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On Wednesday, former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will lie in state at the Capitol Rotunda, joining a long and growing list once limited to former presidents and military leaders.

Shortly after Reids death, legislators from both sides of the aisle sung the Nevada Democrats praises. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said that Reid would be in his prayers, that he was a good man who fought hard for his causes, and that he will be missed. Chuck Schumer, who holds Reids old job in the Senate, said that his friend always looked out for people.

Schumers praise for his old friend and mentor is more insightful than he might have imagined. Reid once championed meaningful immigration reform that would have benefited Americans, especially blue-collar workers. Eventually, Reid drifted over to the extreme left, and supported illegal immigrant amnesties as well as more employment-based visas.

In 1993, about six years after Nevada voters promoted him from the House of Representative to the Senate, Reid introduced a far-reaching comprehensive immigration reform bill that Democrats, especially former President Barack Obama and Schumer, would prefer to forget about. As per a press release issued from his office, Reid outlined what he called the first and only comprehensive immigration reform bill in Congress, the Immigration Stabilization Act of 1993.

The first item of business the press release addressed was to overhaul the nations immigration laws and begin a massive scale-down of immigrants allowed into the country from approximately 800,000 to 300,000. Legal immigration reduction groups have been lobbying for similar reductions for years. The current 1 million-plus annual lawful permanent residents is an unsustainable level since chain migration eventually converts the initial 1 million immigrants into about 3 million. A Princeton University study found that, on average, each immigrant petitions slightly more than three family members to join him in the U.S.

Another long-sought change reductionists have favored for decades is ending birthright citizenship. Reid wanted it clarified that a U.S.-born child to an alien mother who is not a lawful resident should not be considered a U.S. citizen. If ISA were approved, Reid said the incentive for pregnant alien women to enter illegally, often at risk to mother and child, for the purpose of acquiring citizenship for the child and to then receive federal benefits would be eliminated.

Other Reid recommendations have a familiar ring: a crack down Reids wording on illegal immigration, then an estimated 3.3 million, ending asylum fraud along with the phony claims that allow unqualified aliens to enter, excluding aliens who cannot financially support themselves without assistance, and beefing up border security.

For a period, too short as things turned out, Reid was committed to rational immigration.

In his 1994 Los Angeles Times op-ed, Reid scorned his colleagues for their failure to reduce legal immigration, and he urged lawmakers to reject unfounded racism charges to act quickly to pass ISA. He concluded that the real injustice to future Americans would be to do nothing [to reduce immigration].

Reid was a spot-on prognosticator. Congress did nothing, and in the three decades that have passed, the illegal immigrant population has quadrupled from 3 million to nearly 12 million. The border that Reid wanted to reinforce is a horror show as officials predict that 2 million aliens will cross illegally this year.

In his official statement about Reids death, President Joe Biden praised him for his power to do right for the people. Reid was, Biden concluded, a giant.

Had Reid stuck to his 1993 immigration wish list, he would have done right for the people, and could truly be remembered as a giant.

Instead, Reid dropped the ball and platitudes being heaped on him aside was just another politician whose views shifted with the Capitol Hill winds.

Joe Guzzardi is a Progressives for Immigration Reform analyst who has written about immigration for more than 30 years. Contact him at jguzzardi@pfirdc.org.

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Joe Guzzardi: The late Harry Reid once championed pro-American immigration reform - Today's News-Herald

No other member of Congress oversees more territory along the southwest border than Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales. Spanning roughly 800 miles along the U.S.-Mexico border, Texas' 23rd District has oftentimes been ground zero for the continued migration surge.

Over the past two months alone, border authorities have encountered nearly 65,000 migrants at the Big Bend and Del Rio border sectors which run across Gonzales' district. This figure stands as just a fraction of the over 1.85 million migrants who have been encountered at the southwest border since Gonzales took office.

Gonzales, a former Navy officer of Mexican American descent, was elected to serve the politically moderate, majority Hispanic district in 2020 following the retirement of former Congressman Will Hurd. During his campaign, he centered border security and stability among his top issues. He told Newsweek that realizing this goal requires immigration reform.

"(Immigration reform) is a topic that is in my face nonstop, and it's just it's the right thing to do," Gonzales told Newsweek."This country has been just going back and forth for too long, and the problem is that it's a political winner for both parties, to be able to throw it around, but the loser is the American public."

Over the past year, Gonzales' district has paid the price for America's often criticized border enforcement and immigration strategy. He said that people living in his largely rural district, a number of whom live directly on the border, have seen their property damaged and face fear over the uncertainty surrounding who may be crossing through their land.

While Gonzales knocks the Biden administration's early efforts to undo measures taken by the Trump administration and believes it could do more to ensure security, he said addressing the heart of the issues starts in Congress.

Gonzales sees much of current actions being taken to address the migration surge as "Band-Aids" that do little to prevent migration surges from arising again in the future. With polices around entry often changing with the presidential administration, Gonzales said that criminal smuggling organizations often review the latest changes and take advantage of news surrounding the policy shifts to convince desperate migrants to pay them for passage to the United States.

"They're the ones that really kind of spin up the migrants and feed them information," Gonzales added.

News outlets including Reuters, The New York Times, and The Texas Tribune all report that inconsistent enforcement and confusion around immigration policies have played a role in pushing desperate people who already face gang violence, economic hardships and food insecurity to make the decision to come to the border.

The lack of clarity offers illicit smuggling businesses fuel to make their potential clients compelling promises which ultimately results in these individuals ending up in situations where they are violating the country's laws. Gonzales said that Congress must introduce a policy that does not encourage illegal immigration and instead offers feasible, clear pathways for qualifying people to pursue their "American Dream."

"It's been difficult to find people that even want to have the conversation. It seems like everyone is in their corners, but I'll keep pushing," Gonzales said. "Ultimately, this is about national security."

Gonzales fears that with the continued shifts in immigration enforcement comes the risk of a potential terrorist threat that could be triggered by a bad actor gaining entry into the country.

As more people continue to make the trip north, border resources will continue to be stretched and some individuals may slip through the cracks. Over the past year already, Border authorities encountered at least three individualstwo from Yemen and one from Saudi Arabiawho have been labeled as potential terrorists.

While addressing this problem and staving off the migrant flow by providing international clarity on who can enter the country stands as something to be tackled in the long term, Gonzales offered a number of recommendations on what the administration can do to address the issue in the short term.

The congressman asked that the Biden administration not fire any border agents who face potential terminations this month as a result of the federal vaccine mandate. He introduced the Border Agents Staying Employed (BASE) Act in mid-December aimed to provide vaccination alternatives. Gonzales also suggested to Newsweek that the administration move to expand the agency's technological repertoire by adding more drones that can support agents as they monitor remote areas of the border.

"These simple things I think would go a long way in helping kind of just shore up or insulate a Border Patrol that is beyond a breaking point," Gonzales said. "When a terrorist a threat occurs, they don't target Republicans or Democrats, they're just trying to kill Americans. Everyone should be rooting for a secure border."

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Rep. Tony Gonzales Urges Congress to Pass Immigration Reform: 'It's the Right Thing to Do' - Newsweek

The number of Americas immigrants, or foreign-born residents, has reached a historic high of46.2 million. That figure is the largest number of immigrants everrecordedin any government survey or U.S. census going back to 1850.

That record-breaking number is more than four times as large as the9.6 millionimmigrants in the country 50 years ago. Since then, Americas population has increased by 60 percent.

Todays U.S. foreign-born residents represent 14.2 percent of the nations population. That percentage is three times as large as the 1970 proportion of4.7percent, which is Americas historic low, and slightly less than the countrys record high of14.8percent in 1890.

Also, for the first time in Americas history, the demographic contribution of immigration has surpassed natural increase, which is simply the difference between births and deaths.

Between July 2020 to July 2021, Americas population grew by0.1 percent, which is thelowest rateof growth since the nations founding. The country gained392,665additional people, increasing thepopulation to331.8 million.

Of the countrys demographic increase during that 12-month period, immigration accounted for 62 percent of the gain and natural increase 38 percent. In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic increasing deaths, the pandemic contributed to fewer births compared to recent years.

The immigrants countries of origin have changed markedly since the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act. Whereas in 1960 about84 percentof U.S. immigrants were from European nations and Canada, today those countries account for 13 percent of the foreign-born.

Todays immigrant population is made up of Mexicans and other Latin Americans, each group at around25 percent. Immigrants from Asia are at 28 percent, with China and India each a 6 percent and the Philippines at 4 percent. The remaining 9 percent come from other regions.

Americas immigrants are more settled in the country than in the past. In 2018, for example, nearlythree-quartersof U.S. immigrants had resided in the country for more than a decade.

The large majority, more than 75 percent, of the U.S. foreign-born population are lawful residents in the country. The remainder, nearly25 percent,are estimated to be unauthorized migrants.

Following the 1986 Immigration Reform and ControlAct,also known as the Reagan Amnesty, which legalized most unauthorized immigrants who arrived prior to Jan. 1, 1982, their numbers have grown steadily. From 1990 to 2007, for example, the number of unauthorized immigrants more thantripled, increasing from 3.5 million to a record high of 12.2 million in 2007.

Attempts for a Reagan-typeamnestyfor today's unauthorized immigrants have been proposed by the Biden administration. However, immigration reform has repeatedly stalled in Congress and theprospectsof providing a pathway to citizenship any time soon do not appear promising.

Given the lack of reform, some towns, the latest being New York City, are allowingnon-citizensand Dreamers to vote in municipal elections. Somestates, including Alabama, Arizona, Colorado and Florida, have adopted rules preempting attempts to adopt similar voting laws.

Estimatesof the unauthorized immigrant population vary depending on the methodology, the time period and the data sources. The Department of Homeland Security estimates that11.4 millionunauthorized migrants were living in the country in 2018, amounting to 3.4 percent of the population.

The number ofunauthorized migrants attempting to enter the U.S has recently reached the highest level in more than 20 years. In May, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported that it caught180,034unauthorized migrants, which is the largest monthly total since 2000. In November the CBP encountered173,620illegal crossers at the southern border, a 140 percent increase compared to November 2020.

In the fiscal year 2021, nearly2 millionunauthorized migrants came in contact with immigration enforcement, with approximately88 percentof them resulting in expulsions. In addition, increasing numbers of unauthorized migrants are coming fromcountriesoutside Central America, including Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti, Venezuela and some African nations.

TheCensus Bureauexpects the number of immigrants living in America to continue increasing over the coming decades, reaching about54 millionby 2030 and 65 million by 2050. Those projections represent about15 percentof the population in 2030 and 17 percent in 2050, with both proportions greater than the countrys historic high levels around the late 19th to the early 20th century.

International migration is expected to exceed natural increase as the principaldriverof population growth in the coming decades. With the aging of Americas overall population and baby boomers reaching the oldest ages, deaths are expected to increase more rapidly than births. Consequently, by mid-century immigration is expected to be contributingtwiceas many people to Americas population as natural increase.

However, as has been witnessed during past years, immigration is sensitive to economic, social and political conditions as well as public health circumstances. Those conditions and circumstances are difficult to anticipate and may change abruptly, as has been witnessed with the coronavirus pandemic.

The projections prepared by the Census Bureau rely on historical trends and offer several assumptions about future immigration based largely on recent levels. In addition to the main series projection, alternativescenariosof high, low and zero immigration levels are also prepared.

In the coming decades, thepopulation projectionsin the main series assume an annual net immigration level of 1.1 million migrants. At that level, Americas population is expected to be about405 millionin 2060, an increase of 22 percent over todays population. However, if immigration were to stop, Americas population in 2060 is projected to be320 million, or nearly 4 percent smaller than it is today.

In sum, the key message is immigration will most likely continue to be a major, if not the predominant determinant of U.S. population growth. Consequently, Americas immigration can be expected to continue reaching historic highs.

JosephChamieis a consulting demographer, a former director of the United Nations Population Division and author of numerous publications on population issues, including his recent book,"Births, Deaths, Migrations and Other Important Population Matters."

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For the foreseeable future, immigration will fuel US population growth | TheHill - The Hill

January 13, 2022 - Washington, DC - Congressman Mo Brooks (AL-05) introduced the Local Control Act, which empowers state governors and local elected officials to decline when the federal government attempts to settle illegal aliens in their communities.

Specifically, the Local Control Act would add a new section to the Immigration and Nationality Act that would plainly state that illegal aliens could not be settled into a state 1) without the approval of the governor and 2) could not be placed into any locality in the state if that locality has a law or policy in effect disapproving of illegal alien resettlement in that area.

The Local Control Act is endorsed by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), one of Americas leading grassroots border security advocacy groups.

ClickHEREto view the Local Control Act text.

Congressman Brooks said,The first duty of any government is to protect its citizens against invaders. I believe in empowering governors and local elected officials to defend their states and communities since Joe Biden has proven incapable or unwilling to do his duty. Reports indicate that illegal aliens are being driven in unmarked white vans and being flown into communities in the dark of night by the Biden Administration. Recently, unvetted Afghan evacuees were placed in Alabama without any Alabamians consent. Americans shouldnt be put at risk of terrorism, illegal alien crime, job losses, wage suppression, or any other number of things by a lawless presidential administration that is dead set on weakening America.

Dan Stein, President of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), said,As the historic crisis on the border continues to worsen, FAIR applauds Representative Mo Brooks leadership in assuring that the wishes of the American people are respected by the federal government. The Local Control Act returns power to the American people by requiring state governors to approve any federal plans to house or resettle illegal aliens in their state. It also gives localities the ability to opt-out of illegal alien resettlement. Federal funding should not be used to detriment the interests of U.S. citizens and lawful residents, and this bill will ensure that their voices are heard. Remember, the American people are the key stakeholders in when it comes to immigration, and this legislation treats them as such.Source:Congressman Mo Brooks

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Congressman Mo Brooks Introduces Bill Empowering State and Local Elected Officials To Deny the Settlement of Illegal Aliens In Their States - Sierra...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) created an interagency task force to address the issue of families that were separated as they attempt to migrate illegally into the United States. In response to a request for public input, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) submitted a comment urging the department to end a host of policies that encourage adult migrants to traffic children illegally across the border and that increase illegal immigration into the United States.

"The focus of the task force seems to be on how to reunite families that have been separated as a result of their decision to enter the United States illegally," observed Dan Stein, president of FAIR. "Rather, the emphasis here should be on ending numerous incentives that encourage migrants to risk family separation in the expectation that some, if not all, family members will be allowed to remain in the United States. The goal should be to prevent family separation from happening at all."

To properly prevent family separation, FAIR says DHS must:

"The likelihood of prompt release from detention and the availability of employment authorization has caused the number of family units illegally crossing the border to skyrocket to crisis levels in the past decade and, most drastically, in 2021," said Stein in the comment. "If inadmissible aliens are unable to be released into the United States until they are granted asylum and expect DHS to vigorously enforce immigration law, the number of apprehensions and fraudulent credible fear claims made by family units will drop significantly. The only way to permanently end family separation is to eliminate the pull factors that encourage family units to enter United States illegally."

"While the Biden interagency task force will undoubtedly focus on ways to repair the damage caused by their own policies, and ill-conceived policies of previous administrations, a far wiser approach would be to end those policies and fix broken laws. If you really want to end family separation and we all do then the best approach is preventing these tragic situations from occurring in the first place," Stein concluded.

Contact: Matthew Tragesser, 202-328-7004 or [emailprotected]

ABOUT FAIR

Founded in 1979, FAIR is the country's largest immigration reform group. With over 3 million members and supporters nationwide, FAIR fights for immigration policies that serve national interests, not special interests. FAIR believes that immigration reform must enhance national security, improve the economy, protect jobs, preserve our environment, and establish a rule of law that is recognized and enforced.

SOURCE Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)

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The Most Important Recommendation for Ending Family Separation is to End Policies That Create the Problem, Says FAIR - PRNewswire