The Senate began a number of votes this morning on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill, including on one amendment to strip House-passed language that defunds the president’s executive amnesties. The existing DHS continuing resolution expires at midnight tonight. The House is scheduled to take up another continuing resolution today to avert a funding gap.
Senate Democrats accepted Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) deal yesterday to end their filibuster of the House-passed DHS funding bill, H.R.240. By a 98-to-2 margin, the Senate approved a procedural motion, allowing the bill to come to the floor. McConnell is expected to offer an amendment today that would strip out the two immigration amendments inserted by the House before moving to a final vote on the bill.
Reports from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) show that they have not been able to fill the 34,000 detention beds with illegal aliens as the law requires. The department, which serves as the interior enforcement and deportation arm of the Department of Homeland Security, was averaging just 27,000 detainees a day for fiscal 2015 as of Jan. 25. That means that over 20% of ICE's capacity is going unused thus far.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced a plan on Tuesday that would allow a vote on a "clean" DHS funding bill that would fully fund Pres. Obama's unconstitutional amnesties. The plan hinges on a possible deal with Senate Democrats that would require them to allow debate on a separate measure that would defund the president's 2014 executive amnesties. The move came a day after Senate Democrats, along with Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), blocked debate on the House-passed DHS funding bill, H.R.240.
One of the country's former top statewide elected African American officials is using his national syndicated column to contrast Black History Month with the President's insistence on flooding the labor market with more foreign labor.
In an open letter to Congress, the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) invoked the memory of the late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan (D-Texas) by calling on Members of Congress "to not only stop but to reverse the illegal over reach of this administration" on immigration. Barbara Jordan chaired the bipartisan commission that made several recommendations to Congress, including reducing overall immigration numbers and strengthening interior enforcement.
The Center for Immigration Studies released more data today on the amount of work permits issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) above and beyond the legal limits set by Congress. The data show that between 2009 and 2014, USCIS issued more than 7.4 million work permits to individuals who would not automatically receive a work permit because they were either in the country illegally or entered the U.S. on a visa that didn't include one.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Friday said the Justice Department will seek an emergency stay to block a federal court ruling that freezes implementation of the president’s executive amnesty. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen’s injunction temporarily prohibited the issuance of work permits and other documents to certain illegal aliens and blocked spending for the program’s planning.
This week, a federal judge temporarily halted President Obama's most recent executive actions on immigration. But what exactly does that mean? Josh Gerstein of Politico explained the decision as well as anyone.
On Tuesday President Obama announced the Department of Homeland Security would not process executive amnesty applications, and hand out related work permits, in light of the Feb. 16 injunction by Judge Andrew Hanen. He will, however, continue to spend funds in preparation for implementation, which appears to violate Judge Hanen’s injunction, according to the Daily Caller.
United States District Judge Andrew Hanen ruled late Monday night to temporarily block certain executive actions President Obama took late last year that would grant amnesty and work permits to an estimated 5 million illegal aliens. In the wake of the ruling, several Members of Congress have issued statements applauding the injunction and doubling down on their commitment to pass a DHS spending bill that blocks funding for President Obama's executive amnesties.
The fact that the judicial branch has joined the House of Representatives and a majority of states in questioning the constitutionality of the President's executive actions on immigration should make it obvious that the Senate needs to proceed to a debate on the Department of Homeland Security funding bill and add its voice to this critical constitutional question.