Immigration ’08
Analyzing the Politics of Immigration (A Project of America’s Voice)

Posted 10/23/09 at 05:47pm by Web Team

Rep. Crowley (D-NY) and 110 Members of Congres Deliver Letter to POTUS on Immigration Reform

Note: Originally posted by Rachel Labruyere at Standing FIRM.

Today Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) joined the growing chorus of voices calling for comprehensive immigration reform. In a telephonic briefing with New York and national advocates, including the New York Immigration Coalition, Crowley stressed the urgency of the issue, saying:

“This is a moral imperative – the time is now.”

The Representative recently delivered a letter to President Obama that was signed by 110 of his fellow House of Representative democrats, telling the Commander in Chief:

We need [your]leadership to move immigration reform forward and we stand ready to support comprehensive reform that balances our nation’s security needs with a realistic and humane solution for the estimated 12 million undocumented people already living in the United States.

This is a significant step, given the President’s repeated appeals that he needs support to help move legislation through Congress. That support is coming steadily now, from Crowley and his peers, from communities of faith and even from law enforcement agencies nationwide.

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Posted 10/20/09 at 04:03pm by Jackie Mahendra

New York Times, New Website Reveal How To Waste Money And Ruin the Census

We've been reporting for some time now on Senator David Vitter (R-LA) and his divisive campaign to pass an amendment that would bar undocumented immigrants from participating in the census.

The New York Times has a must-read editorial today called, "How to Waste Money and Ruin the Census," which lays out why, exactly, this is such a terrible idea:

As required by law, the Census Bureau gave Congress the exact wording of the survey’s 10 questions in early April 2008 — more than 18 months ago. Changing it now to meet Mr. Vitter’s demand would delay the count, could skew the results and would certainly make it even harder to persuade minorities to participate.

It would also be hugely expensive. The Commerce Department says that redoing the survey would cost hundreds of millions of dollars: to rewrite and reprint hundreds of millions of census forms, to revise instructional and promotional material and to reprogram software and scanners.

In other words, it ain't gonna be cheap, gentlemen.

And it's not going to be fair, either -- especially when it comes to allocating resources to states with split-status populations.

Would Sen. Vitter be happy if we just counted 3/5ths of the immigrants in our country, maybe?

Today, national civil rights organizations joined NDN for a press conference in Washington, DC. They report in "Leading Civil Rights Groups Join NDN to Oppose Divisive Vitter-Bennett Amendment:"

Tuesday, October 20th at 11 am in Dirksen 406, the nation's leading civil rights groups will join NDN for a press conference on Capitol Hill to announce their opposition to the divisive Vitter-Bennett Amendment aimed at undermining the 2010 Census. The Amendment, proposed by Senators David Vitter (R-LA) and Robert Bennett (R-UT), seeks to add an 11th question to the census forms (which have already been printed) that would discourage minority populations from participating in the census and thus threaten the accuracy of the count.

In his letter to Senators urging them to vote "no" on the proposed Amendment, NDN President Simon Rosenberg wrote, 

While the  Vitter-Bennett Amendment may appear innocent, its intent and practical effect on the  census and reapportionment process is not. If enacted the Amendment would almost certainly disrupt an orderly census count next year, eventually found to be unconstitutional, all the while start ing a highly divisive  conversation about race, the Civil War and the 14th Amendment in the  very first year of America's very first African-American President.

Now there's even a brand new website "Don't Wreck the Census" up about the battle, which urges action:

Call your Senator right now and tell them to to vote "NO" on Senate Amendment 2644. 

The real truth behind Vitter's amendment?

Anti-immigrant legislators like Vitter are willing to compromise the accuracy of the census in their obsessive efforts to inject an anti-immigrant agenda into every conceivable realm of public life. But the real policy ramifications are endless. If passed, this amendment would stop the 2010 Census dead in its tracks--preventing the questionnaire forms from being mailed next spring and wasting over $7 billion in research, planning, and preparation that has occurred for Census 2010. And of course, it would discourage millions of immigrants from participating in the 2010 Census--potentially costing hundreds of billions in lost funding to local communities and diminishing the political power of states like Texas, Arizona, California, New Mexico, Florida and Nevada with large immigrant populations.

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Posted 10/13/09 at 07:34pm by Web Team

National Day of Action a Success, Thousands Lobby Congress, Fax, and Call

Editor's Note: Cross-posted from the Reform Immigration For America Blog. Check out even more photos on the America's Voice Facebook Fan page -- and don't forget to become a fan today! The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights has a post up announcing Congressman Gutierrez' principles. Finally, if you haven't faxed and called your Member of Congress yet-- now is the time!

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Thousands of people came out across the country to support comprehensive immigration reform around the country today. Here in Washington, several thousand people lobbied their elected officials for serious immigration reform, then held a vigil outside the Capitol in support of family unification. Members of Congress in attendance at the vigil were:

• Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois

• Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia

• Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois

• Sen. Robert Menendez of Illinois

• Rep. Yvette Clark of New York

• Rep. Nydia Velazquez of New York

• Rep. Mike Honda of California

• Rep. Xavier Becerra of California

Immigration reform supporters weren’t just in Washington though – more than thirty rallies in Wisconsin, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Michigan drew crowds demanding immigration reform as well.

You can see for yourself how successful our call to action was on flickr.

With all this momentum, now is a great time to join us in the fight for comprehensive immigration reform. You can still fax or call your Representative and tell them it is time for comprehensive immigration reform.

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Posted 10/13/09 at 09:07am by Web Team

October 13th National Day of Action: 6 ways to help!

Cross-posted from the Reform Immigration For America Blog, with updates.

Today, Tuesday, October 13th is a big day in the fight for real immigration reform. Thousands of community leaders will be gathering in Washington, DC to speak face-to-face with members of Congress, asking for their support of comprehensive immigration reform.After hitting the halls of Congress, their will be a vigil on the West Lawn of the Capitol, calling for family unity.

Can’t be in Washington, DC, today, October 13th?

No problem, here are 6  easy ways to join us:

1. Find an event in your area. Click on the map below to find a local event on October 13th.

2. Call your Representative. With just one click, you can call your Rep. and ask them to support immigration reform. To call – click here.

3. Send a fax. Tell members of Congress that you want immigration reform now. It only takes a minute. Click here to fax.

4. Upload our badge. If you have a website or blog, upload our badge onto your site. Simply copy and paste the code we provide for you here.

5. Share on Facebook. On October 13th, help us spread the word by telling your friends. Click here to share on Facebook.

6. Tweet it! On Twitter? Help spread the word to the Twitterverse. Please re-tweet the following and use the #famunity hashtag when you talk about the action “RT @RI4A Join thousands of people across the country demanding #immigration reform today! http://bit.ly/uUKx3 #ri4a #famunity”

Help us send a resounding message to Congress that immigration reform can’t wait! For more information, visit our action page here.

Reform Immigration For America events from coast to coast:

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Posted 09/30/09 at 02:43pm by Jackie Mahendra

Extreme Groups Push Amendments to Bar Legal Immigrants, Block Millions from Buying Insurance

UPDATE:  The Sen. Kyl amendment for tax credits, which would have undermined the confidentiality of tax information, went down after a brief debate. Senator Rockefeller called it dreadful, and Sen. Bingaman repeated that it was a solution looking for a problem that doesn't exist.  Thanks to all who have made phone calls already.

Today the Senate Finance Committee is considering several key amendments on immigration to the current health insurance reform legislation.   The worst amendments are sponsored by Senators Kyl (R-AZ), Grassley (R-IA) and Ensign (R-NV).

Check out this alert by reform advocates working on the intersection of healthcare and immigration policy -- please take a moment to call your Senators now to oppose amendments that are bad policy for all Americans.

As you’d expect, anti-immigrant organizations are calling on their members to light up the phones. FAIR, the leading anti-immigraton lobbying organization, which is recognized as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, is urging its activists today to oppose any inclusion of legal immigrants in health insurance reform. Hate groups like FAIR will continue to spread lies about immigrants and health care.  And, they’ll continue to feed misinformation to their allies on Capitol Hill. 

We’ve reached a point in the health care debate where yesterday we had to ask legislators who support such measures, "What part of LEGAL don't you understand?"

Senator Steve King (R-IA), as blogger Dave Neiwert pointed out at Crooks and Liars, was so eager to throw immigrants under the bus this week that he even eschewed traditional conservative values of the free market:

In typical fashion, Rep. King read the word “immigrant” and jumped on it, telling the Washington Times: "If anybody can, with a straight face, advocate that we should provide health insurance for people who broke into our country, broke our law and for the most part are criminals, I don't know where they ever would draw the line.”  Never mind the fact that no one was advocating taxpayer assistance to undocumented workers, but simply the right to purchase health insurance with their own money.  Since when were Republicans like King so opposed to the free market?  Oh right – when it involves undocumented immigrants, who “for the most part are criminals,” according to King.

Free-market Steve King vs. Anti-immigrant Steve King. That pretty much sums up how absurd this debate has become.

I'm no health policy expert, but it makes sense that immigrants should have access to affordable health care.  Even Fox news anchors agree that it pays to let undocumented immigrants buy their own health insurance, instead of blocking them from doing so.

On a positive note, common sense has triumphed in some areas of the debate today. Senator Grassley proposed a new verification requirement that would have caused problems for U.S. citizens and immigrants alike.  Fortunately, It was defeated by a 10- 13 margin. All the Republicans, including Olympia Snowe (ME), on the Finance Committee voted with Grassley. All the Democrats opposed his amendment.

Your phone calls to Congress do matter -- so don't forget to tell Congress where you stand.

Note: Cross-posted at Daily Kos.

• By Jackie Mahendra
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Posted 09/21/09 at 03:57pm by Jackie Mahendra

Rhode Island GOP Assemblyman Quits, Citing Joe Wilson Outrage as Last Straw

Faiz Shakir of Think Progress is reporting today in "Rhode Island GOP assemblyman quits party following embarrassment of Wilson’s ‘you lie’ screed:"

Ivan Marte, the ex-chairman of the Rhode Island Republican Hispanic Assembly, has announced that he’s quitting the Republican Party because he was embarrassed by Rep. Joe Wilson’s “you lie” outburst at President Obama:

“I do not want to continue being a member of a party in which the members of the party express themselves in that way,” said Marte, 59, of Cranston. In a phone interview, he called Wilson’s behavior “shameful” and “uncivilized.”

But Marte said Wilson’s outburst was the last straw in a series of disappointments that led him to break with his party.

In a letter to GOP chairman Giovanni Cicione, Marte wrote, “I do hope that my resignation served as a sign, that the Republican Party in this Nation need to reevaluate their position” on reaching out to minority groups.

So do we.

• By Jackie Mahendra
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Posted 09/18/09 at 08:56am by Jackie Mahendra

On Citizenship Day, Cong. Gutierrez Announces Major Immigration Reform Plans

Update: I'll update ongoing blog coverage of the announcement below the fold.

Yesterday Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) spoke at the National Citizenship Day celebration in Washington, DC, in front of Members of Congress and hundreds of community leaders, who urged him to introduce real immigration reform legislation, real soon. To an eager crowd, Rep. Gutierrez announced that he would introduce such comprehensive immigration reform legislation this Fall, and in a press statement late yesterday, said:

I am overwhelmed by the support of immigrant, faith-based and community-based organizations in urging me to introduce comprehensive immigration legislation. We simply cannot wait any longer for a bill that keeps our families together, protects our workers and allows a pathway to legalization for those who have earned it.  Saying immigration is a priority for this Administration or this Congress is not the same as seeing tangible action, and the longer we wait, the more every single piece of legislation we debate will be obstructed by our failure to pass comprehensive reform.

Rep. Gutierrez has been playing a major role in moving reform forward and has been standing strong for rational policy in the face of an increasingly-ugly Republican strategy to use immigration as a wedge to sour the health care debate -- a play which has largely caught Democratic Senators and the Administration flat-footed.

During the last year, Rep. Gutierrez has led a series of listening tours and major interfaith community events under the banner of the "Familias Unidas" tour. It was at one of the Tour's stops that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi argued passionately:

"Our future is about our children."

No matter if those families arrived two days ago or centuries ago, Pelosi said "that opportunity, that determination, that hope has made American more American."

She said, "Taking parents from their children ... that's un-American."

• By Jackie Mahendra
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Posted 09/14/09 at 01:22pm by Frank Sharry

White House Joins Democratic Senators to Appease Joe Wilson

Note: Cross-posted at Huffington Post and The Sanctuary.

On Friday I explained how Rep. Joe Wilson’s controversial heckling during President Obama's joint Congressional address last Wednesday laid bare the ugly-as-ever, Republican illegal immigration wedge strategy for the nation to see.

What’s more astounding, I argued, was that key Democrats, Senators Baucus (D-MO) and Conrad (D-ND) to be specific, seemed to be validating Wilson's outburst.  Republicans were scaring up a fake bogeyman – the undocumented immigrant who would benefit from taxpayer funded health insurance – and rather than pushing back with the facts, Baucus and Conrad told the American public to take them seriously.

Raising red flags, the White House took a similar tack late Friday evening, as ABC's political blogger Jake Tapper reports:

And within this conceit, the White House has declared the following:

• "Undocumented immigrants would not be able to buy private insurance on the exchange. Those who are lawfully present in this country would be able to participate.

• "Undocumented immigrants would be able to buy insurance in the non-exchange private market, just as they do today. That market will shrink as the exchange takes hold, but it will still exist and will be subject to reforms such as the bans on pre-existing conditions and caps.

• "Verification will be required when purchasing health insurance on the exchange. One option is the SAVE program (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) which states currently use to make sure that undocumented immigrants don’t participate in safety-net programs for which they are ineligible.

• "There would be no change in the law that requires emergency rooms to treat people who need emergency care, including undocumented immigrants. There is already a federal grant program that compensates states for emergency room costs associated with treatment of undocumented immigrants, a provision sponsored by a Republican lawmaker."

As a friend of mine remarked incredulously Friday night, "Wait, wait. We're going to say you can't BUY something in America?"

• By Frank Sharry
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Posted 09/11/09 at 04:03pm by Frank Sharry

When Wilson Defines Debate, Democrats Squander Chance to Set Record Straight

Note: cross-posted at FireDogLake.

Rep. Joe Wilson’s outburst during the President’s joint Congressional address on Wednesday has exposed—for the entire nation—one of the Republican Party’s favorite political plays: the illegal immigration wedge strategy.

What’s more astounding, however, is that key Democrats, Senators Baucus (D-MO) and Conrad (D-ND) in this case, seem to be going along.  Republicans were scaring up a fake bogeyman – the undocumented immigrant who would benefit from taxpayer funded health insurance – and rather than pushing back, Baucus and Conrad seem to be taking them seriously.    

John Aravosis of AMERICABlog is reporting today that Senators Baucus and Kent Conrad are looking at adding additional documentation requirements to the Senate bill.  Democrats were right to reject earlier Republican amendments that would have cut out eligible Americans and increased taxpayer costs in order to score political points.  Rather than cave to the man who just insulted the President, they should stay strong in defending their proposal. 

Let’s be clear. The illegal immigration wedge strategy is a tired approach that Republican politicians continue to employ, despite ample evidence that it just doesn’t work.  During the 2008 elections, Republican candidates spent millions of dollars on immigration attack ads and lost.  They also alienated the fastest-grown group of swing voters – Latinos – whose political power is only going to increase in 2010 and beyond.

From S-CHIP to stimulus to health care, Republicans have turned over and over again to that same tired playbook.  So when they were looking for a way to bring down health care reform, all they had to do was insist that the President’s plan would allow undocumented immigrants to get taxpayer-subsidized health insurance, despite repeated evidence to the contrary from the President, Congressional leaders, and even fact checkers who’ve “read the bill.” Joe Wilson was hardly the first to spread the lie that undocumented immigrants will get subsidized health insurance under the President’s proposal, and he won’t be the last.  Just yesterday, Senator Jon Kyl and Minority Leader John Boehner rushed to Wilson’s defense. 

Next week, anti-immigrant organizations are descending on Washington to push this further.  Their line, echoed by Wilson, Kyl, Boehner, and others, is that the current health care proposals aren’t tough enough in restricting access to undocumented immigrants.  But here are the facts:

• Undocumented immigrants cannot receive taxpayer-funded assistance for health insurance under the plans on the table. Section 246 of H.R. 3200 states “Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.”   

• The federal government already has verification processes in place to ensure that undocumented immigrants don’t access public benefits programs.  This includes the SAVE Program administered by DHS.  If health care reform becomes law, the government will continue to use these systems to verify eligibility for the new programs.     

• Adding additional verification requirements would be expensive and useless.  When Congress added more citizenship proof requirements on top of the current Medicaid procedures, the results were breathtaking.  In just six states, federal and state governments used $16.6 million in taxpayer funds to implement the extra procedures, and turned up only eight undocumented immigrants.  For every $100 in federal tax dollars used to subsidize these requirements, the government got only 14 cents in actual savings. 

• Adding additional verification requirements would cut out eligible Americans.  According to a GAO study of the new Medicaid requirements, half of states reported declines in Medicaid enrollment due to the procedures, with a majority of those rejected appearing to be U.S. citizens who could not meet the documentation requirements. 

• By Frank Sharry
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Posted 09/10/09 at 03:19pm by Jackie Mahendra

Action: Fight FAIR- Fewer “Lies!” and More Solutions

Last night Rep. Joe Wilson from South Carolina shouted “YOU LIE” at President Barack Obama during the President's Congressional health care address. And what was the issue that had him so riled up?

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, of course.

In last night’s televised address, President Obama was denouncing myths spread by cable news, talk radio, and anti-immigrant politicians that immigrants living in the U.S. illegally would receive free coverage under his health care plan. In fact, they are barred from doing so, as CNN, the Associated Press, FactCheck.org, and others have highlighted repeatedly.

Many of our email supporters have written in to express their concerns about this very exclusion:

"It troubles me that illegal immigrants will not be eligible for health care.  Are they not human beings, also?  They pay taxes like everybody else.  What reason is there to deny health care to somebody merely on the basis of where they were born?" --- John Wheat Gibson, Sr, Texas

"I would have hoped illegal immigrants would not be banned from receiving health care." ---Eldon R.

 "I support President Obama and health care reform. I'm a liberal Democrat. But I'm not very happy that undocumented immigrants cannot access our health care system except for emergencies. We need to extend our compassion to them also!" ---Rev. Aja, Kentucky

It's obvious that the specter of ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION is being used by politicians like Rep. Joe Wilson as a divisive wedge issue-- he has become a mouthpiece for groups whose main agendas are rooted in white nationalism, fear, and xenophobia. 

One such organization is the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), classified as a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center. FAIR has been lobbying Congress for years now and is storming DC this week for its annual "Hold Their Feet To The Fire" lobby days. FAIR's founder, John Tanton, has been quoted:

"As Whites see their power and control over their lives declining, will they simply go quietly into the night? Or will there be an explosion?"

To be clear, these folks don't care about the facts, when it comes to immigration policy. They're looking to block any kind of comprehensive solution. Their solution? The mass deportation of 12 million people. Fewer rights for workers. More people living in the shadows.

The facts didn’t stop Rep. Wilson from shouting angrily at the President of the United States yesterday about “benefits for ILLEGALS.” Isn't it time we stop giving extremism a free pass?

Watch our "What is FAIR?" video and help us send a message to Congress about who this hate group really is. Together, we can fight FAIR.

• By Jackie Mahendra
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