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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- To his bosses at Pilgrim's Pride, he was Juan Jose Rodriguez -- it said so on the birth certificate and Social Security card he presented when the southwestern Arkansas chicken plant hired him six years ago. At his De Queen, Ark., home, he was Joel Garibay-Urbina -- with a wife, three kids and a mortgage under his own name. And to police officers responding to a domestic violence call, he was just the latest illegal immigrant to have two identities after an arrest. "We've arrested them and they offer an Arkansas identification card, and they give...

The Chairman of the Republican Party on Friday lambasted Democrats and Republicans who helped kill an immigration bill in the Senate and challenged them to come up with a solution beyond "just build a fence along the border." "The voices of negativity now have a responsibility to come up with an answer," RNC Chairman and U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla. said. "How will you fix the situation to make peoples' lives better? How will you continue to grow the economy? How will we bring people out of the shadows for our national security and for the sake of being a...

There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil for every one striking at the root – Henry David Thoreau Will you be the one in a thousand? According to the polls 85 per cent are OPPOSED to the President and the Democratic Senate’s agenda. Even if one in a thousand takes action, we will have a massive impact. Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. — Leo Tolstoy PUT AMERICA FIRST! Stop being a good Democrat. Stop being a good Republican. Start being a good American. Sometimes we tend to make things...

The bitter fight over a comprehensive immigration overhaul has pushed President Bush and his fellow Republicans to the brink of divorce -- and, for the first time, the opportunities for reconciliation appear severely limited. House leaders played down the friction Wednesday, but Republicans have predicted a showdown with the White House over immigration since Democrats took control of Congress last fall. And that longstanding tension spilled out Tuesday when GOP lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to reject the Senate -- and, by turns, the White House -- immigration overhaul. This immigration fight marks yet another low ebb for the White House, and...

Washington, DC (AP) - U-S Senator Tom Coburn says he'll try to kill an immigration bill that was revived in the U-S Senate. Senators voted 64-to-35 to revive the bill with 60 votes needed. Both Coburn and Senator Jim Inhofe voted against it. Coburn said later he'll do everything he can to make sure the bill never gets out of the Senate. Opponents say the bill gives amnesty to illegal immigrants and Coburn says it undermines the rule of law. The bill is supported by President Bush who is working to drum up support for it.

A Republican senator from Kentucky says the so-called "comprehensive immigration reform" bill is completely unnecessary because there are already laws on the books the government has yet to enforce that will stop illegal aliens at the border. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) is reportedly unsure whether he will support the immigration bill that would grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens. McConnell tells Associated Press, "the bill on the merits is a mixed bag," and he won't decide how to vote on the measure until a series of amendments have been considered. But fellow Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning is...

Senate may vote on immigration reform measure FridayBy Fawn Johnson CongressDaily Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev, intends to file a second cloture petition Tuesday on a sweeping immigration measure, setting up a Thursday vote to limit debate. If that motion is approved, a final vote would occur Friday, possibly after a "vote-a-rama" on amendments, Democratic leadership aides said Monday. The Senate will vote on a separate cloture motion Tuesday and -- assuming it passes, and several insiders predict it will -- the next step for Reid would be to offer his omnibus amendment that contains all the Democratic and...

83% of Undocumented Immigrants Would Comply with Senate Bill - Poll Caitlin G. Johnson OneWorld US Tue., Jun. 26, 2007 NEW YORK, Jun 26 (OneWorld) - As the U.S. Senate voted today to resume debate on its immigration reform bill, a new poll brings the voices of those at the heart of the debate -- undocumented workers themselves -- into the mix. New America Media, a collaboration of ethnic news organizations, released a national public opinion survey of 1,600 undocumented immigrants from Latin America who came to the United States before January 1, 2007. It is intended to be nationally...

WASHINGTON– U.S. Senator Judd Gregg today joined 63 of his colleagues in supporting a motion to proceed to debate on S.1639, a comprehensive immigration reform package. Senator Gregg stated, “Today I voted in support of debating immigration reform, one of the biggest issues facing our country. The bill in its present form needs to be fixed, but so does our immigration system. There is no way to improve this bill if we refuse to take it up and debate it. “It is a known fact that our current immigration laws and procedures are not working. Our borders are porous and...

June 26, 2007 – Brownback Immigration Update Senator Brownback voted in favor of cloture on the motion to proceed to the immigration bill today. That means he voted to bring the bill back to the floor for debate and for amendments to be offered. This does NOT mean that Senator Brownback supports the immigration bill itself – he feels the bill needs to be improved. Brownback opposes amnesty, and believes first and foremost in securing our borders and ending illegal immigration. Brownback voted to debate the bill in the Senate but is withholding support for the bill until the amendment...

The immigration bill is back on the Senate floor today. To help opponents of the legislation educate their senators about its disastrous consequences, I’m sharing this list of the bill’s Top 10 defects. You’re welcome to use it however you’d like -- share it with family, friends, co-workers, whoever. 1. It repeats the mistakes of the 1986 immigration law. • Like the 1986 law, this immigration “reform” measure grants amnesty immediately while promising security and enforcement in the future. • Actually, the old law was tougher. Back then, illegals had to show they had lived in the United States continuously...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Months of tumultuous negotiations with the White House and GOP allies have brought the Senate's liberal lion, Edward M. Kennedy, to the brink of passing a bill to legalize up to 12 million unlawful immigrants. But his concessions to get there have alienated liberals who in the past have counted him as their strongest champion. A showdown test vote is scheduled Tuesday, and the Senate could pass -- or reject -- the bill by week's end.Traditional Kennedy allies are mystified and angry at the Massachusetts senator's willingness to accept Republican-backed measures such as subjecting illegal immigrants to...

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said Sunday he believes a second try at immigration reform will pass and will garner "good support" among Republicans. The reason it will pass with GOP support is the bill is "tough, fair and practical, Kennedy said on ABC's" This Week with George Stephanopoulous." Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said earlier, however, he didn't think the measure would pass. The legislation contains $4.4 billion for beefing up border security and is tough on worksite enforcement, Kennedy said. "And finally, we will have a tamper-proof card to make sure that we can really have an effective...

Sessions says support for immigration bill is eroding By Klaus Marre June 24, 2007 Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), a key opponent to the bipartisan immigration bill that will be taken up again next week, said Sunday that support for the legislation “continues to erode.” Sessions noted that some of the senators that had supported the compromise in a series of votes when the bill was first discussed are now beginning to shift their position. “We’re going to use every effort to slow this process down and continue to hold up the bill and read it to the American people and...

How did Sen. John McCain, the onetime front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, come to this? New polls this week showed support for him plummeting in two key early-voting states. Tied for fifth place in Iowa, with 6 percent. Falling to fourth place in South Carolina, with 7 percent. Mason-Dixon Polling & Research conducted both polls of likely Republican voters, which had error margins of plus or minus 5 percentage points. This after an ongoing Senate debate on immigration that highlights McCain's opposition to his party's base on a hot-button issue, and the informal entry into the race of former...

Sen. Edward Kennedy needs Marna Vasquez, and vice versa. Vasquez is a packinghouse worker from Porterville. Kennedy is a rich and famous Democratic senator from Massachusetts. Nonetheless, the 37-year-old former illegal immigrant and the 75-year-old lawmaker briefly shared a Capitol Hill stage this week to push for sweeping immigration revisions. Vasquez needs Kennedy's bill to help her friends and neighbors. He needs her voice to persuade congressional fence-sitters. "I have a lot of faith that we're going to win," Vasquez said. "That's how we feel." But there are strong feelings on all sides of the immigration debate, which resumes Tuesday...

The top Senate Republican negotiator on immigration said he has heard the complaints of conservative talk-radio show hosts and bloggers, and will try to change the immigration bill to accommodate them. Sen. Jon Kyl, the Arizona Republican who wrote the bill with Democrats and the Bush administration, said he is making moves to stiffen immigration law enforcement when the Senate bill returns to the floor next week. "All of the concerns from our constituents and some in the media have been listened to, and incorporated," said Mr. Kyl, who is drafting new provisions in an amendment he hopes to offer....

Procedural snares and ``killer'' amendments threaten to disrupt the fragile coalition in the Senate that's holding together the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. immigration policy since 1986. Supporters are scrambling to address the legislative obstacles before debate resumes next week. Opponents plan to try to derail the legislation by using procedural delays and offering poison-pill amendments that may split the coalition that sustains the measure. Passage of the legislation would give 12 million undocumented immigrants a chance at legal status while handing President George W. Bush a victory on his top domestic priority. ``This is a delicate balance. The wheels...

Some Republicans in the Senate think you and I are stupid. They believe that if they vote 'yes' for cloture and vote 'no' on the final bill, that the stupid citizens of their respective states will not see what happened as a horrid bill passes. ANY SENATOR THAT VOTES "YES" ON CLOTURE SHOULD BE VOTED OUT OF OFFICE. CALL THEM TO REMIND THEM THAT YOU KNOW WHAT "CLOTURE" IS.TELL THEM TO VOTE "NO" ON CLOTURE.ANYTHING ELSE IS UNACCEPTABLE.

The Senate's Republican leader says he is unsure whether he will vote for the immigration bill President Bush strongly supports, underscoring the measure's precarious status. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has long called for an immigration overhaul, saying the current situation is deeply flawed. And as the Senate minority leader, McConnell is central to shepherding legislation the president wants. But in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, McConnell said he would not decide how to vote on the measure until a long series of amendments are disposed of next week. "The bill on the merits is a mixed bag,"...