Immigration Blog

President Obama's Immigration Dilemma: Saving a Flailing Presidency

By Stanley Renshon, August 6, 2013

Every president has to confront how history will view him and his time in office. Reelection provides some solace and an advantageous starting position for historical assessment, but it is no guarantee. Just ask Richard Nixon.

Presidents need not be great historical figures in order to be considered successful. There are successful presidents that bend circumstances to achieve their goals and those who successfully adapt and navigate the political currents they face while putting their own stamp on the results.

Whichever of these two paths are most psychologically congenial, presidents have essentially three specific ways that they can be "successful" and establish a solid historical legacy. Read more...

Mayorkas Hearing Testimony Subject of Detailed Analysis by Grassley

By David North, August 6, 2013

How much attention did USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas pay to EB-5 applications filed on behalf of Terry McAuliffe's electric car company, GreenTech?

The question — involving two Democrats seeking promotion (McAuliffe is the candidate for governor of Virginia in the fall election) — may be crucial to their careers, Mayorkas' probably more than McAuliffe's. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) weighed in last week with what one observer called a "devastating" 97-page analysis of Mayorkas' role in the EB-5 (immigrant investor) case. Read more...

Removing Criminal Aliens and Protecting Public SAFEty

By W.D. Reasoner, August 5, 2013

There are major differences between the immigration bill passed a few weeks ago in the Senate and the SAFE Act, the immigration bill pending in the House of Representatives, especially in the approach taken toward aliens who, in addition to being in the United States illegally, commit criminal offenses. Read more...

Future Headlines if Comprehensive Immigration Reform Is Enacted

By Ronald W. Mortensen, August 5, 2013

Republican strategists see immigration reform as the salvation of their party. Leading Republican senators along with a few Republican House leaders are at the forefront of the amnesty push. So assuming they get their way, how will headlines and news reports read in the future?

November 2013. House Republican Leadership Caves; Path to Citizenship Now the Law Read more...

Warning: Backing Amnesty Is Bad for Your Political Health

By James R. Edwards Jr., August 5, 2013

A headline from Bloomberg really stretches the story into the spin-and-fiction zone. The "news" item claims "Yes Votes on Immigration Revamp Haven't Hurt Republicans". Believe that and you're a gullible dolt. Believe that as a politician and you may find yourself an ex-politician. Read more...

Obama's Great Immigration Bluff

By Stanley Renshon, August 2, 2013

bluff (bluf)
v. bluffed, bluff·ing, bluffs
v.tr.
1. To mislead or deceive.
2. To impress, deter, or intimidate by a false display of confidence.
3. Games To try to mislead (opponents) in a card game by heavy betting on a poor hand or by little or no betting on a good one.

Does President Obama really want to sign an immigration bill? Or does he really not mind if the effort fails so that he will have what some believe will be a potent issue to use against Republicans in the 2014 midterm congressional elections? As Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) phrased it, "The question is, how much energy does the White House put in to actually getting a remedy? Or do they want to keep the issue for 2014?"

There's evidence for both positions, but ultimately there are very good psychological and political reasons to believe that only one is right. Read more...

Burying the Lede: The L.A. Times Shows How It's Done

By Jerry Kammer, August 2, 2013

This week's winner of the Bury-the-Lede Award goes to Seema Mehta of the Los Angeles Times for her story about the discussion of immigration policy at a town hall meeting held by Democratic Rep. Karen Bass.

Mehta spent the first 480 words of her 620-word story summarizing Rep. Bass's concerns about the future of the Senate bill, giving special attention to her denunciation of Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) for his notoriously wrong-headed remarks about illegal immigrants. Read more...

Front Group Pushing Amnesty Hired Illegal Organizer

By James R. Edwards Jr., August 2, 2013

One of the groups advocating for mass amnesty, including the grotesque Senate-passed S.744, is a labor union front group called the Restaurant Opportunities Center. ROC is pursuing loopholes in Obamacare to give taxpayer-funded health care to illegal aliens.

ROC, it turns out, deserves special opprobrium for not only advocating on behalf of illegal aliens, but for employing a prominent one, apparently knowingly. Making ROC even more detestable, ROC collects federal funds, which essentially frees up its own bucks for its offices in Washington and elsewhere. More on the federal dole later. Read more...

Ms. Tian, the Valedictorian, and Immigration Policy

By David North, August 1, 2013

Jiamei Tian, the disturbed woman who sprayed green paint on the Lincoln Memorial and other treasured sites in Washington, is an illegal alien. (She is a Chinese national and a visa-abuser; though the media uses softer terms, such as the fact that she has an expired visa.)

The storied high school valedictorian that we hear so much about, the Mexican teenager who wants to attend medical school so that he can help the poor, is also an illegal alien.

Both narratives are gripping and both are totally beside the point. Read more...

Rep. Labrador Meets the Press: Round 2

By Stanley Renshon, August 1, 2013

"Meet the Press", hosted by David Gregory, is, as noted, a rather conventional news program. Yet, every once in a while, it results in a very clarifying set of exchanges.

One case in point was the following exchange between New York Times columnist David Brooks and Rep. Raul Labrador on the July 7 show: Read more...