a path to citizenship, there can't be a deal," said Snyder of UNITE HERE. Sharry remarked that some congressional Republicans have signaled that "temporary workers are fine but citizenship is a problem" but he added, "I don't think that's sustainable."

Sharry said he has never seen the administration "more engaged" than in recent weeks on immigration and that "there's no question the White House is starting to weigh in" on a "consistent and persistent" basis. He said Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff "have been working the Hill," developing responses to congressional Republicans' concerns. "They're working to deliver Republicans," Sharry said. "We'll see if it bears fruit."

As for timing, Sharry said that once the Senate bill is introduced, Judiciary Committee hearings could take place in late March or soon after the Easter recess, and Reid could bring the measure to the floor in late April or May. Sponsors are "trying to make sure they come out with a bill that permits quick action once they do so," Sharry said.

Jacoby added that congressional sponsors and the administration want to "work out some of the partisan stuff earlier" and spare Congress the "ugly stuff" that characterized last year's debates.

Asked if the "touch-back" requirement in last year's bill for undocumented workers would survive as a necessary step for legalization, two speakers expressed doubt that it would. Munoz said she doubts whether "something that harsh" really delivers Republican votes for an immigration bill or makes the public "more confident" about the immigration system.

On that score, Jacoby added that opinion research indicates many people are confused by the notion that undocumented foreigners would have to leave the United States and than re-enter. Rather, the sentiment among many survey respondents was if you're going to let them stay, then let them stay, Jacoby said.

Speakers suggested recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on employers using illegal immigrants send a mixed message. While Jacoby thought the stepped-up enforcement is "helpful" because it gives the public the sense that government is serious about enforcing immigration laws, Munoz said the "human cost"--particularly on children of arrested workers--demonstrates the degree to which the system is broken. She added that it makes people in the Latino community "question the sincerity" of administration statements about the value of immigrants.

2ndamendsis wrote:

From some of the information that I'm receiving by our Focus Campaign phone work, it can be said that there are those that are LYING and also those that don't know their ass from their elbow.

Well, no wonder, Senators lie straight to your face, I've found!

Well, no wonder, Senators lie straight to your face, I've found!

Thank God it's not all of them and that we do have a few who still believe in the importance pf upholding our laws, which is suppose to be the American way.

Fyi:
Note.......although we've been very careful not to mention AMNESTY as a it's own entity but are including alll their TOUCH-BACK, STEP OUT/IN little ditties, they're STILL lying or don't know anything.

It's simply amazing

** they're IGNORING the step in/out garbage and now are repeating one mantra over and over -- "Sentator so and so is against AMNESTY"

They believe that this is going to stop Americans from demanding that the LAWS be enforced? Divert American's attention from the truth?

Dream on traitors.................

Instead of the "Step out-Step in" plan, a more appropriate name might be the: STEP AROUND PLAN........STEP AROUND THE LAW PLAN

2ndamendsis wrote:

They believe that this is going to stop Americans from demanding that the LAWS be enforced? Divert American's attention from the truth?

Dream on traitors.................

They are so wrong and are misleading themselves so badly that when they get the jolt from that wake up call from the American people ........they will be wondering what happened, maybe than they will start taking us seriously.

2ndamendsis wrote:

** they're IGNORING the step in/out garbage and now are repeating one mantra over and over -- "Sentator so and so is against AMNESTY

I've noticed the word games, too. They often apply a certain emphasis to certain words/phrases, like they'd been coached.