Following last week’s GOP presidential debate, the phrase “red card” has been thrown around quite a bit. No, we’re not talking about soccer penalties or black Friday shopping at Target. We’re talking about the Krieble Foundation’s “Red Card Solution” for U.S. immigration and border security. Since the concept was raised in last week’s debate, critics have dismissed the proposal, claiming it is nothing more than a back-door amnesty and would serve only to make the problem of illegal immigration worse. Hellen E. Krieble, founder and president of the Krieble Foundation, …
Congress is at it again. Earlier this month, Representatives Bennie Thompson (D–MS), Edward Markey (D–MA), and Sheila Jackson Lee (D–TX), sent a letter to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) demanding to know how the agency planned to meet the congressional mandate requiring the 100 percent screening of air cargo. This letter came just days after the TSA announced it did not plan to meet the December 31 deadline for the screening of all international U.S.-bound cargo. In 2007, Congress passed the Implementing 9/11 Commission Recommendation Act. The bill included a …
How goes the battle for the border? Heritage Foundation Latin American specialist Ray Walser and I spent some time on the border at Laredo, Texas, with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Border Patrol. Laredo is America’s largest inland port of entry. Last year, 1.64 million trucks passed through the port, representing about $70 billion in commerce. Also in transit were hidden stacks of cash, guns, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, as well as people illegally trying to enter the United States. The job of CBP and the Border Patrol, …
Will securing our US-Mexico border solve our country’s entire illegal immigration problem? Of course not, but neither will turning a blind eye by a providing a pathway to citizenship for everyone who broke the law by immigrating to our country illegally. Unfortunately at a time when politicians are expected to give a 30 second sound bite to the press, it is easy to fall back on platitudes and generalities. In fact, it is just this trap that politicians should look to avoid when talking about immigration as my colleague James …
Lawmakers are still scrambling to agree on a debt deal. The newly rewritten plan by Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) is expected to be voted on by the House. The newly rewritten bill has more savings than what the Congressional Budget Office originally projected. Numerous conservatives have voiced concerns about Boehner’s bill. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) doesn’t take no for an answer. The liberal congressman was arrested for a second time Tuesday during a demonstration outside the White House. Gutierrez was with about 1,000 other Latino activists at an immigration reform protest. After …
Yesterday, the Obama Administration released its new Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy. This strategy leaves out a glaring issue plaguing border enforcement: Without full access to border lands for the Border Patrol, no amount of manpower, weapons, or other technology will help get control of the border. One of the problems facing Border Patrol agents is that federal land managers have prevented them access to natural resource lands. This is no small chunk of the border either, equaling 20.7 million acres. With that much acreage left grossly under-secured, these lands are …
In case we needed any more signs that President Obama’s re-election campaign has started, today’s immigration speech in front of a friendly El Paso, Texas, crowd was a great reminder. Despite failed attempts by previous administrations to convince the American people that rewarding illegal immigration is sound policy, President Obama seems to think his oratory has been the missing ingredient all this time. It’s obvious that political calculations are driving the President’s push for immigration reform in light of his all-time-low support among Hispanics. President Obama’s advisors remain convinced that …
The President gave a speech this afternoon where he expressed the need to fix America’s broken immigration system. He had a lot of good things to say about immigration. For instance, the President emphasized the positive effects of immigration, stating, “It doesn’t matter where you came from; what matters is that you believe in the ideals on which we were founded; that you believe all of us are equal and deserve the freedom to pursue happiness.” True. No disagreement here. He also emphasized that reforms in legal immigration “will also …
Senator Orrin Hatch came to The Heritage Foundation on Friday to present his forthcoming immigration bill—“The Strengthening our Commitment to Legal Immigration and America’s Security Act.” His remarks, and the content of his bill, are a step in the right direction on immigration and border security—given that President Obama used his State of the Union address to make another case for amnesty. The bill was written in collaboration with members of Congress from states along the southwestern border. As Hatch said, it’s important to work with those who, “of all …
Republicans and Democrats can always agree on spending more money. Their default position is usually not to cover costs. But if they must, there’s one sure-fire political no-brainer: make foreigners pay. After all, they can’t vote. Next year, as Congress begins to take a closer – perhaps serious – look at the budget deficit, foreigners are going to be very tempting targets. Increased visa fees for high-skilled Indian workers were the way to pay for border security this year. And yesterday, admittedly after threatening far more damage, Congress extended the …
