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Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev) listens to a question during a town hall meeting at Las Vegas City Council Chambers Tuesday, April 18,2017.

By Chris Kudialis (contact)

Published Tuesday, April 18, 2017 | 8:30 p.m.

Updated Tuesday, April 18, 2017 | 11:45 p.m.

U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto fielded questions from dozens of Nevada residents Tuesday night at Las Vegas City Hall, touching on topics of immigration, organized labor and President Donald Trump's proposed skinny budget.

We are a multicolored fabric of immigrants that build this country, Cortez Masto said when asked whether she would support an initiative to protect undocumented immigrants by making Nevada a sanctuary" state. The ones that I have met are working hard and are contributing to our economy.

The nearly two-hour town hall featured about 450 attendees, mostly supporters of the Democratic senator. Attendees applauded, shouted and gave a standing ovation when Cortez Masto was introduced. The applause continued throughout the evening as Cortez Masto answered questions.

Cortez Masto argued that a budget proposed by Trump will result in the loss of so many agencies that are a benefit to our community. She cited proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency as well as the proposed elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities as devastating.

Its top-lined, but it doesnt give specifics, she said of the federal budget, which at 53 pages was the smallest budget released by any U.S. president during the past presidential administrations.

The U.S. senator also blamed the president for his negative rhetoric toward media outlets and suggested that the arrest of KLAS Channel 8 cameraman Neb Solomon on Saturday during a peaceful protest outside of Trumps namesake Las Vegas hotel was a product of Trump's efforts to denigrate the press.

Cortez Masto doubled-down on her support of voter-approved legalized marijuana in Nevada, saying she was against federal intervention proposed by the Trump administration and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

I will continue to fight for the states right to legalize medical and recreational marijuana, she said.

The first-term U.S. senator and former Nevada attorney general added to a group of five audience members holding up signs in favor of $15 hourly minimum wages that she supported raising the wage, but did not outline any legislation.

I want the American Dream for everyone, but I need your help, she said.

She reaffirmed her support for organized labor, telling UNLV student Matt Kimball that she would support pro-labor candidates in the 2018 midterm elections.

Many of those asking questions represented political organizations in Nevada, like Hispanic activist group Mi Familia Vota and the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. Over a dozen people asking questions also thanked the senator for her presence at the event and asked what they or their respective organizations could do to work more collaboratively with her office.

Tuesdays Cortez Masto town hall took place one day after fellow U.S. Sen. Dean Heller and Rep. Mark Amodei spoke in front of angry crowds in Reno on Monday.

Cortez Masto took note of the strong turnout, telling attendees their energy was incredible. She encouraged them to continue to make their voices heard for the end game of the 2018 elections.

The senator was not asked specifically about professional sports in Las Vegas. But she did express her disapproval for a projected $750 million of public funds set to be included in the $1.9 billion budget for the new Las Vegas Raiders stadium as part of a separate question on public spending.

I dont think public money should be used to build the stadium, she said.

Cortez Mastos town hall came just hours after she toured the Boulder Solar 1 facility in the Eldorado Valley on Tuesday morning. The senator joined Boulder City Mayor Rod Woodbury and representatives from NV Energy and Sunrun for the tour.

Originally posted here:
Cortez Masto talks Trump budget, immigration reform and labor ... - Las Vegas Sun

Bold leadership is not a trait often associated with House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, which is largely why the establishment GOP leadership was marginalized in the last election. For years, they have known that the H-1B guest worker visa program was not merely passively broken, but was actively undermining American workers. Heck, they could have found that out just by watching 60 Minutes.

On Tuesday, President Trump used his executive authority to change the parts of the broken H-1B program that were within his constitutional power to fix. The Executive Order calls for ending the allocation of H-1B visas by lottery and suggests that those visas be allocated to the most-skilled or highest-paid foreign workers. In addition, it seeks to curtail foreign labor contractors from turning the H-1B program into a cash cow by snapping up the majority of visas available each year and then subcontracting workers to American businesses.

The presidents Buy American, Hire American Executive Order turned out to be a no-brainer. Normally, any action on anything related to immigration evokes howls of protest from some interest group. That was not the case with regard to Trumps H-1B changes. Groups that have fought for protections for American workers offered approval for the president. Those, like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, that have advocated for greater access to foreign labor avoided direct criticism of the H-1B provisions of the Executive Order and instead obliquely reaffirmed their stance that it would be a mistake to close the door on high-skilled workers from around the world.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which has been a sharp critic of the H-1B program, called the presidents Executive Order a step in the right direction toward fulfilling the campaign promise of having an immigration system that serves the national interest.

FWD.us, a mass immigration lobby group funded by Mark Zuckerberg and other Silicon Valley titans, offered guarded approval for the presidents effort to shove foreign labor contracting firms off the H-1B gravy train (although they did renew their demand for increases in H-1B visas). The AFL-CIO, which has been largely AWOL when it comes to protecting American workers against immigration policies that undermine their interests, saw the presidents move as a boost for American minorities seeking a foothold in science and technology.

Even leading Democrats in Washington limited their criticism of Trumps ordered changes to the H-1B program by asserting that the president did not go far enough in protecting American workers. We already know H-1B visa abuse displaces American workers. President Trump already missed a chance to deliver on his promise of bold action to put American workers first, said Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), ignoring the fact that President Obama, who was not shy about using executive policy directives to protect illegal aliens, did nothing to address the H-1B visa abuse Durbin laments.

Sen. Durbin is correct: President Trumps actions do fall short of what is needed to protect the interests of American workers. Thats Congresss job. The flawed, loophole-ridden H-1B program that allows for the displacement and wage depression of American workers was created by Congress and must be fixed by Congress. Based on the initial responses from business, labor, Democrats, and immigration reform advocacy groups like FAIR, there is very little reason why the risk-averse Republican leadership in Congress should not follow up the presidents executive order with legislative reforms that actually protect American workers while continuing to provide American companies access to guest workers who truly possess unique skills that will benefit our country.

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PsstPaul Ryan, Mitch McConnell: Jump In, the Water's Warm on H-1B Reform - ImmigrationReform.com (blog)

Washington Times

Chuck Schumer on Trump's H-1B visa reforms study: Revive 2013 immigration bill, instead Washington Times Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer on Tuesday dismissed as window dressing President Trump's pending executive order to study H-1B visa program reforms, urging him instead to take up the bipartisan 2013 comprehensive immigration reform bill ... Schumer upbeat on funding deal, blasts Trump on tax returnsCNN Democrats divided on H-1B visa issueEconomic Times all 17 news articles »

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Chuck Schumer on Trump's H-1B visa reforms study: Revive 2013 immigration bill, instead - Washington Times

Apr 17, 2017 at 4:41 pm | Print View

A new coalition of business and religious leaders launched Monday to advocate for changes to the nations immigration policy.

Eighteen individuals from churches, colleges and businesses have formed the Iowa Coalition for Immigration Reform. The coalition is sponsored by the New American Economy, a group that says it is bringing together mayors and business leaders to support immigration reforms that will help create jobs in the United States.

Many of the initial coalition members are based in central Iowa, including officials from Des Moines Area Community College, the Ames Chamber of Commerce, the Waukee City Council and Simpson College.

While the Iowa coalition is pushing for comprehensive immigration reform, it is not prescriptive on what that reform should be, said Megan Peiffer, a representative for New American Economy, during a conference call Monday.

The intention with this particular coalition is to bring together all those different voices from different areas to create one united voice to get the attention of our Congressional delegation to talk about the issue of immigration reform, Peiffer said.

During the call, some coalition members said they would support a pathway to citizenship, securing the borders of the United States and argued that foreign-born members of the states workforce can help address a shortage of workers.

Its not about us, its about the jobs that we need to fill to keep Iowa strong economically, said Rob Denson, president of Des Moines Area Community College.

Reverend Richard Pates, bishop of the Des Moines Diocese, said he supports a controlled immigration system at the countrys borders, but also protections for immigrants who already reside in the country.

We need to speak to justice as we address those individuals and families that have been in our country and thats why we advocate very strongly for a pathway to citizenship, recognizing the economic contributions of these individuals and the values they have brought to our country, Pates said.

Rob Barron, a Des Moines School Board member, said his board is focused on supporting families and students already residing in the United States.

For us, what we want to see out of comprehensive immigration (reform) is some level of certainty for families that are already here, he said.

l Comments: (319) 398-8366; matthew.patane@thegazette.com

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New Iowa coalition pushes for immigration reform - The Gazette: Eastern Iowa Breaking News and Headlines

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement removal authorities made 21,362 arrests from January 20 to March 13 of this year, including 5,441 non-criminals, according to statistics provided to CNN and first requested by The Washington Post.

While the arrests by ICE under President Donald Trump in the first seven weeks of his administration still lag behind the number arrested under former President Barack Obama in the same timeframe in 2014, the pace of arrests this year do mark an escalation compared to the last two years of the Obama administration, when the Democrat used greater discretion toward undocumented immigrants.

The increase in arrests -- including more than double the number of non-criminal indviduals -- stands as further evidence of the Trump administration's priority of enforcing immigration laws more aggressively than the previous administration and giving immigration officials greater authority to go after a wide range of undocumented immigrants.

The more than 21,000 arrested in the beginning of this year is a roughly 33% increase over the same period in 2016 and a roughly 18% increase over the same period in 2015.

But the 5,441 non-criminal undocumented immigrants arrested as part of that total more than doubled the number in either 2015 or 2016.

In the first part of 2014, the Obama administration made 29,238 such arrests, including 7,483 non-criminal undocumented immigrants, which is roughly the same percentage of non-criminal arrests as this year.

In the first six years of the Obama administration, the former president was accused by liberals of deporting undocumented immigrants too aggressively, but Obama sought to show he was enforcing immigration laws as he and lawmakers pursued a comprehensive immigration reform deal in Congress. When talks collapsed in the House in mid-2014 and it became clear immigration reform would not pass Congress, Obama began to take more executive action to focus his administration on undocumented immigrants that were the greatest threat to communities and show more leniency to those who were not.

The Department of Homeland Security in late 2014 published a new set of priorities for going after undocumented immigrants for deportation -- which placed greater emphasis on those convicted of serious crimes.

One of Trump's first actions as President was to replace those priorities with a new set that could include virtually every undocumented immigrant in the US. The message from DHS since has been that no one in the US illegally will be exempt from deportation.

While Kelly said on Sunday's "Meet the Press" that just being in the US "illegally doesn't necessarily get you targeted, it's got to be something else," ICE has said that individuals encountered in the course of targeted arrests of people prioritized for removal can also be arrested and subject to deportation.

Opponents of Trump's aggressive immigration push have argued that his policies have created harmful fear in immigrant communities, where many individuals have US citizen family members and have lived and worked peacefully in the US for years.

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Immigration arrests rise in first months of Trump administration - CNN