Obamas YOLO strategy / Barack Obama, Immigration Reform
The NOW panel looks at the circumstances behind President Obama #39;s meeting today with six Dreamers who have benefited from his Deferred Action for Childhood...
By: MSNBC News
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Obamas YOLO strategy / Barack Obama, Immigration Reform - Video
Sen. Toomey: Homeland Security Is No Place For Games
Pat Toomey and Republicans in Congress are threatening to shut down the Department of Homeland Security just to block immigration reform. Call Pat Toomey. Tell him that Homeland Security is...
By: SEIU
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Sen. Toomey: Homeland Security Is No Place For Games - Video
Washington
Bishop GeraldKicanas on Wednesday urged Congress to work for immigration reform, but not through the path it is currently seeking with increased border enforcement, tougher criteria for immigrant families seeking asylum and a quicker return of immigrant children to their homelands.
"These bills would not fix our immigration system. Rather, they would make it less just and would undermine our moral authority domestically and globally," said the bishop, who heads the diocese of Tucson, Ariz.
He spoke at a hearing on immigration enforcement held by the Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee.
The bishop, one of four witnesses at the hearing, was the only one who spoke against the proposed immigration enforcement bills.
The witnesses supporting the measures were a North Carolina sheriff who said law enforcement agencies need more direction in enforcing immigration laws; an immigration reform group official who argued that immigrants are taking away American jobs; and a senior fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies who said that the U.S.-Mexico border has become a "de facto go-free zone" where those who cross face no "consequence for their action."
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Kicanas, in his lone opposition to these bills, said they would "adversely impact immigrant and refugee children, perhaps the most vulnerable population impacted by our nation's immigration laws."
An aspect of the proposed legislation would repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, and according to the bishop, would "keep children in detention for long periods of time and would weaken protections for abandoned, neglected, and abused children."
He said another proposed legislation, the Secure and Fortify Enforcement Act, or SAFE, would "criminalize" those without documents and those who transport them.
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Arizona bishop: US needs immigration reform, not more enforcement
GOP voters support the executive actions in principal, but oppose them once they're linked to the president.
At first glance, the battle over immigration reform seems like nothing newjust one more example of partisan gridlock. But new research from Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) shows that President Obamas actions on immigration are broadly popular, particularly when they are not identified with him. The survey also shows why GOP strategists would do well to advise against a partisan showdown on this terrain. By catering to their most conservative voters, congressional Republicans risk not only opposing policies supported by the mainstream of their own party but also undermining efforts to reach out to the growing number of Hispanic voters who will be key to successes in 2016 and beyond.
On February 18, President Obamas executive action expanding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program will go into effect. One of its central provisions will allow immigrants living in the country illegally, but who are the parents of children with legal status, to remain in the United States. They can stay for up to three years, if they pass a background check and have been in the country for at least five years. Obama took this action after bipartisan, comprehensive immigration-reform legislation passed in the Senate but repeatedly stalled in the House of Representatives.
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It is truly remarkable that an issue like immigration reform, which enjoys such broad support among the public, has become so mired in politics. PRRIs most recent surveyreleased this weekfinds that roughly three-quarters (76 percent) of Americans support the specifics of Obamas executive action allowing the parents of children with legal status to stay in the country for up to three years if they meet certain requirements. Just one in five Americans (19 percent) is opposed to this policy. Moreover, this policy enjoys strong majority support across partisan and religious lines. 87 percent of Democrats, 77 percent of independents, and 67 percent of Republicans support this policy, as do majorities of Catholics (76 percent) and white evangelical Protestants (68 percent).
Support for the central provisions of the DREAM Act is similarly broad. Nearly seven in ten (68 percent) Americans favor allowing illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to gain legal resident status if they join the military or go to college, including 79 percent of Democrats, 66 percent of independents, and 60 percent of Republicans.
However, the survey also found strong evidence of the power of partisanship at work among rank and file Americans. The survey split the sample into two demographically identical groups. The first group simply received the executive action on immigration and DREAM Act policy questions; the second group received the same verbatim questions, with a twistthe proposal was identified as Obamas policy. The findings show a significant Obama Effect across both questions.
The "Obama Effect" Among Republicans (Percent Who Favor)
When there is no mention of Obama, two-thirds (67 percent) of Republicans favor allowing illegal immigrants who are parents of those with legal status to avoid deportation if they meet certain requirements. But when Obama is linked to the policy, support among Republicans drops 16 points to 51 percent. Support among independents also falls 13 points when Obama is linked to the policy, from 77 percent to 64 percent. Among Democrats, there is no statistically significant effect in support.
The Obama Effect is even more pronounced in attitudes about the DREAM Act. When Obama is not identified with the policy, six in ten (60 percent) Republicans favor allowing illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to gain legal resident status if they attend college or join the military. Once Obama is identified with the policy, Republican attitudes invert: Support plummets 23 points to only 37 percent, while opposition rises to nearly 6-in-10 (58 percent).
A group of immigration activists from Hawaii took over a pair of offices this week at the U.S. Capitol belonging to anti-amnesty Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. The Aloha DREAM Team, a group pushing comprehensive reforms in immigration laws that include a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants, sat in the middle of floors, disrupted business and demanded support from Congress for President Barack Obamas executive actions on immigration,the Washington Times reported. Staffers in Sessions office said the "occupy" protesters were loud enough Wednesday to disrupt telephone calls in and out of the office.
Sessions and Cruz recently voted with fellow Senate Republicans to withhold funding from the Department of Homeland Security to block Obamas orders that defer deportation and extend work permits to an estimated 5 million undocumented immigrants. The states Sessions and Cruz represent are part of a lawsuit against the Obama administrationseeking to stop the immigration actions before they take effect on Feb. 18. A federal judge in Texas is expected to rule soon on the suit filed by 26 states.
The Republicans have attempted at least three votes on a DHS funding bill that targets the immigration actions. But Democrats and the White House, which promised to veto anything but a simple DHS funding bill, say anti-immigration reform senators are risking the safety of Americans. Homeland Security, formed as a response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, contains 22 agencies charged with protecting public safety. In addition to enforcing immigration laws, DHS' mission is to patrol the countrys ports and borders, defend against and respond to terrorist attacks and manage federal responses to manmade and natural disasters.
The department will run out of money after Feb. 27, according to multiple reports, but it would continue its national security functions on an emergency basis. In a Cabinet meeting earlier this month, Obama warned that the agencys front-line workers would be forced to work without pay.
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Illegal Immigration 2015: Undocumented Immigrants Occupy Congress, Target Ted Cruz, Jeff Sessions