Immigration activists keep close eye on SOTU / Equality, Immigration Reform
Immigration activists keep close eye on SOTU How has President Obama #39;s actions on immigration affected his approval ratings? A new NBC/Wall Street Journal po...
By: MSNBC News
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Immigration activists keep close eye on SOTU / Equality, Immigration Reform - Video
Republicans kicked off the new Congress by facing off against President Barack Obamas executive action on immigration through a daring battle over Homeland Security funding-- a tricky fight theylikelywill not win. But the GOP has another option to demonstrate its tough stance on immigration: a new bill touted by its backers as the toughest border security bill ever introduced.
The Secure Our Borders First Act, introduced by Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, faces a House vote next week after passing his committee along partisan lines Wednesday. But sharp disagreement over the bill is already exposing rifts among congressional Republicans over their immigration strategy.
For Gods sakes, if we cant unite around border security, what can we unite around? McCaul said during Wednesdays vote.
The bill mandates deadlines for the Department of Homeland Security to achieve operational control of the southern border -- that is, to intercept all unlawful border crossings. If Customs and Border Patrol doesnt meet the set targets -- operational control of high-traffic border areas in two years, and control of the full border in five years -- Homeland Security employees will face penalties, including restricted use of aircraft and docked salaries or bonuses.
The proposal also allows Border Patrol agents to conduct operations on federal lands, such as national parks or land under environmental protection, provides funding for the National Guard to assist with border security operations and authorizes expanded use of surveillance drones at the border. Senators also introduced the House version of the bill this week.
The $10 billion bill represents a much tougher version of legislation McCaul introduced in 2013, known as the Border Security Results Act, which tasked the Department of Homeland Security with devising its own border security strategy for congressional approval. It also leaves few concessions for Democrats, who have frequently criticized the idea of operational control as unrealistic and questioned the effectiveness of further militarizing the border. Committee ranking Democrat Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi issued a statement Wednesday calling McCauls bill an attempt to placate the most extreme factions of the Republican Conference.
But if thats true, it hasnt been very effective: Some Republicans are attacking the bill for not going far enough. One of the primary critics is Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, who spoke out against it this week: One of the most dramatic ways in which the president has undermined immigration enforcement is by ordering agents to release apprehended illegal border-crossers by the tens of thousands, he wrote in a statement Tuesday. Yet the pending legislation does nothing to end this endemic practice of catch-and-release, ensuring large amounts of illegal immigration will continue unabated.
Some House Republicans echoed the misgivings. Rep. Matt Salmon of Arizona told Politico that Sessions remarks represented concerns that many in the conference have.
Its unclear whether Republicans will be able to amass enough votes in both chambers to pass the border bill, but its one of the few opportunities the GOP currently has to deflect accusations of obstructionism and push through legislation on immigration. Another opportunity lies in two bills onhigh-skilled immigrationintroduced in the Senate earlier this month, both of which have strong bipartisan support.
But congressional Republicans may find it tough to secure unity on either of these bills as Sessions, one of the most prominent hardliners, was named chairman of the Senate subcommittee on immigration on Thursday. In addition to criticizing McCauls bill, Sessions has also opposed legislation for high-skilled immigrant workers and urged the Senate to defund Obamas executive action granting deportation reprieves to millions of undocumented immigrants.
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Immigration Reform 2015: GOP Splits Over Toughest Border Security Bill Ever
Story highlights President Barack Obama didn't mention or comparatively downplayed a number of key issues in his State of the Union He mostly avoided ObamaCare and immigration reform, despite acting on those issues during his time in office He also ignored gun control and campaign finance reform, two of progressives' pet priorities
In the 70-minute-long address, the President gave only lip service to immigration reform. He made no remarks on protecting Social Security and Medicare just as Republicans have hinted at a coming battle over welfare reform and only passing reference to the crowning achievement of his first term, Obamacare, just as it's beginning to bear fruit for many Americans. And he didn't mention the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline by name, which Republicans favor as a job-creation opportunity but the White House has said Obama would veto.
READ: Obama: 'Tonight, we turn the page'
The speech was overall a rallying cry to progressives, a promise that he'll put up a fight for their priorities now that he's freed from the bounds of another reelection fight. It drew widespread praise from congressional Democrats, and near-uniform dismissal from Republicans.
But the omissions were a reminder that, though the President's popularity is on an upswing, his legacy remains unclear and his final two years in office will still be full of challenges.
The immigration reform snub was perhaps his most glaring hole. Obama only warned against "refighting past battles on immigration when we've got a system to fix," and called for empathy towards immigrants.
"Yes, passions still fly on immigration, but surely we can all see something of ourselves in the striving young student, and agree that no one benefits when a hardworking mom is taken from her child, and that it's possible to shape a law that upholds our tradition as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants," he said during Tuesday night's speech.
That's in contrast to his 2013 State of the Union speech, when he called for Congress to pass a comprehensive reform bill and declared: "Let's get this done."
Even last year he demanded, "let's get immigration reform done this year."
On this issue, however, Obama may be feeling less urgency because he's already done some of the work on his own, with his executive action delaying deportations for millions of immigrant families last year. But the omission underscores what a prickly subject it remains politically, one that's already the center of another spending fight on Capitol Hill that will come to a head next month.
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What Obama didn't say
Al Jazeera America - Obama #39;s Speech on Immigration Reform
What #39;s at stake for immigrants after President Obama #39;s speech on immigration. Interview aired on November 20, 2014. Copyrights Reserved, Al Jazeera America, ...
By: Robert Valencia
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Al Jazeera America - Obama's Speech on Immigration Reform - Video
Obama #39;s 2014 SOTU proposals: What he did and didn #39;t get done
Carbon emissions, immigration reform and a minimum wage hike: Which of President Obama #39;s 2014 State of the Union proposals actually got done? The Post #39;s Fact Checker, Glenn Kessler, on what...
By: Washington Post
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Obama's 2014 SOTU proposals: What he did and didn't get done - Video