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Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) said Thursday that President Obama assured her that he would send White House staff members to her state to talk with officials about efforts to secure the U.S.-Mexico border. The governor said her meeting with Obama in the Oval Office was cordial, despite their disagreement over the widely criticized state law she signed in April, which gave police greater powers to enforce federal immigration laws. The White House said Obama would like Brewer to work with him to help pass comprehensive changes to the immigration system that would provide a path to citizenship for those...

Victor Davis Hansen has written a piece entitled Beware of ‘Comprehensive’ Anything, in which he details how Comprehensive legislation rarely becomes law, and any that does is usually disastrous. Just take a look at the ‘Comprehensive’ bills or strategies we’ve had in the past few years: * Comprehensive health care reform * Comprehensive climate change reform (cap-and-trade) * Comprehensive reset of foreign policy * Comprehensive immigration reform * Comprehensive social security reform As much as I would have liked to see the last item enacted, Hansen has a point. Americans are resistant to sweeping change, and it has proven to...

WASHINGTON — A group of Hispanic lawmakers Friday accused GOP presidential candidate John McCain of "flip-flopping" on immigration."Is it comprehensive immigration reform, or is it enforcement?" asked Iris Y. Martinez, a Democratic state senator from Illinois. "He can't have either/or — it has to be one."A McCain spokesperson denounced the accusations as "a pathetic, partisan ploy."The comments came at a press conference during the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials annual gathering. McCain and presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama are scheduled to appear before the NALEO convention separately today as they wage an aggressive battle for Latino...

The United States and Mexico need to hammer out a sweeping strategic vision for the future of the two countries, Mexico's attorney general told officials Wednesday. “Security, drug trafficking, immigration, trade and economic intervention are components of that comprehensive vision,” said Eduardo Medina Mora. “We cannot organize just one aspect of that.” Mr. Mora, speaking at the U.S.-Mexico Congressional Border Issues conference at a gathering in the Library of Congress, emphasized the links and connections between many of the issues facing both countries. “The approach on the border has to be a comprehensive one,” he said. “You cannot build trade...

February 14, 2008 – 0948 PST (APR) Capitol Hill news sources have been buzzing for the past 48 hours about backroom negotiations in the House of Representatives that may bring comprehensive immigration reform "lite" to the floor. Congressional Quarterly reports that Congressman Joe Baca (D-CA), Chairman of the Hispanic Caucus, is leading the fight for legislation that would provide a five-year amnesty visa to illegal aliens currently in the U.S. Baca said the five-year amnesty visas would be available to illegal aliens who can "prove they have a job, pay taxes and pass a criminal background check." (Congressional Quarterly Today,...

Subcommittee takes testimony on the issue despite earlier failure of a similar bill. WASHINGTON - Although the debate about a comprehensive immigration overhaul was stopped cold in the Senate earlier this year, the House immigration subcommittee held a hearing on the issue Thursday. The session, called by subcommittee Chairwoman Rep. Zoe Lofgren, came as a surprise because there is nearly no possibility of an immigration bill getting through Congress before the 2008 presidential election. The hearing examined the STRIVE Act, which would toughen the nation's borders, create a new guest worker program, require employers to verify the legal status of...

The STRIVE Act may still be in play and, with it, higher H-1B caps It appears that the STRIVE (Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy) Act of 2007 isn't quite dead after all. On Thursday, the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees Border Security, and International Law convened and on its first day took written statements from witnesses on the bill. The comprehensive immigration bill that caused such a furor earlier this year, mainly over the issue of whether it was offering amnesty to illegal immigrants, also addressed the H-1B visa cap. The cap, now set at 65,000, with...

NORTH COUNTY ---- Rep. Darrell Issa, a Vista Republican who has been considered in some circles a relative moderate on immigration matters, has joined a caucus of anti-illegal immigration lawmakers. Issa, R-Vista, announced last week that he had joined the Immigration Reform Caucus, a predominantly hard-line Republican group founded in 1999 by conservative members of Congress opposed to illegal immigration. His move comes at a critical time, as the U.S. Senate continues debating a controversial immigration reform bill that would pave the way to give millions of illegal immigrants a chance to become legal residents. Immigration analysts on both sides...

Comprehensive Crack-Up? By W. James Antle III Published 5/31/2007 12:09:09 AM When President Bush traveled to Georgia Tuesday to promote the Senate immigration bill, he didn't sound like he was happy with the way the debate was going. "If you want to scare the American people, what you say is the bill's an amnesty bill," he complained. "That's empty political rhetoric trying to scare our citizens." And that's not the rhetoric of a politician who feels like he is currently winning a policy battle. This debate wasn't supposed to get so heated. When a bipartisan group of senators announced the...

Tom Steed Building Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Glynco, Georgia 11:31 A.M. EDT WASHINGTON, May 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a transcript of remarks by President Bush on comprehensive immigration reform: THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. (Applause.) Please be seated -- unless, of course, you don't have a chair. Thanks for having me. I'm honored to be here at the headquarters of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. I don't know whether you realize this, or not, but the government originally planned to open this center inside the Capital Beltway. No one looks very sad that they...

Let's get to work! Time to uncover the fine print in this monster Comprehensive Invasion Bill

Michael Chertoff will be on Sean Hannity's show at the top of the hour to discuss the immigration bill. I thought some FReepers might be interested in hearing the spin du jour on this one.

March 21, 2007 Yesterday, Congressmen Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) held a conference call with reporters in which they announced their intention to introduce a "comprehensive immigration reform" bill on Thursday. There were few substantive details released at that time, but sources tell us that at the very least, the bill will contain some sort of amnesty provision for illegal aliens currently in the United States. This morning, CongressDaily reports that Congressmen Flake and Gutierrez, who had been participating in negotiations with Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Ted Kennedy (D-MA) about the components of a new immigration bill,...

The White House is reaching out to leading congressional Democrats on the issue of overhauling immigration, hoping to build a bipartisan coalition to support a "guest worker" program and provide a path to legalized status for many undocumented immigrants, lawmakers and administration officials said. President Bush has expressed an eagerness to work with Democrats on the issue in private meetings with lawmakers and in public statements, as he seeks to strike a new tone with Democrats who will be in control of Congress for the final two years of his presidency. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat who is...

House Majority Leader John Boehner (Ohio) last week would not rule out passing a comprehensive immigration bill before Congress recesses for the mid-term elections. When a reporter asked him if it was realistic to assume Congress would not pass such a bill in the limited time left on the legislative calendar, he replied, “That is not fair.” Boehner said that “conversations about the overall bill, the larger bill, are going to continue,” but suggested alternative methods to secure the border were being planned. “You will see us, I think, again this month, move to include additional money for fencing on...

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryAugust 5, 2006 President's Radio Address       Audio      In Focus: Immigration      THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week, my Administration met a key objective in our efforts to better secure our Nation's border. In May, I pledged to deploy up to 6,000 National Guard members to support the Border Patrol, and we fulfilled that pledge by August 1st. Through Operation Jump Start, National Guard members are now on duty supporting the Border Patrol in Texas, California, Arizona, and New Mexico.  Radio Address 200620052004200320022001  Radio Interviews 20052004 On Thursday, I visited the Rio Grande Valley...

Bush to talk at Omaha Latino center BY JAKE THOMPSON WORLD-HERALD BUREAU -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WASHINGTON - When President Bush visits Omaha next week to promote broad-based immigration reform, he probably will get a warm welcome but little talk of compromise from four area congressmen and a senator who all insist on border enforcement first. The president is to arrive in Omaha on Tuesday night, then speak Wednesday morning at the Juan Diego Center, 5211 S. 31st St., the White House said today. The president will call for comprehensive immigration legislation at the community center, which offers bilingual counseling, immigration aid and...

WASHINGTON, May 15 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid issued the following statement on President Bush's speech tonight on comprehensive immigration reform. A fact check on the President's record on immigration is attached below. "We need a long-term strategy to fix our broken immigration system. Congress must pass comprehensive immigration reform to secure our borders, enforce our laws, and bring 12 million undocumented immigrants out of the shadows. The president got off to a good start tonight, but now he must stand up to right-wing members of his own party who are working to block Senate action. He...

US forces secured the suspected chemical plant in Najah on Monday, as 12 civilians were caught attempting to transport a truckload of AK-47 rifles to the site. These dozen men were added to the 54 Iraqi officers and soldiers, including a general,who surrendered to the 2-7 mechanized infantry battalion during Sunday's raid of the huge camouflaged complex. Senior army sources told this reporter that the army is concerned with the sensitive status of the site. Specialists from an army "exploitation team" will arrive at the complex Tuesday to conduct comprehensive inspections, they said.

 http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/2002/march/ww_quotas.htmA New Strategy for Racial Quotas: "Comprehensive Review" By Walter Williams (March 21, 2002)If your father beats your mother up or abandons her, or you've made a few suicide attempts, you're moved up a notch or two over the more academically qualified students who are short on familial pathology.  [CAPITALISMMAGAZINE.COM] In 1996, California's voters passed Proposition 209, which outlawed racial quotas for college admission. That didn't mean the end of the quest for racial quotas and the euphemisms for it: affirmative action, diversity and multiculturalism. The diversity lobby has rigged up a new and devious way around the law...