Category: Other Immigration

Catholic Bishops testify in support of amnesty

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Joining the Evangelicals, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), one of the top ten refugee resettlement agencies, testified in support of amnesty for illegal immigrant workers at a Senate hearing last week.

Comprehensive immigration reform is needed to help bring undocumented immigrants “out of the shadows” and to reunite them with their families, Archbishop Emeritus of Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick told a Senate subcommittee on Thursday.

Addressing the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security on Comprehensive Immigration Reform, the cardinal said the United States requires an immigration system that links legal immigration with the country’s long-term economic needs, with family unity and with basic human rights.

Frankly, I never understand why the basic human rights and the economic needs of American citizens are always trumped by concern for the immigrants?  What about our own unemployed and low-income struggling families?

The cardinal urged that any immigration reform legislation help bring undocumented immigrants “out of the shadows” and give them the opportunity to achieve permanent residency and citizenship. He recommended that family-based immigration be strengthened in order to preserve family unity and that legal avenues be created to help migrant workers enter the country legally and safely.

As a Catholic myself I have many questions for the Cardinal.  First, how much is the USCCB receiving from the federal government now for immigration services they provide and will they then be expanding their taxpayer-funded services when 12 million illegal immigrants are legalized? (Note here that we don’t know how much the USCCB gets because they have no Better Business Bureau report on file). 

And, then when considering the flood of illegal aliens taking jobs from Americans, aren’t the Bishops one bit concerned about the thousands of legal refugees they resettle each year with only about 20% of them finding work now?  Aren’t the illegal aliens taking jobs refugees will do?

One last question.  If the 12 million are legalized what is to stop the next million illegals from coming across the border illegally and expecting to be legalized as well?

Readers are reminded of the USCCB’s ties to ACORN and the political Leftwing, here.

National Association of Evangelicals testifies in support of Amnesty

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Roy Beck at NumbersUSA is stunned that a whole host of Evangelical Churches, including even the Salvation Army, testified in support of amnesty for illegal aliens in the US Senate two days ago, here.

Leaders of most of the nation’s evangelical Christians made a shocking endorsement of illegal-alien amnesty today in Senate testimony.

Their spokesman — the head of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) — said high immigration is increasing membership in evangelical churches and is good for the economy.

Polls have shown that evangelical Christians in the pews are the MOST likely to OPPOSE amnesty. If you are one of them, you may want to contact your church leaders immediately.

[….]

I am especially devastated by the national evangelical leaders’ callous disregard for the U-6 unemployment rate of nearly 20% — job-seekers (active and recently discouraged) who cannot find any job or who have been forced into involuntary part-time work.

It is incredible to read Rev. Anderson’s testimony talking about the failure in having enough immigration visas to fill the needs of the U.S. business community!

I am embarrassed for him and his 74 colleagues. I am sure they do not mean such inhumane treatment of their fellow Americans. And I am sure they dug themselves into this shameful hole with the most well-intentioned of shovels.

I suggest that the readers of this blog consider forgiveness toward these religious leaders while thoughtfully guiding them to see all the shades and complexities of the immigration issue to which they weren’t exposed by the NAE staff and the open-borders lobby which led them to this pro-amnesty position.

For a list of National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) church affiliates, go here.  Note that one of the Top Ten refugee resettlement federal contractors, World Relief, is a part of the NAE.  

Just a reminder that the NAE and World Relief went to the White House to get marching orders on amnesty, here.

I think Mr. Beck is being too kind.  These groups may say they are all for Christian charity, and that’s how they sell it to their people,  but it’s really all about money(taxpayer and big business and big labor money) and leftwing political power.  For example, World Relief gets over $30 million a year from government grants alone, while it supplies refugees to work in businesses like meatpacking. 

We are seeing the fruits of far Left (Alinskyite) community organizing that has been going on for over 40 years.  They need immigrant numbers to bring about “change.”

CIS reports that the Dallas jihadist apprehended last week overstayed student visa

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Last week we told you about the FBI sting operation that resulted in the arrest of a Jordanian Jihadist in Dallas, here.

Now I see that my speculation that he had come across the border in Texas was wrong.  He got in on a student visa and never left.  From Mark Krikorian at the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), here.

I’m all for border fencing and the like; it’s an essential tool of national sovereignty.

But for too many politicians, and even ordinary folks, support for border security is a cop out, a substitute for thinking about the overall immigration problem, only part of which has anything to do with our border with Mexico.

One vital issue that is neglected because of this tunnel-vision on border fences is visa overstays. The Dallas jihadist shows how important this is; I suspected he was an overstayer, and the Dallas Morning News confirmed:

The father said that his sons Hosam and Hussein came to the United States in 2007 on student visas. Authorities said, however, Hosam Smadi was not currently enrolled in school.

Just more evidence that LEGAL immigration programs are filled with fraud and need to be reformed, and then policed!

Clinton, Obama, Podesta, scandals, ACORN, Podesta, immigrants, diversity, Podesta, Tides, Soros, Podesta

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I guess you get my drift—John Podesta is in the middle of it all!   Podesta as we told you previously is the head honcho of the very far Left “think tank”  Center for American Progress.   He got our attention in January when his Center released a report and a plea to the incoming Obama Administration to airlift 100,000 Iraqis to the US —ASAP—this year—pronto!  

What made me think of him this morning was a column by Andrew Breitbart published in the Washington Times entitled, “Podesta spends Soros money stupidly.”  Breitbart tells us about a recent lunch date between Clinton and Obama and speculates that  they discussed how to manipulate their media friends away from scandals like the growing ACORN debacle.

A telling event occurred on Sept. 15, Day 6 of the drip, drip, drip ACORN video rollout. President Obama met for lunch with former President Bill Clinton at trendy Il Mulino in New York City.

For the second consecutive day, the New York Post featured the ACORN scandal on its cover – complete with James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles in their outrageous “pimp and ho” costumes.

Does anyone think the president and the former president were unaware that the city in which they were dining was mesmerized by the ACORN scandal – especially since ACORN had bragged that its employees had kicked Mr. O’Keefe and Ms. Giles out of their New York office?

[….]

No one in the morally superior media world has asked, why did Mr. Obama have lunch with Mr. Clinton that day? So let me take a guess, and it seems like an obvious answer. Mr. Obama, under siege by a video-a-day expose that was exposing the Democratic Party to an avalanche of consequences (ACORN defunded in the House and Senate, ACORN delinked from the census, etc.), needed advice from the last president to navigate through a major political scandal.

Well lookie here—the next day Mr. Fix-it Podesta is called in to “investigate” ACORN!

The next day, Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta, the Democratic Party’s top fix-it guy with control over much of the left’s well-funded vast attack machinery (think George Soros, the Tides Foundation, et al.), was among a small advisory group placed in charge of investigating the matter.

[….]

So, who is John Podesta? He runs the Center for American Progress think tank, which in 2004 helped launch Media Matters for America, the well-funded watchdog outfit run by ex-conservative journalist David Brock, which feeds the media reams of anti-conservative documents that attempt to diminish the credibility of alternative media outlets.

Now back to my interest in Podesta  (bio here) who ran the Obama transition team, is connected to the Tides Foundation, George Soros and immigrants and who is coincidentally from Chicago like so many of Obama’s other friends.   I wonder did the blogger at New Zeal ever learn anything about the Podesta family in Chicago—where apparently all old Communists went to live in the late 1940’s and ’50’s?

The Immigrant connection!

The Tides Foundation, George Soros, American Center for Progress are all Open Borders pushers.   Do they really care so much for the poor and angry immigrants they import—my answer is NO!  Immigrants are pawns.   Those ACORN tapes and the attitude of ACORN workers toward the idea of bringing young girls across the border illegally tells us that. It’s all about their political agenda and about winning.   With perfect timing I just got an e-mail from reader B.L. with this quote from Clinton about a Vast Right-wing conspiracy.

Yesterday, Clinton was asked on ‘Meet the Press’ (Limbaugh calls it ‘Meet the Depressed’) if he feared a Republican takeover of Congress in 2010 and he confidentally said no:

“There’s no way” that could happen, Clinton said, adding that “the country is more diverse….”

Get it!  Immigrants=diversity=Democratic voters.

Back to Breitbart who is morally outraged, as most of us are, at the idea of ACORN workers not batting an eyelash at the part of the scam involving underaged girls from El Salvador illegally entering the US.  Here he suggests Mr. Fix-it Podesta may have a harder time with this scandal.

Plus, unlike Mr. Clinton’s war-room blame-the-messenger excuse – “it’s just about the sex” – this year’s ACORN scandal won’t be pushed aside, because this time it includes 13-year-old sex slaves from El Salvador.

I hope he is right, but I wouldn’t be so sure.   Thirteen-year-old girls from El Salvador are a twofer for some Democrats.  Think about it!  Useful now, but in 5 years they could be counted on as reliable Democratic party voters.  Recall the Alinsky mantra:  the ends justify the means, any means!

Democrats pushing health care coverage for illegal aliens

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

And, for immediate coverage for all legal immigrants. 

From The Washington Times this morning:

Fearful that they’re losing ground on immigration and health care, a group of House Democrats is pushing back and arguing that any health care bill should extend to all legal immigrants and allow illegal immigrants some access.

The Democrats, trying to stiffen their party’s spines on the contentious issue, say it’s unfair to bar illegal immigrants from paying their own way in a government-sponsored exchange. Legal immigrants, they say, regardless of how long they’ve been in the United States, should be able to get government-subsidized health care if they meet the other eligibility requirements.

[….]

Coverage for immigrants is one of the thorniest issues in the health care debate, and one many Democratic leaders would like to avoid. But immigrant rights groups and the Democrats who sent the letters say they have to take a stand now.

Most federal benefits for legal immigrants kick in at 5 years, however….

Under the 1996 welfare law overhaul, Congress restricted most federal benefits to longtime holders of green cards – those who have been in the country at least five years.

But Democrats chipped away at that rule when they reauthorized the State Children’s Health Insurance Program earlier this year and allowed states to cover all immigrant children and pregnant women, regardless of how long they’ve been in the country.

Refugees are eligible for all federal benefits almost immediately and that is one of the driving forces around the world for people to attempt to get “refugee” status as we see happening in those Thai refugee camps we told you about last night, here.

Poison pill!

Rep. Steve King, Iowa Republican, said proposals that include government coverage for illegal immigrants leave him incredulous.

“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,” he said.

Mr. King, who opposes Democrats’ health care plans in general, said illegal immigrant access in legislation “would be a poison pill that would cause health care to go down” to defeat.