Immigrants contribute more in to Medicare than they take out, and the Gang of 8 immigration bill would help keep Social Security afloat.  But Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), immigration reform opponent extraordinaire, is still obsessed with finding a way—any way—to prove that immigrants are a drain on society. Sometime... Continue »
Cross-posted at Burnt Orange Report During the Senate markup of the Gang of 8 immigration reform bill (which ended last week), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) made it obvious how anti-immigrant he can be, most specifically by introducing and voting for an amendment which would bar all undocumented immigrants from... Continue »
That font of political wisdom on the politics of immigration, Steve King, has some advice for Marco Rubio: Rep. Steve King (R-IA), the tea party stalwart and potential 2014 U.S. Senate candidate, thinks Sen. Marco Rubio (R-IA) has hurt his 2016 prospects in Iowa with his leading role on... Continue »
There has been a persistent myth in the immigration debate that the anti-reform side is large, powerful, and organized.  However, the 2013 immigration debate is revealing that assessment is profoundly untrue. According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice: The Senate Judiciary Committee markup confirms what we already knew... Continue »
Yesterday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) spent the last day of markup pushing changes to the immigration bill like his amendment 3, which would have barred all undocumented immigrants from ever being able to gain citizenship.  Today, immigration reform advocates and their allies swarmed Cruz’s office in DC to denounce... Continue »
A cross-post by DREAMer Eric Balderas, initially posted at the Hill: I have much in common with my home state’s junior senator, Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Like Cruz, I was not born in the U.S. Like Cruz, I moved to Texas at the age of 4 and grew up pledging... Continue »
Update: Cruz 3 has just been rejected on a 5-13 vote. Senators supporting a permanent, second-class status: Sessions, Lee, Grassley, Cruz, Cornyn. Right now the Senate Judiciary Committee (#CIRmarkup) is considering Sen. Ted Cruz’s amendment 3, one of the worst amendments that has been proposed to the Senate Gang... Continue »
Having worked through a majority of its amendments, the Senate Judiciary Committee is in the final stages of marking up the bipartisan immigration reform bill.  According to Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who led the process thoughtfully and fairly, the markup is likely to finish today. The biggest... Continue »
The rest of the world is learning something we’ve known for awhile: Alabama Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions is extremely and obsessively anti-immigrant. And his behavior being noticed.  During the mark-up of the Senate’s “Gang of 8” bill, Sessions has stood out – often on his own. Dana Milbank at... Continue »
A coalition of immigration reform opponents called Ban Amnesty Now has announced a number of anti-immigrant events for tomorrow, May 21, at Senators’ offices and state capitols around the country.  They haven’t announced that 20,000 people nationwide will be participating, perhaps because that would be hard to believe considering... Continue »