Yet Another Deceptive Amnesty Ad

Conservative Group Makes Misleading Claims about S.744

The Center for Immigration Studies finds that a new advertisement created by the American Action Network, a group advocating amnesty and higher levels of immigration, mischaracterizes the Senate’s immigration bill (S.744) as the “toughest border security plan ever passed by Congress.” In fact, all provisions are “goals” rather than requirements and would thus not have to be met before illegal immigrants acquire legal status, green cards, and eventual U.S. citizenship.

Jon Feere, the Center’s Legal Analyst and author of the article, said: “The Senate’s immigration bill was written to benefit illegal immigrants and special interest groups, and is not a serious effort to stop illegal immigration. It is not surprising that the Congressional Budget Office found that anywhere from half to 2/3 of illegal immigration would continue if the bill became law.”

View the complete article at: https://www.cis.org/feere/new-ad-pushes-amnesty-promises-enforcement

Described in the ad as the “border surge”, the Corker-Hoeven amendment does nothing to change the flawed architecture of the immigration bill: All illegal immigrants become eligible for legal status six months after the bill is signed, well before any enforcement provisions are to take effect.

If fully enacted, the provision would roughly double the size of the Border Patrol by adding 20,000 agents and would finish the 700 miles of fencing requested by Congress in 2006. But failure to achieve these goals would not affect the path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. The provision also grants wide discretion to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, who told Congress in 2011 that she believes DHS already has “effective control over the great majority” of the northern and southern borders of the United States. Furthermore, nothing prevents the provisions from being amended, narrowed administratively, or outright eliminated through a court ruling.

“Only until the enforcement provisions are fully up and running should discussion of legalization begin,” said Feere. “Otherwise, we risk making the same mistake of the 1986 amnesty: mass legalization coupled with promised enforcement that never materializes.”

The above is a press release from from Center for Immigration Studies. 1522 K St. NW, Suite 820,  Washington, DC 20005, (202) 466-8185 fax: (202) 466-8076.  Email: center@cis.org. Contact: Marguerite Telford, 202-466-8185, mrt@cis.org.  The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent research institution which examines the impact of immigration on the United States.  The Center for Immigration Studies is not affiliated with any other organization





Migrant backlog in Britain soars to 500,000... and it will take 37 years to clear, say MPs

It will take nearly four decades to clear up the mess left by Labour’s ‘open-door’ immigration policy, a devastating report reveals today.

The true scale of the backlog in the immigration system is exposed by MPs who conclude it now tops more than 500,000 cases.

The total is the equivalent of a city the size of Manchester. And at current rates of progress it will take 37 years to deal with, the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee said.

A paper, published by the Office for National Statistics, has acknowledged for the first time that the majority of the people who slipped through the net were Eastern European migrants

Since its last report only three months ago its estimate of the backlog has increased by 190,000 after officials revealed a previously undocumented number of cases.

Astonishingly, officials could not be sure that more backlogs would not be uncovered.

The report prompted calls for an end to spending cuts to the immigration system to ensure further backlogs do not develop.

The committee’s chairman, Labour MP Keith Vaz, said that despite the abolition of the UK Border Agency and immigration moving back under the remit of the Home Office, nothing appeared to have changed ‘apart from the name’.

He called for the replacement of senior staff and for a moratorium on bonuses for top Home Office officials until the backlogs were cleared.

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the MigrationWatch think-tank, warned of the dangers of cuts in the number of border and immigration staff. The total is expected to fall by more than one fifth by 2015, equivalent to around 5,200 individuals.

Sir Andrew said: ‘Given that the previous government admitted four million immigrants and left the immigration system in chaos, it is no surprise that it is not yet fixed.

‘Nor will it be fixed until the Government takes an entirely different view of the importance of border controls. Given the billions that we throw at Afghanistan and more billions at the aid budget, the amount spent on the border is trivial. This cannot continue.’

Immigration Minister Mark Harper said the decision to kill off the ‘troubled’ UK Border Agency and take immigration back inside the Home Office would pay dividends.

‘The new UK Visa and Immigration Service has a clear focus to improve visa performance and customer service, while the Immigration Enforcement command concentrates on those who break our immigration laws,’ he said. ‘Both now report directly to ministers, delivering greater transparency and accountability.’

The committee concluded that the backlog of cases stands at 502,467. That includes 33,500 ‘legacy’ asylum cases and 7,000 ‘legacy’ immigration cases, the remnants of the backlog of 450,000 cases discovered in 2006.

Another 190,615 cases are contained in the so-called Migration Refusal Pool. It holds previously legal migrants whose visas have expired but where there is no record of them leaving the country.
In addition, officials are considering more than 16,000 applications to stay in Britain as a result of marriage or civil partnership.

Among the backlogs uncovered are rising numbers of foreign criminals who have been released on to the streets as they await deportation. That figure was up 122 in three months, and now tops 4,000.

The new 190,000 cases are classed as ‘temporary and permanent migration’ and are applications for visa extensions and leave to remain from those who are already in Britain.

There are also some 61,000 cases waiting to be loaded on to an internal computer system, the Case Information Database.

SOURCE