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"There was a lot of frustration that politics got in the way of sound, necessary public policy," said Jerry Gonzalez of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, a statewide organization whose 4,000 members are calling their senators seeking reforms. "The time is now. They need to act. They have to." A caravan departed Wednesday from Los Angeles after a prayer from Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony, a longtime supporter of immigrant rights. Renan "El Cucuy" Almendarez Coello, a popular Spanish-language radio host, also was on hand to send off the "Dreams Across America" caravan. "We have all come for...

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., June 12--In a shocking turn of events, a progressive coalition of conservative and moderate congressional leaders have come together to propose new legislation which could completely redefine the meaning of the word "amnesty." In this newly proposed "AMNESTY BILL," illegal aliens would have 120 days to leave the US without any penalty or incarceration. In other words, "amnesty" does not mean they have the right to stay, but rather that they have the "RIGHT TO LEAVE" without consequence within the 120-day "AMNESTY PERIOD." The most surprising aspect of this "AMNESTY BILL" is that it could actually work! Proponents...

Senators, working with the White House, have reached a compromise on an immigration bill. Dubbed the "Grand Bargain," the bill would construct a physical and electronic border barrier, hire 18,000 new border guards, construct huge new detention centers, end "catch and release" and require employers to verify the legality of their employees. After certain benchmarks are met, a guest worker program would be established. Illegal immigrants could apply for four-year renewable work visas. Employers would have to certify that no American workers were available before hiring aliens. Heads of household would have to return to their country of origin to...

ENOUGH Emma Lazarus. For many of us, the definitive pro-immigration speech comes from Bill Murray in "Stripes": "We're all very different people. We're not Watusi, we're not Spartans, we're Americans. With a capital 'A.' And you know what that means? Do you? That means that our forefathers were kicked out of every decent country in the world. We are the wretched refuse. We're the underdog. We're mutts…. But there's no animal that's more faithful, that's more loyal, more lovable than the mutt. Who saw 'Old Yeller'? … I cried my eyes out." Murray's speech may lack poetry and intellectual rigor,...

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Legislation described as the nation’s most sweeping attempt to deny jobs and public benefits to illegal immigrants was sent to Gov. Brad Henry’s desk Tuesday. State lawmakers urged Henry to sign the measure into law after it was approved in a bipartisan 84-14 vote by the state House. The bill was approved 41-6 by the Senate last month. “The people of Oklahoma are very strongly for this bill,” said House Speaker Lance Cargill, R-Harrah. Immigrant groups said the bill is a wrong-headed approach to stop illegal immigration and urged Henry to veto it. “It’s not going...

BOSTON -- Setting the stage for a new fight over the rights of illegal immigrants in Massachusetts, the state Board of Higher Education looked at whether illegal immigrant students should be entitled to in-state tuition rates if they go to a state university. NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that the Massachusetts Taxpayers Association said between 400 and 600 illegal immigrants would go on to higher learning if the Legislature approved a bill making them eligible for in-state tuition at state schools. The issue was on the agenda at Thursday morning's meeting of the Board of Higher Education, which has supported...

ELBA, N.Y. — A cold December rain gusted across fields of cabbage destined for New York City egg rolls, cole slaw and Christmas goose. Ankle-deep in mud, six immigrant farmworkers raced to harvest 120,000 pounds before nightfall, knowing that at dawn they could find immigration agents at their door. The farmer who stopped to check their progress had lost 28 other workers in a raid in October, all illegal Mexican immigrants with false work permits at another farm here in western New York. Throughout the region, farm hands have simply disappeared by twos and threes, picked up on a Sunday...

According to a Des Moines Register news story, "In a blunt and stinging letter, the governor and the top officer of the Iowa National Guard on Tuesday called federal immigration officials' actions in the Swift raids "completely unacceptable," saying agents undermined the public's trust in government, potentially jeopardized the safety of law enforcement personnel in Iowa and could have compromised undercover operations." For the full story, see here.

A measure meant to deny jobs and services to illegal immigrants has even legal residents rethinking their future in the state. ATLANTA — Two months ago, all Alina Arguello had to do to find Latino home buyers was put up a sign and answer her phone. But ever since Georgia passed one of the most stringent and far-reaching immigration laws in the nation, the number of Latino buyers who call the Re/Max agent's home office in suburban Atlanta has dwindled from about 10 to two a day. "We're seeing a drastic drop," she said. "There's just a tremendous amount of...

National Policy Survey called ASK AMERICA. The Republican Party is conducting this nationwide grass-roots project as a critical part of our efforts to continue to strengthen our Party by getting more Americans involved. Please take a moment to complete the ASK AMERICA national survey online at http://web.nrcc.org/ask_america/ You can add your comments at end of survey. Give 'em an earful of constructive criticism and suggest what needs to be done!

05/21 07:44 PM According to today's Washington Post: Hispanic voters, many of whom responded favorably to President Bush's campaign appeals emphasizing patriotism, family and religious values in Spanish-language media in 2004, are turning away from the administration on immigration and a host of other issues, according to a new survey. At the same time, separate polls show that conservative white Republicans are the voting group most hostile to the administration's support for policies that would move toward the legalization of many undocumented immigrants. More here . For all the talk about Karl Rove's brilliance, it was a blunder of monumental...

President Bush accuses those of us who want to secure America's borders and fully enforce our immigration laws of lacking "compassion." Huh. Well, I have yet to hear an ounce of compassion from President Bush for America's countless casualties of lax immigration enforcement. Where's the sympathy for innocent, law-abiding citizens who have lost their lives at the hands of illegal aliens and their open-borders enablers? Nope, we haven't heard a word about the victims as the White House pours on its unadulterated pro-illegal alien rhetoric and "undocumented workers do the jobs Americans won't do" propaganda – all in support of...

As the Senate is entering the great debate over illegal immigration, it's imperative to examine the frequent claim of "immigrants' rights." Bluntly said, people who are illegally in this country possess only those civil rights that we grant to them. Yes, they have human rights, such as the familiar life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But civil rights, by most definitions, are protections and privileges of freedom given by nation's laws to its citizens. This, of course, flies in the face of the contemporary confusion about "immigrants' rights," which proclaims that anyone who lands on U.S. soil, by whatever...