A poll released January 28 found that 88% of registered voters said Congress should address wall funding and amnesty for those eligible for DACA as separate issues, not tie them together as some members of Congress are suggesting.
NBC long-time news anchor Tom Brokaw caused a backlash from many of his colleagues in the media when he gave his opinion that Hispanic immigrants should make more of an effort to assimilate, especially learning to speak English, and that Americans should help them work toward that goal. National Review editor Rich Lowry responded to the firestorm.
A Rasmussen poll released January 11 found that almost half of likely voters surveyed think the government isn’t doing enough to prevent illegal immigration. When asked “Is the government doing too much or too little to stop illegal immigration? Or is the level of action about right?,” 48% of likely voters say the government is doing too little, 28% say too much, and 17% think the level of action is about right.
A POLITICO/Morning Consult poll found public opinion split on the need to build a border wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, although the question implied that the intent was to build it along the entire border. That isn't what President Trump, or anyone in Congress, has proposed. What was clear is that voters find illegal immigration to be a problem (79%), with a strong plurality believing it constitutes a crisis.
The House of Representatives passed a spending bill Thursday evening that included $5.7 billion for the building of a barrier on the U.S. border. The Senate must pass the House bill by midnight Friday to avoid a partial government shutdown.
On Tuesday, the White House sent a signal that President Trump was no longer asking Congress to appropriate $5 billion for border wall spending. Instead, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the White House would cobble together other sources of funding to supplement the $1.6 billion already agreed to by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
In an op-ed in The Washington Times, NumbersUSA Deputy Director Chris Chmielenski explains how Congressional staffers of four Republican Members Congress are planning to double the number of H-2B workers, and how that would hurt the job prospects of American workers.
The Washington Times reported on new findings by the Center for Immigration Studies that 63% of households headed by non-citizens access at least one welfare program, compared to 35% of households headed by U.S. citizens.
Congressional Republicans have reportedly cut a deal to permanently double the number H-2B guest worker visas given out each year. These visas are used by employers to bring in foreign workers to take jobs in landscaping, food service, meat processing, hospitality services, janitorial and housekeeping work, and other lower-skilled, non-agricultural occupations.
Following news stories that President Trump may send a small contingent of troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, the media is now reporting that the President is also considering executive actions to prevent individuals traveling in the “migrant caravan” from Central America from entering the United States.