Amnesty For Illegals- Up Next After Health Care

Sometime before the end of April, the health care debate will be over one way or another. After spending the better part (or worst part) of a year alienating much of the American electorate by trying to shove an unpopular bill down down their throats he will be pushing another unpopular policy our way, Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants.

Just last week Rasmussen reported that 68% percent of voters say gaining control of the border is more important than legalizing the status of illegal immigrants already living in the United States.

But the President and his progressive buddies in Congress will be working on granting amnesty next, they are already receiving extreme pressure from the "immigration lobby"

Immigrant rights groups on Monday demanded that President Obama impose a full moratorium on deportations of illegal immigrants, arguing that his policies have been worse for their cause than those of his Republican predecessor.

Don't you hate the term Immigrant rights? Its not about Immigrant rights its about ILLEGAL immigrant rights, they are two separate and distinct issues. 

Saying they've been "betrayed" by and lost patience with Mr. Obama, the advocates suggested that the president could regain their support by leading a fight on Capitol Hill for a bill to legalize illegal immigrants. Mr. Obama took the first step toward legalization during a meeting Monday at the White House with two lawmakers working on a bill.

They do not want to wait for an immigration bill to pass. In the meantime, the immigrant rights groups say, Mr. Obama must end deportations altogether. I guess once they legalize illegal immigration, they can pick other crimes to legalize, lets nominate legalizing not answering unconstitutional questions on the census form.

"We demand an immediate stop to all deportations, because each one of these deportations, each one of these numbers, equals a life destroyed and a family devastated," Angelica Sala, executive director of the Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, said at a news conference in Washington.


The government reported 387,790 deportations in fiscal 2009, which spanned the last few months of the George W. Bush administration and more than eight months of the Obama administration. That marked a small increase over fiscal 2008, when deportations totaled 369,221.

The Obama administration insists that its enforcement policies target unscrupulous employers and stop abusive practices that target illegal immigrants.


"This administration is focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that focuses first on those dangerous criminal aliens who present the greatest risk to the security of our communities, not sweeps or raids to target undocumented immigrants indiscriminately," said Homeland Security Department spokesman Matt Chandler.


Legalization versus enforcement has driven tense debate for years.

Tense debate?  There should be no debate, securing the border is necessary for  national security, cases such as the Hezbollah Mole in the CIA case (Nada Nadim Prouty) and the 19-year old Jordanian illegal alien arrested last September for trying to blow up a downtown Dallas office tower, are both examples of why we need to protect our borders. The simple fact is that its more difficult to launch an terrorist attack when you can't get in the country.

Then there is the issue of and the strain on the economy, sharing this countries scant resources with people who are here illegally. Finally there is the fact that by not enforcing this law it weakens the respect for all law in general.

After strong negative feedback from the public caused his immigration proposal to fail in the Senate in 2007, President Bush stepped up enforcement and deportations. He said Americans would not accept legalization because they did not trust the government to enforce the laws.

Last year, his point was proved, as Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said enforcement was sufficient and that the focus should turn back to legalization.

Immigrant rights advocates are planning a major march on Washington on March 21 to pressure Congress to pass a legalization bill.


"It is showdown time," said Emma Lozano, executive director of Centro Sin Fronteras (Center Without Borders), a Chicago-based rights group.


Several participants said they are raising money to transport people to the march from across the country. One woman said children from Chicago churches are performing in the streets to raise money for some of the thousands of buses that organizers there are planning.

....Immigrant rights groups were furious when Mr. Obama dedicated just a few seconds of his State of the Union address in late January to the issue.

The White House insists that it is taking action behind the scenes, including Mr. Obama's meeting Monday with Sens. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, and Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, who are working on a bipartisan immigration bill.

You mean Senator McCain is not involved this time?

The immigrant rights groups said they had thought Mr. Obama would reduce, not increase, enforcement. They warned Democrats that Hispanic and immigrant voters, who supported Mr. Obama and other Democrats by wide margins in the 2008 elections, might search for new champions.


Many of the biggest immigration rights coalitions were absent from the news conference, signaling that they are focusing their efforts on legislation rather than publicly criticizing the administration.

Ms. Napolitano told Congress in recent weeks that her department had racked up "massive amounts" of audits of businesses and that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had set a record for deportations.

....Homeland Security officials say they have curtailed, though not ended, raids on businesses, but have tried to force employers to let illegal immigrants go. They also have restructured agreements that allow state and local police to enforce immigration laws.

They have restructured agreements,  maybe that's why they went after Sheriff Joe for enforcing Immigration laws.

Immigrant rights advocates said they knew Mr. Obama would want to prove that he can enforce immigration laws before embarking on a major reform but expected a stronger push for an immigration bill in Congress.


"The Obama administration intentionally set out to show he was tougher than Bush," said Brent Wilkes, executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

 They Have? The Obama Administration has not shown the people anything but the fact that they think they know much more than the voters.