Sanctuary Cities May Affect Elections
“Newark and New Orleans are the latest to join a growing number of cities and states that will no longer cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the enforcement of federal immigration law. Both cities have ruled that they will not comply with ICE requests for the detention of suspected illegal aliens for crimes classified as minor offenses. The Federation for American Immigration Reform noted that New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and Connecticut have all adopted similar policies within the past two years,” says John Walker at Western Free Press.
“The decisions by Newark and New Orleans carry political implications for Democratic candidates in statewide campaigns in both states. Newark Mayor Cory Booker is running for the U.S. Senate in a special election next month. Incumbent Senator Mary Landrieu faces a tough reelection challenge in Louisiana next year.”
Is Iran Recruiting in Latin America?
“Iran is recruiting an “invisible army” of revolutionary sympathizers in Latin America to infiltrate the U.S. through the “soft belly” of the southern border, U.S. officials and national security experts told TheBlaze. And they’re using one website in particular to do it,” says a report at The Blaze.
“The Iranian regime’s conversion efforts are becoming increasingly aggressive, especially over the Internet, with the goal of conducting operations against United States interests in the Western Hemisphere, according to U.S. government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the nature of their work in the region.”
Syria Debate, Budget Fight Cut Time for Amnesty Legislation
“Immigration reform will be difficult to pass before the end of the year thanks to a short session in Congress packed with time-sensitive policy debates. And that was true even before the Syria crisis overtook lawmakers’ attention. Per its current schedule, Congress has just nine working days in September, 14 days in October, eight days in November, and another eight in December. So far the House has produced only a handful of legislative proposals on immigration, none of which deal with the most sensitive topics–mainly whether to include a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants,” MSNBC reported.
“In the short term, Syria will both occupy members’ time and eat up House leaders’ political capital after recess, as both Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi face the difficult position of nudging two caucuses highly skeptical of strikes against dictator Bashar al-Assad towards passing a resolution authorizing military force.”
California Judges Hear Case of Illegal Alien Seeking Law License
“A majority of California Supreme Court justices appeared reluctant Wednesday to grant a law license to Sergio Garcia, who graduated law school and passed the state’s bar exam but has been living illegally in the United States for 20 years,” the Huffington Post writes.
“A federal law passed by Congress in 1996 bars immigrants in the country illegally from receiving “professional licenses” from government agencies or with the use of public funds unless state lawmakers specifically vote otherwise.”
DHS Re-Names Public Advocate Job to Avoid De-Funding
“The Obama administration is being accused of trying to pull a fast one on lawmakers by re-branding a controversial immigration job — a “public advocate” for both legal and illegal immigrants — after Congress explicitly voted to defund it.
The administration over the summer quietly changed the name of the position, first created in February 2012, from “public advocate” to deputy assistant director of “Custody Programs and Community Outreach.” It was a change in name only. The administration kept the person in charge and the job description the same,” Fox News says.
“By doing so, the White House has been able to keep the post off the congressional chopping block – a move Judicial Watch called ‘sneaky’ in a recent report. ‘It’s simply part of the president’s well-established pattern of abusing his authority to blow off Congress, especially when it comes to immigration,’ the conservative government watchdog group said.”