I do not always agree with Roy but every once in awhile has something that I think is worth passing on. Comments welcome.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING,
I'm taking a break from parades, football games and dinner prep with my wife, my sons and their wives (and assorted grandpets) in a Queens co-op. I hope each of you can similarly find yourself in the midst of warm community this holiday weekend. With Congress away from the Capitol, I finally feel a relative sense of security that allows me to turn my full attention to the fast-approaching presidential primaries.
I've been watching some political ads on the internet and reading through the official websites.
I find myself overwhelmed with a sense of thanksgiving that -- after three decades as a journalist observing reckless, thoughtless federal immigration policies attack the lives of the American people -- I can clearly see that the broad field of presidential candidates is under enormous pressure to move in our direction on immigration.
Candidates that have always been good on immigration have gotten better. Those who were mediocre or incomplete in the past have become good or excellent. And of those who have been terrible on protecting Americans from promiscuous, uncontrolled immigration, many are starting to show signs of doubt (witness the consternation some have been showing over driver's licenses for illegal aliens).
People like you are making that happen. Thanks to all who have been sending faxes and emails, and who have been making phone calls, to presidential campaigns over the last year.
Of course, we aren't even close to where we need to be with these candidates. It is still frighteningly possible that the two nominees will provide barely better than George Bush's disastrous immigration leadership!
There is still so much you can do to help shape the candidates' immigration stances. They are still in flux. Let's continue to "flux" them in the right direction!
A SERIES OF ANALYSIS & SUGGESTED ACTIONS ON PRESIDENTIAL RACES COMING YOUR WAY
Nothing is likely to have more effect on our lives in terms of immigration 2009-2012 (maybe through 2016) than how the primaries & caucuses in January and February narrow presidential choices down to two people.
We will continue through December to rally you to push Congress to:
# put back $3 billion into border security initiatives
# mandate that all businesses use E-Verify to take the jobs magnet away from illegal immigration
But throughout December we will also be giving you a lot of special analysis of each Presidential candidate and each shift of their immigration positions -- as well as things you can do to nudge those shifts.
As with all of our immigration grading the last 10+ years, we will not be endorsing candidates or favoring Parties or political ideologies. But we will pull no punches in candidly assessing the immigration positions of all. If you want your favorite candidates to get a better write-up from us, you'll need to persuade them to strengthen their immigration positions.
And as always, please contact us if you see anything on our website or in our emails that appears to be in error or incomplete.
IN A TREND OF INCREASINGLY DETAILED EXCELLENT POLICY PROMISES BY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES -- THOMPSON HAS SET A NEW HIGH STANDARD
When Fred Thompson came out with a detailed immigration policy this fall, I knew it was very good but was too busy leading the fight against amnesties in the Senate to give thorough attention.
Reading Thompson's full proposed immigration policy this afternoon, I am blown away by its depth, its breadth and at how it would so fundamentally change Americans' future for the better.
As a Senator from Tennessee in the 1990s, Thompson had a mixed record on immigration. I've studied that record and believe it reflects the problem that we saw even in some of this year's Senate heroes who also were mediocre in the 1990s -- most of them just weren't paying much attention to this issue in the 1990s (just like a lot of you have only become active on this during the last couple of years).
NumbersUSA always gives ample credit to politicians who turn from bad or mediocre records and decide to become our champions. But less-than-stellar past records require us to look for signs of sincerity and assurance that they will follow through on their promises.
With Thompson, we will be watching closely for these signs. One strong point for him is that he finished his Senate career with an A-minus performance in 01/02 term after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. And since coming out with his official stance, he has not been equivocating when asked about immigration in media appearances or in strong immigration ads.
KEY PARTS OF THE THOMPSON IMMIGRATION PLAN
You can read the full Thompson immigration plan at:
http://www.fred08.com/virtual/Immigration.aspx
I hope many of you will send messages of reinforcement to the Thompson campaign (as we've asked you to do for other candidates when they do positive things). Here is a link to the websitehttp://www.fred08.com/index.aspx
THE THOMPSON PLAN
* END CHAIN MIGRATION!
I don't find any other presidential website that explicitly has the end of chain migration as a goal. I have maintained since my first books in the mid-1990s that ending Chain Migration is the single most effective action for reducing negative immigration impacts. Chain Migration breeds all kinds of illegal immigration among extended family who feel they have an entitlement to immigrate and don't wait their turn. Chain Migration multiplies the harm of every immigration action by allowing each new immigrant and refugee to eventually import huge extended families and eventually whole villages.
Thompson would restrict immigrants and refugees to bringing in their spouse and minor children. No more adult siblings, adult children or parents. Hence, no more nephews, nieces, in-laws, aunts, uncles and cousins -- unless they earn the right on their own merits. Everybody could come to visit on carefully controlled visitor visas. But if people want to live with their entire extended families, they'll need to continue to live where their extended family lives.
* ELIMINATE THE VISA LOTTERY.
Since 1990, this ridiculous program gives away the opportunity for U.S. citizenship to some 50,000 people a year based on totally random luck of the draw, with no regard to the national interest, the immigrant's skills, education or humanitarian claim.
Inadvertently, the lottery rules are set up so that people from terrorist sponsoring countries are a disproportionate percentage of the winners.
The lottery is a breeder of illegal immigration as it gives false hopes to tens of millions of people around the world who play the lottery each year, many of whom eventually decide to speed up their dream by moving illegally to the U.S. and waiting to win the lottery here.
* (weakness) No Explicit Goal of Numerical Reduction.
Although eliminating Chain Migration and the Visa Lottery would reduce future legal and illegal immigration by 5-8 million per decade, it would do so only if Congress and the President abstain from increasing other categories of immigration. Thompson has left this issue unanswered. I can find Tom Tancredo as the only candidate who actually promises total immigration reductions. Tancredo urges that legal immigration be reduced from its current 1 million a year to 250,000 a year, which is near our traditional average before the last three decades of abuse.
* NO AMNESTY.
Thompson seems to rule out any kind of amnesty that would allow illegal aliens to remain in the United States.
* ATTRITION THROUGH ENFORCEMENT.
Thompson promotes that very term. His goal is to drive as many illegal aliens as possible to voluntarily leave the country because magnets have been removed and the chances of being arrested and deported have been increased. He does not accept that we are stuck with the 12-20 million illegal aliens.
* MANDATORY USE OF E-VERIFY BY ALL BUSINESSES TO KEEP ILLEGAL ALIENS OUT OF U.S. JOBS.
* DENY TAX DEDUCTION TO EMPLOYERS FOR THE WAGES THEY PAY TO ILLEGAL ALIENS.
The IRS already knows all the employees who are working without valid Social Security numbers. This provision would simply authorize the IRS to disallow deductions for wages paid to those particular employees, thus increasing the costs of hiring illegals.
* FINISH BUILDING THE 854--MILE WALL ON THE MEXICAN BORDER AS AUTHORIZED BY 2006 LAW.
* RIGOROUS ENTRY/EXIT TRACKING OF LEGAL VISITORS.
"Complete the implementation of a system to track visa entrants and exits, as has been required by federal law for more than ten years, and connect it to the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC), in order to curb visa overstays and permit more effective enforcement."
* TARGET SMUGGLERS, GANG MEMBERS AND SPEED UP DEPORTATIONS.
"Adding resources for the Department of Justice to prosecute alien smugglers, people involved in trafficking in false identification documents, and previously deported felons. ... Maximizing efforts to prosecute and convict members of criminal alien gangs, such as MS-13 and affiliated gangs. ... Implementing fully and making greater use of the expedited removal process already allowed under federal law."
* ENFORCE EXISTING FEDERAL LAWS.
* END SANCTUARY CITIES & BENEFITS TO ILLEGAL ALIENS.
Cut off discretionary federal grant funds "as appropriate to any community that, by law, ordinance, executive order, or other formal policy directs its public officials not to comply with the provisions of 8 USC 1373 and 8 USC 1644, which prohibit any state or local government from restricting in any way communications with the Department of Homeland Security regarding the immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of an alien in the United States."
"Deny discretionary Federal education grants as appropriate to public universities that violate federal law by offering in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens without also offering identical benefits to United States citizens, regardless of whether or not they live in the state, as required by 8 USC 1623."
"Deny discretionary Federal grants as appropriate to states and local governments that violate federal law by offering public benefits to illegal aliens, as prohibited by 8 USC 1621(a)."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Friends, these candidates are increasingly figuring out what the American people want. The Thompson plan goes far beyond platitudes and, in my opinion, shows interest and understanding of what it would actually take to bring back order into our immigration system.
I am exceedingly pleased to see this development.
I'll be writing soon with more on these crucial Presidential races.
ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND,
