US House votes to kill Visa Lottery -- NumbersUSA 'blamed' - fedupinarizona@gmail.com - Gmail

US House votes to kill Visa Lottery -- NumbersUSA 'blamed' - fedupinarizona@gmail.com - Gmail

US House votes to kill Visa Lottery -- NumbersUSA 'blamed'

Inbox

x

Newsletter - NumbersUSA.com	6:55 PM (29 minutes ago)
to me

YES, keep sending me Weekly Newsletters NO, stop sending me Weekly Newsletters   NEWSLETTER WEEK of NOV 30   THIS ISSUE: Pro-Visa-Lottery Representatives relentlessly attack NumbersUSA activists for opposing increases in foreign workers We were a little surprised to see things get so personal on the House floor this morning in the debate that led to a 245-139 passage of HR 6429 that increases STEM visas while eliminating the Visa Lottery. Nonetheless, we take great pride in having open-borders leaders make it clear to the nation that NumbersUSA indeed is working to "reduce" the number of foreign workers brought in to compete with jobless Americans. For that, we were called "extreme" and "shameful." (See my blog for more details.) The White House has told Senate Democrats to just allow the bill to die in the final days of this lame duck Congress because it wants next year to exchange STEM visas for a full-scale amnesty. Thus, the importance of today's House activity was what it may have told us about the shape of immigration debates when the new Congress convenes in January. The attacks on NumbersUSA's 1.3 million activist members by many of the Democratic speakers during the debate suggests that pro-amnesty forces believe that every immigration bill has to increase the number of foreign workers -- that there can NEVER be any reduction. Sadly, a person listening to the speeches by both Democrats and Republicans this morning would not have the slightest indication that our country remains in a jobs depression with 20 million still unable to find full-time employment. Nor would a listener have sensed that immigrants and Americans compete in the same job markets. But, at least, the Republicans did point out the near insanity of every year raffling off another 55,000 permanent work authorizations to foreign citizens regardless of their skills and nearly regardless of their education. And that made Democratic speakers furious. They castigated Republicans for their failure to simply increase the overall number of foreign workers and instead bowing to the long-standing pressure from NumbersUSA's grassroots army to end the Visa Lottery. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (the leader of the open-borders movement) summarized for all of his pro-lottery colleagues: "I'm going to tell you why you (Republicans) wouldn't negotiate with us (to save the Lottery). Because you had to negotiate with NumbersUSA. Why don't we just say it. They're the party that's not present here in the well of the House, but they are here in the spirit and in the legislative policy that is being reiterated today." Well, NumbersUSA did not endorse or write HR 6429. We took a neutral stance. But we did work diligently for months to ensure that it contained as many protections for American STEM students and workers as possible and that it included the elimination of the Visa Lottery. And because so many Members of Congress really care what you think about their immigration actions, HR 6429 was improved considerably over all other versions. Rep. John Conyers (who managed the opposition on the floor) said the elimination of the lottery was a "naked attempt" to satisfy groups like NumbersUSA. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (ranking member of the House immigration subcommittee) claimed that the bill had "actually been designed to REDUCE immigration." And so it went for a couple of hours of complaints that there appears to be a "zero sum game" going on in which no door to new immigration can be opened unless a door to some other immigration is closed. Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia even accused all of us of racism, if not in intent, in effect. But apparently no epithet could be worse than the word "reduce." Mr. Gutierrez made this clear when he produced what he suggested was the smoking gun for why NumbersUSA is the "most extreme element of American society on immigration." He quoted from our website that NumbersUSA is an "immigration-REDUCTON organization." The word "reduction" seemed like a snarl that he hurled back at Republicans: "So who did you negotiate with? The immigration-REDUCTION organization." The federal bi-partisan commission chaired by the celebrated civil rights champion Barbara Jordan recommended both of the things that the open-borders folks were decrying today. Jordan called for the end of the lottery (among other things) and for REDUCTIONS that might cut the annual new foreign worker competition in half. The pro-Lottery statements about extremism today would be funny if they weren't such an insult to a woman and her commission who worked so hard to recommend an immigration system that showed true compassion for the most vulnerable workers of our society and their families. Thanks so much to all of you at NumbersUSA who have for years pounded the fax machines, phones and local offices of your Members of Congress with demands to REDUCE the unfair foreign worker competition. Read my blog for more information on the most interesting votes cast today and other observations. ROY BECK FRI, NOV 30th ACTION We've already inserted today's votes in the House of Representatives into our immigration-reduction grade cards. Check out our grade card map to see how your House Rep. voted and how it affected his/her grade. FEATURES There was lots of immigration news this week, including: theIllinois Senatevoting to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens, pro-illegal alien groupssue Arizona for denying DACA recipients driver's licenses, a large county in Maryland votes to provide financial assistance to illegal aliens wishing to apply for DACA, and two lame-duck GOP Senators offer amass amnesty bill. ACCOUNT Is your contact information up to date? In January, the new Congress will be seated, and we'll be updating your Action Boardto reflect the new districts. Your district assignments are based on the address we have on file for you. Make sure this is correct before January! The gulf between Barack Obama's immigration stance and Barbara Jordan's During his November 14 press conference, President Obama said his broad vision of comprehensive immigration reform "is very similar to the outlines of previous efforts at comprehensive immigration reform." This is newsworthy because previous comprehensive immigration reform efforts since 1986 have produced 7 amnesties, none of which reduced illegal immigration. This begs the question: "Is the permanent reduction of illegal immigration a goal of this administration?" JEREMY BECK THU, NOV 29th House votes down motion to increase foreign workers with no visa offsets During consideration of H.R. 6429, a bill that would replace the Visa Lottery with green cards for foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges or universities with an advanced degree in a STEM field, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) raised a motion to replace the bill with another version that would increase foreign worker visas with no offsets. The House, however, voted, with bipartisan support, to keep the existing version of the bill, with the visa offsets, intact. FRI, NOV 30th HANNAH MILLER WED, NOV 28th Calling Out Karl Rove In an online Wall Street Journal Live interview last week, Republican strategist Karl Rove, claimed that terms such as "self-deportation" are "distinctively unwelcoming" rhetoric and were the reasons why Romney lost the Hispanic vote this past election. Rove pointed to Texas Senator-elect Ted Cruz who won because he used a more welcoming message, but Ted Cruz ran on an Attrition Through Enforcement platform and was rated as a NumbersUSA True Refomer. CHRIS CHMIELENSKI TUE, NOV 27th GOP Senators Miss the Point on New Immigration Bill We have our first legislative response from Republicans in the post-election world. Lame-duck Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona have offered a new bill that provides amnesty to illegal aliens who were brought to the United States at a young age through "no fault of their own" by their parents. But in their attempt to write a "touger" DREAM Act, Hutchison and Kyl fail to realize why groups like NumbersUSA oppose their efforts. ROY BECK FRI, NOV 30th NumbersUSA activists blasted on House floor for pushing Barbara Jordan protections from unfair immigrant worker competition Supporters of the lottery took to the floor this morning to repeatedly denounce NumbersUSA and its 1.3 million activist members for our efforts to hold down the number of new permanent foreign workers with which the government forces unemployed Americans to compete each year. The U.S. House overwhelmingly voted 245-139 this morning to kill the Visa Lottery in the multi-issue HR 6429 bill which now goes to the Senate in this lame duck session that will end before Christmas.