US Immigration Reform

A breakdown of where things stand today: Here's where the immigration reform bill stands after amendments

The immigration reform bill introduced in the Senate about a month ago by the “Gang of Eight” has made it past its first major test.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill with a bipartisan 13-5 vote Tuesday evening. It could be brought up for a vote at the Senate floor by the beginning of June. Meanwhile, the House is slated to release its own immigration reform bill sometime in early June as well.

Throughout the two-week markup process, the Senate Judiciary Committee considered 212 amendments—out of about 300—that sought to make major changes to the bill. The committee, which includes four of the bill’s authors, in the end approved a total of 141 amendments—a third of them came from Republicans.

Through it all, the core provisions of the initial immigration reform bill remain intact, but there were some amendments that altered some parts of the bill.

Path to legalization and citizenship remains intact

Several senators filed amendments to make the bill’s legalization process more difficult and to do away with the path to citizenship. However, both of these parts of the bill survived the markup process.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who voted “no” on the bill, threatened the path to citizenship when he filed an amendment to forbid anyone who has been in the United States without a lawful status from becoming a U.S. citizen at any point. That amendment was rejected with a 5-13 vote.

As it’s currently written, the immigration reform bill includes a 13-year path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. The bill would allow them to apply for this path if they meet certain requirements, such as passing a criminal background check, learning English and paying fines.

In the first 10 years, undocumented immigrants would be given Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI) status, which would allow them to work in the U.S. and travel outside the country. After those 10 years, they would be eligible to apply for legal permanent residency but only if some border security benchmarks are met.

Several conservative committee members proposed amendments to strengthen those border security benchmarks in an attempt to make the bill’s legalization process more difficult. A majority of those amendments were rejected, including one that would’ve prevented undocumented immigrants from gaining legal status until the federal government had maintained “effective control” of the U.S.-Mexico border for six months.


(Snip): Border security, immigration enforcement amendments/LGBT couples left out of immigration reform/High-skilled and low-skilled workers

Amendments supported by immigration reform advocates

There were also a number of amendments supported by advocates that made the cut.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved two of Hirono’s amendments, including one that would allow undocumented youth who came to the U.S. as children to be eligible for college financial aid. The other one would allow the children of Filipino World War II veterans to seek a faster path to legal permanent status and ultimately citizenship.

The committee also approved two amendments filed by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). One of them would allow undocumented youth to enlist in the military and apply for citizenship after serving for one year. The other one would prohibit immigration raids from being conducted in “sensitive” locations—such as hospitals, schools and places of worship—except in extreme circumstances.

However, one of Blumenthal’s proposals that didn’t come up for a vote was the “little Dreamers” amendment, which would’ve allowed undocumented children to be put on a five-year track to become legal permanent residents.

they need to pick the speed up :(

Lopsided Senate vote moves immigration bill forward as Obama urges action - The Washington Post

The Senate voted Tuesday to advance a landmark immigration bill, clearing away the first procedural hurdle in front of legislation opening the door to citizenship for millions.

The 82-15 vote was the first cast by the full Senate on the far-reaching bill that’s a top priority for President Barack Obama. A second procedural vote set for later Tuesday would officially open debate on the measure.

Hours earlier Obama appeared at the White House to prod Congress to send him a bill by fall.

“Congress needs to act, and that moment is now, “ Obama said, surrounded by immigration advocates, business and religious leaders, law enforcement officials and others in the East Room of the White House.

“There’s no reason Congress can’t get this done by the end of the summer,” the president said. “There’s no good reason to play procedural games or engage in obstruction just to block the best chance we’ve had in years to address this problem in a way that’s fair to middle class families, business owners and legal immigrants.”

Despite the lopsided tally in the Senate many Republicans made clear that they would require significant changes to the bill written by a so-called Gang of Eight — four Republican and four Democratic senators — to be able to support it on final passage, particularly in the area of border security.

“The Gang of Eight has done its work. Now it’s time for the Gang of 100 to do its work — for the entire Senate to have its say on this issue, and see if we can do something to improve the status quo,” said Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “At the risk of stating the obvious, this bill has serious flaws.”

The measure would boost border security and workplace enforcement, allow tens of thousands of new high- and low-skilled workers into the country, and create a 13-year path to citizenship for the 11 million immigrants in the country illegally.

Ahead of the votes, senators were readying amendments on contentious issues including border security, back taxes and health care coverage. Some Republicans said they were seeking to strengthen enforcement provisions so that they could be comfortable voting for the bill. Other GOP measures were already being dismissed by Democrats as attempts to kill the bill by striking at the fragile compromises at its core.

Earlier in the day House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, made his most positive comments to date on the issue, saying he thinks there’s a good chance that legislation can be signed into law “by the end of the year.” Boehner said he hopes for committee action by the end of June.

“I believe that it’s important for the House to work its will on this issue,” Boehner said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” ‘’And I would expect that a House bill will be to the right of where the Senate is.”

“I think, no question, by the end of the year we could have a bill. No question,” the speaker said.

In the Senate the real fights will come in the days and weeks ahead as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., aims to push the bill to final Senate passage before July 4.

https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif

Rubio has essentially lost any further support among mainstream Republicans for his capitulation on Immigration Reform.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif

Rubio has essentially lost any further support among mainstream Republicans for his capitulation on Immigration Reform.

---

WTF is a "mainstream" republican these days?

The GOP has been overrun by Tea Baggers, racist homophobic old white men and holier than thou bible thumpers.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2013/06/5257.jpg

totally agree Tony!

what is a mainstream republican anymore? its almost like the nuttier the better! any "mainstream" republicans have been run out of the party!

these are people who hold Ronald Reagan up as the model for conservative values yet in all truth he could not even get out of the primaries today.

He raised taxes when necessary
he was for the assault weapons ban
he had huge deficit spending
he worked with democrats (and vice versa - those were the days... damn)
he negotiated with terrorists (see Ollie North/Iran Contra)
he cut and run (see Lebanon)
was not trying to overturn Roe v Wade

these people today are fucking nuts! If Obama says "I like skittles" these republicans would have to have a press conference to say why they hate them and Faux news would spend 2 days convincing us that Stalin and Hitler loved skittles. Hannity would do a town hall meeting packed with chocolate loving "real Americans" and Beck would weep for chocolate covered raisins!

debate that.....

my father was a Eisenhower/Nixon Republican Conservative I can assure you he would have nothing to do with these nut jobs today. again... these people would never elect the likes of Eisenhower today... too liberal... amazing huh?

edit: wrong thread :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif

Rubio has essentially lost any further support among mainstream Republicans for his capitulation on Immigration Reform.

---

god forbid.... he worked with people to get something done in a bipartisan manner... oh the horror!!!!

you do see the problem here right boons?

So good republicans should never work with democrats to find solutions?

you do know Ronald Reagan & Tip O'neil had a lunch meeting every week to see what they could accomplish and what they could find solutions for.

Long lasting?,……..to say the least. They might not ever be able to recover.

If immigration reform fails, the GOP stands to lose more

What’s even worse for Republicans is that if immigration reform fails to pass and if undocumented immigrants wind up getting legal status by virtue of an executive order, the GOP would lose approval from Latino voters.

In the case that Republicans in Congress block immigration reform, President Barack Obama could issue an executive order to provide undocumented immigrants with work permits and authorization to be in the country — just like he did with Dreamers through deferred action.

Whether the president would actually issue the executive order is unclear. But if he were to do it, 53 percent of Latino voters surveyed said they would be less favorable to Republicans for blocking immigration reform and 63 percent said they would be more favorable toward Obama and Democrats.

Overall, Podhorzer said the data presented by Latino Decisions “confirms what just about everybody knows, which is that the political consequences of Republicans standing in the way of comprehensive immigration reform and standing in the way of millions of immigrants achieving their human rights will be devastating, dire and long lasting.”

more from the article,....

But the results were different when Latinos were read statements made by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), two staunch opponents of the Senate immigration reform bill.

Sixty-three percent of Latino voters said Cruz’s statement — about how it is “profoundly unfair” to allow undocumented immigrants to become citizens — made him less favorable. And 72 percent said his statement made his party less favorable. In regards to how Latinos reacted to Sessions’ statement — about how undocumented immigrants “need government aid and can’t take care of themselves” — 69 percent said they find him less favorable. And 72 percent said his party is less favorable because of his statement.

Manzano said this data shows that the comments Cruz and Sessions make “do more damage to their party than they even do to themselves.”

How lawmakers speak about immigration reform impacts party's image

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TonyBKK

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif

Rubio has essentially lost any further support among mainstream Republicans for his capitulation on Immigration Reform.

---

WTF is a "mainstream" republican these days?

The GOP has been overrun by Tea Baggers, racist homophobic old white men and holier than thou bible thumpers.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2013/06/5256.jpg

---

It may be a funny picture but it is true - but even the Dems are further to the right, politically, than most conservatives in other countries, and many seppos cry 'socialist'.

Bunch of neo-con wankers, no idea how social ideas and policies (read social, not socilaist) made the US a great nation at one time

The GOP is tearing itself up again over immigration:

If the GOP is this stupid, it deserves to die

Democrats terrify Hispanics into thinking they’ll be lynched if they vote for Republicans, and then turn around and taunt Republicans for not winning a majority of the Hispanic vote.
This line of attack has real resonance with our stupidest Republicans. (Proposed Republican primary targets: Sens. Kelly Ayotte, Jeff Flake, Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio.) Which explains why Republicans are devoting all their energy to slightly increasing their share of the Hispanic vote while alienating everyone else in America.
It must be fun for liberals to manipulate Republicans into focusing on hopeless causes. Why don’t Democrats waste their time trying to win the votes of gun owners?


Source: If the GOP is this stupid, it deserves to die | The Daily Caller

Bill Maher: Immigration Reform Will "Just Create More Democrats"

Bill Maher - Immigration Reform Will 'Just Create More Democrats' [6-09-2013] - YouTube

We're sure this makes sense to the Juice-boxers

Senators don't care about DUIs committed by illegal immigrants.

In other words, Democrats want to take away your guns for a school shooting but never mind about the hundreds of Americans that have been killed by illegal immigrants driving while drunk. Giving them a license won't fix the behavior either. Hey, let's make them citizens and let them vote too!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

We're sure this makes sense to the Juice-boxers

Senators don't care about DUIs committed by illegal immigrants.

In other words, Democrats want to take away your guns for a school shooting but never mind about the hundreds of Americans that have been killed by illegal immigrants driving while drunk. Giving them a license won't fix the behavior either. Hey, let's make them citizens and let them vote too!

---

^ First sentence of your bullshit op/ed piece: "I’m told, by a reliable and well-placed source".

Translated: "I made this shit up".

https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2013/06/5829.jpg

what a retard does at work,......

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) reacted to a Monday Supreme Court ruling striking down an Arizona law requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship by declaring that he would add a voter ID requirement to the comprehensive immigration reform bill currently being debated in the Senate.

Writing for the court’s majority, conservative Justice Antonin Scalia explained that the Arizona law was pre-empted by the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).

A perfect Republican presidential hopeful. Please

some good news. getting everyone to pay their share.

Comprehensive immigration reform would cut deficit and boost economy: CBO

A White House-backed immigration bill moving through the U.S. Senate would cut federal budget deficits over the long term and provide an overall boost to the economy, the Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday.

The CBO, the nonpartisan budget scorekeeper for Congress, estimated the legislation would reduce deficits by $197 billion from 2014 to 2023 and by $700 billion from 2024 to 2033.

The estimate contrasts starkly with a forecast issued last month by the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank ( :) ) that said the immigration bill would cost taxpayers $6.3 trillion over the next half century as a result of granting legal status to nearly 11 million undocumented people now living in the United States.

The Senate bill “would boost economic output,” the CBO declared.

The CBO said it did not attempt to look beyond a 20-year window because “ascertaining the effects of immigration policies on the economy and the federal budget is complicated and highly uncertain, even in the short run, and that task is even more difficult for longer periods.”

Over the first 10 years, the CBO said government costs would rise by $262 billion, mainly because of increases in refundable tax credits and healthcare spending, particularly for Medicaid, the government health program for the poor and disabled.

Republican senators are hoping to pass amendments in coming days that would specifically deny the refundable tax credit and other benefits to the undocumented residents who would gain legal status under the bill.

Furthermore, House of Representatives Republicans have been pushing to deny any Medicaid-covered healthcare, including hospital emergency visits, for the 11 million illegal immigrants. Negotiators have been looking at ways of charging the newly legalized people fees to cover such costs.

But more than offsetting the higher government spending would be an increase in revenues totaling $459 billion from 2014 to 2023, according to estimates by the CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation, as more people pay taxes and get out of the “shadow” economy.

The CBO’s projection “debunks the idea that immigration reform is anything other than a boon to our economy, and robs the bill’s opponents of one of their last remaining arguments,” said Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York, one of the leading proponents of the immigration bill the Senate hopes to pass before a July 4 recess.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who like Schumer is a member of the “Gang of Eight” that wrote the bipartisan bill, said, “The CBO has further confirmed what most conservative economists have found: reforming our immigration system is a net benefit for our economy, American workers and taxpayers.”

Some conservative Republicans who oppose the bill argue it would hurt the American economy and workers.

11 Million Documented Democrats

Why pussy foot around with this so-called 'Immigration Reform' thing? Let's call a spade a spade for once.

It seems Jay Leno mentioned the amnesty bill for "11 million documented Democrats," and now it's being used as a laugh-line among Republicans, and finally people are talking about it for real.

Get this - the Democrats would never be talking about giving voting rights to 11 million undocumented Tea Partiers would they? :chitown:

Rubio Stares Down the Right Over 'Undocumented Democrats' - NationalJournal.com

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

Get this - the Democrats would never be talking about giving voting rights to 11 million undocumented Tea Partiers would they?

---

You mean the tea partiers that are totally not political and are only interested in taxes right?

John Oliver: Republicans resisting immigration reform ‘like a child with vegetables’

The Daily Show host John Oliver on Tuesday night mocked Republicans’ ambiguous support for comprehensive immigration reform.
He noted that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) had warned the party was in a “demographic death spiral” that could only be fixed by wooing Hispanic voters. Or, as Oliver put it, “we choose to help you not because we want to, but because mathematically we feel we have to.”
Though Republicans need to support immigration reform to stay relevant in national politics, many are still hesitant to do so. Democrats, on the other hand, have no qualms about pandering to Hispanic voters.
“So Democrats are on board, but Republicans may take a little more convincing,” Oliver said. “Sure, Dr. Graham wrote them a prescription for electoral success, but even though they know this is good for them, they’re still going to resist it — like a child with vegetables, or a frat boy with a condom.”
While the immigration reform bill had a chance of passing in the Democratic-led Senate, the bill’s prospects in the lower legislative chamber were dim.
Oliver doubted the bill could pass over the “1000-foot high border fence built out of ignorance and spite” that was the Republican-led House.


John Oliver: Republicans resisting immigration reform ‘like a child with vegetables’ | The Raw Story

Movement,…….

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill can pass the Senate in its current form, although he’s open to border security changes that don’t destroy the bill’s pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

“It’s a good bill that could pass the Senate if we voted on it today, tomorrow or next week. Just as it is,” Reid said.

As Reid spoke to reporters on Tuesday afternoon, Republican senators like John Hoeven (N.D.) and Bob Corker (Tenn.) were working with some members of the Gang of Eight to craft a way to strengthen the bill’s border security measures while also not turning off Democrats. Reid said he encourages that effort, but drew the line at adding tough “triggers” to the bill, as has been suggested by Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas).

Harry Reid: Gang bill could pass Senate now - POLITICO.com Print View

On would think that these are two separate issues.

Path to citizenship
and
Border Security

Once again Ted Cruz calls a spade a spade:

"This gang of 8 bill is a disaster", Cruz began. "We're hearing the exact same empty promises as 1986. It grants legalization now, and promises that sometime in the future, trust us *wink wink* we'll secure the border. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame in me."

Cruz: 'The Gang of 8 Bill Is A Disaster' (Video)

Hey! What's to like about 11 million new Documented Democrats anyhow? :chitown:

Silly Republicans Demonstrate How Little They’ve Learned From The 2012 Election

https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif
The Republican Party suffered a huge and disappointing loss when President Obama skated to victory last November. Mitt Romney failed to take the White House and the GOP was shocked. Yep, shocked! Karl Rove even had a full on, childlike temper tantrum on live TV that rivals my eight year old’s meltdowns. In the months after the election the party tried to figure out how they’d lost such a certain victory and in March the Republican National Committee (RNC) released its road map to reform.
In a recent article in the National Journal, author Josh Kraushaar highlights three main goals by the RNC and how they are failing already.

To much acclaim, the Republican National Committee released its road map for reform in March, emphasizing that the path to success called for moderating the party’s position on immigration, courting a more diverse set of officeholders, and building the GOP around pragmatic governors rather than polarizing members of Congress. Three months later, those recommendations seem to have already been forgotten.
The RNC formally came out in support of immigration reform in their road map. The Chairman of the committee, Reince Priebus, explained why it is pertinent that the Republican Party become more minority friendly if they hope to win any future elections:

“By 2050, we’ll be a majority-minority country, and in both 2008 and 2012, President Obama won a combined 80 percent of the votes of all minority groups. The RNC cannot and will not write off any demographic, community, or region of this country.”

Conservatives also seemed to realize the importance of altering their stance on not only minorities but specifically immigrants. So with the support of the party behind them, four GOP Senators formed the “gang of eight” with four Democratic Senators and set off to create a practical, bipartisan immigration bill that everyone could be happy with. It was all light and rainbows and happiness. Yes, finally the Republican Party is seeing the light!
Except……they haven’t. Last week while the “gang of eight’s” immigration bill was being hammered out and the immigration debate was heating up, Republican’s in the House showed their support by voting for an amendment, introduced by notoriously anti-immigrant Representative Steve King (R-Iowa), that would defund the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In other words, all but six House Republicans voted to deport the DREAMers. The White House Responded:

“I think it sends a very interesting signal to the Latino community because this motion would essentially invalidate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for DREAMers,” said Cecilia Muñoz, the director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, at a briefing for Hispanic media. “It will be interesting to see what the reaction is in the community.”

The DREAMers did react and held a peaceful protest in Steve King’s office. How did he respond? Well, by Tweeting about the “illegal aliens” invading his office, of course. This is not at all surprising coming from the guy that compared immigrants to dogs once and regularly introduces anti-immigrant bills. But King is not the only Republican coming out against immigration reform, Michele Bachmann thinks reform will doom America forever and Ann Coulter attacked Sean Hannity over it. All of this makes one thing pretty clear: Republicans do not really support immigration reform and have no problem continuing to spread their anti-immigrant hate.

Silly Republicans Demonstrate How Little They've Learned From The 2012 Election -

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

Hey! What's to like about 11 million new Documented Democrats anyhow?

---

If 11 million legalised immigrants do end up voting en masse for the Dems the Reps will have nobody to blame but themselves for losing a traditionally conservative and highly religious bloc. Party of personal responsibility my arse.

First outa the gate is the cost of this gang of 8's train wreck. It'll cost more than Obamacare by a country mile. A fuking disaster:

"...the average education of those who came to the country illegally is the equivalent to about 10th grade in the United States, and that more than the economic impacts, there will be ramifications for “our whole system of law.”

Trillions Of Dollars

:trainwreck: