immigrants

Illegal immigration isn’t just about criminals and the border — but that’s almost all we’ve been hearing about, whether at the national level or in the states, as has been the case leading up to today’s Georgia Republican-primary runoff.

Criminal deportations are essential, of course, and need to be increased. Sanctuary cities, shielding such criminals, have to be reined in. And the routine abuse of asylum, especially using children as a ticket into the U.S., has to be quashed.

But most illegal aliens are neither drunk-driving, dope-dealing rapists, nor bogus asylum seekers coached by immigration lawyers on how to game the system. They’re ordinary working stiffs, half of them arriving legally and then never leaving. They’re mainly coming to work, and that’s why weakening the magnet of jobs that attracts is essential both to the practice and the rhetoric of immigration control.

The president must have uttered/tweeted the words “E-Verify” at some point over the past three years, but no instance comes immediately to mind, certainly not a recent one. Even just a tweet or two would help keep the issue in the public discussion, providing for a more balanced immigration message and giving traction to ongoing efforts such as that of House Judiciary chairman Bob Goodlatte to get an E-Verify mandate passed.

The same holds true in today’s primary vote in Georgia. Both candidates — Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp — check a lot of the right boxes on immigration and don’t have any really obvious red flags. But, as Georgia’s steadfast immigration activist D.A. King has noted, the two candidates:

have mostly kept their immigration focus away from topics that may offend the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and narrowed to “sanctuary cities” and on illegal aliens who have already committed additional crimes in the United States — or “criminal illegal aliens.”

 

The main driver of illegal immigration is illegal employment, which was not mentioned in either campaign.

Forget the Russian government — foreign nationals are increasingly gaining the ability to influence American elections more directly. They’re being granted the right to vote.

From Boston, where the city council is debating the move, to San Francisco, where noncitizens gained the right earlier this month in school-board elections, jurisdictions are looking to expand the boundaries of the electorate beyond its citizens.

Several Republicans fired back this week.

Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina announced a bill that would strip federal funding from states or localities that allow noncitizens to vote in their elections.

“Allowing noncitizens to water down the voice of American citizens at the voting booth disrespects their sacrifice and the value of American citizenship,” Mr. Duncan said in announcing the legislation. “Now more than ever, it is critical that we ensure only American citizens are casting ballots in this country.”

And former Rep. Doug Ose, California Republican, told the Los Angeles Times he’s submitted a ballot proposal to officially stop San Francisco and other California jurisdictions from allowing noncitizen voting.

SALEM, Ohio-- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided four Fresh Mark locations in Northeast Ohio on Tuesday.

At the meat processing plant in Salem, agents arrested 146 employees for immigration violations, ICE said in a news release on Wednesday.

Search warrants were also executed at Fresh Mark locations on South Way Street SW in Massillon, Cloverleaf Street SW in Massillon and Harmont Avenue NE in Canton.

"Unlawful employment is one of the key magnets drawing illegal aliens across our borders," said Steve Francis, HSI special agent in charge for Michigan and Ohio. "Businesses who knowingly harbor and hire illegal aliens as a business model must be held accountable for their actions."

Those arrested were taken to processing facilities, where they will begin the removal proceedings. They will be moved to detention facilities in Michigan and Ohio. According to a news release from ICE, several people were processed and released from custody because of humanitarian considerations.

An ICE spokesman said there would be no additional arrests on Wednesday.

Fresh Mark is a member of ICE's Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers program. IMAGE members are not immune from prosecution.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

WASHINGTON 

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WRSP) — One in seven Illinois residents is an immigrant, according to the American Immigration Council.

"I think right now immigrants feel horribly vulnerable,” said Senator Don Harmon, D-Oak Park.

Senator Harmon passed a measure out of committee Wednesday to create safe zones for immigration enforcement in Illinois.

House Speaker Paul Ryan will push his open borders agenda during his last months in Congress, telling the media that he is interested in passing an amnesty for millions of illegal aliens who are enrolled and eligible for the President Obama-created Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Ryan announced this week that he will leave Congress after his current term is up, but now he says he will continue pushing for a DACA amnesty despite his exit.

Border Patrol agents in the Laredo Sector of Texas continue to find more Bangladesh nationals being smuggled across the border from Mexico. Agents arrested 12 over the Easter weekend alone.

The Laredo Sector continues to lead the nation in the apprehension of Bangladeshis smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico. Over the Easter weekend, agents arrested 12 in three separate incidents, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The crossings all took place in southern Laredo where border barriers are virtually non-existent.

“It goes to show that our agents are arresting people from all over the world on a daily basis. Their intentions for entering the country illegally can only be determined after they have been arrested,” Laredo Sector Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Gabriel Acosta said in a written statement.

Acosta said his agents have arrested a total of 156 Bangladeshis since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2018 (October 1, 2017). This represents an increase of 64 percent over the previous fiscal year.

Illegal immigration across the southwest border surged 200 percent in March compared to the same month last year, according to Homeland Security statistics released late Wednesday that back up White House’s claims that things are quickly deteriorating on the border.

The year-over-year surge is by far the largest in the records, which date back to 2011, and it could be a signal that the Senate’s debate on legalizing illegal immigrants earlier this year has sparked a new wave of migration.

The Border Patrol and officers at the ports of entry nabbed 50,308 people in March — up from less than 37,000 in February, and three times the 16,588 people apprehended in March 2017, when President Trump’s tough enforcement talk had sparked a major drop in illegal immigration attempts.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa is set to become the latest Republican-led state to target so-called sanctuary cities by withholding money from local governments that don’t comply with federal immigration laws, even though the plan could lead to court challenges.

A bill outlining an expansive immigration enforcement plan is expected to receive final legislative approval this week. It comes as President Donald Trump ramps up calls for more stringent immigration enforcement.