Update May 21: His amendment lost of course, the Dems teamed up with Graham and Flake have defeated just about everything Grassley and Sessions tried to do. I’ll have more tomorrow, but for now check out this letter of all those opposing the bill when it comes to the floor. We are among some great patriots!
This is such good news! Really, really, really good news! [Amendment lost but thank Grassley anyway and tell him to take the fight to the floor!]
You must call Senator Grassley this morning to tell him you support this effort! (see below)
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is offering an amendment to S.744 to remove all references to refugees/asylum from S. 744 until after a report is completed about how the Tsarnaev terrorists were granted asylum! I could kiss the Senate Judiciary Committee ranking Republican!
I stopped in his office last Wednesday when I went to DC for the State Department hearing and left a letter for him asking him to do just what the Washington Times is reporting (LOL! But, I am sure he figured this out without any help from me!).
From the Washington Times (hat tip: Joanne). Emphasis below is mine:
The Boston Marathon bombing hasn’t derailed the immigration debate, but it has sent lawmakers back to the drawing board on some key provisions, including changes to the asylum system that the two suspects in the bombing used to come to the U.S.
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were brought to the U.S. a decade ago by their parents, who fled the deteriorating economy and burgeoning conflicts in the Central Asian region the family had called home.
Now, as the Senate Judiciary Committee works its way through the 867-page immigration bill, some lawmakers say it’s a chance to make changes that could help prevent a future incident.
Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the committee, has introduced an amendment that would prevent any changes to the asylum or refugee systems until at least a year after an audit of what went wrong in Boston.
“The Boston bombing probably made us take a closer look at the asylum provisions in the underlying bill,” Mr. Grassley said. “My asylum amendments don’t address Boston specifically, but they will require a look back by the inspector general before any changes to weaken the current asylum law goes forward.”
The asylum program is for those who apply from within the U.S., while the refugee program is for those applying from outside the border. The U.S. is the most generous country in the world in granting protections, but the programs also have seen periods of fraud and abuse.
Mr. Grassley said the bill written by the “Gang of Eight” senators actually waters down some of the security measures in current asylum and refugee law, and he said he would prefer to see the process stiffened instead.
Let the whining begin!
Refugee contractors are out in full force trying to protect their turf. You see, they are paid by the head (with your tax dollars) to resettle refugees and get asylees hooked up with welfare goodies. They don’t like Senator Graham’s amendments one bit either!
Human rights groups [Federal contractors—ed]…. are gearing up for a fight over another proposal by Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, who wants to prevent anyone granted asylum or refugee status from returning to their home countries, unless they got a waiver from the Homeland Security Department.
And, who is one leading whiner—Erol Kekic of contractor Church World Service. Kekic testified at the State Department hearing on Wednesday for CWS and for the lobbying arm for contractors—Refugee Council USA. Mr. Kekic is from Bosnia, here is his bio.
Erol Kekic, director of the Church World Service’s immigration and refugee program, said there are situations where someone wants to return home to see a dying relative or to try to play a role in constructive politics. And then there are the situations where someone was granted asylum years before, but their home country has since stabilized.
“If we’re going to deny protection for people like that I think that’s really taking away from any common sense,” Mr. Kekic said. [Most people would see it’s common sense that if a person returns to the place of his persecution he is either crazy or never persecuted in the first place!—ed]
He said it wasn’t even clear whether Homeland Security officials could track every person they suspected of returning to their home countries.
We better damn well be able to track these people after what we learned in Boston!
NOW! Please call or fax Senator Grassley’s office and tell him to strip out all refugee and asylum references in S.744. No matter what happens with his amendment, thank him for his concern for our security!
Here is his fax and phone number. If you call it will ring for awhile…they are being swamped with calls.
(202) 224-3744
Fax: (202) 224-6020
This is the most important thing you can do today if you want to get this refugee program under control. And, don’t forget to call Senator Rand Paul too. Although he isn’t on the committee he will eventually play a huge role in determining whether this monstrous bill—S.744—passes.
PLEASE ALSO GET THIS AROUND VIA SOCIAL MEDIA—PLEASE TWEET!
Update: The refugee contractors are tweeting like crazy esp. IRC, CWS and Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS).