Senate Amnesty Bill Includes Major Costs for States
“The immigration overhaul passed by the U.S. Senate could put a big squeeze on the budgets of state and local governments.
The proposal does not help states pay for costs incurred by required policy changes, including ramped up English classes and greater access to public hospitals and health clinics,” USA Today writes.
“‘Potentially, we are going to create a financial catastrophe for states and localities,’ said Sheri Steisel, senior federal affairs counsel and a human services expert at the National Conference of State Legislatures. ‘The states will end up with the cost and consequences of the federal decision-making, with very little resources to rely on to make up the difference.'”
Catholic University Presidents Press on Amnesty
“The presidents of 93 Catholic colleges and universities are calling on Catholic members of the House of Representatives to pass immigration reform that would put most of the 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the country on a path to citizenship.
‘Catholic teaching values the human dignity and worth of all immigrants, regardless of legal status,’ the Catholic leaders say in a letter sent to all 163 Catholic member of Congress, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi and House Speaker John Boehner. ‘We remind you that no human being made in the image of God is illegal.’ The Senate passed a comprehensive bill last month but, so far, the Republican-controlled House has not touched it,” Yahoo News writes.
Boehner Says Step-by-Step Approach on Immigration Fits House
“Rejecting the comprehensive approach to immigration reform passed by the Senate, House Speaker John Boehner reiterated today that he will take a ‘step-by-step’ approach in order to achieve ‘fairness’ in immigration reform, especially ‘for children who came to this country illegally but through no fault of their own,'” ABCNews reports.
“‘The American people have kind of had it with 1,300-page bills that no one’s read,’ Boehner, R-Ohio, said at a news conference Thursday. ‘Listen, the House is going to do its job, and we’re going to do this in a common-sense, step-by-step way.'”
Heritage Calls on Cantor, Goodlatte to Release Immigration Bill Text
“House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R–VA) and House Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte (R–VA), reportedly continue work ‘on a bill to provide a legal status to those who were brought illegally to the U.S. as children by their parents.’ Although Speaker of the House John Boehner (R–OH) spoke favorably about the concept, the Speaker has the same handicap as the rest of the American people in assessing the Cantor–Goodlatte bill: There is no Cantor–Goodlatte bill available to the public. No one can evaluate legislation that does not exist. Representatives Cantor and Goodlatte should reveal their bill so the public can examine it,” the Heritage Foundation blog says.
Will Ryan Follow Rubio to GOP Doghouse?
“We are still astonished and disappointed in how Florida Senator Marco Rubio squandered his conservative and Tea Party movement base by becoming the face of S. 744 – the Senate’s “Gang of Eight” amnesty for illegal aliens legislation,” says the Conservative HQ newsletter, run by Richard Vigurie.
“Now it looks like another promising Republican, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, is about to follow Rubio down the plank and over the side into the shark-infested waters of granting amnesty to illegal immigrants. Ryan, who has many fine personal qualities and conservative instincts, should be smarter than to get sucked-into supporting anything remotely resembling the corrupt pork and special interest favor bloated Senate bill.”
Victor Davis Hanson: Double Standards on Immigration
“Mexico is a severe critic of U.S. immigration policy, often damning Americans as ruthlessly insensitive for trying to close our border. It has gone so far as to join lawsuits against individual American states to force relaxation of our border enforcement. Former Mexican President Felipe Calderon sharply criticized the United States for trying to “criminalize migration.”
Is Mexico, then, a model of immigration tolerance? Far from it. Until 2011, when it passed reforms, Mexico had among the most draconian immigration laws in the world. Guatemala has criticized Mexico for initiating construction of a fence along its southern border,” says author Victor Davis Hanson.
“If the United States were to treat Mexican nationals in the same way that Mexico treats Central American nationals, there would be humanitarian outrage.’