Kill Bill II: The Vampire Strikes Back (Fight the Senate Immigration Bill - Just say NO to cloture!)

various | June 17, 2007 | WOSG

[WOSG]

This is a links and activism-central thread to collect the information on the status and effort to defeat the Senate Immigration bill, especially the egregious Z visa amnesty program, in its second attempt at passage.

The Vampire Strikes Back

The nefarious back-room dealers in the US Senate announced on Thursday night that they were bringing the Senate Immigration bill, killed on a previous cloture vote, back from the dead. Senators are trolling for votes. The future of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA hangs in the balance as they try to drum up support for the sellout of the century. WILL GRASSROOTS AMERICA STOP THE TIDE? You decide!

"The immigration system is not "broken," the only thing that is broken is the will to uphold the law. Your administration's lack of will to meet its obligations regarding immigration enforcement is disrespectful toward all American citizens and legal immigrants." - Costa Mesa City council, letter to the President on immigration.

1) SENATE BILL IS UNPOPULAR: Low support for Senate immigration bill. The Senate immigration bill is opposed by a more than 2 to 1 margin (Rasmussen poll): Favor 23%, Oppose 50%. "Sixty-nine percent (69%) of voters would favor an approach that focuses “exclusively on securing the border and reducing illegal immigration.” Support for the enforcement only approach comes from 84% of Republicans, 55% of Democrats, and 69% of those not affiliated with either major party." And why not? Working Americans are not stupid about immigration. Not to mention the politics of Blacks vs immigrants.

2) THE GOP BASE REJECTS THE BILL: Conservative bloggers revolt over immigration - Gee, no kidding. Bush flunkies bashing the base doesn't help any. Ingraham smokes Tony Snow on borders. And Bush's emotions are no way to lead on immigration policy. Bush at all-time low in approval on heels of his support for 'comprehensive' immigration amnesty. Now we see Operation Payback underway. Heather MacDonald on the GOP's Hispanic Delusion. Gerson recites the pro-amensty talking points, and talks down to the right.

3) THE DEALMAKERS PLANS AND THE PROCESS STINKS: NRO: Harry Reid's plan to pass the immigration bill. Bush's $4 billion border bribe tries to buy votes. The key vote is cloture and Sentor Lott pre-announces the plan to sellout America by stripping amendments in conference. The process is an outrage and the product is a monstrosity. Bush's clout is 'all used up' on immigration. Latest update. Good news: It can be stopped.Public pressure has to stop the Senators from getting pulled by the insider-lobbying.

4) SENATE BILL HAS HUGE LOOPHOLES: 20 Loopholes in the Senate immigration bill. Z Visa: Z IS FOR ZERO. ZERO ENFORCEMENT. ZERO DEPORTATIONS. Krauthammer talks sense - why not do the one thing we all agree on? Secure the border first. Micheal Steele says it too; this man should have been our RNC chair, instead of Martinez! Immigration bill is a fraud. Verification issues: Too Much Federal Meddling in verification. Verification that can work. The sham of Jobs Americans won't do.

5) BUSH WHITE HOUSE - Z is for ZERO CREDIBILITY ON IMMIGRATION: What the White House said about the fence - last October. Bush's Top 5 Reason for doing immigration reform. Malkin: Clear the backlogs first and Rules of engagement on why we don't deport criminal aliens.

6) WHAT TO SAY - my communications to Senators:

People want the legal immigration system to work;
we want the border secured and immigration laws enforced, and we do NOT want unlimited
immigration, legal or illegal. The Z visa amnesty/legalization will undercut these pillars, and
voters do not trust the Congress and Government to keep promises on enforcement
that were broken by the 1986 amnesty. To repeat that travesty is a terrible and flawed idea.

The American people no longer trust Washington on this issue; we know 'triggers' are a
hoax, especially since making the triggers more real (Coburn Amendment) was not passed.
The border fence bill was passed (over 80 Senate votes) and signed last year; so why now is
the border fence completion hostage to this wider immigration bill?
The Senate bill is opposed strongly because it pretends to uphold border security
and enforcing the law, but it actually undermines them completely with
the Z visa amnesty/legalization program and its many 'gotchas'.

This Z visa legalization is indeed amnesty, it forgives the real punishment (deportation). The 'fine' is less than
H1B lawyers and fees cost (I work with H1B immigrants in high-tech), so it is more of a processing fee than a fine;
the program is set up for fraud, with pathetic documentation requirements, just as in 1986;  Cornyn's
amendment to close off amnesty to absconders and all criminals was denied;  this bill allows permanent
(since Z visa is renewable until green card) residency instantly to 12 million illegal immigrants,
majority of them without High School degrees, massively shifting our immigration patterns to the
least skilled and most likely to be dependent; there are no language requirements for 10 years into
a visa that leads to permanent residency. Senator Sessions has compiled 20 loopholes in the

bill, most related to failures in the Z visa program.

This amnesty repeats the mistakes of 1986 on a grand scale, as Senators Cornyn and Hutchison have warned.
It undermines rule of law in immigration, invites huge fraud in amnesty applications and further illegal
immigration via weak document requirements and a mere 24-hour turnaround on provisional acceptance;
crowds out higher-skill legal immigrants; creates a massive increased burden on taxpayers
($2.5 Trillion estimate from Heritage) along with unfunded mandates on states and local Governments.
And for what, exactly? CBO has indicated that illegal immigration in the next 10 years
will still be significant with this bill - a huge amnesty, but more illegal immigration. Pathetic!

The Z visa legalization/amnesty is a slap in the face to legal immigrants, taxpayers,
and anyone who cares about the rule of law.

[tflabo]

The Distinguished sold out goon Senators about their masters' undermining America for $$$$$$.

[Tirian]

I've been wondering - how do we get these people's attention? Mail or drop off letters taped to bricks (for the wall, of course) to their home district addresses? (Would never make it through if sent to the capitol).

Maybe add a note on the bricks that these are ALL they will get contribution-wise until the duplicity stops, the border is secured and enforcement (years overdue) get a real priority.

THEN we'll talk about other facets of "comprehensive" "immigration ""reform" (each word in that term being suspect at present).

[WOSG]

http://noamaskew.blogspot.com/
Also report a TRILLION DOLLAR LOOPHOLE!

“June 15, 2007 (Washington, DC) – The immigration bill being debated by the Senate would allow over two million illegal workers who received Social Security numbers prior to 2004 to receive more than $966 billion in Social Security benefits by 2040.

Despite a provision in the bill that would prevent individuals who performed illegal work and then obtained a Social Security number after 2007 from receiving credit for Social Security taxes paid in previous years, the legislation does nothing to prevent aliens who illegally obtained “non-work” Social Security numbers prior to 2004 from claiming benefits. “

[WOSG]

“As President Bush makes himself a central player in immigration debate, a newly released Rasmussen poll puts support for his handling of the immigration issue at 15%. This result comes at a time when, again according to Rasmussen, only 20% of the American public wants the Senate to return to the current “grand bargain” bill;”
http://noamaskew.blogspot.com/2007/06/as-president-bush-makes-himself-central.html

[PhiKapMom]

Elizabeth Dole sent out an email last week — she is firmly in the NO on Immigration side — not going to sway her. She even said in her email that forces were going to be against her in the election but it didn’t make her any difference, she was opposed to the bill! It was a strong email.

[WOSG]

Also from same source:
“The Republicans he [Pres. Bush] will likely be targeting include Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss, both of Georgia, who were closely involved in drafting the deal but have yet to fully commit, and perhaps John Ensign of Nevada and John Cornyn of Texas, who are undecided.”

PLEASE REPORT HERE AS TO WHETHER YOUR SENATOR IS SOLID AGAINST CLOTURE ON THIS BILL OR NOT.

THE CLOTURE VOTE IS THE KEY VOTE!

[PhiKapMom]

Dr. Coburn had surgery but will be back in time for this vote.

[PhiKapMom]

Senators Inhofe and Coburn from OK are 100% opposed to the bill and will vote against cloture.

I expect both TX Senators to be on the side of Inhofe and Coburn when the final vote is taken. Kay Bailey did not look happy being with the President last week since she escorted him as the ranking TX Senator.

[BIGLOOK]

The sellouts in Congress and our president say they will “protect the border” and provide “tamperproof work id systems” and “technological fence”.

The horse is out of the barn.....

We have the means and the methods to capture the illegals locally and nationally but Foggy Bottom chooses not to deal with the problem. Congress is putting our sovereignty at risk by pandering to employers of cheap labor and those that have violated our borders and our laws.

Congressmen and Senators do not see beyond their life times nor their careers for the matter.

A clean sweep would be welcomed in many areas were it not for the money men that support their positions in power for favorable considerations benefiting their interests.

[AmericaOne]

Good job on this thread. You have the free fax and outsourcecongress.org Senate/House staffer e-mail directory links up.

Hopefully, people will bookmark this thread and come back to it when they are going to do some activism concerning Amnesty.

[WOSG]

“I expect both TX Senators to be on the side of Inhofe and Coburn when the final vote is taken. Kay Bailey did not look happy being with the President last week since she escorted him as the ranking TX Senator.”

I am sure Cornyn is solid but not sure about Hutchison. Will have to call tomorrow to be sure. IT NEVER HURTS TO KEEP CALLING SO ALL THE SENATORS KNOW WHAT PEOPLE THINK ABOUT THIS SHAM-NESTY.

[PhiKapMom]

I think it is a good idea to call the ones that are solid and thank them as well. From the look on Kay Bailey’s face when Pres Bush was talking, she was not happy.

[WOSG]

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/010254.php

“On today’s CQ Radio show, I interviewed Senator John Ensign, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), and asked him about the immigration bill. Ensign — who voted twice against cloture on June 7th to kill the bill — said that he believes a comprehensive approach is necessary to solve the problem. He also emphasized that America has to do something about the status quo, because it is simply so bad that we should not tolerate it any further.

However, he disputed the notion that an agreement has been reached to resurrect the bill. Ensign said that rumors of agreements keep swirling on Capitol Hill, but that the terms change every time they get close to a deal. He also pledged to torpedo any bill that did not have actual funds for border security and that allowed illegal aliens to receive Social Security benefits that they fraudulently acquired. “

SOMEONE NEEDS TO TELL SEN ENSIGN ABOUT THE $1 TRILLION LOOPHOLE!

[AmericaOne]

I contacted the fifteen you listed myself, plus a few more that NumbersUSA identified may need some bolstering. Below are the Senators that NumbersUSA identified:

Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Ensign (R-NV)
Isakson (R-GA)
Thune (R-SD)

You might want to drop a line to these folks as well.

[rolling_stone]

Read this and weep..maybe someone can post this I couldnt find it anywhere

Immigration bill hides one trilion dollar time bomb..

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/6/17/200944.shtml?s=al&promo_code=35A4-1

[Brad’s Gramma]

BTTT!!!!!!

[2ndDivisionVet]

Just say NO to Illegal Alien Amnesty!! Keep calling!! It’s NOT OVER!!

U.S. Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121

U.S. House switchboard: (202) 225-3121

White House comments: (202) 456-1111

Find your House Rep.: http://www.house.gov/writerep

Find your US Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

[GoreNoMore]

This thing should be killed and zero tolerance on discussions of illegals until the FENCE is fixed and borders are secure. Until this is done, we truely do not know the impact. Some will just go home if they don’t know what’s coming.

We are going to start massive illegal alien problems unless they limit their conversation only to the border security. Get that fixed first, then evaluate the problem.

[GoreNoMore]

Big thank you for all your efforts on stopping this. You have our respect and appreciation.

[TLI]

My source also let me know that the White House and the Senate leadership, and Trent Lott in particular, are pushing very hard for this bill.”

And there will be no corner of the earth for them to hide.

They will be hunted like the Nazis, until they are frail and old.