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I believe that a majority of Americans fully endorse legal immigration. They genuinely want to see immigrants succeed in creating a better opportunity for themselves and their families here. But they are not in favor of open borders. They believe that immigration is a compromise. Foreigners, especially those fleeing oppression, are welcome here, but only if they choose to contribute to their communities, respect the rights of Americans, and follow the law.

In his quest for national recognition, Mayor Martin Walsh seems to have forgotten that were a nation of laws first and a nation of immigrants second (Walsh on the national stage, Yvonne Abraham, Metro, Feb. 12). Those who break the law cannot be expected to have citizenship handed to them. Theres a legal path to US citizenship, and Walsh and others are encouraging immigrants to circumvent it.

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Walsh, the son of immigrants, made a better life for himself by working hard and making a contribution. But now that hes entrenched, defending the city as a sanctuary for illegal immigrants, he needs to take a broader view. He can start by acknowledging that naturalization is a legal process, not a right. The tired, the poor, and the huddled masses are welcome here, but idleness, fanaticism, and recalcitrance have never been acceptable in America, nor should they be.

Sean F. Flaherty

Charlestown

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Mayor needs to take broader view of our concerns over illegal immigration - The Boston Globe

Rep. Luke Messer (R-Ind.) is urging President Trump to take actions to prevent immigrants in the country illegally from claiming the child tax credit.

Most Americans are astonished to learn that each year billions of taxpayer dollars are given out to people who are in our country illegally, Messer said in a news release.This is just one example of how our broken tax and immigration systems continue to incentivize immigrants to come here illegally. Its long past time to change it.

The request from Messer a member of the House GOP leadership team who is eyeing a Senate runin 2018 comes as Trump has made tax reform and curbing illegal immigration two of his top priorities. Trump has already issued executive orders to direct federal agencies to start work on a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and to strengthen immigration enforcement.

Under current law, taxpayers do not have to have Social Security numbers to claim the credit on their returns, though they can only claim the credit for dependents who are U.S. citizens, nationals and alien residents. A 2011 report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found that people who weren't authorized to work in the United States were paid $4.2 billion in refundable child tax credits during the 2010 tax-processing year.

Messer has introduced legislation that would bar taxpayers who don't have Social Security numbers from claiming the child tax credit. In a letter sent to Trump on Saturday, he asked Trump to take executive actions to prevent undocumented immigrants from getting the credits while Congress works on passing his bill.

Messer asked Trump to take steps to bar the IRS from allowing individuals without Social Security numbers that are valid for employment from claiming the credit. He also asked Trump to have the Office of Management and Budget designate the credit "as a high priority program to subject the program to greater levels of oversight and review in an attempt to reduce the volume of improper payments made by the program."

Last year, the House Ways and Means Committee approved on a party-line vote legislation to require Social Security numbers for taxpayers claiming the refundable child tax credit. Democrats opposed the measure, saying that the bill would hurt 3 million children, most of whom are citizens with undocumented parents.

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GOP rep urges Trump to prevent illegal immigrants from claiming tax credits - The Hill

RICHMOND Virginias jails and prisons would hold inmates up to two days beyond their sentences to give federal immigration officials time to pick them up, under a bill that narrowly passed the state Senate on Monday.

The measure is part of a flurry of GOP-backed legislation making its way through Virginias General Assembly this year that is meant to crack down on illegal immigration. That bill and several others seem destined to land on the desk of Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), who has vowed to veto them.

As immigration roils national politics, the issue has moved to the front burner in Richmond, with Democrats and Republicans coming up with a raft of legislation. All of it, however, seems doomed. The GOP-controlled House and Senate have killed the immigrant-friendly bills Democrats proposed. But the Republicans do not have the strength in the closely divided Senate to override McAuliffes vetoes.

The Governor will veto this bill and any others that force localities to play a role in immigration enforcement that should be performed by the federal government, McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy said in an email.

The bill that passed the Senate on Monday, on a 21-19 party-line vote, applies only to illegal immigrants who have been sentenced to jail or prison time in Virginia for crimes committed in the United States. The facilities would have to hold the prisoners for up to two days beyond their sentences. If federal immigration officials do not pick up the prisoners in that time, they are released.

Im not for sweeping people off the streets, said Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William), who sponsored the bill. Because the Senate made a minor amendment, the legislation returns to the House, which passed it earlier but now must accept or reject the change. Marshall expects the House to accept the amendment and send the bill to McAuliffe by the end of the week.

Another House bill, which has cleared that chamber and is moving through the Senate, would prohibit Virginia cities and towns from adopting sanctuary-city ordinances that restrict the enforcement of federal immigration laws. Proposed by Del. Charles D. Poindexter (R-Franklin), the original bill also would have prohibited localities from hiring public contractors that do not verify the immigration status of their workers. That element was scrapped before the measure moved to the Senate.

The Senate has passed a bill from Sen. Richard H. Black (R-Loudoun) that would hold sanctuary cities liable for injuries to people or property caused by illegal immigrants in that community. The legislation is in the House.

Not all of the Republicans immigration measures advanced this year. A House committee scrapped another Poindexter bill that would have required public colleges and universities to cooperate with the federal immigration enforcement. Also killed was a measure from Del. Ben Cline (R-Rockbridge)that would have prohibited the creation of sanctuary cites and withheld state funding to localities that violate the ban.

One still-viable Republican proposal is meant to assist some immigrants. A bill from Del. Ron A. Villanueva (R-Virginia Beach) would allow a narrow class of foreign nationals to obtain temporary drivers licenses. It would apply to people authorized by a federal court or federal agency to be in the United States.

McAuliffes stance on that legislation is not clear; Coy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Several Democrats had proposed more sweeping legislation related to illegal immigrants and drivers licenses. They included a measure to provide temporary licenses to those deemed by a federal immigration judge likely to be persecuted if returned to their home countries. Another would have granted a one-year license to those who have established residency, filed income tax returns, registered with the Department of Homeland Security and provided proof of insurance. All were rejected.

Also killed was a measure from Del. Kenneth R. Plum (D-Fairfax) that would have added immigration status to the definition of hate crimes, which is currently limited to offenses motivated by race, religious conviction, color, and national origin.

Marshalls bill on prisoners set off a contentious debate in the Senate. Sen. Mark Obenshain (R-Rockingham) accused Democrats of misrepresenting a simple law-and-order bill, causing alarm in immigrant communities and portraying Republicans as heartless, hateful people.

This is a political dispute, and I guess many on the political left have an interest in fanning those flames, he said. Pretty sad.

Sen. Scott A. Surovell (D-Fairfax) said the measure would burden localities with the cost of holding prisoners longer than necessary. He also said it would intensify the fear already heightened by recent federal immigration raids, which may or may not be the result of tougher enforcement under President Trump. (The White House and federal immigration officials have given conflicting accounts about whether the raids reflect a policy shift.)

[AP Fact Check: Are immigration raids result of Trump policy?]

Amid fears that Trump is leading a crackdown, Surovell said attendance at his weekend town hall meeting swelled to 200 from the usual 50.

A third of my town hall was dominated by ... families freaked out by the federal government terrorizing my neighborhood, he said. I dont think we should aid and abet the federal government not doing its job.

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Illegal immigrants would do overtime in Va. jails under bill to boost deportations - Washington Post

All but one of about 50 undocumented Mexican migrants at a meeting Saturday indicated they would rather risk detention and long court battles in the U.S. than return to Mexico voluntarily.

The majority of migrants at the meeting in Phoenix, which included Mexican officials, signaled in a show of hands that they were ready to fight deportation in U.S. courts.

Even if that means detention for weeks? asked former foreign minister Jorge Castaneda.

Even if it takes months, shouted one woman. Even if it takes years, another yelled. We are here to fight.

Mr. Castaneda and others want Mexicos government to endorse a tough and perhaps risky strategy to battle an expected increase in deportations of their undocumented compatriots in the U.S. by underwriting the migrants legal struggle in the U.S. court system. By overwhelming already heavily burdened immigration courts, Mr. Castaneda hopes the legal system would break down, bringing deportations to a halt.

Mexicos government hasnt endorsed the strategy, but President Enrique Pea Nieto recently budgeted about $50 million to the countrys 50 consulates to help pay the costs of defending migrants who are in the U.S. illegally and facing deportation.

Some are worried that President Donald Trump has decided to expand the type of undocumented migrants who are at risk of being deported, from the violent or dangerous people that the Obama administration targeted to migrants who have had minor brushes with law enforcement.

Mr. Trump on Sunday called it a crackdown on illegal criminals, adding in an early morning tweet that Gang members, drug dealers & others are being removed!

The Phoenix meeting took place two days after the deportation of a Guadalupe Garca, a 36-year-old Mexican who lived in the U.S. for 22 years and has two U.S.-born children. Ms. Garcas removal stoked panic and protests in immigrant communities.

Click for more from The Wall Street Journal.

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Illegal immigrants signal they would prefer detention over deportation - Fox News

Well, there certainly is a new sheriff in town. President Donald J. Trump promised to put border security and immigration enforcement at the top of the list and allow our law enforcement to do their jobs. Over the weekend, immigration enforcement agents rounded up hundreds of illegals across the country (via Reuters):

Reports of immigration sweeps this week sparked concern among immigration advocates and families, coming on the heels of President Donald Trump's executive order barring refugees and immigrants from seven majority-Muslim nations. That order is currently on hold.

[]

The enforcement actions took place in Atlanta, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and surrounding areas, said David Marin, director of enforcement and removal for the Los Angeles field office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Only five of 161 people arrested in Southern California would not have been enforcement priorities under the Obama administration, he said.

The agency did not release a total number of detainees. The Atlanta office, which covers three states, arrested 200 people, Bryan Cox, a spokesman for the office, said. The 161 arrests in the Los Angeles area were made in a region that included seven highly populated counties, Marin said.

Marin called the five-day operation an "enforcement surge."

Of course, this is going to drive liberals mad. Some in the GOP are reeling over the recent infiltration of their town hall events by angry protesters. Should they fear the immigration issue could be used to further incite the Left? Maybe. But at the moment, its not going to morph into anything that will endanger Republicans politically. Right now, the Left has zero strategy to defeat the Trump agenda. Anyone can walk into a street and whine. How do you transform that into a vote?

On immigration, its not an intense voter issue. Donald Trump made some harsh remarks about illegal immigrants, but there was no Hispanic voter surge on Election Day. Megan McArdle at Bloomberg wrote about this problem, while aptly noting another issue liberals tend to overreach on concerning voter turnout projections: gun control. Right now, the Left is just making speeches about how great immigrants arethats not going to work:

Of course there are spillover benefits to immigration, but they are somewhat nebulous compared to the direct benefit to the would-be migrants. Its easy to explain how immigrants benefit from an open door. Explanations of how the rest of us benefit tend to rely on the trivial or on abstract economic arguments that most people dont find particularly intuitive or convincing. Those arguments look even more suspicious because they are generally made by the one group that visibly does benefit from a lot of low-skilled immigration, which provides the nannies, lawn-care, and food services that high-skilled professionals rely on to allow them to work longer hours.

There is one other group of people who strongly benefit, of course: recent migrants who have relatives they would like to join them. The most recent data indicate that thats perhaps 6 percent of eligible voters. Oh, perhaps we should add some percentage for their native-born children who might care a great deal about getting their grandparents, aunts and uncles the boon of U.S. residence. But then we should probably subtract something, too, for the naturalized citizens who dont care to have the entire extended family moving onto their doorstop. More importantly, we have to account for the fact that naturalized citizens vote at significantly lower rates than the native born.

Other people may favor immigration, but its not necessarily an issue theyre willing to vote on. In other words, Democrats may have large numbers of people polling vaguely in favor of high immigration levels, but relatively low levels of voter intensity for their position.

Trump promised border security and a return to enforcing federal immigration laws. Hes delivering on those promises. The GOP should remain on alert concerning these town hall protests, but they shouldnt over exaggerate the threat.

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ICYMI: Immigration Enforcement Agents Rounded Up Hundreds Of Illegal Immigrants - Townhall