Senate Immigration Bill Passes 68-32

Immigration Reform's New Pitchman: Paul Ryan

Immigration Reform 101 - Umasking S.744

Matthew Kolken on Air with Reps. Higgins (D) and Collins (R) talking Immigration Reform

I appeared on WBEN talk radio this morning and had the opportunity to speak to Western New York's two Representatives in Congress,  Chris Collins (R- Clarence) and Brian Higgins (D- Buffalo).

Congressman Collins indicated that he would be willing to vote for reform that included a pathway to citizenship for DREAMers, and a pathway to legalization for the estimated 11 million undocumented people living in our country remarking that we need to "get our head out of the sand, these 11 million people are not going to go away on their own." Cong. Chris Collins (R- Clarence).

Congressman Higgins was similarly pragmatic indicated that he would be willing to consider a piecemeal approach to immigration reform stating that  "We can find the balance here in providing a legal pathway to citizenship, and continuing to realize the great economic benefits of immigration not only throughout the nation, but right here in Western New York." Cong. Brian Higgins (D- Buffalo).

I couldn't be more proud of Western New York's two Representatives in Congress.

Click here for the audio from the appearance.

Matthew Kolken on America's Web Radio talking Immigration Reform

I was honored to appear with immigration legend Chuck Kuck on American's Web Radio to discuss whether or not there will be immigration reform this year.

Click here for the broadcast.

Call these Senators and ask that they Vote for Immigration Reform

SENATOR	STATE	NUMBER
Murkowski	AK	202-224-6665
Pryor	AR	202-224-2353
Chambliss	GA	202-224-3521
Isakson	GA	202-224-3643
Kirk	IL	202-224-2854
Donnelly	IN	202-224-4814
Moran	KS	202-224-6521
McConnell	KY	202-224-2541
Landrieu	LA	202-224-5824
Collins	ME	202-224-2523
Baucus	MT	202-224-2651
Tester	MT	202-224-2644
Hagan	NC	202-224-6342
Burr	NC	202-224-3154
Heitkamp	ND	202-224-2043
Johanns	NE	202-224-4224
Hoeven	NE	202-224-2551
Chiesa	NJ	202-224-3224
Heller	NV	202-224-6244
Portman	OH	202-224-3353
Coburn	OK	202-224-5754
Alexander	TN	202-224-4944
Corker	TN	202-224-3344
Hatch	UT	202-224-5251
Sanders	VT	202-224-5141
Johnson (Ron)	WI	202-224-5323
Manchin	WV	202-224-3954

U.S. Chamber of Commerce ad backs immigration reform

Senate immigration deal includes tougher border security

John Boehner: ‘Bipartisan’ immigration reform only way

The Obama Administration, Immigration, and Censorship of Dissenting Opinion

My colleague Bryan Johnson of Amoache & Johnson, PLLC wrote a blog yesterday that was critical of a decision of New York Chief Counsel Wen-Ting Cheng.  Mr. Johnson disseminated the blog post through his Facebook account.

Analytic statistics reveal that the blog post has been viewed by 33 IP addresses attributable to the  Department of Homeland Security.  According to Mr. Johnson, an IP address attributable to Facebook also viewed his website yesterday, with one visit occurring a mere 2 minutes after a visit from an IP address located at DHS Headquarters.

Shortly thereafter, Facebook censored the link to the blog post by invoking a security warning that Mr. Johnson's website has been classified as abusive, proactively blocking any link to the blog.  Now it appears that Mr. Johnson's entire firm website has been similarly blocked by Facebook.

Next stop, IRS audit.

Big Brother is watching.

Alleged that Former director of an Athens nonprofit, The Athens Latino Center of Education and Services, took DREAMers money, "messed up" DACA applications, and ran.

ICE Director John Morton Resigns

It appears John Morton has tendered his resignation.

From the L.A. Times:

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton announced his resignation Monday after more than four years at the head of the agency.

A senior Department of Homeland Security official familiar with the matter said that Morton’s departure was voluntary but acknowledged that the Obama administration was surprised by the timing as Congress is in the middle of debating a comprehensive overhaul of immigration laws.

Morton has been hired as Senior Vice President of Capital One Financial Corp. heading compliance starting this August.

I will always remember him as the man that was "pleased" to report that in a six month period in 2011 his office deported 46,486 parents of United States citizens.

More rats from a sinking ship.

House Judiciary Committee debates SAFE Act that would criminalize the act of being undocumented, which includes visa overstays

Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee had an open hearing where they debated the Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement Act (SAFE Act).  The SAFE Act criminalizes the act of being undocumented, which includes visa overstays.  

The legislation will also all increase Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers by 5,000 and permits State and local government to enforce federal immigration laws, as well as permitting the arrest and indefinite detention of immigrants in privately owned federal detention centers.

Click here for more information.

Operation Butterfly: Reunion at the Border

Emily Ekins of The Cato Institute re: Public Opinion on Immigration and E-Verify and the Cost of Implementation

Gutierrez condemns toxic King Amendment, opposes mass deportations

Reid: Immigration debate starts tomorrow

REPORT: from 2008 to 2012, DHS detained at least 1,366 children in adult detention facilities throughout the United States

The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) has determined through a 2010 FOIA request that from 2008 to 2012 the Department of Homeland Security has maintained a practice of detaining children in adult detention facilities.  

NIJC determined that from 2008-2010 children under the age of 18 were cumulatively held for a total of 36,598 days in 30 different adult detention centers.  Four children were detained between 1,000 and 3,600 days, with one child being held for a decade after being detained at the age of 15.  

It is believed this data has been under-reported, however, so there is no way of knowing how many undocumented children are actually being caged nationwide.

Click here for the report.

ACLU Exposes "Rampant" Border Abuse

Yesterday, the ACLU and Cooley LLP filed a class-action law suit in California challenging what they characterize as "endemic abuses" stemming from Border Patrol and ICE officers employing "misinformation" and "deception" to coerce Mexican nationals to sign voluntary departure orders and forgo their right to a hearing before an immigration judge. 

From the ACLU of Sandiego website:

The lawsuit, Lopez-Venegas v. Napolitano, alleges that as a matter of regular practice, Border Patrol agents and ICE officers pressure undocumented immigrants to sign what amounts to their own summary expulsion documents.  The procedure is formally known as “voluntary departure,” but it regularly results in the involuntary waiver of core due process rights.  An individual who signs for voluntary departure immediately surrenders his or her rights to a hearing before an immigration judge and is usually expelled to Mexico within a matter of hours.

The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU of California, the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, and Cooley LLP. It includes seven individual plaintiffs that claim that their constitutional rights violated.

Anthony Stiegler, partner at Cooley LLP, provided the following comment:

“The policy and practice of misrepresenting an individual’s legal rights to summarily deport them from this country is inconsistent with the fundamental notions of fairness and due process under our Constitution.  The United States derives its core strength because we embrace these values and abide by the rule of law.” 

I couldn't have said it better myself Mr. Stiegler.

Click here for more information.

San Francisco Giants Pitcher Sergio Romo Endorses The Dream is Now Campaign

For Immediate Release                      

June 4, 2013                                                    

San Francisco, CA – World Champion San Francisco Giants pitcher Sergio Romo announced his support for The Dream is Now campaign today in a youtube video that has been posted to www.thedreamisnow.org.  The Dream is Now Campaign is an effort of concerned citizens who believe America’s broken immigration system needs to be fixed, giving undocumented youth and their families the chance to earn their citizenship.

Romo, a first generation Mexican-America whose parents were born in Mexico, says in the video, “Today I am standing proud with the Dream is Now campaign because I strongly believe that there should be a pathway for the approximately 2 million undocumented students to earn their United States citizenship so that they can lead a productive life and give back to the only country they know as home.  They deserve a chance to live their dream and we will all win if they do.  I hope that you will log on to www.thedreamisnow.org and join me, in this movement.”

The Dream is Now recently released a 30-minute documentary by Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim (“Inconvenient Truth” and “Waiting for Superman”) that shares the stories of undocumented youth and their families who are desperate to earn their citizenship in the only country they've ever called home, the United States of America.  The 30-minute film, which has been screened hundreds of times on college campuses and at community gatherings, was created to keep the focus on Congress to pass immigration reform.  To view the trailer, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUx62UBoOoU.

For more information on the campaign visit:

www.thedreamisnow.org
twitter.com/TheDreamisNow
www.facebook.com/thedreamisnow

Press Contact:  Lisa Cohen, 310-395-2544, lisa@lisacohen.org

Rubio: Majority of GOP Support Immigration Reform

Arianna Huffington Calls Obama's Deportation Record a Scandal Democrats are Ignoring

It appears that the establishment on the left is finally starting to take notice of President Obama's deportation record. On Sunday Arianna Huffington appeared on This Week with George Stephanopoulos where she called Obama's record deportations a "scandal" that nobody is talking about:

"More people have been deported over the Obama administration than over the whole two terms of George Bush. And we’ve had, for example, since 2010, 200,000 parents of American citizens being deported for minor offenses. This is a real tragedy. And if this were being done under George Bush, Democrats would have been up in arms.”

She goes on saying that there is no accountability in the White House for their own actions calling the deportation and detention system a real nightmare.

Any of this sound familiar?

Here is a clip from the segment.  You need to go to the 6:45 minute mark to hear her comments, and the typical response from the Obama apologist David Plouffe that DREAMers aren't being deported, which we all know isn't true.  

Thankfully, Ms. Huffington called him out on it.