According to a Wall Street Journal report, Speaker John Boehner and certain key House Republicans recently told donors and special interest groups they still want to pass immigration legislation this year. President Obama continues his push for comprehensive amnesty today in a meeting he hopes will persuade the American Legion to drop their opposition to inclusion of the ENLIST Act in the defense authorization bill.
Pres. Obama called House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Wednesday shortly after issuing a public statement that included harsh criticism for House Republicans who he says are blocking the Senate's comprehensive amnesty bill. After the call, and in light of a tough primary challenge, Cantor took a hardline position against the Senate bill and said the President has no desire to work with House Republicans on a solution to the issue.
House Democrats are urging 30 Republicans who've said they support some form of amnesty to sign a discharge petition and force a floor vote on H.R. 15, their comprehensive amnesty bill. "We're calling out the members of the House…who have said they support immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship," said Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo. "We're saying, 'Do something about your support…(P)ut their pen where their mouth is."
According to Breitbart News, a high-ranking staffer for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor admitted the Representative supports granting amnesty to certain illegal aliens if they enlist in the U.S. military. This confirms prior statements by ENLIST Act sponsor Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., and Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon, R-Calif.
The Denver public school is on track to hire as teachers illegal aliens who received a two-year stay of deportation and a work permit under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Critics say the move is unfair to unemployed citizens who are qualified educators.
The House of Representatives rejected two separate substitute amendments to Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wisc.) FY2015 budget resolution that would have included revenues and funding for immigration provisions included in S.744, the Senate-approved Schumer-Rubio-Obama amnesty bills. While both votes were reflective of bigger issues, the House has approved the Ryan budget without any immigration-related provisions other than standard enforcement.
Illegal-alien advocates staged protests in several dozen cities on April 5 to demand a freeze on deportations and the passage of so-called comprehensive immigration reform this year. Immigration-enforcement supporters turned out as well in a number of places.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon, R-Calif., said he will not include the “ENLIST” Act amnesty in the draft defense authorization bill he introduces. McKeon’s decision was a setback for the measure’s sponsor, Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., who had been quietly trying to include it in the Chairman’s draft. Still, Denham promised to try to add the amnesty in committee or on the House floor.
IRS Commissioner John Koskinen spoke at the National Press Club on Wednesday and said that a proposed rule aimed at limiting free speech for 501(c)(4) non-profits would not be finished before the end of the year. The agency had posted a proposed rule for public comment that would strictly limit the ways 501(c)(4)s could operate in the weeks and months leading to a federal election. Specifically, these non-profits, including NumbersUSA Action, would not be able to mention a candidate's name even if the reference was non-election related.
Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., dropped his co-sponsorship of an amnesty bill Republican leaders want to include in the Department of Defense authorization bill, Breitbart reports. Duncan said he was unaware of the plot and objected to adding the measure to an unrelated bill.