During his third State of the Union address, Pres. Trump focused his immigration remarks on policies that protect American workers and national sovereignty. It was a message reminiscent of 2016 when, as a candidate, he consistently appealed to voters by calling for immigration policies that put Americans first.
There's little doubt that the issue of immigration will be on the minds of voters throughout next year's presidential elections. That's why I was somewhat surprised at how little time ABC dedicated to the issue during last night's third Democratic Presidential debate. But here's a recap of what each candidate said . . .
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to tour the ICE detention facility in Aurora, Colo., owned and operated by The GEO Group. This facility has been at the center of the immigration-enforcement debate ever since protesters replaced the facility's American flag with a Mexican flag and defaced a Blue Lives Matter flag earlier this summer. Here's what I saw . . .
A number of media outlets are reporting that the Trump administration has ended the "medical deferred action" program, which will result in the removal of thousands of illegal aliens living in the country who are receiving life-saving medical treatment. However, the reports misrepresent the policy change and exaggerate the impacts.
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.R. 1044, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, 365-to-65. While the bill's title includes the word "fair", the bill, should it become law, would all but eliminate employment-based green cards for nationals from all but a handful of countries.
While dozens of Members of Congress continue to refer to border apprehension statistics from 2017, the crisis along the Southern border continues to intensify. The number of illegal border crossers apprehended last month exceeded any month over the last 6 years, and the number of Family Units apprehended is already ahead of FY18 after only five months.
The American Dream and Promise Act, H.R. 6, would grant amnesty to as many as 3.5 million illegal aliens who entered the country before their 18th birthday AND to 429,000 (mostly illegal-alien) individuals who have received relief from deportation, making it the largest amnesty in our nation's history, if passed.
After 8 weeks of back-and-forth theatrics between Pres. Trump and Democratic Leaders (that included a 5-week partial government shutdown), the President received $75 million more in border wall funding than what Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer offered in December.
The cost for obtaining the additional $75 million for fencing was far too high -- a substantial weakening of interior enforcement, including an incentive for illegal-alien sponsors of unaccompanied alien children (UACs).
When Democrats lost control of the House in 2010, a number of 'Blue Dog' Democrats who had earned B-grades or better through our immigration-reduction grade cards lost their seats. Since then, the Party has moved more and more towards supporting an expansion of legal immigration and less enforcement. Many of the newly elected Democrats will fill seats previously held by those 'Blue Dogs', but the lion's share of the incoming freshmen appear to be more in line with the national Party.