WASHINGTON (AP) — Stymied on comprehensive immigration overhaul, House Republicans are pushing a plan to give young immigrants brought to the country illegally by their parents a path to resident status if they join the U.S. military.

Rep. Jeff Denham said Friday he would press for a vote on his legislation, known as the ENLIST Act, either as a free-standing bill or as an addition to the defense authorization measure that the House will consider in May. The Californian from a competitive, increasingly Hispanic district is one of a handful of GOP proponents of reform whose hopes for a vote have been quashed this election year.

“This is a way to improve our national security,” Denham told reporters in arguing for his legislation.

Denham immediately faced a concerted effort from conservative opponents to scuttle his move. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., circulated a letter among his colleagues opposing any attempt to add immigration legislation to the defense bill. His intent was to collect as many signatures as possible and deliver the letter to House leadership.

Brooks, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, vowed to challenge any move on immigration, either when the committee writes its bill on May 7 or on the House floor.

“If another member tries to give illegal aliens preferential treatment and put them on equal footing with American citizens for jobs in the military, I will fight it and all hell will break loose,” Brooks said in an interview.

In a blow to Denham, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee — and fellow Californian — said in a statement that he would not include the immigration legislation in his initial version of the defense bill. Republican Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, who is a co-sponsor of Denham’s legislation, said the defense bill should not be the original venue for an immigration debate.

McKeon, who has announced plans to retire at the end of his term, would prefer to avoid any controversial issue that could undermine speedy passage of his last defense bill, according to congressional aides. The measure that sets policy for the Pentagon and military traditionally enjoys strong bipartisan support and has cleared Congress every year for the last half century, a rare occurrence in the deeply divided legislature.

Denham is not a member of Armed Services, but his is working with Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., who is, and several other Republicans on the issue. Coffman could try to force a committee vote to add the immigration legislation.

The latest maneuvering comes as the comprehensive, Senate-passed bill that provides a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally and tightens border security remains stalled in the House.

Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and other GOP leaders unveiled a set of immigration principles in January, but rank-and-file members balked at moving ahead on any legislation in an election year. Boehner attributed the GOP roadblock to a collective distrust of President Barack Obama to enforce any new laws.

House Republicans want to avoid a divisive immigration fight that could anger their core voters, especially with an improving outlook for the November midterms. The GOP hopes to increase its majority in the House and possibly win control of the Senate.

Denham’s bill, which has the support of 42 Republicans and Democrats, would allow immigrants who were brought to this country on or before Dec. 31, 2011, and were younger than 15 years old to become legal, permanent residents through honorable service in the military.

Denham argued that opponents who have never served in the armed forces lack an understanding of the contributions of immigrants to the military.

“I know there are a lot of members that have never worn the cloth of our nation like I have, but you’re seeing more and more men and women that are on this floor who have served their country that understand that we have immigrants that have served in our military side by side with us,” said Denham, who served in the Air Force.

Brooks dismissed that assessment.

“That’s bunk. Next question,” he told reporters.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., an outspoken immigration overhaul supporter, said he was backing Denham’s effort even if it would amount to an incomplete victory. He also disputed the idea that the quick action by conservatives in the caucus to shut Denham down showed that no action on immigration is possible.

“I believe there’s still a great deal of support,” Gutierrez said. “I say let’s have a victory.”

Gutierrez contended that without action by the House, Obama will act on his own authority by summer to protect more groups of immigrants from deportation.

Last month, Obama asked Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to review enforcement practices to ease his administration’s rate of deportations. Under Obama’s leadership, almost 2 million people have been removed from the U.S.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has circulated a draft memorandum of possible recommendations to Johnson, including a proposal similar to Denham’s legislation and an expansion of the step Obama took in June 2012 allowing young people who immigrated illegally into the United States — so-called DREAMers — to remain in the country under certain conditions. They take their name from the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors, or DREAM, Act, which is stymied in Congress and would provide a way for them to permanently remain in the U.S.

The caucus said that expansion should apply to the parents of the young people.

___

Associated Press writer Erica Werner contributed to this report.

• Politics & Government
• Immigration Issues
• Jeff Denham
• Barack Obama
• GOP
• House Armed Services Committee

PHOENIX (AP) — Less than a week after President Barack Obama discussed immigration reform in a meeting with Pope Francis, a delegation of Roman Catholic leaders is visiting the U.S.-Mexico border Tuesday to raise awareness about the plight of immigrants and to pray for policy changes.

Cardinal Sean O’Malley, one of Francis’ key advisers and the leader of the Boston Archdiocese, will be joined by members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for an early morning walk in the desert along the border, followed by a Mass at the fence separating the two countries in southern Arizona.

“The purpose of this journey here to Arizona is to raise a consciousness about the need for our president and Congress to pass immigration policy and reform to address a broken system,” said Bishop Gerald Kicanas of the Tucson Diocese. “We’re also here to pray for those who have lost their lives along the border.”

Dozens of immigrants die each year in the brutal desert terrain while trying to cross illegally into the United States along the roughly 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer)-long border with Mexico. The Catholic leaders note that immigrants are simply trying to find better lives and jobs in America and that thousands of them have died crossing the Southwest desert in recent decades.

“What we fail to remember in this debate is the human aspect of immigration — that immigration is primarily about human beings, not economic or social issues,” said Bishop Eusebio Elizondo, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Seattle and chairman of the conference’s Committee on Migration. “Those who have died, and those deported each day, have the same value and innate God-given dignity as all persons, yet we ignore their suffering and their deaths.”

The push for immigration reform in Congress has been stalled for months, with Democrats and Republicans unable to reach an agreement over the divisive issue.

House Democrats last week tried to force a vote on a comprehensive immigration bill, an effort that is likely to fail given Republican reluctance to address the topic in an election year while all signs point to major gains for Republicans in the November contest.

The Senate passed a comprehensive bill with bipartisan support last June, but the measure stalled in the Republican-controlled House where Republicans have argued for a piecemeal approach to reforming the system.

During his first meeting with Pope Francis last week at the Vatican, Obama expressed his interest in getting immigration reform through Congress, explaining during a news conference that “there was still an opportunity for us to make this right and get a law passed.”

“And as someone who came from Latin America, I think he (Pope Francis) is very mindful of the plight of so many immigrants who are wonderful people, working hard, making contributions, many of their children are U.S. citizens, and yet they still live in the shadows, in many cases have been deported and are separated from families,” Obama said.

The group of Catholic leaders spent Monday touring the border region in Mexico and Arizona and meeting with U.S. Border Patrol officials to learn more about the dangers and challenges agents face daily while patrolling a region besieged by drug smugglers and human traffickers.

“The primary purpose of our visit is to learn and understand, to experience firsthand the plight of migrants and the complexity of border issues in order to continue to prod our president and Congress to take steps to fix this problem,” said Kicanas, the Tucson bishop. “There is drug trafficking, there is human trafficking and people are being exploited.”

• Politics & Government
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• immigration reform
• Barack Obama
• Pope Francis

In June 2013, a bipartisan group of senators (including presidential hopeful Marco Rubio) passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill that President Obama promised to sign. Since then, Republicans have worked hard to distance themselves from that bill — Rubio stopped talking about it altogether, and Speaker of the House John Boehner says he won’t bring it to the House floor. Now many Latinos are so disillusioned that they don’t want to vote at all, making Boehner and the gang’s gamble all too worth it. 

The New York Times noted Sunday that “immigrant-rights advocates report mounting disillusionment with both parties among Latinos, enough to threaten recent gains in voting participation that have reshaped politics to Democrats’ advantage nationally.” Since President Obama and the Democrats haven’t been able to overcome House Republican opposition to immigration reform, many Latinos are planning not to vote at all in the coming midterm elections, the Times reports. While most blame the GOP for blocking reform, they don’t see good reasons to vote for Democrats, either. 

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Lisa Duran, the executive director of immigrant-rights group Rights for All People, tells the Times,

There’s a sense from some people that there’s nowhere to turn, and I’m afraid they’re just going to be frozen in frustration. It’s absolutely imperative that we not let that happen.

MSNBC reporter Adam Serwer responded to the Times piece by tweeting, “This is why Republicans blocking immigration reform wasn’t politically dumb after all.” Washington Post columnist Greg Sargent disagrees — he still thinks the GOP will be more damaged by the immigration reform failure. Leticia Zavala, a constituent in Colorado (where Latinos made up 14 percent of the voting population in 2012), puts it this way:

Many people are angry and upset because Obama promised so much and it’s been how many years? But the Republicans aren’t doing anything. We have something; there’s a bill. And for us to sit here in March 2014 with nothing — people are just really upset.

The evidence that Latinos won’t turn out for 2014 remains anecdotal — Sargent argues that Latino voters will make a difference in states like New Mexico, Florida, Colorado, and Texas. Turnout projections released earlier this month based on U.S. Census data reflect that claim. Of course, if the Obama administration continues to deport illegal immigrants at the same rate (almost 2 million so far), he could turn off even more voters. 

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So Latino turnout in 2014 is pretty much up to the president at this point. One national Hispanic leader referred to him as the “deporter-in-chief” earlier this year, but Obama says he doesn’t have the power to stop deportations of illegal adults under existing laws. Bottom line: voters want to see some kind of action between now and November. Talk show host Fernando Sergio says, “People feel like he’s made some promises that he hasn’t fulfilled, that he can do more.” 

This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/03/maybe-bailing-on-immigration-reform-actually-worked-out-well-for-republicans/359893/

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• immigration reform

For the last half decade, the simple formulation of immigration advocates pushing for reform had been simple: Democrats Good. Republicans Bad.

But as efforts of reform continue to stall, advocates are turning up the heat, and hoping that Democrats on Capitol Hill and in the White House feel the burn as well.

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“Yes, Republicans have a tarnished brand that could haunt them for a generation, but Democrats have to fight the perception that they are all promise and no deliverance,” said Frank Sharry, the executive director of America’s Voice, a pro-reform group and someone who has met with the president and senior White House officials to discuss a path forward.

Focus groups with Latino voters, he said, range “between deeply disappointed and extremely upset. ‘He promised. He promised. He promised.’ That’s what you hear. He promised immigration reform would be a priority. He promised he understood the pain of families broken apart by deportations.”

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The stakes were raised on Wednesday when Democrats tried to bring a discharge petition to the House floor, a little-used maneuver that would circumvent the House Republican leaders who have hamstrung reform measures by getting a majority of members to sign on. But even though the Democratic caucus supports the maneuver, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi still has yet to find a Republican to sign on, even though many House Republicans in principle support reform.

But no matter. Advocates point to a 2008 campaign promise to get immigration reform done in Obama’s first year in office, and his comments in the 2012 race in which he said he was “confident” that a bill would be finalized in 2013. Instead, however, there has been a record number of deportations—nearly as many as every other president combined, advocates say—and until recently has resisted using executive authority without congressional approval. Earlier this month, President Obama ordered the Department of Homeland Security to conduct a review of the nation’s deportation policy.

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Advocates, though, don’t just want more from the White House—they want Democrats to figure out a way around the Republican logjam, especially after Latino and Asian voters help rescue the Democrats in the 2012 election season.

Now that a discharge petition is before the Congress, Susan Chinn, the campaign director for the pro-reform Campaign for Citizenship said that there is “No more hiding behind Boehner’s partisan skirt.”

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“With a discharge petition, the blame is no longer just on the House Republican leadership,” Chinn added. “The blame and responsibility to end this crisis that is ripping apart 1,100 families each day falls on individual House members who can sign the petition and move legislation to the floor. We know the votes exist in the House to pass immigration reform. We expect everyone who’s been saying they support a path to citizenship to step up and sign the petition.”

Asked if this included Democrats and President Obama, Dawn Le, a deputy campaign director at the organization, said that it did.

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“No one is getting a pass. There has been a growing clamor for the president himself to act. He has the power to do something and he hasn’t. He can stop the deportations and protect those who would be protected under current legislation.”

And if two more years pass without reform, Democrats may not be able to count a surge of Latino and Asian support again.

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“We are going to support those that support our communities and damn those that do not.”

The White House has continued to say that reform must come from Capitol Hill.

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“The only permanent solution to fixing the broken immigration system is through meaningful comprehensive legislation,” said White House spokesman Bobby Whithorne. “Unfortunately, the only thing standing in the way is the unwillingness of House Republicans to take action. Immigration reform has broad, bipartisan support from both Democrats and Republicans, business and labor, as well as faith and law enforcement leaders. We will continue to keep the pressure on Congressional Republicans to take action as soon as possible.”

Pressure, however, is continuing to build. In a half-dozen cities around the country today, advocates affiliated with the group Presente.org held rallies calling on President Obama to stop all deportations. The group is promising a series of hunger strikes in front of the White House next month, and has launched a new campaign, “The Obama Administration Legacy” to tell voters that Obama risks leaving office with a gaping hole in his record.

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“We are here today with the hope that we can change the trajectory right now, because in all seriousness President Obama and the Democratic Party have a Latino problem,” said Monica Novoa, an organizer with the effort at a small rally in downtown Manhattan. “This issue affects our people tremendously.”

Gary Segura, the co-founder of the polling firm Latino Decisions, said that it was unlikely Latinos would abandon the Democratic Party. Rather, he said, advocacy groups are trying to find their footing after getting stymied for five years in their efforts. The president’s recent review of deportations, is, he says, a direct result of a decision to employ more hardball tactics.

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“I think what we have seen is that lesson of this administration is that working with the president gets you nothing. Confronting the president gets you what you want.”

It is a lesson that Presente seems to have internalized. Not only are they calling on an end to all deportations—a policy not in the realm of legal possibility—but they say that the president should meet with families that have been broken up by his policies.

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“Obama’s contribution to the Democratic Party for Latinos is going to be a big question mark,” said Roberto Lovato, the co-founder of the group. “Latinos aren’t going to vote for Republicans. They are already dead on arrival. But will Democrats in the future be able to mobilize the Latino vote when they have Obama’s legacy weighing them down?”

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• Government
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• immigration reform

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats deployed a little-used legislative move Wednesday to force a vote on a comprehensive immigration bill, an effort doomed to fail but designed to increase the election-year pressure on Republicans to act.

“It is time for us to have a vote,” said Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., who joined with dozens of Democrats, advocates and actress America Ferrera to mark 273 days since the Senate passed a bipartisan bill. They insisted that House Republican leaders act.

Standing on the east steps of the Capitol in a light snow and biting wind, proponents argued that they had the necessary votes in the House for a bill that would provide a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally and tighten border security.

“We’re tired of the House of Representatives leaders and their refusal to act,” Ferrera said.

Democrats introduced a discharge petition that requires the signature of 218 for legislative action, an effort that stands little chance of success as Republicans, even those supportive of immigration legislation, are unwilling to defy their leadership. Democrats hold 199 seats in the House and would need dozens of GOP supporters.

The GOP is reluctant to vote on the divisive issue in an election year, especially with all signs pointing to major gains for Republicans in the November midterms.

After months of conciliatory talk, President Barack Obama issued a statement praising the Democratic effort and chastising the Republicans.

“Immigration reform is the right thing to do for our economy, our security and our future,” Obama said. “A vast majority of the American people agree. The only thing standing in the way is the unwillingness of Republicans in Congress to catch up with the rest of the country.”

The Senate passed a comprehensive bill last June, but the measure has stalled in the GOP-controlled House where Republicans have argued for a piecemeal approach to reforming the system. That effort has gone nowhere as bills approved by the Judiciary Committee last summer have languished.

Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and other GOP leaders unveiled a set of immigration principles in January, but rank-and-file members balked at moving ahead on any legislation. Boehner attributed the GOP roadblock to a collective distrust of Obama to enforce any new laws.

Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner, dismissed the Democratic procedural move, pointing to Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi’s admission earlier this month that they wouldn’t get the necessary 218 votes.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who helped craft the Senate bill, said he understands that “people are under political constraints, but those who believe in immigration reform but refuse to sign the petition have an obligation to propose a viable alternative that gets an immigration bill signed into law.”

The reluctance among House Republicans comes despite business groups, unions, religious leaders and other activists banding together to push for immigration legislation. National Republicans also have argued that failure to act this year could cost the GOP politically in presidential elections.

Opposition remains strong among some in the GOP who see the legislation as amnesty and detrimental to U.S. workers.

“Incredibly, House Democrats have unified behind an immigration bill that would double the inflow of new guest workers competing against jobless Americans in every single U.S. occupation – from engineering to teaching to manufacturing,” said Stephen Miller, a spokesman for Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the top Republican on the Budget Committee.

• Politics & Government
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NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwired – March 26, 2014) – U.S. Immigration Fund, a national leader in EB-5 financing, appointed Ambassador Charles Gargano as Executive Director of the organization March 1, 2014. In this role, Gargano will oversee the future development and success of the U.S. Immigration Fund portfolio of USCIS-approved Regional Centers.

Charles Gargano has spent more than 20 years in public service at the State and Federal level, serving Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, and New York Governor George Pataki. His governmental roles have included:

• Deputy Administrator of the Federal Urban Mass Transportation Administration in 1981;
• Ambassador to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago from 1988 to 1991;
• Chairman and CEO of the Empire State Development Corporation and Vice Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey from 1995 to 2007. 

Prior to entering public service, Mr. Gargano, a Professional Engineer, was a partner in Posillico Construction and Engineering Corporation for 21 years.

As Executive Director of U.S. Immigration Fund, Gargano will be responsible for business development and relationship management, project negotiation and operational oversight.

“I am confident that Charles Gargano will be an undeniable asset to our company,” explains Nick Mastroianni, President of U.S. Immigration Fund. “His successful career in both the public and private sectors is indicative of his drive to form reliable, long-lasting partnerships and dedication to improving not only New York City, but the U.S. as a whole, through well-planned growth and development.”

Mastroianni continues, “We look forward to a long and prosperous future with Mr. Gargano.”

Mr. Gargano will primarily represent U.S. Immigration Fund’s New York Regional Center, a Manhattan-based operation that will facilitate over $1 billion in EB-5 financing through 2014.

About U.S. Immigration Fund
U.S. Immigration Fund provides worthwhile opportunities for foreign investors and their families to obtain permanent U.S. residency through the EB-5 Visa Program. U.S. Immigration Fund has partnered with investors and leading developers to facilitate more than $3.5 billion in real estate development and more than $900 million in EB-5 financing, which will create more than 27,000 U.S. jobs.

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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) – Seven immigration activists were arrested in Alabama on Monday after blocking the entrance to a facility where the federal government houses immigrants it plans to deport.

The activists chained themselves to the front doors of the Etowah County Detention Center in Gadsden, Alabama, to protest immigrant deportations, according to an immigrants rights group, the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice.

Dozens of other protesters gathered at the detention center.

The seven were arrested for failing to obey the local sheriff’s department orders to leave, said Etowah Country Sheriff Todd Entrekin in a statement.

Immigration rights advocates in Alabama have increasingly complained about the center, a federal facility where people held on immigration charges await deportation.

“I personally know the feeling of being separated from family by deportation because my father was deported,” said David Comparan, one of the activists who was arrested.

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman said many of the detainees at Etowah are brought from out of state and their arrests are not tied to Alabama’s immigration law, which is widely considered the most stringent in the country.

(Reporting by Verna Gates; Editing by Kevin Gray and Gunna Dickson)

• Politics & Government
• Immigration Issues
• BIRMINGHAM, Alabama