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Democrats in Congress racked up a handful of legislative wins before departing Washington for the August recess, but Republicans say lawmakers skipped town without attempting to resolve, or acknowledge, the border crisis.

Senators left Capitol Hill in early August while the House is preparing for a final vote on an anti-inflation bill that may give them a leg up ahead of the midterm elections in November. Other legislative wins in recent weeks include the CHIPS Act to boost competition with Chinese chipmakers; the PACT Act, which expands healthcare and benefits to veterans who were exposed to burn pits; and reforms to gun laws.

Republicans accused Democrats of ignoring the national security and humanitarian situation at the U.S.-Mexico boundary, where more people have been encountered attempting to enter the country illegally over the past year than any other time in the Border Patrol's 98-year existence.

"Democrats aren't doing anything because the border is exactly the way they want it. This is all by design and has been since last January," said Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who frequently leads congressional delegation tours to the border.

U.S. WILL ADMIT MIGRANTS FORCED TO REMAIN IN MEXICO THROUGH ASYLUM PROCESS

The Democratic Party is divided at the moment over what to do with the border crisis. Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser and New York City Mayor Eric Adams called on the federal government to help receive 100 migrants being dropped off in their cities each day by buses running from Arizona and Texas. But in Congress, other Democrats are still focused on legalization efforts for millions of undocumented immigrants in the country, with more illegal immigrants being released from the border into the country every day.

Republicans had attempted to include amendments in the climate change bill as it went through the Senate over the weekend, but Democrats successfully blocked their attempts to keep in place a pandemic-related protocol that allowed illegal immigrants to be immediately turned back to Mexico.

Congress has been stalled for several years on immigration reform in general, including on what to do with an Obama-era program that protected hundreds of thousands of children who were brought to the U.S. illegally but has been challenged in federal court.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (IL), a Democrat who was part of the bipartisan Gang of Eight in 2013 to overhaul immigration laws, has led efforts to provide a pathway to citizenship to some illegal immigrants, introducing the Dream Act in April 2021 with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Others, like the Center for American Progress, want Congress to go further and legalize the 10 million to 12 million illegal immigrants residing nationwide.

President Joe Biden has avoided addressing the border crisis and instead pushed forward on ending Trump-era immigration policies over the past 18 months in office.

On Monday, the Biden administration moved again to end a Trump-era border initiative that had forced migrants seeking asylum to remain in Mexico through court proceedings. While Bidens party has reversed a plethora of his predecessor's immigration policies, Rep. John Katko (R-NY), the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, said there is no action from Congress or the White House to address the revolving door for illegal migration into the country.

Despite a record number of illegal border crossings, including encounters with known or suspected terrorists, the Biden administration continues to abandon any attempt to secure the Southwest border, Katko said in a statement Tuesday. The Biden administrations only plan to address the crisis at the Southwest border is to release migrants into communities across the U.S."

Since Biden took office, the Border Patrol has heavily relied on a procedure that Republicans call "catch and release" for how federal agents apprehend illegal immigrants, process them, then release many into the interior of the country to face immigration removal proceedings years down the road. The government does not immediately reveal how many claim asylum while in custody, though doing so is not required to be let go and allowed into the United States.

Under the Biden administration, border officials have chosen to release more than 1 million people into the country of the 3 million who were encountered trying to enter without permission.

Despite record-breaking activity by the cartels in my district, this administration and Democrats in Congress have turned their back on our border communities," said Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX), whose district includes 800 miles of borderland.

Because migration demographics have shifted during the coronavirus pandemic, more people from countries beyond Central America and Mexico have arrived and, in some cases, cannot be sent back to their home country. It has forced the Biden administration to release certain nationalities of people, including Venezuelans, Cubans, and Nicaraguans, into border communities. Migrants typically travel to other parts of the country where they have friends or family rather than stay in border towns.

Texas and Arizona this spring began using state-funded buses to alleviate some of the demand on airports and bus stations in border towns by offering free rides to New York City and Washington, D.C. Democratic mayors from both northeastern cities recently asked for emergency military assistance to deal with the arriving migrants.

A House Democratic leadership aide told the Washington Examiner that the omnibus legislation passed in March and a more recent Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill for fiscal 2023 included more funding than the president had requested.

Some of the extra funding was put toward programs that prevent illegal immigrants from being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and track them through digital means once they are released from custody. Nearly $200 million went toward technology at the ports of entry and areas where the Border Patrol works. Another $230 million in the DHS funding bill was solely for the medical care of illegal immigrants in Border Patrol custody.

Roy, whose district is between San Antonio and Austin, does not expect the Biden administration to take action despite its vows to reform the asylum system or take other action to deter illegal migration.

"This invasion won't stop until congressional Republicans make it stop," Roy said.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

"As Democrats focus on increasing taxes, hurting American energy producers, and worsening inflation through reckless spending, Republicans are focused on securing our southern border," Gonzales added.

Last month, House Republicans rolled out a comprehensive plan to respond to the situation at the southern border.

Read more:
Democrats score legislative wins ahead of August recess but punt on border crisis - Washington Examiner

President Bidens eagerness to welcome millions of global illegal migrants is unlimited. Not only are people from every corner of the world welcome to come to and settle in the United States at taxpayer expense, but now Biden wants to issue each migrant official government identification cards.

With quasi-official status available, mostly poor, unskilled, non-English speaking illegal immigrants will be more willing than ever to pay criminal cartel smugglers for their dangerous and often deadly northbound journeys.The pilot program, overseen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, will be called the ICE Secure Docket Card program. Todays ICE agency is not the traditional one which protected U.S. citizens from the dangers that illegal immigrants potentially pose to the community.

Rather, Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas ICE have gutted interior enforcement. They also successfully ended expedited removal, the procedure by which DHS can remove, without a formal procedure, an alien who has entered illegally or has sought entry without proper documents or through fraud. DHS authority has been an essential part of immigration law for more than a quarter of a century.

If approved, the new ID card will feature a photograph, biographic identifiers and what ICE calls cutting-edge security features to the mutual benefit of the government and noncitizens. Since aliens, a word used throughout immigration law, is forbidden in the Biden administrations nomenclature, noncitizens or undocumented are used in its place.

But with the ICE ID card, undocumented will also become pass. Illegal immigrants will not only have documentation, but official, federally approved and issued credentials. More than one million illegal immigrants have been released into the interior since Bidens inauguration, each and every one of them potential ID card holders.

Brandon Judd, Border Patrol Council president, said that the cards wont help immigration officials, but will, along with giving coyotes another magnet to lure their nave clients into their web, allow illegal immigrants to report to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service to assist in processing their employment authorization documents.

ICEs defense of its card that it will provide mutual benefit to the government and the noncitizens lacked tangibles, and is patently transparent.

No benefits to the government were specified, but the benefits to the aliens are obvious. They immediately go from undocumented to fully documented, at least in the eyes of institutions that will benefit from recognizing the cards most federal, state and municipal governments, commercial banks, mortgage lenders, landlords, some employers and others sympathetic to illegal immigration.

The ICE representative who spoke to the media about the ID card spun it in the most positive light. Illegal immigrants, the representative claimed, could use the card to check in and schedule reporting dates with ICE offices, and immigration court hearing dates.

But the conclusion that the card will assist in scheduling immigration court hearings is a stretch. The Department of Justices fact sheet found that only about 49% of illegally present aliens show up for their hearings.

With or without an ID card, that statistic is unlikely to change. And should illegal immigrants appear, and ordered for removal, that doesnt guarantee theyll depart. With the ID card, theyre more likely than ever to remain.

Critics have concluded that, despite the risks to the nation that it would bring, the Biden administrations ultimate goal is eliminating existing immigration laws. The ID card is the latest example.

Retired career border patrol officer and Center for Immigration Studies board member Kent Lundgren explained why immigration laws exist: to protect Americans and legal immigrants. Those protections fall into four major categories: 1) public health, 2) public safety, 3) national security and 4) jobs and wages.

Biden, his cabinet, his administration and his advisors have ignored, at sovereign Americas risk, the core reasons why previous congresses have passed, and former presidents have codified, immigration laws.

See more here:
Proposed ICE ID card documents 'undocumented': Opinion column by Joe Guzzardi - The Wellsboro Gazette

Immigration policy experts highlighted challenges associated with the US immigration system and called on lawmakers to pass needed legislative solutions including ID and Taxat a recent event hosted by the Center for Houston's Future at the Junior League of Houston.

Linda Lorelle, Emmy award winning former News Anchor for KPRC and CEO of Lorelle Media, hosted a discussion between Ali Noorani, Former President of the National Immigration Forum and Program Director for U.S. Democracy at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Stan Marek, CEO of the Marek Family of Companies.

Lorelle asked Noorani about what he wants readers to take away from the recently published book that he authored, "Crossing Borders: The Reconciliation of a Nation of Immigrants," saying that she was struck by his ability to put a human face on the issue of immigration.

Noorani explained, "What I realized as we went through the Trump Administration was that the way that migration was occurring at the global level was impacting politics and policies when it came to immigration, not just in the US but around the world. What I wanted to try to do through Crossing Borders was tell that story, but like you said, tell that story wrapped around the experiences and realities that people are facing, whether they are migrants fleeing Honduras trying to get to the US, but also Americans that have been in places like Idaho for generations...lifting up both sides of that spectrum while highlighting the similarities but also the differences," he said.

In response to a question from Lorelle about a story that stood out to him from writing the book, Noorani talked about the immigration experience of Carlos, a coffee farmer that lives in Honduras.

"He had just returned from the US-Mexico Border. Since there was no other way for him to get into the US and get a job that could pay for the healthcare that his daughter needed, he had to make a decision to sell his house and car to pay a smuggler to try to get to the US-Mexico border. Because of nation's immigration policies, there was no way for him to legally get into the US. He didn't come to the border and say, ' I'm a victim of violence, I'm seeking asylum.' He told the border patrol that he was poor and that he was looking for work and was ultimately not allowed to enter the US. Carlos' wife added that they were being punished for telling the truth," said Noorani, highlighting the lack of legal pathways that economic migrants without high levels of formal education have to enter the US.

Noorani also said that in the current political environment it has become more difficult to achieve legislative solutions on immigration because the issue is receiving less public attention than in years passed.

"We as a nation have been faced with a moral crisis over the course of the Trump administration and that is a crisis that continues to today that quite frankly we are ignoring. With the Trump Administration, immigration was always in the news because obviously the president loved talking about it. With the Biden Administration, they don't like talking about immigration, so as a result the public doesn't see it as a priority and it has become increasingly difficult to get public attention much less legislative attention to the solutions that are necessary," said Noorani.

He also pointed out that the topic of immigration is often polarized by the mainstream media, and that there is a void of non-biased media sources that provide rational coverage of this important topic that needs to be filled.

"It's part of the mainstream media ecosystem where you have Fox News, Breitbart, Newsmax who are using an anti-immigrant message to polarize the country. You have media on the left like MSNBC who are pushing back. But what is missing is trusted media sources in the middle...Ultimately Immigration is about culture and values and not politics and policy, so let's figure out innovative ways to have that cultural debate," said Noorani

On that note, a video from the Rational Middle of Immigration, a free online video docuseries that seeks to inform the public about immigration-related challenges while shaping sensible policy solutions, was viewed by the audience.

In the video, Rational Middle Executive Producer Loren Steffy provided an update on the current state of the immigration system in the US.

"The thing that is really stunning is how little has changed. Illegal border crossings are at a 20-year high. Comprehensive immigration reform remains as much of a pipe dream as ever. On DACA, which is something that 80% of Americans support, we still haven't seen any action in Congress...The question of what to do with the 11 million undocumented people who are already here has only become more important in light of the pandemic and some of the economic issues we're seeing with inflation. We have a tremendous worker shortage and we have an available workforce right here in many cases that have been here for a long time," said Steffy.

"We really need an economic policy that allows these people to come out of the shadow economy and fully participate in our economy so that not only they can benefit from it, but the whole country can benefit from it," he said.

Marek, who also appeared in the video, called on lawmakers to put politics aside to legislate a bipartisan, rational, and needed ID and Tax solution that the majority of Americans support.

"The discussion is being controlled by the 10% on the left that are 'amnesty or nothing,' and the 10% on the right which are 'deport them all.' So immigration is a political wedge that lawmakers are using effectively rather than dealing with the issue... The one idea that has resonated with just about everyone, certainly the 80% in the middle, is ID and Tax. The reasons it has resonated is because we need to know who is in our country for national security, and really the people who are working here should be paying the same taxes as the rest of us. It's a no brainer," he said.

After the video ended and received applause, Marek fielded questions about challenges he is facing as a business owner and the ID and Tax solution.

"As an employer, our biggest challenge is to find people who are legal to work in the US. ID and Tax is a very commonsense solution It is not a path to citizenship. It is a way for undocumented immigrants to earn a work permit, and to be able to work for an employer, pay taxes, get a driver's license, and have it renewed every two years if you pass a background check," explained Marek.

"Anybody can get a fake ID at the flea market. So our barrier to entry to work in the US is too low. You don't have to have an ID. A lot of jobs you just show up and go to work...They get paid cash, or if they get a check they might be called an independent subcontractor," said Marek, explaining how many unauthorized immigrants work for employers that exploit them to avoid paying payroll taxes and providing benefits.

"The people are coming for the jobs, if we made a little more difficult to go to work, they may not make that dangerous journey," he added, noting how enforcement provisions included in an ID and Tax solution would help to prevent future illegal immigration.

Marek also pointed out that a lack of legal pathways for migrants to come to the US and work is harming the US economy that currently has a record number of open jobs while only benefitting cartels.

"I've gotten the same answer to this question through years of doing this work. Would they rather pay the US $5000 for a legal visa or pay a smuggler $10,000 and go through a dangerous journey, their answer is always that they would rather pay the US government and enter legally. Right now our lack of control over the system is only benefitting one entity: the cartels," he said. Marek also placed emphasis on the need for a legislative solution to codify and expand DACA.

"2 million more undocumented children are waiting for DACA to reopen so they can get a job when they graduate from high school or college. We have 100,000 kids at our high schools who are going to graduate this year and not be able to get a legal job for a taxpaying employer, even though we paid for the primary school, middle school, and high school. A lot of people don't understand how broken the system is," he said.

"A legislative solution that reopens DACA is number one, number two is ID and Tax for the Adults," he added. Noorani added that an ID and Tax policy would help unauthorized immigrants increase their economic and fiscal contributions.

"Many people ask, 'are immigrants givers or takers,' are they giving back to the economy or are they taking a job or a service. What I like about ID and Tax is that it answers that question, because if a person is being taxed, identified, and as a result participating in the economy in a legal way, it crystal clear that they are giving back to the country," he said.

Noorani also praised recent bipartisan efforts in the Senate by lawmakers working on a bill called the Farm Workforce Modernization Act to improve the US' agricultural workforce amid increasing food prices.

"It's very important because they brokered a compromise between the two competing interests in the sector, they brought Democrats and Republicans to the table to understand: let's improve legal immigration for the ag sector, let's legalize the undocumented agricultural workforce, and let's mandate E-verify. So it's legal immigration, legalization, and enforcement. That is a really important template for the broader picture for the 11 million," said Noorani.

Another topic that speakers discussed was the declining birthrate in the US and how that will lead to shrinking workforce as the Baby Boomers are retiring. At this point, perhaps the only viable solution to increasethe working age population in America is through updating the legal immigration system to allow for an increase immigration numbers.

"In order to maintain the current ratio of working age adults to retirees, which is currently about 3.54, we would require an increase in immigration of about 30%, which is roughly 300,000 people. If we do not increase immigration by about 30%, that ratio will decline, and with it retirement benefits and social security," said Noorani.

See the rest here:
Immigration Experts Call for ID and Tax, Sensible Immigration Solutions at Center for Houston's Future Event - Construction Citizen

WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) introduced theVoice for Victims Act, legislation to restitute the VOICE Office to provide proactive, timely, adequate, and professional services to victims of crimes committed by removable aliens and their families. The VOICE Office will also provide quarterly reports to Congress that examine the effects of victimization of US nationals by criminal aliens.TheVoice for Victims Actwill also expand the functions of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman to include working with the VOICE Office to provide assistance to and accountability for victims of crimes by criminal aliens

Many dangerous illegal immigrants, including cartel members, are making their way further into our country committing heinous crimes,said Senator Tillis. Anyone who falls victim to a dangerous illegal immigrant deserves the proper care and attention, including bringing the illegal immigrant to account. I am proud to work with Senator Hagerty to introduce this legislation so we can give a voice to every victim.

The Biden Administrations disastrousopen-border policies have flung the door wide open for criminals to enter our country illegally and commit crimes against innocent people,said Senator Hagerty.Were seeing a national security crisis of epic proportion with over 160 different nationalities apprehended at our southern border since Joe Biden took office. Adding insult to injury, President Biden terminated the office created by President Trump to help victims of crimes by illegal aliens.This commonsense legislation willreverse President Bidens regrettabledecision and reinstate this criticalassistance forvictims of these reprehensible acts.

Background

In 2017, President Trump established the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office in 2017 under the Department of Homeland Security to assist victims of crimes committed by illegal immigrants. This resource served victims of crimes by criminal aliens by acknowledging and supporting victims and families, promoting awareness of available services to victims, and building partnerships with community stakeholders to assist victims. Before President Trump established the VOICE Office, victims of crimes by criminal aliens did not have a dedicated government resource to provide information about their cases and access to assistance.

In 2021, President Biden terminated the VOICE Office and replaced it with a watered-down phone line to provide resources to victims of crimes committed by anyone rather than criminal aliens. This sends a clear message to victims of crimes by criminal aliens that their voices do not matter to the Biden Administration.

Due to President Bidens failed immigration policies, Customs and Border Protection has had over 3 million encounters with illegal immigrants since President Biden took office. The chaos created by this crisis has allowed criminal aliens to cross the border undetected, and to conduct human smuggling and drug trafficking operations. For example, in FY22, CBP apprehended over 800 criminal aliens with convictions for domestic violence, over 1,100 for DUI convictions, and nearly 250 for sex crimes. The Biden Administrations catch and release policies during a surge in illegal immigration is a recipe for crimes by criminal aliens, and it is more important than ever that victims of crimes by criminal aliens are able to access dedicated resources.

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Continue reading here:
Tillis and Hagerty Introduce Legislation Reinstating Services for Victims of Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants - Thom Tillis

China said Friday that it will stop accepting deportees from the U.S. as part of its retaliation for House Speaker Nancy Pelosis visit this week to Taiwan.

The move was among nine steps announced by Chinas Foreign Affairs Ministry, along with ending cooperation on transnational crime and drugs, and halting talks on climate change.

It also raises the stakes for the Biden administration, which under U.S. law can punish countries that refuse to cooperate on deportations by refusing to issue new visas to that countrys citizens.

That decision belongs to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

The Department of Homeland Security didnt immediately respond to a request for comment Friday, but analysts urged the Biden administration to strike back.

This is really an opportunity for the Biden administration to show its not going to be jerked around by China, said Jessica Vaughan, policy studies director at the Center for Immigration Studies, which backs stricter immigration enforcement.

Under section 243(d), the part of immigration law that governs the issue, the government could deny all visas, though traditionally administrations have been more targeted. Refusing to issue short-term tourism or business visas to government officials and their families has been the most common use of 243(d).

Ms. Vaughan said that can be highly effective in a country such as China.

Its the elite members of these societies who are able to travel to the United States any time they want to, desperately want to come here to shop, to go to Las Vegas, to send their kids to our universities, and maybe even to work. They would very likely be swayed by even a very targeted suspension of visas, she said. We dont want to suspend travel from everyone from China, and we dont need to. Thats the beauty of this kind of leverage.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which oversees deportations, has labeled China as uncooperative in the past.

But ICE has declined to release an updated list of uncooperative countries over the last year, despite repeated requests from The Washington Times. ICE would not say Friday if China is still on the uncooperative list, nor would it provide the latest data on deportations.

As of 2020, when China was on the uncooperative list, ICE still managed to deport 337 people to the country. That was down from 637 in 2019 and 726 in 2018.

Ms. Vaughan said given the Biden administrations approach to immigration, anyone its trying to deport to China currently is a national security risk or has a major criminal record.

We should not sit back and let China force its deportable criminals on American communities, she said.

Administrations have traditionally been reluctant to use 243(d) visa sanctions, though the Trump team was more aggressive in flexing the tool.

Ms. Vaughan said Congress could rewrite the law to prod administrations to be more active.

Thats also the type of plan that could garner bipartisan support in Congress right now.

Ms. Pelosis visit to Taiwan, while opposed by the Biden administration, drew strong bipartisan backing on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers have long sought a tougher stance toward what they see as an increasingly aggressive China.

See the rest here:
China will refuse to take back illegal immigrants in retaliation for Pelosi visit - Washington Times