People have had it with Immigration Excuses by Thomas Sewell

One of the most lame excuses for doing nothing is that we can't do everything. Such excuses have been repeated endlessly, even by some conservatives, when it comes to illegal immigration.

We can't deport millions of illegal immigrants already living in the country, some say, so the wise thing is to just learn to live with them, according to the supposedly sophisticated crowd.

This completely sidesteps the plain, obvious and galling fact that we are not deporting those illegal immigrants who are arrested by the police for violating other laws -- and are then turned loose back into American society. In so-called "sanctuary cities" across the country, local police are under orders not to report illegal immigrants to the federal authorities.

Nobody has a right to obstruct justice when it comes to federal laws -- not even the President of the United States, as Richard Nixon discovered when he had to resign after Democrats threatened him with impeachment and Republican Senators told him that they would not defend him.

Today, any mayor of any city of any size across the country can publicly announce that he is going to obstruct federal laws against illegal immigrants -- and then bask in a glow of self-satisfaction and the prospect of winning votes.

Even people who are gung-ho to punish employers who do not take on the role of immigration police, for which they have neither training nor authority, are often ready to overlook elected officials who do have both the duty and the authority to uphold the laws, but openly refuse to do so.

The federal government itself, under the Obama administration, has refused to enforce immigration laws, and has ordered its own agents to back off when it comes to enforcing some laws that President Obama happens not to like.

Then there is also what might be called the pretense of enforcement -- when people who have been caught illegally entering the country are turned loose inside the country and told to report back to a court later on. How surprised should we be when they don't?

One of the most widely known abuses of the immigration laws is the creation of "anchor babies" to get automatic citizenship when a pregnant woman simply crosses the U.S. border to have her child born on American soil. This is not limited to people who cross the Mexican border. Some are flown in from Asia to waiting posh facilities.

Not only do their children get automatic American citizenship without having to meet any requirements, this also increases the opportunities for other family members to gain admission later on, in the name of "family reunification."

This is such an obvious racket, and so widely known, for so long, that you might think our "responsible" leaders would agree that it should be stopped. But, here again, there are excuses rather than action. One distinguished conservative commentator even said recently that this is such a small problem that it is not worth bothering with.

The anger of Americans who feel betrayed by their own elected officials is not a small thing. It goes to the heart of what self-government by "we the people" is supposed to mean.

To say that it is a small thing is even worse than saying that we can't do anything about it. We certainly can't do anything about it if we won't lift a finger to try.

Some legal authorities say that the 14th Amendment confers automatic citizenship on anyone born on American soil. But the very authors of that Amendment said otherwise. And some distinguished legal scholars today, including Professor Lino Graglia of the University of Texas Law School, say otherwise.

Even if it were necessary to revise the 14th Amendment, it is sheer Progressive era dogma that Constitutional Amendments are nearly impossible to revise, repeal or create. There were four new Constitutional Amendments added in just eight years, during the height of the Progressive era in the early 20th century.

But it is indeed impossible if you are just looking for excuses for not trying. Republicans who are worried about Donald Trump should be. But their own repeated betrayals of their supporters set the stage for his emergence. This goes all the way back to "Read my lips, no new taxes." 

Via: Real Clear Politics

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[VIDEO] Greeks defy Europe with overwhelming referendum 'No'

Greeks overwhelmingly rejected conditions of a rescue package from creditors on Sunday, throwing the future of the country's euro zone membership into further doubt and deepening a standoff with lenders.

Stunned European leaders called a summit for Tuesday to discuss their next move after the surprisingly strong victory by the 'No' camp defied opinion polls that had predicted a tight contest.

The euro currency and stock prices in Asia fell sharply in early trade, although dealers emphasized that markets were orderly, with no signs of financial strain. European stock and bond markets were expected to take a hit when they open for trading later on Monday.

In Athens, thousands of jubilant Greeks waving flags and bursting fire crackers poured into the city's central square as official figures showed 61 percent of Greeks had rejected a deal that would have imposed more austerity measures on an already ravaged economy.

"You made a very brave choice," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in a televised address. "The mandate you gave me is not the mandate of a rupture with Europe, but a mandate to strengthen our negotiating position to seek a viable solution."

The vote leaves Greece in uncharted waters: risking a banking collapse that could force it out of the euro.

Without more emergency funding from the European Central Bank, Greece's banks could run out of cash within days after a week of rising desperation as banks shut and cash machines ran dry. That might force the government to issue another currency to pay pensions and wages.

For millions of Greeks the outcome was an angry message to creditors that Greece can no longer accept repeated rounds of austerity that, in five years, had left one in four without a job and shrank the economy by a quarter.

Via: Reuters

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Illegal Aliens Hear of U.S. “Credible Fear” Asylum on Facebook

As if Obama’s backdoor amnesty wasn’t bad enough, the administration is also quietly granting thousands of illegal immigrants “asylum” when they claim to have a “credible fear” of returning to their native country.

Officially foreigners can seek asylum under five categories, based on fear of persecution over race, religion, nationality, political opinions or membership in a particular social group. A chunk of the illegal aliens getting asylum hearings are entering the U.S. through Mexico, but they come from as far away as Africa and Asia, according to Homeland Security officials cited in a mainstream newspaper report.

Last year 27,546 migrants made credible fear claims after entering the U.S. illegally compared to 10,730 the previous year. In 2008 only 3,273 illegal aliens claimed fear to get asylum, according to federal data cited in the story. If this pattern continues, the number will continue to rise steadily through President Obama’s second term, likely making this yet another form of stealth amnesty.  

Clearly, word has spread among illegal border crossers that claiming to have a fear of returning home is a good way to avoid deportation. One veteran immigration lawyer in Texas says “it’s like the magic word. Say it and the government has to give you a credible-fear hearing.” Immigration judges eventually reject most of the asylum petitions, but many of the illegal aliens are freed on bail and use the lengthy process to vanish in the U.S.

Here is one of the cases featured in the story; a 21-year-old Honduran man, who entered the U.S. illegally through Mexico, was granted an asylum hearing after claiming that returning to Honduras would be a mortal risk because he witnessed a double homicide and feared the killers would target him. Border Patrol agents had spotted the illegal alien floating across the Rio Grande in an inflatable raft and he should have been immediately deported.

Instead federal authorities determined that he had a “credible fear” case, which allowed him to remain in the U.S. for asylum proceedings, which often take months. So, how did this particular illegal alien hear about the asylum procedures? He says he learned about it on Facebook while he still lived in Honduras and from the U.S. government’s immigration website.

Another illegal border crosser, a 19-year-old man from Ecuador, heard about the credible fear line while he was in federal custody. He got busted by Border Patrol officers a few minutes after crossing into the U.S. through Mexico and was sent to a detention facility. He requested a credible fear interview after hearing about it from cellmates and claimed his father accused him of breaking up his marriage and therefore wanted to kill him. Authorities released the Ecuadorean and allowed him to move in with an aunt in New York while he waits for further hearings.

In yet another unbelievable case cited in the news story, a 42-year-old man from Bangladesh flew to South America and made it to the Texas border with a Mexican smuggler. Authorities are allowing him to live in a halfway house while he waits for his asylum hearings. His credible fear claim is that he was persecuted for being a member of a political party that lost national elections.

Via: Judicial Watch

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