1. “Let’s be clear: these Republican proposals aren’t to provide relief for Dreamers, they’re an avenue for mass deportations and to stoke fear in communities,” said Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee."
Actually, lets be perfectly clear on this Tom. Today's Democratic Party puts illegal aliens before actual citizens and the politics of appeasing a constituency (Hispanics) they depend on to be competitive in elections above our laws, security and sovereignty. Just a few decades ago Democrats had some sense of sanity on the issue (see links below). Those days are long gone and every single one belongs thrown out of office (add the two dozen Republican traitors to the list). It's disgraceful, pathetic and sad what they've become.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrNJ12kJ7wY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE7kT44NtsQ
Also, lets be perfectly clear on this Tom. Your party has zero desire to fix what caused the problem in the first place and perfectly content repeating this insane process every few decades if not less. The last amnesty in 1986 was sold to the public as a one time deal. The results? We went from 5 million illegal aliens then to 11-20 million today. The law was conveniently and purposely not enforced and here the Democrats are demanding another round. Not at all smart.
2. Rep. Grisham considers the legalization of illegal aliens one of our nation's most pressing problems. What "priorities" and "leadership." Wow.
2
Immigration is Reform is a primary example of what our Congress does best: Nothing.
Add to the list gun law reform, health care reform, tax reform, (not cuts; real reform), infrastructure needs, and most anything else and you still get what? Nothing
Time for a change in November. Time do do something: get rid of our Do Nothing Representatives and Senators.
1
Yeah, Trump's "all in" - until he isn't.
Just wait - this won't last.
This must be the Ryan Rule, the Hastert Rule on steroids....I will only allow votes on legislation that I know will pass with republican majorities and that Emperor Dotard will sign. I guess that didn't apply to all those Obamacare repeal votes.....
Always different rules when Republicans have absolute power.....
2
Spineless ryan - just go home already. You have done enough damage.
1
Trumps support is the kiss of death. This is just immigration rollback, NOT reform.
1
The bill must contain the four pillars as proposed by Trump. DACA recipients go to the end of the line and DACA is dead for all current and future illegal aliens not enrolled. Period. Democrats...this is indeed a HUGE compromise and if rejected you will lose in November. This is for the protection of U.S. citizens, not illegal aliens.
1
Paul Ryan's shameful partisan leadership has tarnished his Wisconsin heritage. He has stood mute in the face of a despot to become nothing more than a cult cheerleader. Back home we wonder, what's in it for him? He does not reflect core, Wisconsin values or Catholic ones either...It is time for him to leave office -- now is a good time.
2
Deja Vu all over again.
1
Pffft. Give the Republicans Twenty five BILLION dollars down payment on the Wall, adopt a ridiculous immigration policy, and the Republicans will keep the promises they made on the DACA candidates. It’s like the Republicans are holding themselves hostage. How about this: Democrats run against Republicans as monsters, liars and spendthrifts. There’s your deal.
1
Don't blame Congress. Every one of these Republicans is terrified of their voters back home. And so should most Americans. Trump has turned a 1/3 of the country into a danger zone, where beliefs turn dangerous. Given gerrymandered districts, the voice of conservative radio, cable, and Sinclair TV echoing wall to wall, and the sorting out of better educated professionals, what's left is a hard political landscape. Sure, people are people, but with Trump in charge, they're mesmerized. We'd better find a way to prevent this 1/3 of the country from controlling gov't, or we'll sink.
1
Brian,
I do blame Congress. DACA is just the tip of the iceberg. Republicans need to grow a spine and fight back. They don’t have to go along with the ruin of our Republic. They took an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States, not the Trump Banana Republic.
I have no doubt we are under siege by religious fundamentalists. Pence recently addressed the Southern Baptist Conference.
“Vice President Mike Pence told a large gathering of pastors Wednesday that the White House would continue to fight for evangelical priorities.”
They are staging a religious coup. Trump, Pence and the entire illegitimate administration needs to go before we’re turned into a totalitarian evangelical state.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/us/politics/southern-baptist-conventi...
Come on Ryan have a heart and do the right thing, offer a bipartisan bill that will garner enough votes to override a presidential veto. Then get McConnell and the Senate to do the same. A nice clean bill that protects Dreamers.
1
When my grandfather's grandfather stepped off the boat, he became a US citizen and gave his life in the Civil War. When my maternal grandparents came to the US, they went through Ellis Island and became citizens. We need an Ellis Island on the southern border with Mexico. Anyone who tells you that there isn't room for immigrants doesn't understand economics, and the role past and present immigrants play in our economy. Without immigrants, our population will decline. Time to register the immigrant, make them pay taxes and get auto insurance. Time to embrace what we are unable to stop. The draconian methods now employed by Trump and Sessions do not befit a nation of immigrants.
2
Bruce Maier,
Well said. My family are also immigrants. They worked hard and built good lives here. They bought homes, paid taxes and contributed to society. The Irish were despiced when they came just as Mexicans and other South Americans are today.
Our new South American immigrants legal and illegal come here to work and make a better life for themselves and their families. Let’s create a path to citizenship. We need people who are willing to work hard and contribute to society.
Are we supposed to have confidence that the Republican controlled congress will do the right thing concerning immigration policy while, through their silence, they support government sponsored kidnapping?
3
This is good, but I'll want to see if there is any inclusion that expands the number of the badly abused, so-called skilled worker visas, H1b, L1 and B1.
The huge amount of money at play in this is bound to bring something involving these - the donations from PACs are bi-partisan.
American STEM workers need to have work, too, and there are plenty who could have jobs if the employers were not intent on bringing in lower paid foreign workers.
This is Orin Hatchs' last term and he's already tried to ressurect his odious "I squared" bill meant to double the H1b visas. This needs to stop and we must have better control on the abuse of our visas.
8
“ #1 a path to citizenship for the young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers (yes), #2 beefed-up border security (yes), including $25 billion for the wall the president wants to build on the southwest border (NO), an end to the current diversity visa lottery system (yes), which is aimed at bringing in immigrants from underrepresented nations; and limits on family-based migration, known as chain migration (yes).
Okay let's call a spade a spade. Republicans never, ever, ever deal in good faith. There is party or in this case cult, which always comes before nation and that nation is Russia - certainly not the USA as we are learning as we change or allies from democratic nations to dictatorships .
This $25 billion wall is a waste of our resources. How many hospitals and schools and bridges would that pay for? If Trump would sign these bills there is a poison pill and a trap for Democrats in each. It is simple hostage taking with a $25 billion ransom, money that will by hook or crook somehow will find its way into the pockets of Trump and Cronies Inc. The only kind of wall that Trump & Co. could build one made of broken promises.
Let's face it when the GOP becomes no better than the Mafia and the Trumpians who have a congressional majority are afraid of crossing the Boss, we either throw the traitorous and cowardly fascists out or we deserve the government we get like the German people got in 1933.
4
"Mr. Ryan desperately wanted to avoid bringing those bipartisan measures to the floor." Because he is the leader of a far right partisan minority.
We are held hostage by this extremist minority whose grip strengthens as they use dirty tricks, gerrymandering, voter suppression to stay in power. They could just change their platform, but instead intentionally court bigots and religious fanatics in order to gain enough votes to pass their tax bills and libe their pockets.
VOTE. Vote in enough numbers time scale those gerrymandered walls before it's too late.
25
I’m so over caring about people who broke the law by entering the US illegally.
27
So, you're saying you don't care about them as human beings? That they should have their children taken from them, put into prison conditions, and not know where they are? That is how serious this heinous crime of entering the US illegally is?
Should we start cutting off hands of shoplifters too?
3
How about those who were brought here as chikdren?
Yes we care, but their homeland government should care even more. Why aren’t the presidents of Nicaragua, El Salvador snd Guatemala not protecting and providing for their citizens?
Great, build that big beautiful Wall. But only those that voted for Trump must pay. Works for me.
9
I see no reason why those who trafficked the dreamers into the US should not be held accountable for their illegal actions. Do you?
Phyliss:
Since when can Mexicans vote for POTUS?
And why would any of them vote for Emperor Donald the First?
(That makes it exactly ZERO dollars for the wall, since he PROMISED that Mexicans would pay. Works for me.)
Reprehensible Republicans. How can there be immigration legislation without bi-partisan support from the Democrats? Why are we still trying to spend 25 BILLION dollars on a wall? That money cold be spent in a more productive way, Health Care anyone? Infrastructure?
America First, NO, America LAST.
15
Ask Obama who signed the DACA law without any input by Republicans with an executive order.
Construction on Trump’s beloved wall can start upon receipt of that check from Mexico. Believe me, believe me. (We don’t hear much anymore about Mexico funding the wall, do we?)
If Ryan put a "Dreamer Bill" in front of the house for a vote it would pass with Democratic votes. If McConnell put that same bill up for a vote it would pass with Democratic votes. trump could either sign it or veto it. Congress can override a veto. The problem is not the votes the problem is the leadership. The Republican leaders only do what trump tells them to do. They are a disgrace and are destroying this country. They are making him a King and giving the power of Congress away. I wish Ryan would quit now.
38
The Goodlatte bill is the way to go. I hope it passes.
5
One of those 23 Republicans, Representative Leonard Lance of New Jersey, said the moderates had shown that “we are a great force in the conference.”
Actually, Lance is facing the possibility of losing his seat in November, so he thinks a show vote can be helpful to him.
The discussion makes no comment about the chances of the Goodlatte bill or the "moderate" bill to pass in the Senate, where it would take 60 votes to shut off debate and actually vote on either bill on the merits.
This is a stunt for the purpose of appearances only. It is not going to convince anyone of anything, because none of these bills is going to pass.
Vote for a Democratic majority in both the House and the Senate in November. At least such bodies would perform their constitutional duty of overseeing the Executive Branch, which the Republicans are clearly failing to do.
Republicans should more properly be called the Republi-CANTS, because they can't get anything done.
10
There are many people who cross the boarder illegally, but there are many many undocumented workers who actually come here legally and overstay visas. The border wall is not going to stop that.
17
But E-Verify and harsh penalties to private, cash-paying contractors will take care of the overstayers.
4
Peter:
What Republican bill icludes any enforcement penalties aimed at any employers who hire illegals of any type?
Against the farmers?
Against the meat packers?
Against construction companies?
Against which employers??
Just show me that before you talk so glibly.
If Democrats vote against a bill that grants Dreamers citizenship because it also contains measures to discourage future illegal immigration, it will be obvious to voters that Democrats want illegal immigration to continue unabated. They will pay the price at the polls during the midterm elections just as they did during the 2016 election.
38
The Dreamers do not want their parents kicked out of the country and oppose bills that do that.
In spite of Republican messaging, the Family Values party is, and always has been, the Democrats.
39
"Family values" Yes- that is what the GOP stands for! But seriously- when was the last time you spoke with your second cousin? Why should we allow immigrant families unabated access to our country? They are just "gaming the system" at taxpayer expense..
Lynn- As a Republican, I want to protect the dreamers, but they should be banned from sponsoring relatives, and yes, their parents should be deported when the 'dreamer' is of age. The parents broke our laws.
You may disagree with me, but guess what? Your side cannot have everything, and the Democrats (ie Schumer) seem to think it is their way or the highway on this. Compromise is key. Protect those who are blameless- the dreamers- and deport those that put them in that situation. This may not appeal to your idealistic senses, but it is fair to all parties involved.
Or, if you want to pay all of your disposable income to support your liberal dream, I invite you to do so.
2
It's not "amnesty" for the DACA kids- they have been here their entire lives and deserve to stay. It's the only sensible solution. Anything else is just cruelty
31
It's amnesty, but that doesn't mean it is wrong. The DACA recipients haven't been here all their lives. They came illegally to the United States when they were under 16 years of age. Many are adults, not kids. To enroll, they had to be under 31 on June 15, 2012,
11
I'm reminded of Newt Gingrich's strategy for supporting term limits under his Contract with America. There he offered 3 term limit proposals, so everyone in the House could vote for term limits, but no limits could pass.
13
Ryan is still selling "Corporate immigration for Hostages" plan.
Republican plan is to end lottery system, so Trump can double the annual high-skill (good jobs) new citizens who will work to keep corporations profitable on smaller salaries.
Don't forget Trump campaigned on big, beautiful gates in his Wall; and last year's 15,000 additional work visas was just the beginning. Republican leaders won't tighten labor markets, get real; and the Fed already made a case (WSJ) for more workers.
They're ending new citizens' family migration because Republican Party is clawing back at those who they suspect will vote for Democrats. And because they tolerate cruel policies toward "others".
With Sessions' "Crackdown with Impunity", Republican candidates gain midterm votes. We can expect more displays of 'rule of law' - denying raped and endangered women any asylum consideration, separating children, and building Tent Cities (like Sheriff Arpaio's hell).
It's the "Make America Submit or Suffer More" midterm strategy. Never reward a despicable act!
Pass a Clean DACA Bill and free the Dreamers now!
Undocumented workers will never be stopped by wall that gets flown over and sailed around. They skip any crackdown on employers, wonder why. And Trump pardoned meatpacking plant owner caught with 300-plus undocumented workers. Melania's parents arrived - and the hypocrisy of Trump knows no bounds!
28
>> The moderates needed 25 Republicans to affix their signatures to the petition but got only 23. All 193 Democrats signed.
Couldn’t even muster two more votes.
This is the way the GOP ends. Not with a bang but a whimper. RIP moderate Republicans.
26
do the math. at this point there are not 25 moderate Republicans.
2
Think there are any measures in those bills to PUNISH employers who utilize "undocumented immigrant workers" in their labor pool? HA! As long as companies or small businesses offer them jobs, sanctuary cities allow them to stay and BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP is unconditionally awarded.. There will be constant incentive to enter the United States illegally. It's not the undocumented immigrants fault- it the fault of U.S. Government to refuse to enforce our existing laws. There's 12 million here now- how many more millions can we allow before our entire social system breaks.. as if it isn't broken already? My heart goes out to these people but enough is enough!
21
The social system is only stressed if it is not sufficiently funded through taxes. So the solution to your post is quite simple - make those 12 million illegals all tax paying citizens. Unemployment is at an all time low, and most of those illegals are already in the labor pool so that will not be affected. The main benefit of doing this is we can make sure they are all taxed like anybody else. It is a win-win situation. Republicans just see red whenever the word "illegal" is used. They need to look at the big picture.
9
Most likely the envisioned "social system breaking" refers to an existential threat to the white majority. The implication is that, despite our history of successful merging of people from many different cultures, US society has now become so brittle that it can no longer assimilate people of color from our southern border. Call it what you want but it sounds like racism to me.
Immigration both legal and illegal will not be solved by this congress. Whatever the right wing on the house passes will not pass the senate. We will have to wait and see if voters elect a more productive congress in November.
15
The Senate Republicans should use the "nuclear option" and override the Senate's "60-vote-rule." The rule is unconstitutional. The Constitution requires more than a simply majority vote for all measures except treaty ratifications and impeachments.
4
I oppose the filibuster rule. However, the constitution gives Congress the right to make its own rules. The filibuster is a rule of the Senate. It is undemocratic, but it is not unconstitutional.
1
The Constitution permits Congress to make rules as long as the rules are not unconstitutional.
1
I wish a liberal could explain to me why we need more diversity lottery immigrants unless they have a means to support themselves and pay for their healthcare without needing a dime of direct assistance from the US government.
I also want to understand why chain migration is so important "to keep families together" when the initial immigrant came by choice and could have stayed behind to be with their family.
Again, no problem with anyone coming here, provided that they have the money to support themselves fully.
37
The xenophobic racists need to be diluted.
10
It does sort of seem to run contrary to the notion of America once as the Great Melting Pot, where many thing come together to become one. Now it’s the Great Ice Cube Tray, where let’s see how many tiny little separate solids we can form all out of the same layer of ice to float apart by themselves, constantly clinking into one another and rattling each others’ nerves.
4
The "liberals" are standing up for what made America great and strong, starting in the 1600s, the hopes and dreams of hard-working families that contributed to and built our communities.
The Republicans don't understand family values. They are people like Trump: what's in it for me? is all that matters. Loving families don't work that way.
14
I think the correct quote was 'Republican... moderates had shown that "we are a great fArce in the conference"'. These bills are designed to fail. Lest Republicans actually be seen to do something about immigration -- I'm afraid many of their constituents are not interested in practical solutions that involve compromise. In the end all this will do is show the weakness of Republican moderates viewed either from the right and the left, for the few people who somehow haven't noticed. That's only going to make it harder to avoid the extinction of the Republican middle.
4
What most of the public does not know (and this includes most undocumented immigrants) is that the DACA educational requirement is quite low. It is not necessary to have graduated from high school or to have a GED to qualify. In fact, one need never have attended school as long as one is currently enrolled in either an alternative elementary school program for adults or in an English as a Second Language class. (The latter should be capable of helping to prepare a person to either find a job or get into a job training program.)
Most undocumented migrants hail from rural communities where they dropped out of school either in the elementary grades or just after graduating from elementary school. Since they did not realize that the DACA educational requirement was so low, they did not apply for the program.
Social service agencies that have been set up just to help the undocumented fight for “their rights” have written about DACA's low educational requirement. If Congress re-opens DACA, these agencies could start offering alternative elementary school programs for adults or ESL classes. Then they could help anyone who enrolls with the DACA application. This could swell DACA’s ranks with millions of immigrants who dropped out of elementary school, and so are barely literate in their own language, but who are now enrolling in either an alternative elementary school program or in an ESL class. DACA does not require that they complete the classes.
17
What? You mean they're not all rocket surgeons?
Paul Ryan is simply not doing his job. Why do we need him if he is always going to let the Executive Branch tell him what legislation to bring to a vote? That is an abdication of his role as Speaker of the House. He should challenge the president and allow Congress to override the president's wishes when it is deemed appropriate. Surely, we do not want the president to be in charge of all legislation that could be voted on and possibly passed or overridden by both the House and Senate.
18
The majority of Americans want immigration reform and control. The current status quo is not sustainable. How many illegals live in the US – nobody knows the real number but according to Yale researchers, it is probably much higher than the 11M figure often totted, possibly as much as 25M, according to Yale. We cannot keep increasing this count indefinitely, the system will break.
A realistic bill is sorely needed, and one has finally been proposed. Hopefully, it will be enacted for the American people.
27
No it won't be approved by the American people. In case you're not up to speed, more Mexicans have been leaving the US than entering. Seems you've drank the kool aid too. So far the GOP hasn't said how they plan on making up the labor shortage, since no white person will pick apples, oranges, berries, lettuce, mo white person will scrub toilets for 10.00 an hour, no white person will. Even if their kids were going hungry, because they have the I'm white AND entitled,
This isn't going to go well for the GOP in November, just wait and watch.
17
James Young, are you aware of research conducted by the Harvard economist George Borjas? He found that the undocumented lowered the wages paid to our lowest paid workers (including many workers of color) by 8%.
Barbara Jordan, the first southern Black elected to Congress, saw how the undocumented displaced Blacks and other Americans from the workforce. As chair of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, she supported increased enforcement against illegal immigrants and their employers. She also called for an end to unskilled immigration except for refugees (she called for a lower cap on refugees except in times of emergency) and for members of one's nuclear family (which includes one’s spouse and children, not one’s parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins). Jordan saw no reason to admit large numbers of unskilled immigrants who would compete for jobs with our own citizens.
Likewise, Cesar Chaves saw how illegal immigrants were undercutting his unionized workforce. He called for an end to illegal immigration.
Illegal immigrants hurt our own citizens and legal residents of all colors.
4
But the bad actors are the employers here! That is the reality across the board. If they aren't paying the minimum wage then they are subject to Labor laws.
1
The immigration policies supported by President Trump were all embraced and recommended by African-American, Democratic Congresswoman and civil rights icon Barbara Jordan, when she led President Clinton's Bipartisan Commission on Immigration Reform. Except President Trump is even more generous and accommodating than Ms. Jordan, by offering a path to citizenship for up to 1.8 + million illegal aliens who registered for DACA, as well as those who never registered but otherwise would qualify.
Was Ms. Jordan an "immigration hard-liner"? I recall quite well that the NY Times and nearly every media outlet considered the recommendations of Ms. Jordan's Commission quite common-sense. Main-stream. Yes, even chain migration reform was one of her suggestions, over 20 years ago. Unfortunately she tragically died while Congress was drafting the legislation in 1996, and President Clinton then promptly betrayed the promises to her & other Democrats to cut deals with corporatist GOP like Spencer Abraham and with groups like La Raza who demanded zero reforms.
Now that President Trump embraces these identical policies, they suddenly are "hard-line"? Perhaps if the journalists Ms. Stolberg and Mr. Kaplan are going to opine as to who and what policies constitute "hard-line" and "moderate," instead of just describing the facts, this article should be in the "Opinion" section instead of the "News" section?
30
Nice that you made a reference to a NY Times article, saying, yes those hard line policies do make real sense. Except, you forgot to attache the link to said article.
The Republican Party is dead. It is now the Trump Party. When Trump loses power, the Trump Party will splinter between moderates and ultra-conservatives. The Democratic Party will then have no competition.
26
The president isn’t asking for $25 billion for the border wall alone. He is asking for a “$25 billion trust fund for the border wall system, ports of entry/exit, and northern border improvements and enhancements.” He would sign a bill that funds the type of border barrier the Border Patrol thinks would be effective.
3
No I want the Democrats to have an agenda that's just as extreme as these far right wing nuts. I want to hear them squeal like the school girls they truly are. If we can't live in a democracy where the people are represented fairly, and the countries principals aren't sold to corporations, so they can pay less in taxes to the US, while paying more to foreign governments.
Let's not forget that while the GOP was being the party of no, while saying Obama added billions to the nation debt, while forgetting that while that's a true fact, that money was spent to fix what the GOP had destroyed, which was our economy. And they WILL do it again. In fact the CBO said that the deficit, will be 800 million, so much for deficit hawks. So like the democrats, the GOP will lose the midterms and bring some balance back. And the rules that the GOP changed to benefit that party, is a sword that cuts both ways.
6
Any funding for modern visa tracking will come from this bill. We really need a modern visa tracking system, the biometric visa entry/exit roll out needs to be completed and work properly.
2
President Trump claims he keeps his promises - so he shouldn't look to the American people to fund his $25 billion wall when he swore that Mexico would pay for it.
63
The fact that Paul Ryan isn’t in prison is a testament to the level of corruption in our government.
He has worked tirelessly against the American People to enrich himself and his friends.
He knows that once you get into power, people trust you to do the right thing.
He is nothing but a con man.
17
Dear NY writers.
Family-based migration is NOT known as "chain migration". It's known LEGALLY as -family reunification- and it has been for decades.
'Chain migration' is a derogatory term created by the anti-immigrant xenophobic bigots of such organizations as FAIR, CIS and NumbersUSA.
Please stop normalizing that term. Thank you
112
"Chain migration" has been mostly used as a neutral term by demographers and academics since around the 1960's, when the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act was passed. It did not take on any particular positive or negative political meaning until after Trump's election. When African-American, Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Jordan recommended chain migration reform in the 1990's, nobody was up in arms about it or calling civil rights icon Ms. Jordan an "anti-immigrant, xenophobic bigot."
20
In the 21st century, I don't see anyone criticizing my family that arrived from Czechoslovakia a few decades ago after one family member came and sponsored the extended family. Back then, however, they faced many challenges and instances of bias, but worked hard to integrate into American society (which most groups of immigrants do). This government only seems to zero in on certain groups of immigrants when mentioning "chain migration", which to me, is very troubling. In this era, "Europeans" seems to be ok, while other groups are not, as evidenced by the comment just above mine.
8
At the rate we seem to be going , maybe we should ALL "reunify ", ourselves .Let the original NATIVES claim the land that was theirs
in the first place .
In tribute to Howard Zinn , Read "the peoples history of the united states .
Thankyou
Joyce M Laneyrie
$25 BILLION to pay for a wall that Trump made a campaign promise that Mexico would pay for.
Hold the floor Dems. Filibuster. And just say NO.
63
“The Four Pillars of the Apocalypse”. That’s what it should be called. The freedom caucus will do all they can to deport every last illegal immigrant. All 12.5 million. Do not trust these hideous Republicans, if the Democrats vote no on the bill you can be assured it means really bad news for those living here illegally, some for decades.
And they won’t stop trying this year, or next year, or……. Vote this November if you want to stop the insanity.
14
Even Saturday Night Live thought Obama exceeded his authority with his DACA executive order:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUDSeb2zHQ0
11
They have Trump's support until they bomb and then you know he'll blame every one else for their failure.
7
Everyone must return to his/her ancestral home so the real Native Americans can repossess their ancestral lands from North, Central, and South America. This is the prediction in the Holy Bible. As it is written, so let it be!!
17
I like that! We are all immigrants and let us remind Congress.
10
The Republicans deserve the same care and sympathy that they are giving immigrants whom are fleeing domestic and government violence in the upcoming 2018 election.
No one can ever accuse them of being the party of Ronald Reagan anymore. His profound words describing America as a shining beacon of light on a hill has been forever transformed by this new Republican party of Donald J. Trump. Frankly, I think former President Reagan would be ashamed of the new priorities of the GOP under Paul Ryan, who is by far the worst Speaker ever to preside over the House.
16
"Both have President Trump’s blessing.."
Yes indeed and they probably bowed down and kissed his...?
14
Trump's support is as of today. He is pathological liar so you really don't know what he will do if a bill ends up on his desk.
17
Mr. Ryan told reporters that the “last thing I want to do is bring a bill out of here that I know the president won’t support.”
I see the problem. It's the Constitution. Article II trumps Article I.
Congress used to meet, propose legislation, hold hearings, hear experts, make amendments and vote so everyone knew where their member stands on the issues.
Today, Congress only votes if it's real easy and non-controversial. How'd our government ever get so flaccid?
92
Ryan should step down or be booted out of Congress ASAP. Why doesn’t he just ask Trump to tell him what to do?
why doesn’t the conservative gop bill proposal have a wall?
5
This is why it's time to flip the House. All they'll do is Trump's draconian bidding. Bipartisanship died at the hands of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell the day Barack Obama took office, and it won't return until there's a Democratic Congress that will hopefully force Donald Trump to compromise. Meanwhile mothers and being separated from their children at the border and the Dreamers are left to dream on until November. This is cruelty and borders on a "crime against humanity."
40
I want passionately to protect DACA youth. But their legal status CANNOT be tied to a bill that ramps up border security and enforcement. This is no "compromise". The buildup of the incarceration and deportation machinery is a graver threat to immigrants' and human rights than tenuous DACA status at the moment. Tell your representatives to OPPOSE any bill that builds up the fascist deportation machine.
13
Oh just STOP with the 'open borders" & "they sneaked in & broke the law so they should stay nonsense." Guess you think burglars shouldn't go to jail either!
If illegals are being deported who irresponsibly had kids born in the US, they can take them with them.
As for the kids the illegals sneaked in....they need to blame their parents & then do what their parents did. GO to a country where they are starting over without family or contacts (but at least it would be their own country & they would speak the language)
Bank robber's kid doesn't keep the money
There 7,600,000,000 people in the world - less than 1,800,000 live in countries that are acceptable by US standards (Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia etc)
So how many should the US - with its 326,000,000 people -take in from these places with high poverty, crime etc?
How many illiterate & uneducated Central American peasant do you all want?
Honduras - 17% are illiterate. Average years of schooling - 4 3/4
Guatemala - 27% are illiterate. Average years of schooling- 3 1/2
El Salvador - 19% are illiterate. Average years of schooling 5 1/5
we end up supporting them & all the kids they produce (huge numbers!) for decades.
There is NO "human right" for non-citizens to come here to be let alone be supported by US taxpayers.
You go pay for them to live better in their own country all by yourself. I'm NOT footing the bill for scroungers.
13
You might be surprised to know how many American citizens are functionally illiterate! And if you have read our Constitution and the Amendments you would know that any individual born in the USA is an American citizen. And I seriously doubt you are supporting any illegal immigrants. Most do work and pay taxes, including FICA for Social Security, when they will never be able to claim the benefits those taxes would give them.
4
Anaboz, how many illiterate people do we need to have in this country? I think what we have now is sufficient and we do not need to import more. Just because we already have numbers of illiterate people is no justification!
This will be a sham vote. One bill for the conservative Republicans to vote on and one for the right wing Republican nutters to vote on. They can both go home and say they voted on the bill their constituents want all while knowing nothing is going to get done and they will be able to keep milking their political donors on this issue for one more election cycle.
The SWAMP is only getting deeper and deeper.
48
The President’s “four pillars” plan is reasonable.
Dreamers will get not only legalization, but full citizenship. This itself is a major Republican concession. In exchange, the border will be secured with a wall, visa lotteries will end, and multi-generational chain migration will cease.
Who actually opposes this? I mean, other than the Koch Brothers and Business Roundtable Republicans who need low-wage immigrants to keep U.S. wages down.
37
“Who actually opposes this?”
Well, for starters, the many millions of thoughtful voters who think a $25 billion wall is stupid.
94
How are we supposed to afford a $25B wall?!
I thought Mexico would pay for the wall. Put a Dreamer Bill up for a vote and see how fast it passes. You can then bet trump will then sign it and take all the credit for it!
3
Is it that the President has the last say, and our representatives are cowering? Or are they perhaps actually representing what their voters are telling them they want? The NYT has an immigration piece almost every day, and the comments supporting stronger border controls and controlling immigration come fast and furious. I keep reading that the majority of US citizens support DACA, and a January 2018 survey of 2164 people equates to 70%. Two days later, The Hill quotes the exact same CBS poll, but says it’s 87% support, with no explanation for the change. I suspect people are embarrassed to say they don’t support or don’t care about DACA and are lying to the pollsters anyways.
I am watching the votes carefully, and will hold any of my representatives who vote for amnesty for illegal aliens accountable at election time. If illegal immigrants don’t need to obey the law, then the rest of us don’t need to either. I’d happily run the stoplight at my street corner and not pay taxes because laws are meant for other people.
24
No, no, no! It is taxes that are for other people... the little people. Laws still apply to everyone except for the rich.
8
Since your job is in India now why not move there in order to get it back? Because your total misunderstanding of the DACA bill renders you ineligible to live in the USA
9
Trump may be all in this particular moment, but that'll be nothing to count on a week from now.
12
It would be nice to see congress actually do their job and solve an issue. I mean how many years have they kept the immigration debate alive and well in order to continue to play political ping pong?
Such ineffectiveness of what we consider to be an intelligent group is unacceptable.
34
The 'four pillars' mentioned in the article seem ok.
As long as the Dreamer path is truly part of it and chain migration restrictions allows immediate family members to stay together.
1
The Democrats are falling into a trap. They are making it look like they support illegal immigration. Big mistake for a party to support illegal activity. They need to support upholding immigration law, and at the same time support protection for the young people who already registered with DACA. Democrats should make it clear they otherwise support upholding the law on immigration.
72
Unlawful entry is a misdemeanor. Nothing this administration is doing to these people is justified by their petty "crime". The Trumpist rhetoric that human beings lose all rights when they cross the border is false, contrary to the law, and contrary to our international treaties on the treatment of refugees. It is the Trumpists who need to follow the law.
16
Maybe if we had a real path to citizenship that may be true, but the democrats aren't talking about immigration perse' what they are talking about is the inhumane why they are being treated. Whether you believe it or not, more Mexican have been leaving the US than entering it. Immigrants pay huge amounts in taxes, documented or not.
This isn't about immigration, this is about a political policy that is based in hatred, lies, and belief that they are taking jobs from whites, which is patently false. Here's what they pay in New Jersey.
https://www.njpp.org/blog/undocumented-new-jerseyans-pay-587-million-in-...
1
The president isn’t asking for $25 billion for the border wall alone. He is asking for a “$25 billion trust fund for the border wall system, ports of entry/exit, and northern border improvements and enhancements.” He would sign a bill that funds the type of border barrier the Border Patrol thinks would be effective.
Americans are reluctant to support another amnesty for unauthorized immigrants because they know open border advocates will work to thwart efforts to curtail future illegal immigration. In 1986, we granted amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants based on promises that the federal government would stop future illegal immigration. But a tsunami of illegal immigrants quickly pushed the number of people in the country illegally to more than 11 million. Therefore, there is nothing wrong or immoral about insisting on a compromise immigration bill that is good for America as well as Dreamers. We should offer DACA enrollees citizenship as part of a legislative package that improves legal immigration and discourages future illegal immigration. In addition to the measures requested by the president, the package should make E-Verity mandatory nationwide, empower state and local police to help the Border Patrol apprehend unauthorized immigrants and deny asylum to migrants who enter the United States illegally.
30
So why does a wall need to be in any bill ? The prez made a couple of campaign promises. One was to have Mexico pay for the wall the other was to help DACA kids become citizens . So much is made of his keeping promises he made on the campaign trail, why do you not hold his feet to the fire on these ?
What did "they" ever do to you? Clean your house? your car? your pool? Mow your lawn? Tend your garden? Cook your meal at a restaurant? Wash the dishes afterward? Pick your fruit? your vegetables? Look after your kids?
The Times, bless its soul, uplifts comments like this to foster multiple sides of debate. Unfortunately, sometimes reality isn't halfway between two opposites. The US has a moribund legal immigration system and huge southern borders. If the US economy needs immigrants workers, they'll come. Not a tsunami, it's tidal, driven by gravity. A sensible solution doesn't round up people here 10 years, or force police to work for border patrol. Those are extreme positions, and pull debate off a sensible path.
The compromise immigration bill is a poisoned, cruel bill. No wonder Paul Ryan is sure that Trump will approve since Ryan brings to a vote only legislation that Trump will approve. The compromise bill requires a choice to be made between allowing DACA young people to stay in the United States only if their parents are not allowed to come. It looks to me like that idea is still separating families. The choice is to continue separating little kids from their parents at the border post, or to separate college kids and young working adults from their parents and additionally give Trump money for his Wall. The compromise bill is poison and it is cruel. It needs to be fixed.
23
Sorry, but adults who came or stayed here illegally can never ever be allowed to stay. If the so-called dreamers don’t want to be separated they can go home with their parents.
3
Why should adults who knowingly violated the law be given amnesty? Are we as a nation not allowed to moderate the flow of foreign nationals across our borders at all?
4
this is their home
This is an example of the shenanigans that cause Congress to have a 17% approval rating. Not only do we need to elect different people, but we need to change the rules. Both sides are guilty of using partisan advantage when they have it. Yet nothing gets accomplished except the extreme desires of the party in charge.
I want the next Congress to change the rules of the discharge petition to restore it to its pre-1935 rules: a 33% minority can force a floor vote on a measure. Let's have clean votes on immigration, health care, taxes, etc. The majority can vote them all down if they wish. But then they are on record has having voted, and they have to answer to their constituents come election time. That's how democracy is supposed to work.
39
Yes of course, snowflakes want to change the rules when they don't like what reality of politics shows them.
Guess what, a minority should never be able to force a vote on an incomplete proposal.
2
Any bill that would end the agony and perennial apprehension of some 11 million undocumented immigrants is great news. Hope it will pass and the president would sign it.
4
The devil is in the details. If we must accept $25 billion to fund a border wall, I, for one, would not be happy.
Bruce,
Neither would I. But that’s how difficult issues are solved.
They are illegal aliens with no right to be here
1