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Action Alert: Cantor Says House May Begin Work on Amnesty Bill this Month; Opponents Must Flood Congress with Calls

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Photo Credit: APHouse may start immigration review soon

By Seung Min Kim. The Republican-led House could start working on immigration bills focused on border security on the floor in July, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said in a memo to colleagues sent Friday.

“The House may begin consideration of the border security measures that have been passed by the Homeland Security and Judiciary Committees and begin reviewing other immigration proposals,” Cantor wrote to fellow House Republicans.

The missive from Cantor is among the first official indications that an immigration reform measure could come to the House floor this month. The Senate passed its comprehensive bill June 27, and the focus now turns to the House. Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: APGrassley could back House immigration bill

By Seth McLaughlin. Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley predicted Friday that he will be able to support the immigration bill that comes out of the GOP-controlled House because it will do more to secure the border than the proposal that passed out of the Senate last week.

Speaking on 1040 WHO radio in Iowa, Mr. Grassley said that he opposed the bill that passed out of the Democrat-controlled Senate because it “didn’t secure the border first.”

“I think the House of Representatives is more for border security than the Senate is, and I think we will get a bill out of the House that I think I can vote for — particularly if it does secure the border,” the Iowa lawmaker said. Read more from this story HERE.

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Sen. Cruz to Headline Americans For Prosperity Event in Florida

By Todd Beamon. Sen. Ted Cruz will be the main speaker at a major tea party gathering in Florida sponsored by Americans for Prosperity during Labor Day Weekend.

The Texas Republican will join GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and conservative commentator Michelle Malkin at the Orlando event, The Hill reports. Read more from this story HERE.

CBO on Amnesty Bill: Probably Would Not Even Stop Half of Illegal Border Crossings

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Photo Credit: Gregory BullBy Stephen Dinan. Spending $35 billion on new Border Patrol agents and fencing would keep tens of thousands of new illegal immigrants from crossing the border each year, but would still only stop between a third and half of future illegal immigration, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s latest analysis released Wednesday.

The CBO looked at the latest version of the Senate’s immigration bill, which cleared the chamber in a 68-32 vote last week, and said it would reduce but not eliminate illegal immigration.

The “CBO estimates that the net inflow would be reduced by between one-third and one-half compared with the projected net inflow under current law. That effect would not be immediate, as it would take several years before [the Department of Homeland Security] could hire the full number of Border Patrol agents called for in the act,” the nonpartisan agency said in the section of its new analysis dealing with future illegal immigration.

The CBO also had continued good news about an immigration bill’s effects on the federal budget, saying that the additional legal workers will boost the economy and lead to nearly $1 trillion in new tax revenue over the next 20 years.

Wednesday’s analysis was an update to the CBO’s first crack last month at the Senate bill as it emerged from the Judiciary Committee. Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: APTea Party groups ramp up fight against immigration bill, as August recess looms

By Fox News. After spending weeks dealing with the fallout from the IRS targeting scandal, Tea Party groups are starting to focus their energy on the immigration bill — a development that could imperil President Obama’s hopes for a speedy approval.

Before adjourning for the Fourth of July holiday break, the Senate easily approved its version of the legislation. The bill now rests with the House, where Republicans say they will take up their own version.

Obama, during his Africa trip, called on the House to “get this done” before the August recess.

But House lawmakers already are hearing conservative calls to slow things down. And if the debate leaks into August — when Congress takes a nearly month-long recess — the prospects could get even more wobbly. The Tea Party, during the 2009 August recess, famously helped stall ObamaCare by storming town hall meetings and other events.

Tea Party groups may be preparing to again mount demonstrations during the summer break. And even if the House passes a bill this month, it’s unlikely the two chambers would be able to agree on a unified piece of legislation by August — leaving the work unfinished going into recess. Read more from this story HERE.

Rush Limbaugh Accuses Fox of Trying to Censor His Criticism of Amnesty Bill (+video)

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Photo Credit: Mediaite

Photo Credit: Mediaite

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh is accusing Fox News producers of trying to prevent him from talking about the damage immigration reform would cause to the Republican Party during his appearance on “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday.

“I told the people at Fox, I wanted to talk about this today three or four times,” Limbaugh said. “And they wouldn’t do it. They were not interested in bringing this subject up.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Same-Sex Couples Flood Immigration Offices For Visas

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Kori Kirkbride didn’t get that immediate feeling of joy and relief when she heard the Supreme Court had struck down the Defense of Marriage Act.

Instead, it hit after she talked to her attorney, and found out that the court’s decision will allow her Polish wife, Kasia Kurzatkowska, to apply for a green card, putting an end to a heart-wrenching seven years in which the two have been periodically separated by immigration laws.

“When we sat with our attorney, it became real,” said Kirkbride, 40, of Walnut Creek, Calif. “Waiting for this decision was like waiting to find out if you are pregnant – your whole life can change if you are. Now, we can have a future and buy a house, and have a child.”

Kirkbride and Kurzatkowska are among an estimated 26,000 same-sex couples in the U.S. with one partner who is not a U.S. citizen. Under the law, a subset of these couples – those who are married or considering marriage – had been prevented from applying for green cards for their spouses or fiances.

In the last decade, some of those non-citizens have been deported, even though they were legally married. Many others have been in a legal limbo, with one partner living undocumented in the United States. Some couples have left the country entirely to be somewhere they can both work and live legally.

Read more from this story HERE.

Homosexual Couple from Florida First to Receive Green Card (+video)

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Photo Credit: WND

Photo Credit: WND

A gay couple in Fort Lauderdale became the first wedded same-sex couple to be recognized by the United States for a green card, officials said.

Traian “Tray” Popov and Julian Marsh found out Friday that their petition for a green card for Popov had been approved, just two days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that section 3 of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, The Miami Herald reported.

Section 3 has been used by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to deny green cards for foreign-born spouses in same-sex marriages with U.S. citizens.

Read more from this story HERE.

House Judiciary Chair Brings Sanity to Immigration Debate: No Citizenship, Just Greencards

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GoodlatteHouse Republicans insisted Sunday that they plan to change key elements of the Senate-passed immigration bill, signaling a protracted and rocky battle ahead despite one Democrat’s pronouncement that in the end the House will cave and pass the Senate bill anyway.

Republican Rep. Bob Goodlatte, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee who is playing a major role in the chamber’s consideration of immigration policy, on Sunday addressed what is perhaps at the heart of the impasse.

He said the House, which is drafting its own plan, cannot agree to a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Rather, he wants a “pathway to legalization” — in other words, allow some illegal immigrants a shot at a green card, but not full-fledged citizenship.

The pathway to citizenship, though, is a cornerstone of the Senate-passed bill, and any Democrat-backed plan. Increased border security, better enforcement of businesses and an expansion of the legal immigration system make up the rest of the bill.

Putting the issue in stark terms, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told “Fox News Sunday” that if Republicans strip the pathway to citizenship, “no Democrat” would support it.

Read more from this story HERE.

McCain: GOP Doomed if it Doesn’t Pass Amnesty Bill (+video)

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Photo Credit: YouTube

Photo Credit: YouTube

John McCain warned the Republican Party of its demise if the Senate’s amnesty plan is not passed. “I think Republicans realize the implications of the future of the Republican Party in America if we don’t get this issue behind us.”

After Being Deceived by Rubio on Amnesty, Conservatives Say it Won’t Happen Again

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Many conservatives gave Sen. Marco Rubio the benefit of the doubt when he said securing the border first was a top priority for the Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform effort. Later, when those conservatives realized that Rubio’s plan would first legalize the country’s estimated 11 million illegal immigrants, and only then put new border security measures in place, they expressed deep disappointment and disillusionment.

Now the Gang bill has passed the Senate and immigration is the work of the House, where former vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan is a leading reform advocate. Ryan favors the same legalization-first sequence for immigration reform that Rubio and the Gang did. The difference is that now, more conservatives are aware of the basics of reform proposals. And that means Ryan might be in for a rougher ride with the conservative base than Rubio experienced.

That, at least, is one conclusion to take from Ryan’s appearance last Wednesday on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program. Hannity interviewed Rubio several times during the Gang of Eight deliberations. In later interviews, Hannity became more skeptical and questioning, and in the last such interview expressed surprise that Rubio had declared legalization would come before border security. With Ryan in the interview chair, the first thing Hannity wanted to know was when securing the border would come in the sequence of immigration reform.

“I’m sure you are aware, a lot of conservatives including myself are angry,” Hannity told Ryan. “No border security first. How do you feel about it?”

Ryan stressed that the House would not take up the Senate Gang of Eight bill. “We want to have real triggers on the border, real triggers on what we call the E-Verify,” Ryan said. But Hannity wanted to know if that meant border security would come first: “Is securing the border first a top priority for you?” he asked.

Read more from this story HERE.

Chair of the RNC Pushes Amnesty Bill as “Human Rights Issue”

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Photo Credit: Chris Usher

Photo Credit: Chris Usher

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Saturday pitched a gathering of Hispanic public officials on the GOP’s support for immigration reform, characterizing the call for tougher border control as a human rights issue.

“We need a solution that strengthens families. We need a solution that expands economic opportunity. And one of the reasons we need improved border security — that is not mentioned enough — is to further prevent violence and drug trafficking… and the brutal human trafficking and exploitation of women and girls,” he said at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference.

Priebus added that it’s “important that Republicans are taking a lead in this policy discussion.”

The Senate on Wednesday passed an immigration reform bill, 68-32, with every Democrat and 14 Republicans voting in favor.

In its current form, however, the bill has little chance of passing the House, as Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has said he won’t bring a package to the floor that doesn’t have the support of a majority of Republicans in the lower chamber.

Read more from this story HERE.

Ann Coulter Flips, Turns on Chris Christie Over Amnesty Bill

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Conservative firebrand and best-selling author Ann Coulter has changed her tune and flip-flopped on her support for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

In a Thursday tweet, she wrote: “@GovChristie’s dead to me.”

The tweet came on the heels of Republican Sen. Jeffrey Chiesa’s vote to end debate on the immigration reform bill. Mr. Chiesa was appointed to the seat by Mr. Christie after Sen. Frank Lautenberg died.

At the tail of her tweet, Ms. Coulter also added: “Jeffrey S. Chiesa R NJ votes ‘Aye’ on Amnesty bill.”

The denouncement is a major turn for Ms. Coulter, who pushed hard for Mr. Christie to run for president against Barack Obama in 2011. In February of 2011, she told Fox News: “I don’t care if [Chris Christie] wants to run, his country needs him, it appears.”

Read more from this story HERE.