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Wisconsin State Official Fired After Comparing Immigrants To Satan

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Photo Credit: Fox NewsA feisty online rant that compared undocumented immigrants to Satan cost a top Wisconsin state official his job after the virtual tirade went viral and caused an uproar among Latinos and state lawmakers.

Steven Krieser, assistant deputy secretary at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, went on a rage during a Facebook discussion over the controversial “Illegal Immigrant Hunting Permit” bumper stickers that were being sold in local gas stations.

“You may see Jesus when you look at them,” Krieser said in response to one comment comparing undocumented immigrants to Jesus. “I see Satan.”

Krieser went on to say that American citizens “have seen their ranches completely overrun with violent criminals who routinely raid their homes and trash their land as the stream of wretched criminals continues to flow unabated to the north, day after day, night after night.”

Following Krieser’s online escapade, it took Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker only two hours to hand the No. 3 official at the state’s DOT his exit papers.

Read more from this story HERE.

Geography Fail: Sen. Landrieu Says South Dakota Borders Canada in Anti-Border Fence Speech

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Photo Credit: John Orrell

On Thursday, South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune proposed an amendment that would require 350 miles of double-layer fencing before any legalization illegal immigrants can begin. That double-layer fencing in his proposal was part of the 700 miles already required by a 2006 law, where only 36 miles have been completed.

Then, according to the amendment, the other 350 miles must be completed before any green cards could be issued to those in the country illegally. But that amendment offered by the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, the third-highest ranking position in the Senate GOP caucus, had one vociferous opponent in Louisiana Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu.

Immediately after Thune spoke on his amendment on the Senate floor, Landrieu took to the floor, but had a misstep with the facts in speech, particularly with regards to geography.

Read more from this story HERE.

California Bill Would Give Driver’s Licenses to Illegal Immigrants

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Photo Credit: Ken Lund

More immigrants living in the U.S. illegally would be able to obtain a California driver’s license under a bill that is moving through the state Legislature.

A measure from Democratic Assemblyman Luis Alejo, of Watsonville, would allow people without a Social Security number to apply for a license. They must show several alternative forms of identification, including a birth certificate and proof of residency.

Unauthorized immigrants seeking a license also must pass a driving test like other applicants.

The legislation, which passed the state Assembly on Wednesday, follows a law approved last year that allowed driver’s licenses to be issued to unauthorized immigrants who are eligible for work permits under a revised federal policy.

Alejo said his bill, AB60, would increase safety on California roads. A recent study by the state Department of Motor Vehicles showed that unlicensed drivers are nearly three times as likely to cause a crash, he said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Ed Meese: We’ve Seen the Effect of “Amnesty” Before

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Experts can’t always predict exactly how public policy will affect the nation, despite our best efforts. But when it comes to immigration policy, we have tried many of the types of reforms advocated by today’s Gang of Eight—so we should consider the effects these reforms had in the past.

In the mid-’80s, many Members of Congress advocated amnesty for long-settled illegal immigrants. President Reagan considered it reasonable to adjust the status of what was then a relatively small population, and as his attorney general, I supported his decision.

The path to citizenship was not automatic. Immigrants had to pay application fees, learn to speak English, understand American civics, pass a medical exam, and register for military selective service. Those with convictions for a felony or three misdemeanors were ineligible.

This should sound familiar, as it’s quite close to the path and provisions set forth by the Gang of Eight.

Today they call it a “roadmap to citizenship.” Ronald Reagan called it “amnesty.” And he was right.

The 1986 reform did not solve our immigration problem—in fact, the population of illegal immigrants has nearly quadrupled since that “comprehensive” bill.

Why didn’t it work? Well, one reason is that everything else the 1986 bill promised—from border security to law enforcement—was to come later. It never did. Only amnesty prevailed, and that encouraged more illegal immigration.

Read more from this story HERE.

ICE Admits Hundreds of Illegal Immigrants With Criminal Records Released

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Photo Credit: Reuters Hundreds of illegal immigrants with criminal records were released earlier this year as the Obama administration prepared for budget cuts, according to newly released data that challenged claims the program involved “low-risk” individuals.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement released the figures to two top senators, after a three-month delay and under the threat of congressional subpoenas.

Of the 2,226 detainees that were released in February, the department revealed, “622 have been identified as having some type of criminal conviction.”

A statement from Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Carl Levin, D-Mich., who received the stats, said 32 of them had multiple felony convictions. The department then “re-apprehended” 24 of those, the senators said, after realizing the “seriousness” of their crimes.

McCain called for those responsible to be punished.

Read more from this story HERE.

Ted Cruz Lays Down Gauntlet on Immigration Bill (+video)

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Photo Credit: US News By Daniel Horowitz. As we’ve noted over the past few weeks, there are dozens of systemic flaws in the approach of the gang’s immigration bill. But there are two overarching problems with all of these proposals: 1) the legalization (and certainly the suspension of deportations) is immediate and certain; the enforcement measures are later and tenuous 2) it is incontrovertibly clear that granting such a low-skilled population a path to citizenship, when coupled with chain migration and birthright citizenship, will constitute a demonstrative public charge.

Once those two issues are addressed, there will be a broad consensus on how to deal with those already here illegally. At tomorrow’s Judiciary Committee markup, Senator Ted Cruz plans to throw down that gauntlet to the Democrats and Republican gang members. If they truly desire a solution to this problem, which was largely created by some of the members on the committee, they would sign onto Cruz’s amendments.

Ted Cruz will introduce an amendment stipulating that no legalization can commence until the Secure Fence Act of 2006 and the biometric US-Visit exit-entry system are implemented. They can have their amnesty, but the laws already on the books must be followed before that process begins. Read more from this story HERE.

Ted Cruz Seeks to Ban Illegal Immigrants in U.S. from Citizenship

By Rebekah Metzler. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a newly elected Republican with a penchant for making headlines, filed an amendment that would bar undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States from ever earning citizenship.

There are an estimated 11 million people living in the country illegally, and a bipartisan immigration reform measure would create a pathway to citizenship over the course of 13 years by requiring those people to pay penalties and back taxes, as well as learn English. Conservatives opposed to reform decry the path as amnesty, but Democrats say they will not support reform that does not cope with the immigrants already living in the U.S.

Cruz also filed amendments that he says would “strengthen border security measures; reform the high-skilled temporary worker program; modernize, streamline and expand legal immigration; and prohibit federal, state or local entitlement benefits for those here illegally.” Read more from this story HERE.

In Los Angeles, 1 in 10 Residents is an Illegal Immigrant, Study Says

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Photo Credit: David McNewA report released Tuesday suggests that one quarter of the illegal immigrant workforce in the United States lives in California, and it offers a detailed look at who they are and how they live, using the Golden State as a microcosm to explore how current immigration reform efforts in Washington could impact America.

The study by the University of Southern California’s Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration estimates that about 7 percent of California residents – or more than 2.6 million people – are in the country illegally. In Los Angeles County – the nation’s most populous – 1 in 10 residents is illegal. Sixty-three percent of those undocumented residents in Los Angeles are Mexican, 22 percent are from Central America and 8 percent are from the Philippines, China, or Korea.

Statewide, immigrants are concentrated in seasonal or low-wage industries such as farm work and retail trade, according to the report. But nearly half have lived in the US for 10 years or more, meaning they are more often than not permanent residents rather than seasonal migrants. Moreover, they generate more than $31 billion in personal income, even though they endure high levels of poverty.

For policymakers in Washington, that suggests that the challenges facing the nation’s estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants are unlikely to go away if immigration reform efforts fail.

Read more from this story HERE.

Gang of Eight Loopholes Put Many Illegal Immigrants on Fast Track to Citizenship

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Members of the Senate’s bipartisan Gang of Eight have stressed that under their new immigration plan, currently illegal immigrants will have to wait more than a decade before achieving citizenship. Newly-legalized immigrants will be given a provisional status and “will have to stay in that status until at least ten years elapse and [border security] triggers are met,” Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio told Fox News on April 14. “Then the only thing they get is a chance to apply for a green card via the legal immigration system.” The green card process would take additional years, meaning the road to full citizenship could take as long as 15, or even 18, years.

Unless it doesn’t. A little-noticed exception in the Gang of Eight bill provides a fast track for many — possibly very many — currently illegal immigrants. Under a special provision for immigrants who have labored at least part-time in agriculture, that fast track could mean permanent residency in the U.S., and then citizenship, in half the time Rubio said. And not just for the immigrants themselves — their spouses and children, too.

A second provision in the legislation creates another fast track for illegal immigrants who came to the United States before they were 16 — the so-called Dreamers. The concept suggests youth, but the bill has no age limit for such immigrants — or their spouses and children — and despite claims that they must go to college or serve in the military to be eligible, there is an exception to that requirement as well.

First the agricultural workers. The Gang of Eight bill creates something called a blue card, which would be granted to illegal immigrant farm workers who come forward and pass the various background checks the bill requires for all illegal immigrants. Instead of the 10-year wait Rubio described in media appearances, blue card holders could receive permanent legal status in just five years.

How does an illegal immigrant qualify for a blue card? If, after passing the background checks, he can prove that he has worked in agriculture for at least 575 hours — about 72 eight-hour days — sometime in the two years ending December 31, 2012, he can be granted a blue card. His spouse and children can be granted blue cards, too — it can all be done with one application.

Read more from this story HERE.

AFL-CIO: We Will 'Steamroller' any Lawmakers Who Oppose Amnesty

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Photo Credit: Breitbart

A principal official at the AFL-CIO, one of America’s biggest labor unions, said Wednesday the organization would politically demolish any politician who opposes mass amnesty for the country’s at least 11 million illegal immigrants.

“Politicians know that if they stand in the way of citizenship we will steamroller them,” AFL-CIO director of immigration Ana Avendaño said, according to the Financial Times. “That’s a fun evolution.”

Avendaño (pictured) has been involved in the immigration reform negotiations between the labor community, the business community, and the bipartisan Gang of Eight U.S. Senators.

Read more from this story HERE.

Associated Press: Reporters Should Stop Using Phrase ‘Illegal Immigrant’

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Photo Credit: AP

The Associated Press says it is no longer appropriate for reporters to use the term “illegal immigrant.”

The organization announced that its AP Stylebook — the language and grammar guide used by news organizations across the country — will immediately stop approving the phrase.

“The Stylebook no longer sanctions the term ‘illegal immigrant’ or the use of ‘illegal’ to describe a person,” senior vice president and executive editor Kathleen Carroll said in a post Tuesday on the AP website. “Instead, it tells users that ‘illegal’ should describe only an action, such as living in or immigrating to a country illegally.”

The move comes as liberal immigration activists have been encouraging news organizations to stop using the term. Most prominently, Jose Antonio Vargas, an illegal immigrant and former Washington Post reporter, testified before Congress on the issue.

“When you inaccurately call me illegal, you not only dehumanize me, you’re offending them,” he said. “No human being is illegal.”

Read more from this story HERE.