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President Bidens appointment of Vice President Harris to coordinate a response to migration at the southern border is another nail in the coffin of filibuster reform. Republicans are inclined to oppose meaningful immigration reform to start with. Given Harriss presidential ambitions, theyll be united in opposing anything that gives her such a high-profile win. The only way Democrats will be able to deliver even the most modest immigration reform will be to end or deeply curtail the filibuster.

Russel Feldman

Newton

Senators, stop spinning your wheels

The US Senate is the graveyard of worthy progressive bills, and senators should be ashamed of their unproductive performance. Either the majority refuses to vote or the minority filibusters. Filibustering gives the minority party unearned and undeserved power. The presidential election of 2020 clearly determined Americans chose a Democratic president and Democratic majority in the House and Senate. Americans soundly rejected the Republican campaign of misinformation, voter suppression, gerrymandering, Jim Crow racism, trickle-down economics, irresponsible gun rights, anti-environmentalism, and the insurrection to overthrow a legal election.

By filibustering, Republicans can undermine that election, recalling a dark history of human rights violations and subverting the Senates ability to pass meaningful laws.

All Democrat legislators should get on board to honor the 2020 election. Senators Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia should reconsider their views on the filibuster which is not even in the Constitution and not agonize over what Republicans will do if they regain majority status. If the people change whom to support in the next election, so be it. The people will decide.

A simple majority vote can advance the progressive agenda chosen by the voters. The Senates been spinning its wheels far too long.

James Frank

Reading, Pa.

This truly is minority rule

There has been a lot of talk lately about eliminating the filibuster in the US Senate. Should Democrats move to do this? The answer is: absolutely, but not for the reason you might think.

Democrats should end the filibuster because the 50 Republican senators represent 45 percent of the population of the United States. The GOP senators may think they represent half of the country, but the actual numbers show otherwise.

Democrats: Step up and end the (minority) filibuster.

Frank Velluto

Melrose

Read the original here:
Immigration reform, and so much else, depends on eliminating the filibuster - The Boston Globe

Eakinomics:The Potential of Immigration Reform

Immigration reform has been bandied about since the very start of the Biden Administration. Indeed, the House has now passed two pieces of immigration reform, the Dream and Promise Act and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. Both bills offer a path to legalization for certain groups of immigrants by creating new categories and reforming old ones.

But as I argue in a recent op-ed, legalization should be the first move rather than the final objective. Conservatives have to insist that the core visa system be infused with a vision for growth that builds a globally competitive 21st century labor force. Immigrants already have the higher labor activity rate when compared with native born citizens. They are also more likely to start a business. In fact, nearly 20 percent of self-employed workers in the United States are foreign born. Diverse skill sets and talents from across the world have spawned innovation and job creation in this country for years, despite that under 10 percent of visas are awarded based on economic criteria. Think of the effects of making business central to the decision to award an immigrant visa.

This argument is central to an effective immigration reform. But it is often hard for some to grasp. To illustrate what is at stake, consider the graph (below). It contains three long-run projections of gross domestic product (GDP). The central (blue) line is built off the main population projections by the United States Census, combined with the Congressional Budget Offices long-term economic projections.

The bottom (red) line, however, is the projected GDP under a scenario that has zero future immigration. This has striking implications for the future population of the United States. By 2060, the population is over one-fifth (21 percent) smaller than in the main projection. The reduced pace of population growth translates directly into a smaller labor force, reduced employment and lower national income. The cumulative difference between a United States with immigration and one without is $140 trillion in additional GDP.

But the gain could be even greater. Suppose that visas are granted on the basis of the potential to contribute to the economy (see one example of such a reform here). The result would be greater growth in not only the size of the population, but also its productivity. The top (gray) line illustrates the additional GDP that would result from the additional productivity.

That pro-growth impact is the foundation of conservative approaches to immigration reform. As Congress considers major immigration changes, this potentially bipartisan approach should be on the table.

See the rest here:
Daily Dish: The Potential of Immigration Reform - AAF - American Action Forum

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo, visited Laramie Wednesday to offer praise and encouragement to the students and faculty of Slade Elementary for their Blue Ribbon achievement a program that recognizes public and private K-12 schools and their academic excellence.

Following that presentation, Barrasso commented on more politically pressing issues regarding immigration and his recent visit to the Donna processing facility in Texas.

Its heartbreaking and its overwhelming, Barrasso said.

He and 17 other Republican senators traveled to the southern border to see firsthand the immigration crisis that has allegedly worsened under President Bidens administration. Barrasso said he witnessed nearly 4,000 individuals, many minors and many keeping warm under insulation blankets.

Jesse Moreno, border patrol agent for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, confirmed in a brief phone conversation on Thursday that the Donna facility is built to accommodate approximately 1,000 and under COVID restrictions, 250. As of Tuesday, it is currently accommodating 4,100.

There are reasons that we have asylum laws, Barrasso said, claiming many of the migrants currently seeking entry into the states arent for political or safety issues.

Barrasso said he spoke with several border patrol personnel and even observed a night patrol where he witnessed traffickers and smugglers on the other side of the river taunting border agents. He also claimed, per the patrol officers, the Remain in Mexico program was successful because they were forced to wait for adjudication outside the border.

John Sandweg, former acting director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during President Barrack Obamas administration, stated the Remain in Mexico program and Title 42, both programs adopted under the Trump administration, created an anomaly in the amount of immigrants waiting in Mexico for asylum.

I think thats playing a big role and artificially increasing the (Biden) numbers, Sandweg is quoted on CNN Politics.

However, the fact remains that approximately 9,700 migrants crossed the border in February, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, and average 500 unaccompanied migrant children under the Biden administration. Experts say these numbers will likely surpass those in 2019 during the same interval of time considering there are already 7.49% unaccompanied migrants as of 2021 year-to-date data compared to 8.25% in 2019.

Those are the Biden numbers, Barrasso said. He added that as a result, approximately one-third of patrol personnel perform patrol duty to keep out traffickers and smugglers.

Two-thirds are now working as escorts or day care personnel, Barrasso said for unaccompanied migrant children. Here lies the biggest problem, according to Barrasso.

Our immigration system does need reform, Barrasso said in a 2019 address to the Senate, and again Wednesday. But for Barrasso, reformation comes after security.

The first thing we have to do is secure the border, he said, More are coming every day.

As for reformation, the caseload is expanding exponentially and currently backlogged by over 1.3 million cases, according to data configured by TRAC, a non-partisan information site about U.S. federal immigration enforcement.

According to the Honorable Dana Leigh Marks, U.S. immigration judge in the Department of Justice, moving the immigration court systems outside of a law enforcement agency (Department of Justice) would help speed up immigration/asylum cases processes.

Barrasso responded to this fact by referring to a recent proposal introduced by Lindsey Graham which would end the abuse of the asylum system and establish refugee application and processing centers outside of the States. The legislation is known as the Secure and Protect Act of 2021 (S.1494).

Earlier this year, Wyoming State Senator Anthony Bouchard publicly announced his intentions to run against Representative Liz Cheney in the 2022 Republican primary.

When asked if he thought Bouchard had a reasonable chance running against Cheney, Barrasso said its too early to say.

When I was re-elected in 2018, I had five others who ran against me who wanted to have me fired so they could have the job, Barrasso said while laughing.

He added there are 14 months between now and election and a lot can happen during that time.

He said that in the meantime he is working diligently with Cheney and Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo, on long-term income possibilities.

Currently the state is fighting President Bidens oil and gas moratorium, which according to the University of Wyoming Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute, could cost the state nearly $12.9 billion in tax revenue.

We have a delegation of three people [and] we are working fully closely together on energy issues, Barrasso said.

More here:
Barrasso weighs in on immigration reform | News | wyomingnews.com - Wyoming Tribune

In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, the crew discusses a package of changes to voting rules signed into law on Thursday by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, and compares them with other Republican proposals around the country that could make voting more difficult. The Georgia law contains a number of controversial provisions, including giving more authority over the state elections board to the state legislature (instead of the secretary of state) and banning volunteers from giving food or water to people waiting in line to vote.

The gang also looks at the challenges facing the Biden administration in dealing with the surge of migrants at the southern border and immigration reform more broadly. There does not appear to be a general consensus among Democrats about how to address immigration reform. And in the near term, the U.S. is seeing the largest increase in migrants at the southern border in 20 years, according to the secretary of Homeland Security.

You can listen to the episode by clicking the play button in the audio player above or bydownloading it in iTunes, theESPN Appor your favorite podcast platform. If you are new to podcasts,learn how to listen.

The FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast is recorded Mondays and Thursdays. Help new listeners discover the show byleaving us a rating and review on iTunes. Have a comment, question or suggestion for good polling vs. bad polling? Get in touch by email,on Twitteror in the comments.

Go here to see the original:
Politics Podcast: Democrats Are Struggling On Immigration Policy - FiveThirtyEight

CALDWELL Last year brought a perfect storm of perils for farmworkers in the United States, with the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme heat and smoke from wildfires.

Teresa Romero, the third president in the history of the United Farm Workers since its inception in 1962, said in a speech Tuesday to University of Idaho students and staff, that the last year and beyond has revealed a need for immigration reform, wage reform and protections from employer abuse for farmworkers.

The universitys College Assistance Migrant Program brought Romero to speak in recognition of National Farmworker Awareness Week. Romero spoke to the group of attendees over Zoom.

{div class=page title=Page 1}{div class=layoutArea}{div class=column}Teresa Romero is the first immigrant woman to become president of a national union in the United States. She is the third president of United Farm Workers since its inception in 1962.{/div}{/div}{/div}

Field workers cannot shelter-in-place or work from home, Romero said. They are essential workers, they must go to their jobs to feed America, unfortunately they are still not treated as essential workers (by) the federal government.

Romero said the federal government has not done enough to hold agriculture employers accountable for their workers safety.

In April last year, the farmworker labor organization sued the state of Washington over what it claimed to be deficiencies in COVID-19 protections for domestic and seasonal workers. The lawsuit led the state to issue new guidelines for worker housing.

After a year of struggling to avoid COVID-19 while on crowded transportation systems, in multigenerational housing and trying to balance child care as working parents, Romero said there needs to be some relief for workers.

For Romero, this work is personal.

It is because I am a Latina and an immigrant, she said.

Romero is the first Latina and first immigrant woman to become president of a national union in the United States. She replaced Arturo Rodriguez as the organizations president in December 2018.

Romero is passionate about helping women immigrants in the agriculture industry, because she sees herself in them. She came to the United States from Mexico nearly 40 years ago while in her early 20s in search of a better life, she said. She didnt speak English, but pushed herself to learn seven new sentences per day in her first years in the United States.

As president of the labor organization, Romero has focused on making agriculture work equal between men and women. This equality is as a way to ensure women are no longer enduring verbal, mental and sexual abuse while at work, Romero said in her bio provided to the University of Idaho.

FARM WORKFORCE MODERNIZATION ACT

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The bill, that has yet to be introduced in the Senate, would provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented agriculture workers and their families if they stayed in U.S. agriculture. It would also make changes to the H-2A program, which brings foreign workers to work in U.S. agriculture fields for part of the year.

It would free farmworker children from the fear of seeing their undocumented parents going to work in the morning and not knowing if they will return home at the end of the day because of the constant threat of deportation, Romero said.

Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, was a co-sponsor of the bill that had support of over 30 Idaho agricultural groups. However, Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said he would not support that version of the bill in the Senate. Hes working on a Senate version of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.

Crapo has said in the past that he wont support amnesty nor giving advantage or benefit toward citizenship for anyone who crosses the border illegally, according to a March 24 email from Crapos office. Those entering must get in the end of the line and following the legal process by applying for a green card, permanent status or citizenship.

The Senate is out of session for more than a week, but a spokesperson from his office said Crapo wants to improve the situation with farm employers and workers. They said Crapo would be working on revising the path to citizenship component of the bill.

Rachel Spacek is the Latino Affairs and Canyon County reporter for the Idaho Press. You can reach her at rspacek@idahopress.com. Follow her on twitter @RachelSpacek.

See original here:
United Farm Workers leader calls for immigration, wage reform in University of Idaho speech - Idaho Press-Tribune