Immigration

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Suzy Khimm at Ezra Klein's Wonkblog has a response to the hysterical anti-immigrant nativists like Governor Jan Brewer: Want tighter border security? You’re already getting it.

Legislators have failed to pass a sweeping immigration overhaul for more
than five years. But there’s one piece of the 2007 immigration reform
bill that they’ve managed to accomplish: pouring hundreds of millions of
dollars into border security.

Under the Senate’s new blueprint
for reform, the legalization of undocumented immigrants would only
happen if the government “finally commit[s] the resources needed to
secure the border,” as well as strict visa enforcement for legal
immigrants. It’s a provision that’s similar to Bush’s 2007 immigration
bill, which also made legalization contingent on beefed-up border
security.

The Senate’s language suggests that the government has held back from
devoting money, equipment and personnel to border security. In fact,
even though the 2007 immigration bill ultimately failed, we’ve
nevertheless hit nearly all of the targets that it established for
increased border security—except for achieving absolute “operational
control” of the border and mandatory detention of all border-crossers
who’ve been apprehended.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The first thing you should know is that the immigration reforms outlined today by President Obama in a speech in Las Vegas, Nevada are remarkably similar to the immigration reforms he outlined in a speech in El Paso, Texas in May 2011, a Blueprint for Building a 21st Century Immigration System (pdf).

Here is the Fact Sheet from today's speech. FACT SHEET: Fixing our Broken Immigration System so Everyone Plays by the Rules.

Here is the transcript of prepared Remarks by the President on Comprehensive Immigration Reform. (excerpts):

Now, during my first term, we took steps to try and patch up some of the worst cracks in the system.

First, we strengthened security at the borders so that we could finally
stem the tide of illegal immigrants.  We put more boots on the ground
on the southern border than at any time in our history.  And today,
illegal crossings are down nearly 80 percent from their peak in 2000. 
(Applause.)

Second, we focused our enforcement efforts on criminals who are here
illegally and who endanger our communities.  And today, deportations of
criminals is at its highest level ever.  (Applause.) 

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

A bipartisan group of senators has agreed on a set of principles for a sweeping overhaul of the immigration system, including a pathway to American citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants that would hinge on progress in securing the borders and ensuring that foreigners leave the country when their visas expire. They will announce their blueprint on Monday, a day before President Obama announces his plan in a speech to be delivered in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday. Senators Agree on Blueprint for Immigration – NYTimes.com:

According to a five-page draft of the plan obtained by The New York Times Document: Bipartisan Framework for Immigration Reform, the eight senators — including Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake, Republicans of Arizona; Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York; and Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina — have agreed to address the failings of the immigration system in one comprehensive measure, rather than in smaller pieces, and to offer a “tough, fair and practical road map” that would eventually lead to a chance at citizenship for nearly all of the immigrants here illegally.