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Don’t expect to see a big public backlash to the Senate immigration bill on cable news this week: The Republicans who voted for the bill are laying low. None of the Republican members of the Gang of Eight (Senators Marco Rubio of Florida, John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Jeff Flake of Arizona) have any public events scheduled. Rubio is on a long-planned vacation with his family. Graham and McCain are overseas. Flake is traveling and “out of pocket,” an aide said.

Fox News viewers in Florida will see a new commercial in the coming weeks urging them to call Senator Marco Rubio. “Thank him for keeping his promise, and fighting to secure the border,” a narrator says in the ad, which is paid for by the conservative American Action Network. Another group, Americans for a Conservative Direction, led by former Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi and other top Republicans, has been running ads in Iowa lately that implore those watching to “stand with Marco Rubio to end de facto amnesty.”

Potential presidential candidate Jeb Bush was asked about Sen. Ted Cruz on Friday and offered less-than robust praise for the tea party freshman from Texas. Bush suggested it’s one thing to point out how things are broken – and quite another to fix them. In an interview on the Christian Broadcast Network,

Making an argument for overhauling the nation's immigration system Friday to a crowd of conservative activists, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush claimed immigrants were "more fertile" and thus a great benefit to American society. His remark appeared to be an inarticulate reference to immigrants' fertility rates, which data show are higher than native-born Americans. "Immigrants create far more businesses than native-born Americans over the last 20 years. Immigrants are more fertile, and they love families, and they have more intact families, and they bring a younger population. Immigrants create an engine of economic prosperity,"

After signaling earlier in the day that his leadership style could lend itself to passage of immigration overhaul without the votes of a majority of his own party, Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, took some heat from outside conservative groups. The Conservative Action Project on Tuesday afternoon circulated a letter to House Republican lawmakers co-signed by dozens of influential movement leaders, urging them to formally adopt the “Hastert Rule.” Named for Rep. J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., who served as speaker from 1999 to 2007, the rule dictates that no bill come to the floor without assurance that a majority of...

John Boehner said he expects an overhaul of immigration rules to become law by the end of the year, but that the Senate's version "doesn't go far enough" to secure the U.S. border with Mexico or enforce the proposed new system. "I've got real concerns about the Senate bill, especially in the area of border security and internal enforcement of the system. I'm concerned that it doesn't go far enough." Boehner added that reforming the nation's immigration system was his top legislative priority this year.

House Speaker John Boehner is aiming to have various chamber committees finish work on immigration legislation by the Fourth of July, and would like a House vote by August, reported Politico.com.

Phyllis Schlafly, founder and president of the pro-family grassroots organization Eagle Forum blasted New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte, who campaigned on promises to oppose amnesty, for now supporting the fatally flawed Gang of Eight amnesty bill. "As a Senate candidate, Kelly Ayotte had it right when she said that we don't necessarily need to add new immigration laws, we need to start by enforcing the laws already on the books," said Schlafly. "Ayotte even ran ads against her Democrat opponent for supporting amnesty." "Ayotte betrayed every conservative who supported her when she announced her support for this shameful bill," Schlafly...

Crossroads GPS, an advocacy group backed by Karl Rove, former senior adviser to George W. Bush, is launching a $100,000 ad campaign urging conservatives to support an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws. The full-page print ad is signed by 53 business leaders and Republicans, including former Republican National Committee Chairman Edward Gillespie, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Rove. It's the first ad the group has run on immigration this year.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) joined President Obama for his second closed-door dinner with Senate Republicans on Wednesday. Rubio had been invited but had not committed for most of the day of the dinner. The Florida Republican's office said immigration meetings might get in the way of him going to the dinner, but later said he would attend. Besides Rubio, Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), John Boozman (Ark.), Susan Collins (Maine), Mike Crapo (Idaho), Mike Enzi (Wyo.), Deb Fisher (Neb.), Orrin Hatch (Utah), Johnny Isackson (Ga.), Pat Roberts (Kan.), John Thune (S.D.) Roger Wicker (Miss.) dined with Obama. Obama's first meeting with...

DENVER — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano blamed a "bitterly divided Congress" for failing to create an immigration bill but assured Hispanic political leaders on Thursday that the president remains committed to overhauling the nation's immigration laws. "Make no mistake about it. President Obama and the administration are committed to comprehensive immigration reform," Napolitano said to cheers and applause of participants at the annual conference of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials..."But I think we can all recognize, and you as elected officials can recognize particularly, that some reform takes time." Napolitano highlighted President Barack Obama's effort...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and fellow Democrats on Thursday unveiled a "framework" for a sweeping overhaul of U.S. immigration laws. In wake of the furor over Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigrants, Democrats said the first step toward reform must be bolstered border security. They also called for creation of a high-tech identification card for immigrant workers, a new process to admit temporary workers, "tough sanctions" against U.S. employers who hire illegal immigrants, and, eventually, a path toward U.S. citizenship for people in the country unlawfully.

Today, the Senate takes action on the DREAM Act (S.2205). This proposed measure is just another example of Washington's relentless push for amnesty for illegal aliens. By continuing to ignore the will of the American people, these legislators thumb their collective noses at the rule of law. Now is the time for all of us to act! The Democrats are pushing this measure which they say is designed to allow school-aged kids to stay in the U.S. (amnesty) to attend college. The Heritage Foundation describes the bill, saying, "The bill purports to grant amnesty to individuals unlawfully in the United...

Today I spent a few minutes listening to another nationally syndicated talk radio show and felt outraged and embarrassed to hear the guest host (an otherwise bright and well-informed conservative) facilitating the twisted, ignorant mounting public hysteria over the looming menace of a “North American Union.” This paranoid and groundless frenzy has been fomented and promoted by a shameless collection of lunatics and losers; crooks, cranks, demagogues and opportunists, who claim the existence of a top secret master plan to join the U.S., Canada and Mexico in one big super-state and to replace the good old Yankee dollar with a...