The Western Growers association is working to sabotage the effort to pass a House bill containing E-Verify, despite the fact that the rest of the agribusiness lobby has signed off on the bill. This Western Growers continues to try to defeat any serious attempt to end illegal immigration, and will only accept a permanent "solution" that amounts to indentured servitude for agricultural workers.
The House of Representatives passed Rep. Clay Higgins’ (R-La.) H.Res. 990 today, expressing its support for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. The House Resolution passed with a 244-to 35-vote, winning support from most House Republicans, while most House Democrats voted "Present".
The Oregon Secretary of State's office announced that Initiative Petition 22 (IP 22), an anti-sanctuary initiative, will be on the November ballot, after garnering 111,000 signatures -- 22,816 more than the needed 88,184 signatures to secure a place on the ballot. The petition was championed by Stop Oregon Sanctuaries, a group opposed to the state's sanctuary law, and registered a 95.3% validity rate on the 111,000 signatures that were submitted two weeks ago.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued guidance to USCIS adjudicators in a policy memorandum last week, instructing them to use their discretion to deny applications, petitions, and/or requests that are submitted without initial evidence or insufficient evidence of eligibility. The memorandum permits adjudicators to deny applicants who lack evidence of eligibility, without first issuing a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID).
According to a recent report released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Boston Field office for the for the staff of the Massachusetts governor, ICE was only able to arrest about half of the 456 deportable criminal aliens that had been arrested in the state over the course of 10 weeks, due to court-imposed sanctuary policies. Massachusetts local authorities' refused to cooperate with ICE, either by not honoring detainers issued by the agency or releasing criminal aliens before ICE was able to issue a detainer.
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) and Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) have introduced companion resolutions that, if approved, would express the House's and Senate's support for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. The Resolutions were introduced alongside Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) H.R. 6361 that would abolish ICE.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday that an amnesty for DACA recipients would not be included in the year-end spending bill for fiscal year 2019. He explained that a federal court's ruling, which halted the Trump Administration's effort to end the DACA amnesty program, removed the deadline that had previously served as a motivation for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to find a legislative solution.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued guidance on Wednesday, instructing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officers to tighten up asylum requirements by only granting asylum to foreign nationals who can prove that they are the victims of government-sanctioned persecution.
Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) introduced legislation on Tuesday that would require all employers to use E-Verify and would make illegally crossing the border a felony for first-time offenders. Rep. Black says the Zero Tolerance for Illegal Entry Act, H.R. 6318, puts the interests of American citizens and legal immigrants ahead of illegal aliens.
Despite a swath of protests across the country, the majority of registered voters support keeping Immigration and Customs Enforcement according to a new poll conducted by Politico and Morning Consult. The poll found that 54% of registered voters support keeping ICE, while only 25% support getting rid of ICE.