Free Republic

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Bowing to a flurry of cost-cutting amendments on a bill extending unemployment benefits, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he will allow votes on “reasonable” reforms. But he didn’t say when. Reid’s shuffle comes after Republicans blasted the Nevada Democrat for unilaterally blocking amendments that could yield $70 billion in taxpayer savings. “I am not surprised that Senator Reid is backtracking,” said David North. The immigration-law expert praised GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., for her amendment to halt IRS child tax-credit refunds going to illegal immigrants.

The issue of immigration-or even the mention of immigration enforcement-has been wholly neglected by the presumptive nominees of this country’s two major political parties. Even as prominent politicians find new ways in which to exploit ethnic divisions for the sake of political expediency, the perverse incentives of America’s federal immigration policies remain unaddressed. While Democrats seek to harvest what they expect to be a political windfall from Hispanic voters, Republicans pander, or hispander as some deem it, to what they view as an ascendent voting bloc, even going so far as introducing a bill eerily similar to one the GOP...

Amnesty Again? Tilla Bradley, January 19, 2010 Because Congress and the president are getting set to revamp immigration law, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) undertook a task few academics or policymakers have. The CIS looked at what happened the last time that the executive and legislative branches got together to relax border controls. The study, done by researcher David North, had some interesting findings. In 1986, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) not only had bipartisan support in the Senate and House, but was strongly advocated by President Reagan and Attorney General Ed Meese. The end result was...