And, let me ask the real humanitarians in our audience, why do you think this cabal is for Open Borders?
Because they have a heart? Or, because they are looking at their bottomlines and need the cheap labor? Let’s be completely honest! They do not have the best interests of the American worker or the taxpayer first on their priority list!
If you are going to CPAC 2015 later this month, keep in mind that Norquist has kept out any conservative who has questioned his Islamic sympathies. https://potomacteapartyreport.wordpress.com/2013/03/03/cpac-doesnt-like-free-speech-blocks-pamela-geller-this-year-completely/
So, why might refugees and legal immigrant laborers be so good for big business interests—the rich can get away with paying lower wages while you subsidize the workers with welfare! Great business model isn’t it!
Leading figures in Republican fundraising will hold a teleconference next week calling for an overhaul to U.S. immigration policy — a move that could put pressure on GOP presidential hopefuls as they head toward 2016.
The Tuesday call, which will be moderated by longtime conservative immigration advocate Grover Norquist, will include Mitt Romney’s former finance director Spencer Zwick; California-based fast food CEO Andrew Puzder; and billionaire health care executive Mike Fernandez.
Fernandez, who contributed at least $1 million to help elect Mitt Romney in 2012 and helped raise many millions more, has said he is leaning toward supporting Jeb Bush in the upcoming election. But Puzder, who helped fund Carly Fiorina’s 2010 Senate campaign, so far appears up for grabs in the early race for Republican money; and Zwick, who led Romney’s 2012 fundraising efforts, has not yet aligned himself with any of the prospective candidates who are courting him.
The call serves as the latest illustration of tension between GOP donors — whose business interests and personal ideology often lead them to support more lenient immigration measures — and conservative activists, who generally oppose such policies.
The teleconference will be hosted by the Partnership for a New American Economy, which boasts a bi-partisan collection of co-chairs including Rupert Murdoch, Michael Bloomberg, Bill Marriott, and Julian Castro.
If you missed it last week, read more about Norquist’s Islamic connections, here.
Drudge had a headline story last night, from CNN, which listed many of Presidential hopeful Jeb Bush’s comments on welcoming immigrants.
Can we afford one more Bush tax and spender?
According to CNN, Bush was to give a speech in Detroit yesterday (I don’t know if he did) and suggest this:
He even suggested the mayor of Detroit — the economically depressed Midwestern city where he’s giving his first policy address of the 2016 campaign on Wednesday — use immigration to “repopulate” the city.
Would someone please do an economic study of one of the refugee-overloaded cities and see if immigrants did bring prosperity to the city or not! Let’s put this notion to rest!
Look at Utica, NY for example. Ten years ago the United Nations raved and called it the Town that Loves Refugees and just two weeks ago we learned that the city was suing the state because they can’t afford to educate all of the refugee children.
Any study should examine closely the cost of educating the children and the costs to the criminal justice system. We need to know what the labor market looks like. Are the immigrants simply taking jobs that less-educated Americans want?
We also need to know how much money is leaving the city and the country in the form of remittances back to the homeland!
The study must consider how much federal TAXPAYER money is simply flowing from Washington to the city (it shouldn’t be counted as benefiting the city when taxpayer dollars are simply moved from one pot to another!). Also, we hear all the time that immigrants open businesses at a higher rate, but I want to know how much start-up money is going to them from government-supported micro-loans. And, how quickly they are closing those businesses!
Chris Chmielenski at NumbersUSA sent out this important announcement today:
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) was named chairman of the Senate Immigration, Refugees and Border Security subcommittee this week, giving significant control over immigration legislation to Congress’ top champion of lower immigration levels and American workers.Sen. Sessions has already renamed the subcommittee “‘Immigration and the National Interest,’ as a declaration to the American people that this subcommittee belongs to them,” according to a statement on his website.
Congratulations Senator Sessions! Our first ray of hope in a very long time!
“The financial and political elite have been controlling this debate for years; this subcommittee will give voice to those whose voice has been shut out … the voice of all Americans who believe we must have a lawful system of immigration they can be proud of and that puts their interests first.”
— Sen. Sessions
Sen. Sessions’ record on immigration speaks for itself. He was the most ardent opponent of the Senate’s Gang of 8 mass amnesty bill in 2013 and has consistently spoken out against Pres. Obama’s executive actions on immigration. Earlier this month, his staff hand-delivered a 25-page memo he wrote to all House GOP in advance of their retreat, making the case for lower immigration levels and increased enforcement.
The appointment could prove to be extremely significant should new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stick to his pledge to return the Senate to “regular order”. It would mean that every immigration-related bill would have to pass through Sen. Sessions’ subcommittee before it could reach the Senate floor for a vote.
The subcommittee’s vice-chair will be another immigration-reduction champion, Sen. David Vitter (R-La.). Both Sessions and Vitter have NumbersUSA Career grades of A+.
Senate considers its options
Thank you to all of our activists who placed thousands of phone calls to Senate offices this week pushing for passage of the House-passed DHS spending bill that would defund most of Obama’s executive actions. Your calls reminded lawmakers of their midterm campaign promises and that voters won’t forget pledges to do everything in their power to stop Pres. Obama’s executive actions on immigration.
The Senate is not in session today, but will return on Monday. Debate over some bills is running longer than expected, so it’s still uncertai n when Sen. McConnell will bring the House-passed DHS spending bill to the Senate floor. But, Politico is reporting that GOP Leaders are looking for alternative solutions to stopping the President’s executive overreach should the DHS spending bill not pass.
“Top Republicans are exploring ways of escaping their political jam on immigration, with steps that could avoid a funding cutoff for the Department of Homeland Security while letting conservatives vent their anger at President Barack Obama.”
— Politico, “GOP seeking Plan B on immigration”, Jan. 21, 2015
NumbersUSA President Roy Beck protests that thinking:
We aren’t interested in venting anger; we’re interested in results that protect American workers and their families from the wage depression of Mr. Obama’s actions.
We can’t let Members of Congress off the hook! We’ll be coming to you next week with more phoning and faxing opportunities as we continue to pressure Congress to uphold its promise to stop Pres. Obama’s executive amnesties and work permits for millions of illegal aliens.
Border bill moving quickly through the House
Earlier this week, the House Homeland Security Committee passed an amended version of Rep. Michael McCaul’s (R-Texas) border bill, the Secure the Border First Act.
The bill purports to require completion of the 700-miles of double layered fencing that was authorized by the Secure the Fence Act of 2006, but in fact, counts vehicle barriers and single-layer fencing in the 700 miles, even though they don’t comply with the requirements of the law. It also requires implementation of the biometric entry/exit system that has been authorized by Congress and funded on at least six separate occasions and requires DHS to achieve “operational control” along the Southern border. But the bill allows 5-7 years for these provisions to take effect, letting the Obama Administration off the hook for its lack of enfo rcement over the last six years.
The bill’s title, however — the Secure the Border First Act — suggests that Congress should take no further actions on immigration, including guest worker programs and amnesty, until the provisions are implemented and the border secured.
It’s been pointed out by both Sen. Sessions and Jessica Vaughan at the Center for Immigration Studies that the bill throws lots of resources at the border but doesn’t actually change the current administration’s policies, including catch-and-release. Thus, this administration and future ones could intercept every person crossing the Southern border illegally, but if they’re simply issued notices to appear an d relocated to the interior of the country, it wouldn’t really stop future waves of illegal border crossings like the one last summer. So, in reality, the bill really doesn’t do anything to reduce illegal immigration.
The bill will come before the House Rules Committee on Monday and then move to the House floor during the week.
Maybe we can persuade the new Sessions subcommittee (Immigration and the National Interest) to have a look at the Refugee Resettlement Program! After three decades it needs a review!
Getting away from Muslim migrants for a moment, we have a story this morning about how federal refugee resettlement contractor (one of the big nine***), Church World Service, helps Cubans who are ECONOMIC migrants, not refugees, get settled in America.
Miguel Laguna, a caseworker at Church World Service, a refugee resettlement agency, runs an orientation class about life in the US for a newly arrived Cuban family. Credit: Monica Campbell http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-01-22/youre-cuban-youve-reached-us-boat-now-what
I’ve been wondering lately what Obama’s change in US/Cuban relations will have on the thousands and thousands of Cubans still arriving in the US under that ridiculous “wet foot, dry foot” policy.
If we normalize relations with Cuba, why would there be any “refugees” coming here? Or, will his policy simply open the pipeline completely for one and all to fly right in?
A refugee by definition is escaping persecution. People wanting a job and social services are economic migrants and not eligible for refugee status (unless you are Cuban of course).
They are coming here for American jobs! Remember! Your tax dollars pay for most of the services of Church World Service! See how much here.
Here is the story from PRI.org (emphasis below is mine):
Forget for a second that you live in the United States, that you know its laws, know English, know what a Social Security number is, let alone worrying about having one.
Now imagine that’s the wave of information you are trying to absorb, quickly, in a small conference room in Miami. That’s exactly what happens to some families when they arrive in the United States.
Miguel Laguna helps guide them through the bewildering process. He’s a caseworker at Church World Service, a refugee resettlement agency with an office in the Miami area. Most of the Miami office’s clients are Cubans. [Miami office website is here–ed]
Laguna goes over with the family how to take the bus, apply for citizenship and where to study English. It’s a lot to take in.
[….]
Ramos sits with his wife, Ailén, and his son, also named Ismael. The family tells me it took two days and two nights in a small boat to reach Florida. They got lost in the Gulf of Mexico, but eventually made it. “The GPS broke, so we didn’t know where we were for a while,” Ailén says.
They say they left Cuba because there’s no work there. Ailén says she was a gym teacher making $12 a month, a pretty typical salary in Cuba. The family thought of leaving for years, but sped up their plans for fear that the United States’ unique and controversial “wet foot, dry foot” policy might disappear.
That policy says that Cuban migrants who make it to shore — “dry foot” — won’t be sent back, and will essentially be granted US residency after a year and one day in this country. The original intent was to drain the best and brightest from communist Cuba by dangling US visas, so some Cubans worry that better US-Cuba relations will lead to a change in policy.
Only Congress can make changes to “wet foot, dry foot,” and that could take a while. But the rumors that the policy might disappear persist in Cuba, and a rising number of people are leaving the island for the US on boats or, in some cases, by land through Latin America.
[….]
Laguna does note that this family has an advantage: They have relatives living in Miami. For Cuban refugees who arrive alone, there’s a lot of uncertainty.
[….]
I ask them why they left Cuba. They all say similar thing: “the economy,” “jobs,” “no work.”
It’s an answer that fuels a growing argument: Why treat Cubans differently than Guatemalans who flee gangs and poverty? What about Mexicans wanting to send money back to their relatives back home, or people fleeing war and repression elsewhere who must petition for asylum in the United States? Why give Cubans a special pass?
Of course what they are working up to is not changing the fact that Cubans get a pass with special treatment, but they want every other person in the world who needs a job or is fleeing crime to get the same pass without that messy business of applying for asylum!
The great American tax guru (as a traitor to middle class workers) is busy lobbying again for more cheap labor for his business clients. In February he goes to Lincoln, Nebraska for a big pow-wow that includes big business interests andrepresentatives of religious and progressive groups.
Bring in the Muslims! The Brotherhood too! http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/raymond-ibrahim/a-disturbing-event-the-american-conservative-union-embraces-an-islamist/
To our many new readers: Truthfully, I am sick of writing about Norquist (our lengthy archive on Norquist is here) who I first mentioned at RRW in 2007 when he was running around Washington DC demanding that the US start bringing in the Iraqi ‘refugees’ (most of whom we have learned since are Muslim Iraqis).
More recently we wroteabout his cabal of Republican (RINOs) promoting more refugee resettlement to America with cheers from Human Rights First.
Note that Jeb Bush us part of Norquist’s gang of ten.
Before you read about the latest Norquist campaign, be sure to read what former Rep. Frank Wolf said about him on the House floor in 2011 when Wolf questioned his Muslim (and other unsavory) connections (see my post at Potomac Tea Party Report).
Reader Robin sent me this news about the busy business lobbyist, Mr. Norquist, in Washington this week, here at Politico.
Grover Norquist, a national conservative leader with a big streak of renegade in him, is coming to Lincoln to promote immigration reform, which he supports primarily on economic grounds.
Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform, an advocacy group he founded in 1985 at President Ronald Reagan’s request. ATR works to limit the size and cost of government and opposes higher taxes at the federal, state and local levels. [How about the taxpayers who foot the bill for $billions for refugees each year?—ed]
His conservative credentials include his membership on the boards of the National Rifle Association of America and the American Conservative Union.
His most famous quote is: “My goal is to cut government in half in 25 years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.”
Newt Gingrich called Norquist “the person who I regard as the most innovative, creative, courageous and entrepreneurial leader of the anti-tax efforts and of conservative grassroots activism in America. … He has truly made a difference and truly changed American history.”
But Norquist parts ways with many conservatives on the issue of immigration.
In an essay he wrote in 2013 for The Guardian, Norquist wrote, “People are an asset, not a liability. The United States is the most immigrant-friendly nation in the world and the richest country in the world. This is not a coincidence. Those voices that would make us less immigrant-friendly would make us less successful, less prosperous and certainly less American.”
He endorsed immigration reform legislation that would allow 11 million undocumented immigrants to earn legal status by submitting to a background check to weed out those with felony convictions, and paying taxes and a fine.
[….]
Norquist was invited to speak at an invitation-only reception and dinner Feb. 2 at Lincoln Station by a coalition of businesses, people, lawyers and interest groups: the Nebraska Restaurant Association, the Nebraska Retail Federation, Nebraska Cattlemen Association, League of Women Voters of Lancaster County, Prairie Fire — The Progressive Voice of the Great Plains, Brown Immigration Law LLC of Lincoln and Justice for Our Neighbors of Nebraska, a nonprofit in Omaha.
Amazing how these groups are so willing to follow Norquist’s lead, do they have any idea who they are following?
Norquist and the disastrous Arab Spring!
I just came across this interesting little nugget: Did you know that Norquist was one of the “smart” people asked to weigh in on who should be Time’sPerson of the Year in 2011. Look who Norquist nominated—Mohamed Bouazizi—good choice I guess if you are a Muslim Brotherhood sympathizer (as their fortunes were rising). However, didn’t work out too well for them ultimately, did it? And, why should Norquist, a defender of the taxpayer, care so much about what was happening in Egypt?
Conservative lobbyist Grover Norquist nominated the Tunisian vegetable vendor whose horrific self-immolation Norquist credits with setting off the revolutions that would become known as the Arab Spring. Norquist said, “I think he set off something that wouldn’t have happened without his act, at least not when it did.”
Do you live in Lincoln? Looking for something to do on Feb. 2nd—you should be out there protesting Norquist (the darling of the US Chamber of Commerce)!
Note to Nebraskans! Our top post in recent days has been this one about Syrian Muslims being resettled in Nebraska.
Senator Jeff Sessions immigration handbook!
If you haven’t seen it, see the champion for workers of America handbook on the immigration crisis facing our country. Between progressive open borders advocates and big business, no one but Sessions is standing for the squeezed American worker!
