{"id":5516,"date":"2013-12-20T15:42:53","date_gmt":"2013-12-20T20:42:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=5516"},"modified":"2018-12-28T15:20:46","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T20:20:46","slug":"a-gang-of-eight-immigration-lies-from-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2013\/12\/20\/a-gang-of-eight-immigration-lies-from-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"(A Gang of) Eight Immigration Lies from 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"8<\/a>When it comes to immigration policy, politicians have been circulating a lot of falsehoods.\u00a0 Here are just eight of them from Capitol Hill and the White House in 2013:<\/p>\n

#8. Passing amnesty will help Republicans win elections.<\/b><\/p>\n

Using the dramatic description of a \u201cdemographic death spiral,\u201d Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) claimed<\/a> that \u201cThe only way [the GOP]can get back in good graces with the Hispanic community, in my view, is pass comprehensive immigration reform.\u201d\u00a0 However, poll<\/a> after poll<\/a> has shown that Hispanics vote based on jobs and the economy, not immigration. As such, amnesty will not help Republicans gain Hispanic voters.\u00a0 For more information, read FAIR\u2019s Republicans Have An Immigration Problem and Amnesty Won\u2019t Solve It<\/a>.<\/p>\n

#7. Insufficient \u201cdocumentation\u201d is not grounds for deportation.<\/b><\/p>\n

In December of 2013, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told<\/a> the Spanish-language network Telemundo that \u201cIf somebody is here without sufficient documentation, that is not reason for deportation.\u201d\u00a0 However, the Immigration and Nationality Act clearly reaches the opposite conclusion.\u00a0 You do need sufficient documentation (such as a valid visa, passport, or border crossing card) to be admissible to enter and stay in the U.S., and if you are an inadmissible alien, it\u2019s a ground for deportation.\u00a0 See<\/i> INA \u00a7 212(a)(7); \u00a7 237(a)(1).<\/p>\n

#6.\u00a0 A path to citizenship isn\u2019t amnesty.<\/b><\/p>\n

Rep. Joe Heck (R-Nev.) is \u201copposed to amnesty for undocumented immigrants but looks forward to evaluating legislative proposals dealing with earned citizenship,” his spokesman Greg Lemon said<\/a>. Representative Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) also tried to make the same distinction<\/a>. Amnesty is defined by Merriam-Webster\u2019s dictionary<\/a> as \u201cthe act of an authority (as a government) by which pardon is granted to a large group of individuals.\u201d (See also<\/i> Cambridge\u2019s dictionary<\/a>, where amnesty means \u201ca decision by a government to forgive people who have committed particular illegal acts or crimes.\u201d)\u00a0 Giving legal status and work authorization to illegal aliens is \u201camnesty plus<\/a>\u201d because not only is the government pardoning their violation of the law, but is also giving illegal aliens what they sought by breaking the law in the first place – the right to live and work in the United States.<\/p>\n

#5.\u00a0\u00a0 Illegal aliens are in the shadows.<\/b><\/p>\n

On February 24, Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) said<\/a>, \u201c11 million people sit in the twilight, the shadows of America.\u201d\u00a0 Anyone who has seen what illegal aliens have been up to this year would disagree.\u00a0 Illegal alien Erika Andiola, who appeared on Time Magazine\u2019s cover<\/a>, worked<\/a> for a Member of Congress, has a website, and held press conferences about fighting her mother\u2019s deportation.\u00a0 Other aggressive activists even took their protests to Majority Leader Eric Cantor\u2019s (R-Virginia) condo<\/a> and Speaker John Boehner\u2019s (R-Ohio) house<\/a>.\u00a0 Stalking Members of Congress at their homes and harassing their families are efforts to get into the bright light of news network cameras, not staying in darkness.<\/p>\n

#4.\u00a0 American workers can\u2019t do jobs that foreign workers can.<\/b><\/p>\n

An aide to Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said<\/a>, \u201cThere are American workers who, for lack of a better term, can\u2019t cut it.\u201d\u00a0 Another Rubio aide added<\/a> that this circumstance \u201cis true for high-skilled workers.\u201d\u00a0 Although these comments were not made by the Senator himself, given that two of the staff for a Gang of Eight member addressed immigration in this way shows his office\u2019s lack of knowledge about, or support for, the American worker.\u00a0 For more information about misconceptions like this, read FAIR\u2019s Jobs Americans Can\u2019t Do? The Myth of a Skilled Worker Shortage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

#3. The Senate mass amnesty bill is sitting on House Speaker John Boehner\u2019s desk.<\/b><\/p>\n

Many Members of Congress called for Boehner to bring the Senate bill to a vote in the House in 2013. One of them, Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said<\/a>, \u201cright now we have a bipartisan bill that passed the Senate sitting on John Boehner\u2019s desk that he could take up right now.\u201d\u00a0 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) never sent the bill to the House, a necessary step before the Speaker of the House of Representatives can act.<\/p>\n

#2. Biden\u2019s ancestors were illegal aliens.<\/b><\/p>\n

On December 11, 2013, during a streaming chat sponsored by Skype and Bing, Vice President Joe Biden said<\/a>, \u201cMy great-great-grandparents came escaping the famine, and they didn’t all come here legally.\u201d \u201cNot true,\u201d according<\/a> to Temple Law Professor Jan Ting.\u00a0 There were no limits on U.S. immigration during the potato famine of the 1840s when Biden\u2019s ancestors left Ireland.<\/p>\n

#1. Obama never met his illegal alien uncle.<\/b><\/p>\n

Last year, the White House told<\/a> the Boston Globe that President Barack Obama had never met his uncle Omar.\u00a0 Then, this December, Uncle Omar testified<\/a> that President Obama not only met him, but lived<\/i> with him in Cambridge when he came to attend Harvard Law.\u00a0 The White House retracted their earlier statement, claiming<\/a> that \u201cNobody spoke to the President\u201d to corroborate the Administration\u2019s claim that President Obama had never met his uncle.