Tea Party divided over immigration

Tea Party activists who are debating whether to embrace “family values” issues in a year when the economy could make or break the Democrats and sweep their candidates to power are also divided over another hot-button issue — immigration. One leading Tea Party group has decided to work closely with Roy Beck’s Numbers USA, a well-known “restrictionist” lobby that wants to see immigration, both legal and illegal, reduced.  Together these groups are opposing passage of the DREAM Act, the stand-alone legislation that immigration reform advocates have rallied around as the prospects for passing a broader immigration bill have faded. However, two other key Tea Party groups, including FreedomWorks, whose co-founder, former House majority leader Dick Armey, supports expanded immigration, say they’ll stay out of the fight over the DREAM Act. Ideologically, support for immigration is thoroughly consistent with the Tea Party’s enthusiastic endorsement of the unfettered free market.  In fact, for years, libertarian, pro-free enterprise groups like the CATO Institute have joined business groups and immigration advocates in calling for less government regulation of immigration — a position that critics call an “open borders” policy. But many Tea Party activists believe that restoring the “rule of law” — and regaining control of the country’s borders — is also fundamental to the American ideal of freedom.  They don’t necessarily oppose rising immigration, especially legal immigration, but they are hostile to “amnesties” for illegal aliensthat appear to reward “lawbreakers.”...

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/09/23/tea-party-divided-over-immigration/#ixzz10hzqaRDB

Joe Arpaio: Sheriff's star rises with 'tea party,' illegal immigration fight

At a "tea party" rally near the US-Mexican border this summer to showcase Arizona's tough immigration law and its advocates, Sheriff Joe Arpaio was introduced as someone who "will not back down, no matter which way they write it, no matter which way they say it." He got a rock star welcome. Both revered and reviled for his dogged pursuit of illegal immigrants in the Phoenix area, the veteran lawman from Maricopa County has long been a lightning rod in the American immigration debate. But since the passage of SB 1070, the controversial Arizona immigration law that is now in legal limbo, Sheriff Arpaio and his efforts have been infused with a new resonance nationwide. He has emerged as a key figure in the debate over whether states have the right to enforce federal immigration laws. To admirers, Arpaio is a Goliath in the fight against illegal immigration...more

'Tea party' groups plan Arizona rally against illegal immigration

"Tea party" groups are planning a large rally on Sunday in Arizona, near the Mexican border, to support both the state's hard-line stance on illegal immigration and the political campaign of the local talk show host who is challenging Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Candidate J.D. Hayworth, a former congressman turned conservative radio commentator, is one of dozens of scheduled speakers for the morning rally on a remote ranch about 100 miles south of Tucson. Others include Sharron Angle, the Republican challenging Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D) in Nevada, and Sue Krentz, the wife of a rancher killed near the rally site. Although tea party groups have long argued for harsher penalties against illegal border crossers, this will be the first large-scale rally on the U.S.-Mexican border, Selaty said. Some participants say it could be as large as the one held in March in Reid's home town of Searchlight, Nev., when thousands joined former Alaska governor Sarah Palin to oppose Reid and protest the health-care overhaul...more

Arizona Has A Case For Billions In Damages From Uncle Sam

In federal lawsuits, defendants may answer litigation filed against them with a counterclaim against the plaintiff for damages or other relief. The Constitution of the United States mandates at Article 4: "The United States shall guarantee to every state in this Union a republican form of government ... that the United States shall protect each of them (the states) against invasion and ... against domestic violence." (Emphasis added) "Republican form of government" is defined as a republic that is a system of government in which the people hold sovereign power and elect representatives to exercise that power. To "guarantee" means to warrant or undertake that something has happened or will happen. The term "invasion" is (regarding a country or territory ) a hostile incursion. The term "shall" used in the third person singular denotes an imperative, without discretion or choice. Thus, the phrase "shall guarantee" leaves no wiggle room. Remedies for breach of guarantee are damages (expenses incurred in repairing guaranteed product) or rescission (return of product for refund of purchase price — i.e., "money back" guarantee). Recently, the federal government — the present regime in particular — has not only violated the guarantee of republican form of government and the pledge to protect Arizona from invasion and domestic violence, but has actively worked to achieve the exact opposite result...more

NM Gov. Bill Richardson: Arizona immigration law may cause 'constitutional crisis'

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) slammed Arizona's new immigration law on Sunday, saying the legislation could tip the country into "constitutional crisis." "There are at least 10 other states with bills that are out there," Richardson said on CBS's Face the Nation. "What you're going to see is potentially a constitutional crisis with so many states taking what should be a federal responsibility." The law, scheduled to take effect on July 20, mandates that immigrants carry documentation of their status. It also requires police to question people about their immigration status if they have "reasonable suspicion." Richardson appeared on the show to debate the bill with J.D. Hayworth, a former Republican Rep. from Arizona and current Senate candidate who is trying to unseat John McCain in the GOP primary. "It is going to lead to racial profiling. Anybody that looks Hispanic is going to be racially profiled," Richardson said...more

Obamnesty First, Security Second?

The president tells a border state U.S. senator that if we beef up border protection Democrats will lose the bargaining chip for comprehensive immigration reform. Forget national sovereignty — sue Arizona! As the Obama administration prepares to sue the state of Arizona to block its copycat enforcement of federal immigration law, Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl reveals that in a private meeting President Obama put his party's agenda above the nation's sovereignty. Last Friday, Kyl told the audience at a North Tempe Tea Party town hall meeting: "I met with the president in the Oval Office (regarding securing the southern border with Mexico)," Kyl said, "just the two of us . .. here's what the president said. 'The problem is,' he said, 'If we secure the border, then you all won't have any reason to support comprehensive immigration reform.'" If we secure the border? The nation's security is a bargaining chip for politically motivated legislation with political consequences?...more

Democrats resist plan for border security bill

Despite mounting pressures for more border security in the wake of Arizona's illegal-immigration crackdown, lawmakers have no intention of tackling the problem at the federal level with legislation focused solely on border security. Instead, the Democratic majority in the House and Senate plan to attempt a comprehensive immigration reform bill that would create a pathway to citizenship for the millions who are here illegally. The sheer size and scope of such a measure virtually guarantees it cannot be passed this year, especially with the midterm elections approaching. This leaves Arizona and the other southwestern border states on their own in dealing with the escalating problem. Democrats know if they meet Republican demands for a narrow bill focused on border security, the chances of ever passing a citizenship program for illegals on its own will be greatly reduced...more

Mexico weighs options as lawlessness continues to grip Ciudad Juarez

Senior Mexican officials have begun a sweeping review of the military's two-year occupation of this dangerous border city, concluding that the U.S.-backed deployment of thousands of soldiers against drug traffickers has failed to control the violence and crime, according to officials in both countries. The multi-agency review, which has not been made public, represents a "serious reassessment" of President Felipe Calderón's anti-narcotics strategy and reflects growing alarm that Juarez, across from El Paso, has descended into lawlessness, U.S. officials familiar with the process said. The war on Mexico's powerful drug cartels has been the defining policy of Calderón's administration, involving unprecedented cooperation with American political and law enforcement authorities. Failure in a high-profile battleground such as Ciudad Juarez would represent a major defeat for Calderón and for U.S. officials determined to curb the multibillion dollar flow of drugs across the border. But criminal outfits fighting over Juarez have overwhelmed even military authorities in this crucial port of entry into the world's largest market for illegal narcotics. With more than 2,500 homicides, Juarez accounts for more than one-third of the 6,000 drug-related murders in Mexico this year; since April, when a surge of federal troops brought a brief lull in the death toll, the city has resumed a pace of eight to 10 murders a day. The violence has also spilled over into the suburban neighborhoods of El Paso. In a macabre daily ritual, assassins now appear to time their killings so that they get play on the afternoon and evening television news shows, according to Jaime Torres, a spokesman on public security for the Juarez government and former news director. The city estimates that the violence has created 7,000 orphans and displaced 100,000 people, many of whom have fled across the Rio Grande to Texas. Most of the members of the business and political elite of Juarez, including the mayor, now either sleep or maintain a second home in El Paso. The chief human rights advocate also retreated across the river. ..read more

Immigration overhaul bill unveiled in House

Raising the curtain on a new round of debate over immigration reform, a group of Democratic congressional lawmakers introduced a comprehensive bill Tuesday that, among other provisions, would offer a path to legalization for the country's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. The bill, championed by Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.), was decidedly more pro-immigrant than the bipartisan legislation House lawmakers debated two years ago. And the latest version drew immediate fire from the left as well as the right. Groups opposed to legalization derided it as a form of amnesty, and more-liberal factions complained that it relied too heavily on enforcement. The bill also calls for beefing up border security and overhauling the federal detention system for jailed immigrants to provide for better medical treatment and other services. A spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said that although Pelosi supported the bill, she wanted the Senate to act first on the issue. President Obama has said that he anticipated taking up the immigration issue after the healthcare debate is over and Congress finishes work on energy reforms and regulating financial markets -- potentially pushing the debate close to the midterm election in November...read more