Given how the immigration system is currently broken, it would be “exceptional” to believe that an adjustable immigration quota would ever be adjusted down. All of the entrenched interests that benefit from mass immigration only want more. In reality, we already have an “exceptional” immigration policy – people here illegally get many exceptions and second chances as shown by the latest news of Obama’s Uncle.
George W. Bush Says GOP Should Embrace Amnesty
“President George W. Bush’s first postelection speech was a call for immigration reform—and an implicit rebuke of the failed GOP nominee Mitt Romney,” the Daily Beast reports.
“On Tuesday morning, the Bush Center held a conference on immigration and economic growth at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. It was only the second major policy speech the former president has delivered since leaving office, and Bush let himself wax poetic on the subject of immigration: ‘Not only do immigrants help build our economy, they invigorate our soul.’”
An “Exceptional” Immigration Policy
“As we have so many times in the past, our nation is going through a transformational phase. I find that to be a healthy and needed experience. We are renewing ourselves, as only America can. That concept is fundamental to the reality that is American Exceptionalism,” says Robert Gittelson in The Hill.
“A truly free market mechanism would be able to adjust our immigration levels to meet demand – no more, and no less. Likewise, should we find ourselves poised for future economic growth, our immigration levels should accurately reflect that market reality. That would be the exceptional solution.”
Illinois GOP Endorses Licenses for Illegal Aliens
“Illinois Republican leaders endorsed a proposal to grant temporary drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants on Tuesday, weeks after Hispanics voted heavily for Democrats in national elections,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
“If approved by the Democratic-controlled Legislature, Illinois would be the most populous state to offer drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants. Washington and New Mexico are the only states that allow illegal immigrants to obtain licenses. In Utah, they can get driving permits.”
Obama Uncle Gets Another Deportation Reprieve
“President Barack Obama’s uncle is getting a new deportation hearing after an appeals board ordered the agency running the U.S. immigration court system to review his case,” the AP reports.
“Onyango Obama, the half brother of the president’s late father, is from Kenya but has lived in the United States for decades. He was ordered by an immigration judge to leave the U.S. in 1992, when he failed to renew an application to remain. He later sought to reverse the deportation order.”
California, Chicago Resist Detainer Orders That Are the Key to Enforcement
“California’s attorney general said on Tuesday that state and local law enforcement agencies were not required to honor federal immigration detention requests, a declaration welcomed by immigrant rights activists. Attorney General Kamala Harris, the state’s top law enforcement official, said complying with the federal program that helped deport a record 400,000 illegal immigrants last year is voluntary,” Reuters reports.
In other detainer news, “A federal judge in Chicago ruled Tuesday that a lawsuit filed by the Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center against the government’s use of immigration detainers may proceed.
“U.S. District Judge John Z. Lee ruled that the plaintiffs, including U.S. citizen Jose Jimenez Moreno, may sue the government, the NIJC said in a statement,” Fox News Latino says.
Growers See Chance for Unfettered Guest Worker Program
“Farmers are as close to seeing meaningful immigration reform as they’ve been in the past decade, said Jon Wyss, who handles labor issues for Gebbers Farms, a large grower in north-central Washington that fired hundreds of workers after it was subject to a federal immigration audit three years ago,” the Oregonian reports.
“Wyss said national farm groups have joined together to propose a new reform package that would reduce the requirements for growers to recruit workers before turning to a guest-worker program, and would move that program from the purview of the Labor Department to the more farm-friendly Agriculture Department.”