Mediaboss Marketing

Jonathan P. Baird lives in Wilmot.

I think it is fair to say that fear of immigrants in the United States is out-of-control. And its not just in the United States. Fascist and far-right politicians have persuaded citizens in many countries that the greatest threat they face is not climate change or economic inequality. Its faceless masses at some distant border. The demagogic message from Donald Trump, Viktor Orbn and Marine Le Pen is the same they will replace youand they will eventually outnumber you.

A May Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that 3 in 10 worry more immigration is causing native-born Americans to lose their economic, political, and cultural influence. Irrational fear of outsiders has skewed public understanding.

The lack of empathy for immigrants was recently driven home by the horrific June deaths of 53 people inside a sweltering tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas. The truck did not have a functioning cooling system as temperatures spiked over 100 degrees. People wedged in like sardines died from heat exhaustion and dehydration. The dead included victims from age 13 to 55 who were from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. All were believed to be brought illegally through the border with Mexico.

I didnt see much sympathy for these dead. It was just a blip in the news cycle. But the story is very reminiscent of the Jewish experience. Just like Mexican and Central Americans now, Jews were once smuggled into America. The story has been forgotten.

One hundred years ago, Jews were a suspect class. Antisemitism was widespread and much of the American public held stereotypical views, not too different from how illegal aliens are viewed now. In 1921 and later in 1924, strict immigration quotas were put into place that greatly limited the number of southern and eastern European immigrants, especially Jews, who could come into the U.S.

The quotas were so limiting that the new laws prompted illegal smuggling operations. The fact of the quotas did not stop European Jews from wanting to come to the U.S. No one knows exactly how many Jews illegally emigrated to the U.S. Over the period from 1921 to 1965, best estimates are in the tens of thousands, possibly higher.

The story is told in Libby Garlands book After They Closed the Gates. Smugglers brought Jews over on ships with forged travel documents. People crossed the border in Mexico, Canada and also by boat from Cuba. Havana was a center for smuggling from Cuba into the U.S. It afforded easy access to the Gulf and Atlantic ports, especially to points on the Florida coast.

Garland shows how complicated and multi-faceted the process of immigration was. Garland writes, Emigration was only one of many arenas in which Eastern European Jews relied on illegal methods. Buying and selling on the black market, smuggling, assuming false identities and obtaining forged documents were, particularly in the chaos that followed World War I, facts of life.

There was a dark side to the alien smuggling. Liquor bootlegging and sex trafficking were often part of the rampant illegality. The smugglers were often brutal. Garland says immigrants who did not pay up or who were naive enough to pay upfront would get dumped overboard. Smugglers often robbed Jewish passengers of their valuables. Immigrants often relied on friends and families in the United States for detailed instructions about the story they should offer which would provide the best chance for entry. Jewish name-changing was a rite of passage.

Given the experience Jews had with antisemitismin Russia and eastern Europe, many people perceived illegal immigration as a perfectly legitimate choice. Desperate situations demanded creative responses. Garland says that being Jewish in eastern Europe often meant having to engage in a process of creating improvisational and shifting identities.

Just as with immigrants now, Jewish illegal immigrants left eastern Europe and Russia because of extreme poverty, lack of economic opportunities, and the threat of violence. Immigration restrictions and the lack of a legal path to citizenship contributed to people turning to smugglers.

From the perspective of 2022, knowing what we know now about the Holocaust, that Jewish illegal immigration now looks benign and its never mentioned. Closing the gates left European Jews at the hands of the Nazis. In retrospect, the extreme quotas that kept Jews out of the United States were both a tragedy and a giant mistake. How many were murdered who could have been saved?

Maybe Jewish history should make Americans reconsider the hysteria directed against Mexican and Latin American illegal immigrants. No one supercharged the fear and hysteria more than Trump Administration hatemongerStephen Miller. Millers uncle, David Glosser posted this on Facebook:

My nephew and I must both reflect long and hard on an awful truth. If in the early 20th century, the USA had built a wall against poor desperate ignorant immigrants of a different religion, like the Glossers, all of us would have gone up the crematoria chimneys with the other six million kinsmen whom we can never know.

The last major immigration reform was enacted in 1986. We remain long overdue for new legislation which could provide a roadmap to permanent protections and citizenship for undocumented people.

Read the rest here:
Opinion: The little-known story of Jewish illegal immigration - Concord Monitor

Elizabeth

Over 100 advocates gathered outside the Elizabeth Detention Center, the only remaining Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) detention facility in New Jersey, to commemorate the first anniversary of a landmark bill to ban detention agreements.

"One year ago today, immigrants in New Jersey made national headlines after we secured a victory that dealt a serious blow to I.C.E.'s detention system and enforcement reach. Immigrants brought the fight from within the walls of detention centers straight to the halls of the Trenton statehouse to deliver a ban on I.C.E. detention agreements," said Amy Torres from New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. "It was the organizing prowess of immigrants that positioned New Jersey as one of just a handful of states to prohibit I.C.E. detention agreements. We led the East Coast as the first state to have such a ban and since have been joined by others in introducing or passing similar measures. The call for immigrant justice will not be ignored."

The law that enacted the ban barred future I.C.E. detention contracts, but the political windfall from the decision ultimately led to the closure of three county detention centers in the state.

Hudson, Essex, and Bergen County jails have all ended their I.C.E. detention agreements. Although the bill passed the legislature in June of 2021, the Elizabeth Detention Center quietly extended its contract before Governor Murphy signed the bill into law in August.

The contract is now slated to end in late summer 2023. Community members impacted by I.C.E.'s presence in New Jersey spoke about the need to release those detained and provide greater protections to immigrants.

"When I was detained at the Elizabeth Detention Center after a workplace raid, I worried I would never see my daughters' smiling faces again. No one should have to experience that fear. No one should be detained or incarcerated in the Garden State. We demand the closure of the Elizabeth I.C.E. detention center and the immediate release of all detainees. If New Jersey is to live up to its promise as a fair and just state, we must pass the Values Act immediately so that no one has to face what I did," said Jenny, a spokesperson from Make the Road NJ

"A year ago, New Jersey took a step in ending detention and demonstrating that it is not a practice that is fair or humane to our immigrant friends. Although three of the four centers no longer detain our friends, the Elizabeth Detention Center continues to incarcerate our friends and strip them from their freedom. We will continue to push for justice for our friends until each of them is released and they are treated with the justice and dignity they deserve," said Jackie Zapata with First Friends of New Jersey and New York

New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice (N.J.A.I.J.), the state's largest immigration coalition, hosted a rally featuring individuals and families impacted by I.C.E. enforcement, performers, organizers, and advocates at the Elizabeth Detention Center to commemorate the anniversary.

The crowd used the moment to call the community to action, advocating for greater protections that systematically address how immigrants are targeted by and vulnerable to I.C.E. arrest, namely through The Values Act (S512/A1986), a State bill, and federal reforms, like the New Way Forward Act (H.R. 536).

"No human being should live with the anxiety that we could get separated from our families for simply going to work or dropping our children at school. It takes an emotional toll on everyone and is a feeling you never forget. Before New Jersey O.A.G.'s Immigrant Trust Directive in our community, we were constantly afraid that someone in our family would question our immigration status because that could mean being deported. The Values Act will make the safety and security of the Immigrant Trust Directive permanent. We remember what that was like before the Directive, and we won't go back," said Ana Cerrato, a Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center member.

"New Jersey's ban on I.C.E. contracts now one year old stands as an important milestone for respecting the rights and dignity of immigrant communities. But at the same time, more action is urgently needed to ensure that our state is fairer and more welcoming to all New Jerseyans, regardless of immigration status. The Values Act will further our state's commitment to drawing a clear line between state and local government and the federal deportation machine. Alongside our partners in the immigrants' rights community, we continue to call on our state representatives to pass the Values Act," said Ami Kachalia from the ACLU-NJ.

"Today, we rally to celebrate and remember the passage of the anti-detention law signed by Governor Murphy on the same day last year. We celebrate that Elizabeth Detention Center, run by Core-Civic, is the only remaining detention facility in N.J. and will finally close next year," Glendy Tsitouras, Community Organizer with the American Friends Service Committee. "But we must call for a pathway to permanent residency, protection for our community, and an end to collaborations between local law enforcement agencies and I.C.E. Passing the Values Act will be a big step towards making N.J. a safe place to live for everyone."

"Today's anniversary is a testament to New Jersey's progress toward becoming a fair and welcoming state for all," said Nicole Rodriguez, President of New Jersey Policy Perspective (N.J.P.P.). "But more must be done. Immigration detention is unjust and does irreparable harm to our families and communities. It's time state lawmakers address how people end up in this system by barring collaboration, keeping our data safe, and restoring confidence in public programs and services."

Throughout the demonstration, speakers reminded the audience of immigrants' growing power and organizing strength. Grassroots organizing groups, including Unidad Latino en Accion, New Jersey Sanctuary Coalition, Palestinian American Community Center, and C.A.T.A. Farmworkers Association, led chants throughout the rally, and attendees were joined in a performance by The Filthy Rotten System Band.

"At P.A.C.C., we represent a group of people who have too often been unjustly displaced and scattered around the world either as refugees or documented or undocumented immigrants, with no other choice but to do so. We understand what it means to be forced out of your homes for reasons beyond your control, to start all over in a country that looks down on you just because of your race or citizenship status. We understand and have experienced the harm of globalized borders that aim to restrict and tear apart families. Everyone deserves a chance to live peacefully, with pride and respect. We must keep advocating for protections like the Values Act and freeing everyone harmed by detention and border enforcement. We have a lot more work to do internally, locally, state-wide, and nationally, and we are ready and confident that we can achieve true justice collectively," said Abire Sabbagh from Palestinian American Community Center

"Today, we stand in front of the Elizabeth Detention Center in solidarity with our community members who are detained and separated from their families because of a broken immigration system a system that profits from incarcerating immigrants because they cross a border criminalizes our people. As we get to this one-year anti-detention ban here in New Jersey, we demand to stop any more arrests and to close those existing contracts that daily detain our people. We are not money, we are human beings! said Ana Paola Pazmino from Unidad Latina en Accion NJ

"Lawmakers treat immigrant justice issues like they're radioactive, claiming that because some immigrants can't vote, that our issues aren't important. But many of New Jersey's immigrants are rapidly becoming naturalized citizens and a growing number of children live in immigrant households. Lawmakers represent more than just the people that vote for them. In a state where nearly a quarter of us are immigrants, it's time they start paying attention," said Charlene Walker of Faith in New Jersey.

As the demonstration ended, speakers reminded the crowd that federal immigration reform and deportation relief remains an unfulfilled promise since the change in administration in 2021 and that more must be done to push New Jersey's state lawmakers to take action.

"We don't know if or how the political climate will change with the midterm elections, but we do know that many of the promises made to our communities in 2020 were broken," said Laura Bustamante of New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. "New Jersey is one of the most diverse states in the nation, with half of our population being made up of people of Color. If we want to change, it's on New Jersey's own legislators to make it, and we will not stop fighting until our communities see the justice, protections, and dignity we deserve."

The Values Act was introduced in late winter of 2022. The bill has 8 Senate co-sponsors and 14 Assembly co-sponsors but has yet to be heard in committee in either chamber of the legislature.

See more here:
One Year After ICE Detention Ban, Immigrants Call For Releases, Stronger Protections - RLS Media

National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd and Congresswoman Kat Cammack

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. Yesterday, Congresswoman Kat Cammack brought Brandon Judd, President of the National Border Patrol Council, to speak at Big Daddy Unlimited about the situation on the southwestern border. In her introduction, Cammack said polling shows that the border is one of the top three important issues to residents of her district. Cammack added, This isnt just a Texas issue; its not just an Arizona, New Mexico, California issue; this is an everyday American issue Its absurd what is happening on our own border. We have every opportunity, every means to secure that border, and yet here we are: its more porous than it ever has been.

Cammack sits on the Homeland Security Committee, which she says has full jurisdiction over the border, but Republicans are in the minority, and she said the Committee Chair, Bennie Thompson, wont pick up any legislation on the border.

Crisis has public health, humanitarian, and national security implications

Cammack highlighted the public health aspect of the large numbers of people coming across the southern border, including COVID-19, record levels of tuberculosis, and fentanyl: You have all of these drugs coming across the border, and no one on the left wants to talk about it. Yet theyre landing in our community. Were going to talk a lot about the fentanyl landing here in Gainesville today. We know for a fact that its coming from the southwest border. Cammack says that local law enforcement has seen cartel stamps on pills and bricks, and we report it back up, and just kind of crickets.

She also spoke about the humanitarian aspect of the border crisis, with women and children being trafficked and raped. She said her colleagues on the left also dont want to talk about whats happening to the children who are coming across the border.

And third, she spoke about the national security aspect, which is really one of the only fundamental roles of the federal government. But this administration has failed, majestically. Cammack said that just this year, 66 individuals on the international terror watch list have been apprehended, and that doesnt even include the got-aways that have been seen on drones or cameras but not apprehended. She added that apprehension just means released into the United States. So when you hear about 3 million-plus apprehension, thats not, Ok, we caught you, and then we turned you around. No. Thats We caught you and welcome to the United States.

Cammack also said she has documentation from FEMA that money set aside for homeless veterans and veterans at risk for homelessness was spent instead on buying bus tickets and plane tickets for illegal aliens: This is a crisis of epic proportions, and I dont care if youre Republican or Democrat or independent. This is an issue that impacts every single one of us, it impacts our community, it impacts our nation, our community, and our kids future. Thats why we all have to be all-hands-on-deck. You all have a role to play in this because whats happening at the southwest border is impacting us here.

Cammack then introduced Brandon Judd, President of the National Border Patrol Council, who has served as a Border Patrol agent for 25 years. He said that whats going on at the border is not humane It is not humane that weve had 700 deaths on the border to date, in this year. Judd said the previous record was a little over 300 deaths; that record was broken last year with 500 deaths, and this year were already at 700.

96% of dangerous drugs come across the southwest border

Judd continued, We are allowing criminal cartels, organized crime, to dictate what the program, policies, and operations are on the border today. There are stretches of border that the criminal cartels literally own because they know that all they have to do is flood it with large numbers of illegal immigrants [that] causes the Border Patrol to send resources to that area and take those individuals into custody, take them back to the station to process them The cartels know thats what they need to do, and when they control those areas of the border, thats when they get their higher-value products across. Thats when the drugs come in fentanyl, by the way, we set a record in 2021 with overdose deaths here in the United Statesover 100,000 United States citizens died because of dangerous drugs. And the DEA will tell you that 96% of those drugs are coming from the southwest border.

Judd said that at any given time, 90% of Border Patrol agents are performing administrative duties; only about 10% are patrolling. He said theyve never seen large groups like the ones theyre seeing now; it used to be that a group of 100 was a massive group, but now they see groups of 500 people at a time crossing the border.

Judd: Solution is to hold people in custody, hire more temporary judges to process them

Judd said the crisis can largely be solved with policy: hire more immigration judges on a temporary basis, then hold people in custody pending their asylum or deportation proceedings, and people will stop coming. He said that the moment you start holding people in custody, and this has been proven time and time and time again, they stop coming. Judd said people dont have the money to give to the cartels, so they have to enter into indentured servitude when they arrive here to pay back the cost of passage across the border. He said, Thats not humane. Whats humane is the rule of law.

Cammack passed around wristbands that she found on the border; she said they can be found in piles there. Each wristband signifies a different cartel, and each person crossing the border gets a numbered wristband from the cartel that is providing their passage. She said, This is a reminder of the fact that the cartels do not think of people as people; they treat them like cattle.

Q&A

Cammack and Judd then took questions that the audience had submitted on index cards before the event started.

The first question was, Do Democrats want to legitimize the illegals to give them the right to vote?

Judd said that Democrats continually push comprehensive immigration reform, which would legalize the people who are already here and give them legal status after some waiting period. Yes, the Democrats do continue to push for immigration reform or an amnesty pathway to citizenship for the millions of people who are here illegally.

Cammack added that in the current Congress, one of the Democrats top priorities is a bill that lowers the voting age to 16, makes it illegal for states to enforce Voter ID, and publicly finances campaigns with a six-to-one match on small-dollar donations of $200 or less, meaning that whatever a candidate raises in that category, the federal government would give them six times that amount. She said the bill would also allow non-citizens to vote. She added, I think there is something to be said about the fact that they have pushed for doing away with Voter ID and have done away with the notion that you have to be a citizen to vote in New York City.

Cammack added, And thats all the more reason why we as conservatives have to take back the House to stop this nonsense. We can only do that if were united. That is the only way we can do it, is if we are one team, one mission, and the mission is to secure the dang border.

The second question was, As a Constitutional Conservative, at what point does the federal government failing to enforce the border violate Article IV, Section 4, shall protect against invasion?

Cammack responded, I think its already been violated I think Article IV was abandoned quite a long time ago because weve seen states like Texas that are now having to build their own border wall to protect their citizens and talk about what Arizona is dealing with at the state level.

Judd said theres a debate right now about whether the framers of the Constitution meant an invading force in that Article and what constitutes an invading force. Judd says he believes cartels are an invading force: Every single person that crosses that border illegally, every single one of them that comes across is facilitated by the cartels. He added that China is now involved in the drug trafficking because all the precursors for fentanyl come from China, then its manufactured in Mexico.

Cammack added that NORTHCOM has concluded that 40% of Mexican territory is under the control of the cartels.

Judd said the first step in fighting back against the cartels is to control illegal immigration: Remember, this is not a legal immigration debate. This is about illegal immigration. We are the most compassionate country in the world. We take in more legal immigrants than any other country, on average, per year.

Another question was, Will Republicans eliminate the 87,000 new IRS positions?

Cammack responded, Hell, yeah, were gonna get rid of the 87,000 IRS agents. They have no business being around.

The final question was, Does Republican leadership have a plan for 2023? If not, will you support someone other than [Kevin] McCarthy to be Speaker?

Cammack responded, So yes, we have a plan, and actually theres four major pillars to the plan, and actually everybodys been rolling out talking about it. There is a plan to support the securing of the border Regarding leadership, there is no one else running other than McCarthy. Jim Jordan is supporting Kevin McCarthy for Speaker. There are no alternatives. So there is really not much else to say on that.

Cammack added that Republicans are naturally independent thinkers and dont hang together like the Democrats. They are tough as a unit. They are one team, one mission, and thats why theyve been successful in sliding and pulling this country to the left towards socialism.

Cammack said that Republicans had an opportunity in 2017, but they had internal fighting, and we fought amongst ourselves and we lost America. We need to learn our lessons, and we need one team, one mission We have got to stop eating each other alive. Weve got to stop fighting one another If we agree on 85%, 90%, 95% of the big-ticket items, we can do some amazing things and take this country back.

Read the original:
Congresswoman Kat Cammack at Every Town is a Border Town event: "The mission is to secure the dang border. - Alachua Chronicle

Record-high inflation has wreaked havoc on an economy already struggling to recover from COVID-19. The Federal Reserve is aggressively hiking interest rates, but its too little, too late. When too much money chases too few goods, rising prices are inevitable. Since the start of the pandemic, the monetary base has risen 60 percent and the M2 money supply 40 percent, outpacing the uncertainty-induced spike in liquidity demand. If we want to tame inflation, we need to stop running the printing presses. But we also need bold supply-side reforms.

Its time to liberalize immigration policy. Making it easier for people to come here and work increases the availability of labor. That would boost the goods supply relative to the money supply. While its not a panacea, immigration can ease pricing pressures. Making green cards, visas and even citizenship easier to obtain makes economic sense, and it offers humanitarian benefits as well.

In the long run, living standards depend on supply-side factors. These include the amount of labor and capital, technological progress and a supportive regulatory environment. The White House, Congress and the Federal Reserve have focused too much on the demand side. While demand stimulus can temporarily cushion falling incomes and wealth, it isnt sustainable. Policymakers quickly run into the fundamental constraint: how much the economy can produce.

Augmenting demand leads to higher prices, but augmenting supply leads to lower prices. The secret to broad-based prosperity is making goods and services more abundant, and therefore cheaper. Supply-side economics isnt fundamentally about tax cuts, and theres no reason conservatives should have a monopoly on it. Liberals can profit from this agenda, too. Immigration reform is the place to start.

Many people worry that increased immigration will lower current workers wages, already eroding because of inflation. While its true prices are rising faster than wages, immigration wont make things worse. In fact, it could make things better.Most studies find no effect on wages for current workers. Some find wages increasing as a result of immigration. After all, immigrant labor complements existing domestic labor, raising everyones productivity. When productivity goes up, so do wages.

If more immigration wont lower wages, and might even raise them, how can it help whip inflation? Material abundance is the key. Wages are an important price the price of rented labor but still just one price. Curbing inflation means slowing down price growth across the whole economy. If liberalizing immigration policy results in a temporary surge of workers, that will stabilize the bottom-out point of dollar depreciation. We could even get a durable inflation slowdown if the worker boost is long-lived, buttressing productivity over many years. Whether we get a one-time benefit or a flow of benefits depends on immigrants decisions to live and work here. Either result is welcome. With prices rising 9 percent per year, we shouldnt be picky.

Despite falling production and rising prices, the unemployment rate is still very low at about 3.6 percent. Employers consistently report having great difficulty finding workers to fill vacant openings.The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in May, there were 11.25 million job openings and a total of 5.95 million people unemployed. There are almost 1.9 job openings for every unemployed person, up from 1.7 in March, when Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell described labor markets as tight to an unhealthy level. Burnout afflicts many workers. Streamlining the immigration process so that new workers could quickly fill vacancies would reduce the degree to which current laborers are overworked.

Finally, increased immigration comes with humanitarian benefits. Many millions of intelligent, hardworking people around the world are struggling to make ends meet under oppressive regimes and severely dysfunctional economies. In fact, as Branko Milanovic describes, over 80 percent of global income inequality is determined by a persons country of origin.Granting these people easier access to American labor markets would remove them from the immediate dangers they face while also alleviating extreme poverty. Apart from economic considerations, basic human dignity impels us to welcome those seeking better lives.

Handing out green pieces of paper can make us wealthier, so long as theyre permanent resident cards and not dollars. Taming inflation means giving supply every possible chance to outpace demand. If were serious about restoring an inclusive and prosperous economy, we should welcome more immigrants.

David James Hebert is an associate professor at Aquinas College. Alexander William Salter is an associate professor in the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University, a research fellow at TTUs Free Market Institut, and a senior fellow at AIERs Sound Money Project.

Follow this link:
Immigration reform is the supply-side liberalism we need - The Hill

Democrats are preparing for a series of difficult votes on anti-immigration amendments likely to be offered by Republicans during the next step of the budget reconciliation process, which Democrats are using to pass the climate, health care, and inflation bill.

Budget reconciliation can be used in some situations to pass a budget, along with other policy changes or provisions, with a simple 50-vote majority in the Senate rather than the 60-vote majority normally required. The reconciliation process requires a series of procedural steps, including review by the Senate parliamentarian to make sure the bill complies with Senate rules, and a step known as vote-a-rama, during which Senators can offer a virtually unlimited number of amendments to the bill.

Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., reached an unexpected deal on the climate and inflation bill last week, which Democrats hope to pass through the reconciliation process to avoid a Republican filibuster. The final Democratic holdout, Senator Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., agreed to a revised version of Manchins bill Thursday night.

With the vote-a-rama scheduled for Saturday, Republican senators intend to force vulnerable, moderate Democrats to take votes on divisive immigration topics, such as attempting to codify Title 42 or restart former President Donald Trumps border wall.

Some Democrats fear that if Republicans can force votes on these poison pill amendments to the package particularly on immigration it could divide Democrats and possibly put the entire bill in jeopardy. Democratic Senators facing tough reelection campaigns, like Senators Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., or Catherine Cortez Masto, D.-Nev., might feel pressure to vote for the amendments to keep their seats.

Others who might vote for the possible amendments include Senators Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. All these Senators are co-sponsors of a bill that would make Title 42 permanent. Since the Senate is evenly divided, Democrats cannot afford to lose any votes.

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., a long-time champion for immigration reform, warned Democrats against voting for Republican amendments on issues such as immigration that could threaten the overall reconciliation legislation. Adoption of amendments that would end access to asylum or expand Trumps border wall will not repair our broken immigration and will put reconciliation at risk, Menendez tweeted on Monday.

Of course, the passage of any of these anti-immigration amendments would also be a bad outcome by further dismantling the already decimated asylum system, further militarizing the southwestern border, and generally further damaging the immigration system.

There are no procedural measures to prevent the vote-a-rama, which could take place as soon as this weekend. Its not yet clear how Senate Democrats will respond, though they expect to work through the weekend and potentially delay the August recess.

Here is the original post:
Climate and Health Bill Could Contain Immigration Poison Pills - Boundless