Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
My Comprehensive Immigration Reform Strategy: Vote 'Dem bums out of office
Congress has been funneling billions of dollars into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) specifically for the funding of immigration enforcement operations.
President Obama's Fiscal Year 2011 budget allocation for the Department of Homeland Security includes $4.6 billion funding for Border Patrol agents, and $1.6 billion to continue the identification and deportation programs for undocumented foreigners with criminal records, a $200 million increase over what was provided during Fiscal Year 2010.
Head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement John Morton has plainly stated that under Obama there "isn't a question of whether or not we will detain people. We will detain people, and we will detain them on a grand scale."
Not to be a party-pooper, but the only way we are going to see comprehensive immigration reform is if we vote the bums out of office. A good start would be to vote out Obama who broke his campaign promised to meaningfully address comprehensive immigration reform in his first year of office the second he was elected, instead adopting an enforcement first agenda.
More immediately, vote out "Negative" Nancy Pelosi, who has gone on record stating that she will shield her members from any "controversial" votes prior to the mid-term elections, and that the Senate will have to take the lead on immigration reform because the House of Representatives has already done their part.
As for the Senate, Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has repeatedly tried to set a timetable for CIR and he has bipartisan support from Lindsey Graham (R-SC), but unfortunately Harry "The Coward" Reid (D-NV) has put the breaks on their efforts because he knows that he is hanging on to his political life by a very fine blue thread, and the Republicans are holding the scissors.
So, the bottom line is you can forget about comprehensive immigration reform with this Congress and this President... CIR just isn't going to happen on their watch.
We are going to have to take ownership of the fact that the people we have entrusted with our votes have violated our trust. The time is now for 'Dem bums to start looking for a new job.
Make your voice heard in 2010: Vote out Pelosi and Reid.
President Obama's Fiscal Year 2011 budget allocation for the Department of Homeland Security includes $4.6 billion funding for Border Patrol agents, and $1.6 billion to continue the identification and deportation programs for undocumented foreigners with criminal records, a $200 million increase over what was provided during Fiscal Year 2010.
Head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement John Morton has plainly stated that under Obama there "isn't a question of whether or not we will detain people. We will detain people, and we will detain them on a grand scale."
Not to be a party-pooper, but the only way we are going to see comprehensive immigration reform is if we vote the bums out of office. A good start would be to vote out Obama who broke his campaign promised to meaningfully address comprehensive immigration reform in his first year of office the second he was elected, instead adopting an enforcement first agenda.
More immediately, vote out "Negative" Nancy Pelosi, who has gone on record stating that she will shield her members from any "controversial" votes prior to the mid-term elections, and that the Senate will have to take the lead on immigration reform because the House of Representatives has already done their part.
As for the Senate, Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has repeatedly tried to set a timetable for CIR and he has bipartisan support from Lindsey Graham (R-SC), but unfortunately Harry "The Coward" Reid (D-NV) has put the breaks on their efforts because he knows that he is hanging on to his political life by a very fine blue thread, and the Republicans are holding the scissors.
So, the bottom line is you can forget about comprehensive immigration reform with this Congress and this President... CIR just isn't going to happen on their watch.
We are going to have to take ownership of the fact that the people we have entrusted with our votes have violated our trust. The time is now for 'Dem bums to start looking for a new job.
Make your voice heard in 2010: Vote out Pelosi and Reid.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Don't Drink The Immigration Enforcement Kool-Aide
The Arizona Republic recently published an article on the burden the Obama Administration’s stepped-up immigration enforcement agenda has placed on our nation’s immigration courts. It only stands to reason that if the President’s desire is to deport more people than any President in the history of our country that he must have contemplated the need for an increase of funding for additional immigration judges to preside over the increase of deportation cases.
Unfortunately, the obvious solution to hire more immigration judges does not appear to have been considered by our President. The White House's Fiscal Year 2011 budget allocation for the Department of Homeland Security includes $4.6 billion funding for Border Patrol agents. Fair enough. The budget also includes requests of more than $1.6 billion to continue the identification and deportation programs for undocumented foreigners with criminal records, a $200 million increase over what was provided during Fiscal Year 2010. Certainly looks good on paper.
One would be hard-pressed to find many Americans who would be willing to argue against the President’s allocation for increased security at our borders, and stepped-up enforcement relating to the removal of criminal aliens found within our borders. I’m not making that argument now. These are central concerns to us all. That being said, where is the President’s allocation for additional immigration judges? Surely, he set aside money to bolster our immigration courts with additional judges? Nope.
Maybe, just maybe, that extra $200 million could have been utilized to staff our immigration courts with competent judges to preside over the bottleneck of cases that have been created by the new administration’s enforcement first agenda. Wishful thinking.
In fact, the President’s budget has actually allocated less money towards the streamlining of the legal immigration system to support people who are trying to do the right thing by actually FOLLOWING THE LAW. By failing to live up to his campaign promise to meaningfully address comprehensive immigration reform, the President’s enforcement-centric budget from a LEGAL immigrant’s perspective is one more gaping knife wound in the back. Not the Change we were hoping for Mr. President.
So we heard you Mr. President, when you said this year’s budget was designed to “strengthen border security and immigration enforcement.” Your message is loud and clear.
Mr. President, why don’t your policies follow your promises? Every action that you have taken since your election has been to bite the hand of the Hispanic electorate that fed you. Take Notice: those who voted for your Hope and Change aren’t drinking the Kool-aide.
Unfortunately, the obvious solution to hire more immigration judges does not appear to have been considered by our President. The White House's Fiscal Year 2011 budget allocation for the Department of Homeland Security includes $4.6 billion funding for Border Patrol agents. Fair enough. The budget also includes requests of more than $1.6 billion to continue the identification and deportation programs for undocumented foreigners with criminal records, a $200 million increase over what was provided during Fiscal Year 2010. Certainly looks good on paper.
One would be hard-pressed to find many Americans who would be willing to argue against the President’s allocation for increased security at our borders, and stepped-up enforcement relating to the removal of criminal aliens found within our borders. I’m not making that argument now. These are central concerns to us all. That being said, where is the President’s allocation for additional immigration judges? Surely, he set aside money to bolster our immigration courts with additional judges? Nope.
Maybe, just maybe, that extra $200 million could have been utilized to staff our immigration courts with competent judges to preside over the bottleneck of cases that have been created by the new administration’s enforcement first agenda. Wishful thinking.
In fact, the President’s budget has actually allocated less money towards the streamlining of the legal immigration system to support people who are trying to do the right thing by actually FOLLOWING THE LAW. By failing to live up to his campaign promise to meaningfully address comprehensive immigration reform, the President’s enforcement-centric budget from a LEGAL immigrant’s perspective is one more gaping knife wound in the back. Not the Change we were hoping for Mr. President.
So we heard you Mr. President, when you said this year’s budget was designed to “strengthen border security and immigration enforcement.” Your message is loud and clear.
Mr. President, why don’t your policies follow your promises? Every action that you have taken since your election has been to bite the hand of the Hispanic electorate that fed you. Take Notice: those who voted for your Hope and Change aren’t drinking the Kool-aide.
A Grassroots push for Immigration Reform
Activists publicize a March 21, 2010 rally in Washington, D.C. and explain the urgency of comprehensive reform.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Video from a Town Hall Meeting in Brooklyn, NY organized by Arab American Institute (AAI)
Immigration Reform, Civil Liberties, and National Security. Brooklyn, NY organized by Arab American Institute (AAI), President Dr. James Zogby
Also in attendance:
Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, Chung-Wha Hong: Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition; Andrea Quarantillo: District Director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS); Shyconia Burden: New York City USCIS Community Liaison Officer; Fatima Shama, Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs at the New York City Mayor's Office
Also in attendance:
Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, Chung-Wha Hong: Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition; Andrea Quarantillo: District Director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS); Shyconia Burden: New York City USCIS Community Liaison Officer; Fatima Shama, Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs at the New York City Mayor's Office
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
The 800 Mile Wall - John Carlos Frey
"John Carlos Frey is an award-winning director. His directorial debut, "The Gatekeeper," was lauded for its realistic depiction of illegal immigration in the United States by Amnesty International, The Anti Defamation League, Human Rights Watch, National Immigration Forum, National Center for Farmworker Health, The League of United Latin American Citizens, The National Council of La Raza (NCLR), The Joan B. Kroc Institute of Peace and Justice as well as the Hispanic Congressional Caucus."
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