“Over 150 conservative leaders, groups and grassroots activists have signed an open letter opposing the Senate immigration reform bill. ‘We write to express our serious concerns regarding the Gang of Eight\u2019s immigration bill, S. 744. We oppose this bill and urge you to vote against it when it comes to the Senate floor,’ the letter to be released Tuesday and obtained by The Daily Caller reads,” the Daily Caller says<\/a>.<\/p>\n “‘Reforming our immigration system is an important priority. But S.744 is such a defective measure that it would do more harm than good. We urge you to vote against it and against any cloture vote to bring up the bill. Only then can a constructive, measured debate take place on how to improve America\u2019s immigration policy,’ the letter reads.”<\/p>\n “[I]s there any other situation [besides agriculture]where progressives are inclined to believe that low wages are the key to competitiveness, and that this is a good reason to keep wages low? Any other industry granted this exception to the general progressive view that workers deserve compensation commensurate with the dignity of labor as such?” asks Noah Milman in the American Conservative<\/a>.<\/p>\n What would happen if agricultural labor were better-compensated? To some degree American agricultural enterprises would become less-competitive\u2014we\u2019d import more of some kinds of food from abroad . . . The American agricultural mix might change. America farms might focus more on those crops where there is a greater return to the application of capital, while more labor-intensive agriculture moves to countries with lower labor costs.”<\/p>\n “A bipartisan group of senators begin their fifth full day of debating changes to the immigration reform bill Tuesday. So far, the so-called mark up process has left the sweeping overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws–which would legalize most of the country’s 11 million undocumented immigrants–largely untouched,” Yahoo News says<\/a>.<\/p>\n “On Tuesday, the senators will address some of the final controversial changes to the bill, including increasing the number of visas for the high tech industry and whether to allow people in same-sex marriages to apply for green cards for their spouses.”<\/p>\n “Department of Homeland Security officials, responding to sharp criticism on Monday from a union representing 12,000 of its employees, said they had added many safeguards in recent years to protect against fraud and security violations by foreigners seeking to live in the United States,” the New York Times says<\/a>.<\/p>\n “The officials reacted swiftly to a statement by Kenneth Palinkas, president of the National Citizenship and Immigration Services Council, in which he called on lawmakers to reject an immigration bill before the Senate, saying security procedures were weak for checking the backgrounds of millions of immigrants who would apply for immigration documents under the legislation.” Liberals for Low Wages<\/h3>\n
Gang of Eight Fight Amendments<\/h3>\n
DHS Jumps to Counter Union Criticism<\/h3>\n