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The Wall Street Journal profile on Rubio’s amnesty plan makes me want to take piano lessons or learn ice sculpture — because it’s Groundhog Day for immigration policy, and it’s like yesterday never happened. But the specific policies Ned Ryerson.......er...Rubio is selling are just the same old, same old: “earned” amnesty for illegal aliens plus de facto unlimited immigration, in exchange for promises to some day implement E-Verify and build more fencing. Even worse, what makes me want to throw a toaster into the bath tub is the utter lack of awareness that nothing Rubio’s saying is even remotely novel....

Former vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan says he supports "the principles" of an immigration reform proposal from Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a sign that the party may be coalescing around its own plan to overhaul the nation's laws."Senator Rubio is exactly right on the need to fix our broken immigration system," the congressman wrote on his Facebook page on Monday, with a link to a Wall Street Journal article that includes Rubio's key immigration goals. "I support the principles he’s outlined: modernization of our immigration laws; stronger security to curb illegal immigration; and respect for the rule of law...

WASHINGTON — President Obama plans to push Congress to move quickly in the coming months on an ambitious overhaul of the immigration system that would include a path to citizenship for most of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the country, senior administration officials and lawmakers said last week. Mr. Obama and Senate Democrats will propose the changes in one comprehensive bill, the officials said, resisting efforts by some Republicans to break the overhaul into smaller pieces — separately addressing young illegal immigrants, migrant farmworkers or highly skilled foreigners — which might be easier for reluctant members of their party...

Marco Rubio, Florida's GOP senator, unveils his reform ideas to 'modernize' the system and put illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship. Marco Rubio—41-year-old son of working-class Cuban exiles—has lived the upwardly mobile immigrant experience. In his fast rise, the Florida Republican has also experienced the politics of immigration [....] "Here's how I envision it," he says. "They would have to come forward. They would have to undergo a background check." Anyone who committed a serious crime would be deported. "They would be fingerprinted," he continues. "They would have to pay a fine, pay back taxes, maybe even do community...

There are 11 million aspiring citizens who love this country and call it home. Like immigrants before them, they came to this country for freedom and the opportunity to provide a better life for their children. These immigrant families work hard, pay their taxes and contribute to their communities. But because of a broken and punitive immigration process that tears families from each other, there really is no "line" these aspiring citizens can get into to adjust their status and start down the pathway to citizenship. The AFL-CIO and America’s union movement, along with a broad coalition of other groups,...

In what may seem like a bad joke, a U.S. federal appellate court has spared an illegal immigrant convicted of kidnapping from deportation ruling that it’s not necessarily a crime of moral turpitude. The decision, issued this week by the famously liberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, rambles on for 27 pages and is almost comical. “This undoubtedly appears to be a difficult question at first glance,” it reads. “Kidnapping is a serious crime, and our instincts may be that it would meet the moral turpitude definition. Even for serious offenses, we must look to the specific elements of the...

PHOENIX — Gov. Jan Brewer can’t put a specific definition on what it means to have a secure border. But she said residents along the boundary with Mexico will know it when it happens. The question of what Brewer thinks is politically significant since the governor said she will not support any form of immigration reform unless and until the border is secure. But until now she has offered no definition of what that means. Her comments come as members of her own Republican Party in Congress are pursuing their own immigration reform plans in the wake of the defeat...

This is the latest move by the administration to use its executive powers to revise immigration procedures without Congress passing a law - As many as 1 million new visas - Begins March 4

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration eased the way Wednesday for illegal immigrants who are immediate relatives of American citizens to apply for permanent residency, a change that could affect as many as 1 million of the estimated 11 million immigrants unlawfully in the U.S. A new rule issued by the Department of Homeland Security aims to reduce the time illegal immigrants are separated from their American families while seeking legal status, immigration officials said.

SALEM, Mass. — A Lawrence man yesterday pleaded guilty to raping a young girl over a three year period and will deported to the Dominican Republic as a result. Ariel Mendez, 48, pleaded guilty to raping the girl on diverse dates from January 2004 to January 2007 when the child was 6 to 9 years old. The incidents occurred at various Lawrence addresses where Mendez lived with the girl’s mother, prosecutor Jessica Strasnick said in Salem Superior Court yesterday. On one occasion, Mendez raped the girl while holding a pillow over her face, Strasnick said. Mendez was indicted on a...

One of the unfortunate developments of 2012 was the continued usurpation of the legislative process by a president intent upon pursuing his personal political objectives, even if doing so meant evading the constitutional separation of powers. In addition to the broad administrative amnesty initiated by ICE in 2011, the last year of the Obama administration saw the implementation of a policy called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an end-run around Congress’s consistent rejection of the Dream Act that has already afforded hundreds of thousands of potential criminals the opportunity to exploit American taxpayers, i.e. suckers. While the executive branch seeks...

7 to 8 million illegal immigrants are thought to be holding jobs - The U-3 unemployment rate for USA born workers who have only a high school education is 10.4% - The U-6 unemployment rate for USA born workers who have only a high school education is 18.1%

WASHINGTON — The nation’s largest Latino organizations warned Congress on Wednesday that they will keep a report card during the immigration debate next year, with plans to mobilize their voters against lawmakers who do not support a comprehensive immigration bill. “Make no mistake, we will be watching,” said Eliseo Medina, international secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union, which led one of the most extensive Latino voter drives. The report card will show “who stood with us and who stood against us” on immigration reform, Mr. Medina said."

<p>The Associated Press has learned that a registered sex offender working as an unpaid intern for Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey is facing deportation after being arrested by federal immigration authorities.</p>

If I could choose to have my readers learn one and only one thing from what I write, it would be that America's problems are not the result of blind, much less inevitable, forces, but are the consequences of deliberate political action by motivated individuals and groups. Nowhere is this clearer than in the case of our ongoing immigration crisis. Let's trace the lines of influence in the open-borders conspiracy, a word I use despite its connotations of grassy knollology because in this case it is factually appropriate. Given who has been pushing mass immigration in America and how open...

The Obama administration's top immigration official is visiting the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to unveil an online resource intended to help entrepreneurs navigate their immigration options. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service Director Alejandro Mayorkas will unveil so-called "Entrepreneur Pathways" on Wednesday.

A hero to the end: Fearless Mexican mayor who survived two assassination attempts is murdered By ANDY SOLTIS Last Updated: 10:04 AM, November 27, 2012 Posted: 12:56 AM, November 27, 2012 Facebook TRUE COURAGE:As mayor of the town of Tiquicheo, Maria Santos Gorrostieta defied the area’s drug cartels, once baring her scars from two assassination attempts to rally support for her war on drugs. Her body was found mutilated in a ditch this month, days after she was abducted. Courageous Mexican mayor Maria Santos Gorrostieta cheated death twice when she survived assassination attempts by druglords — but three times was...

Saying they want to get the conversation on immigration reform started, top Senate Republicans on Tuesday introduced a version of the so-called “Dream Act” to grant young illegal immigrants legal status in the US, though not giving them a special path to citizenship. GOP Sens. Jon Kyl and Kay Bailey Hutchison said they have introduced a bill that would reward those who take college classes or join the military. “We have got to get this ball rolling,” said Mr. Kyl, an Arizona Republican who is retiring this year. “We have to have a discussion that is sensible, that is calm.”...

The president-elect of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, praised President Barack Obama's immigration plan in a meeting today at the White House. “We fully support your proposal,” said Peña Nieto in reference to Obama's immigration plan, according to the pool report. “We want to contribute. We want to be part of this.” Obama indicated his willingness to visit Mexico after the president-elect invited the American president to the 2013 North American Leaders Summit. “Any excuses to go to Mexico,” said Obama. “I’m always game.”

Saying they want to get the conversation on immigration reform started, top Senate Republicans on Tuesday introduced a version of the so-called “Dream Act” to grant young illegal immigrants legal status in the US, though not giving them a special path to citizenship. Read more: GOP lawmakers float immigration reform plan - Washington Times http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/nov/27/gop-lawmakers-float-immigration-reform-plan/#ixzz2DSu7D9wy Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter