“Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and other tech leaders took the wraps off a new political advocacy group on Thursday, while vowing to plunge immediately into the national debate over immigration policy. The new group, backed by a who’s who of prominent and wealthy Internet industry figures, says it will lobby Congress and the White House, while using cutting-edge social-media tools to mobilize public support for immigration reform, better schools and more funding for scientific research,” the San Jose Mercury News<\/a> says.<\/p>\n “Congress is getting very close to debating comprehensive immigration reform. I am firmly committed to being part of reforming our nation’s immigration laws. Conservatives and liberals agree that our complex immigration system is broken and in need of repair. Although the two sides disagree on solutions, I have three important ideas that should be part of the debate and that should please most Americans,” says Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)<\/a>.<\/p>\n “My ‘Trust but Verify’ plan has three elements: secure the border, secure the vote and secure the taxpayer’s dollar. If these three elements are met, I think, Congress can move forward on a comprehensive plan to reform immigration law.”<\/p>\n “Does America lack ‘compassion’ and ‘humanity’ for uninvited foreigners? Quite the contrary. While open-borders activists rail against ‘injustice’ and demand new ‘pathways to citizenship,’ official U.S. policy rewards countless line-jumpers with permanent residency and taxpayer-subsidized benefits,” says Michelle Malkin<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Case in point: the massive ‘Temporary Protected Status’ (TPS) program run by the Department of Homeland Security. “A week ago, Australia\u2019s Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, pronounced that she supported ongoing high rates of immigration, seemingly reversing her opposition to a ‘Big Australia’ articulated when she took over the leadership from Kevin Rudd. The issue of whether high rates of population growth, and immigration in particular, are desirable from an economic, environmental, and social perspective is confounding for most people, and one that I continually battle over in my head. The above video from the ABC, which has been prepared ahead of the Future Forum next week, provides a useful primer on the key issues and the trade-offs involved should Australia opt for a stable or significantly larger population,” says MacroBusiness Australia writer Lee van Onselen<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Advocates of population growth argue that it is required in order to grow the economy and that, without it, growth would suffer, lowering overall living standards. This view has never sat comfortably with me. From a narrow economic perspective, population growth (immigration) is good only if it raises the real incomes of the pre-existing population (e.g. GDP per capita). While it is true that Australia\u2019s high population growth over the second half of the 2000s boosted Australia\u2019s real GDP (more labour inputs, other things equal, means more outputs), evidence is sketchy as to whether GDP per capita increased due to population growth.”<\/p>\n Rep. King Speaks Out Against Amnesty<\/p>\n “Rep. Steve King (R-IA) on Thursday pulled together a group of conservative colleagues to fight back against Democratic Party and GOP establishment efforts to grant amnesty to at least 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.,” Breitbart News reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n “King organized an invitation-only press conference for reporters from several different publications, including Breitbart News, at which he and Reps. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Mo Brooks (R-AL), Lou Barletta (R-PA), and Michele Bachmann (R-MN), declared opposition to any and all efforts by career politicians inside the beltway to grant amnesty to the millions of illegal immigrants in the country.” Rand Paul: A Secure Border Is a Must for Immigration Reform<\/h3>\n
Michelle Malkin: The Temporary Amnesty That Never Dies<\/h3>\n
\nIn theory, as the DHS website describes it, the Secretary of Homeland Security ‘may designate a foreign country for TPS due to conditions in the country that temporarily prevent the country\u2019s nationals from returning safely, or in certain circumstances, where the country is unable to handle the return of its nationals adequately.’ Those conditions include hurricanes, environmental catastrophes, civil war, epidemics and other ‘extraordinary and temporary conditions.'”<\/p>\nDoes Immigration Mean Prosperity – Australian Edition<\/h3>\n