Published by
Roy Beck
Thus far, every single Democrat in the Senate and nearly all in the House are taking the position that they will not allow funding for the Department of Homeland Security unless their Republican colleagues pay a ransom in the form of millions of work permits for illegal aliens.
The headlines should read: “Democrats hold DHS hostage and demand ransom of work permits for illegal aliens.”
But you are unlikely to read that characterization in any of the mainstream news media which have substantially described the funding standoff as being about deportations. Reading most news media, one would guess that the Republicans are demanding that millions of illegal aliens be deported sometime this year, and that the Democrats are refusing to allow that to happen.
But Pres. Obama made it clear in his town hall in Miami this week that deportations are not at stake at all.
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The Obama administration years ago halted nearly all deportations from the interior of illegal aliens who weren’t convicted criminals.
And this week, the President repeated what he has said for months that, regardless of any court ruling or action by Congress, he will not allow his immigration enforcement officials to deport most illegal immigrants they encounter. In fact, he said he would punish any federal officials who initiated a deportation process.
Nothing has been proposed in the DHS funding legislation that would force Pres. Obama to resume deportations from the interior.
The legislative language that offends the unanimous Democrats is not about deportations but about denying work permits to huge classes of illegal aliens.
The united congressional Democratic front is about ensuring that some 5 million unlawfully present foreign workers get an equal shot with struggling Americans at every new job that opens up.
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