Free Republic

The GOP legislator who is pushing the “discharge petition” is telling lobbyists that he will have enough GOP signatures to force an amnesty vote in the House once this week’s primaries are finished, sources tell Breitbart News. California GOP Rep. Jeff Denham is the frontman in the petition effort, which needs just seven more GOP signatures to reach the 25 needed GOP signatures on the discharge petition. Those 25 signatures will allow the 193 Democrats to take the 218-vote majority control of the House floor and push through a no-strings amnesty for roughly 3 million younger ‘DACA’ illegals. That amnesty...

A Republican representative on Wednesday filed a petition to force a House vote on immigration, going around leadership and the committee process. GOP Rep. Carlos Curbelo (Fla.) filed the motion, known as a discharge petition. He was joined by Republican Reps. Jeff Denham (Calif.), Will Hurd (Texas), Mario Díaz Balart (Fla.) and David Valadao (Calif.) as initial sponsors. If a majority of the House votes for the discharge petition, the chamber will then vote on an immigration proposal by Denham. Republicans who support immigration reform have grown increasingly frustrated at leadership over inaction on the issue. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)...

Former U.S. Congressman and Lt. Col. Allen West expressed his opposition to a potential move by Pres. Obama to use military enlistment as a vehicle to grant amnesty to illegal aliens. In a post on his website on Thursday, Lt. Col. West said, "the purpose of serving our nation should not be about earning citizenship. It should be about being a guardian of the Republic." Lt. Col. West added that he'll speak out against any Member of Congress who supports a policy to grant a military amnesty.

On Thursday, the House of Representatives approved two immigration enforcement amendments offered by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) to the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Act. The bill includes funding for the Justice Department, and Rep. King's amendments addressed the recent report of more than 36,000 criminal illegal aliens being released from custody and sanctuary cities. SNIP Nine Republicans voted against the amendment, including pro-amnesty supporters Mario Diaz-Balart, Peter King, David Valadao, and Jeff Denham.

Whether it's a small business, a family farm or a modern office, here in Virginia hard work is a way of life. And in Washington, Congressman Eric Cantor is working hard for us. To cut spending and reduce the deficit. Cut red tape and government regulations. So Americans are free to grow our economy and create good jobs. A conservative leader who shares our values. Eric Cantor: fighting for Virginia jobs.

As House Republican leaders prepare to unveil their plan for immigration reform, addressing the undocumented population remains the thorniest issue. The New York Times reported Tuesday that the GOP's framework will call for a path to legal status for many of the 11.7 million immigrants living here without papers. But the document specifically opposes a "special pathway to citizenship," except for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.

Republican Rep. David Valadao says he's not worried that Congress' failure to pass immigration legislation will hurt his prospects for re-election to a district in California's agricultural heartland. Same goes for GOP Rep. Jeff Denham, who represents a neighboring district in the state's San Joaquin Valley. Still, the California congressmen are making sure voters know they support an immigration overhaul. They're aware that Democrats will try to turn the congressional gridlock into an advantage during this year's midterm elections. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent $300,000 on television ads in Valadao's district, noting that he is the son of immigrants.

Californians are being let down by the failed policies from Washington. Folks there are more concerned with scoring political points than solving problems. And I’m working every day to fix it. That means working across party lines on important issues like fixing our broken immigration system, expanding water storage and delivery. And standing up for our veterans and their families. It means working to stop the wasteful spending, stop the crushing tax hikes and giving job creators the certainty they need to grow their businesses and the economy.

On May 5th the Center for Security Policy released a letter in which "sixteen influential former leaders of the U.S. military" express strong opposition to a National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) amendment that will "open service in the armed forces to illegal aliens brought here as children by their parents." According to the Center for Security Policy release, the letter was directed to House Armed Services Committee chairman Representative Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-CA) in anticipation of the amendment, "expected to be offered by Rep. Mike Coffman" (R-CO).

1. The ENLIST Act is amnesty. It undermines the rule of law and is inherently unfair to legal immigrants. The ENLIST Act gives legal status to illegal aliens, thereby rewarding them with the very objective of their illegal activity. And, by granting green cards upon enlistment, in creates an inherently unfair situation in which one set of people – illegal aliens – receive better treatment under the law than another – legal immigrants. The ENLIST Act puts those who broke our immigration laws on par with those who waited patiently in line – often for years ndash; to immigrate to...

President Barack Obama is meeting Friday with the head of the American Legion, in what amnesty opponents fear is a yet another effort to bypass public opposition to passage of a massive business-backed immigration increase. House Speaker John Boehner also added to the alarms Thursday night, when the Wall Street Journal reported that he told business donors gathered last month in Las Vegas that he is “hellbent on getting this done.

The American Legion says it is opposed to trying to tie immigration into the annual defense policy debate, calling it an unacceptable “amnesty” and dealing a serious blow to Republicans desperate to pass some sort of legalization of illegal immigrants ahead of November’s elections. Several Republicans say they want to attach a small legalization that would grant an explicit chance at citizenship to young illegal immigrants willing to join the military.

Under current law, lawful permanent residents (LPRs) are eligible to volunteer to serve in the United States military. If they pass the strict qualification requirements applicable to all who seek to serve, they can serve in the armed forces of the United States, and once they are in the armed forces, they may apply for expedited consideration for U.S. citizenship, which is granted on a routine basis. Now, however, some in Congress are looking to provide a backdoor to instant citizenship for unlawful immigrants who are brought to the U.S. as minors—also known as “DREAMers,” after the Development, Relief, and...

Following on my posts and a Breitbart story, the House Republican leadership plan to embed an amnesty (for illegals who join the military) in the defense authorization bill has fallen apart. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, who’d co-sponsored one of the free-standing bills that would likely have been attached to the defense measure, withdrew his name from the bill and wrote that “I will not allow Washington to pull their sneaky tricks on the public.”

House Republicans are quietly working to insert immigration legislation into the text of the Department of Defense authorization bill that would allow so-called DREAMers to obtain permanent legal residency by joining the military, Breitbart News has learned.

The House lawmaker responsible for oversight of the nation's railways promised Wednesday to use his new position to put the brakes on a controversial high-speed railway in his state. California Rep. Jeff Denham (R) was appointed chairman of the House Transportation Committee's Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials subcommittee Wednesday. Denham has sought previously to deny federal funding for the proposed California high-speed railway, and he said Wednesday afternoon in an interview with The Hill that he would use his new perch to keep the up roadblock. "I've obviously taken a very storing position about California high-speed rail and I'm going...

Say what you will about the multi-threads of strategy encompassing State Senator Abel Maldonado’s pending nomination to be the next Lt. Governor of California, it becomes a harbinger for conservative Republican State Senator Sam Aanestad. Now that moderate Republican Abel Maldonado, (upon confirmation), has entered the race through the front door – as a selected incumbent – Abel is more than able to serve himself against the two conservative vote splitters in the primary. This end-game speed bump is buried by the immediate frenzy of schemes considered with the “Conan and Abel” confirmation process, whether the Democrats affirm to confirm...

The abortive effort to recall Republican state Sen. Jeff Denham this year will occupy a niche in the history of California political oddities. The Democratic leader of the Senate, Don Perata, launched the recall drive last year after Denham joined other Republican senators, save one, in blocking passage of the state budget for weeks, contending that it was dangerously out of balance. The supposed rationale for the recall drive against Denham, a second-termer whose district sprawls over a multicounty swath of Central California farmland, was that he had betrayed promises to be a moderate. And Perata dumped hundreds of thousands...

In an abrupt political reversal, Democratic state Senate leader Don Perata said Wednesday he is ending his campaign to recall a Republican senator. How much good Perata's sudden announcement will do is unclear. The recall against Sen. Jeff Denham of Merced already is on the June 3 ballot and pamphlets have been sent to voters. In a statement, Perata said he was ending the recall campaign "in the spirit of putting politics aside to solve problems." Perata had orchestrated the recall because Denham had angered him during last year's budget stalemate, which lasted roughly seven weeks after the start of...

His name doesn't appear on the ballot, but state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata is the indisputable driving force behind the recall of Sen. Jeff Denham, the first of a California legislator since 1995.Ostensibly, the Democratic leader's effort to unseat a Republican who was easily re-elected in 2006 stems from last year's 53-day state budget stalemate. Denham joined his GOP colleagues in voting against the spending plan.But beyond the bad blood over the budget, a successful recall would move Democrats, who hold a commanding 25-15 lead in the Senate, to within one vote of being able to pass a...