Calif. Lawmaker's Bill Would Stop Police From Freeing Illegal Felons

If a measure set to be proposed in the California legislature is approved, law enforcement agencies in the Golden State will have to report to federal officials before releasing from prison an illegal immigrant convicted of a felony. 

Republican state Sen. Jeff Stone of Murrieta said that he will propose the bill after two California women were allegedly killed by illegal immigrant felons in Santa Maria and San Francisco, the Los Angeles Times reported.  

Under the expected measure, state law enforcement officials would have to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement that the illegal immigrant felon was about to be released and also hold the person in custody for 48 hours while ICE decides if it wants the detainee prosecuted or deported. 

Santa Maria resident Marilyn Pharis, 64, was allegedly raped and killed by Aureliano Martinez Ramirez and another man July 24, just days after Ramirez had been released from jail. 

Weeks earlier, Kathryn Steinle, 32, of San Francisco was allegedly killed by Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez, who had been deported from the United States five times and had several felony convictions when he shot and killed Steinle on July 1, while she was walking on a San Francisco pier with her dad. 

"This has got to stop," Stone said. "If police and sheriff‘s departments were to notify immigration officials before they released these dangerous criminals, murders like these would not take place."

The San Francisco slaying led other lawmakers to look at the city's "sanctuary city" laws with more scrutiny. 

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Arizona Rep. Matt Salmon have authored "Kate's Law," which would require a minimum sentence of five years for any illegal immigrant that re-enters the country after they are deported. 

Cruz, along with Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, has also co-authored a measure that would result in withholding federal funds from sanctuary cities. 

Via: Newsmax

Continue Reading......

OBAMA PROVIDING EXTRA MILLION ALIEN WORK PERMITS ANNUALLY

The Obama administration has issued more than 7.4 million work permits to foreign nationals from 2009 – 2014, beyond the approximately one million lawful permanent residents and 700,000 foreign guest workers admitted to the U.S. each year.

In written responses to the Senate Judiciary Immigration and the National Interest Subcommittee Republicans obtained by Breitbart News, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reveal that the Obama administration has been approving work authorizations for immigrants beyond admission limits and for some categories of immigrants that Congress never intended to work in the U.S.

Green card holders and foreign nationals on guest worker visas do not need work authorizations.

Beyond those limits each year, these new and renewed work permit approvals amounted to about 1.23 million in fiscal year 2009, 1.08 million in FY 2010, 970,277 in FY 2011, 1.24 million in FY 2012, 1.68 million in FY 2013 and 1.24 million in FY 2014.

Such categories of immigrants that received permits include: Illegal immigrants granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, immigrants granted Temporary Protective Status (TPS), spouses of guest workers, various types of foreign students, immigrants granted voluntary departure, parolees, as well as asylees and refugees.

Further, more than 113,800 individuals with final orders of deportation also were granted work permits in that six year span.

A number of categories of immigrants granted work permits simply had immigration applications pending without approval. Those work permit approvals include immigrants with TPS pending, application for suspension of deportation, “in proceedings,” adjustment applicants, asylum applicants, and pending Special Agricultural Workers (SAW) applicants.

For example,from FY 2009-FY 2014 more than 356,600 applicants for asylum were granted work permits. Another 2.69 million work permit approvals were for immigrants applying for an adjustment of status.

In addition to the raw work permit data, USCIS also provided a list of every zip code in the country, revealing where these extra work permits or EADs were issued each fiscal year.

The two zip codes with the greatest number of extra EADs in FY 2014 was in Flushing, NY (11355 and 11354) with 6,529 and 4,800 EADs. The zip code with the third most EADs in FY 2014 was Brooklyn, NY (11220) with 4,106 EADs. A zip code in San Gabriel, CA (91776) boasted the fourth most EADs at 3,803. And the zip code with the fifth most EADs was a zip code in Miami (33126) at 3,220.

Readers may see how many extra work permits have been granted in their area by finding their own zip codes here.

The data comes on the heels of a Center for Immigration Studies report, authored by expert Jessica Vaughan, which also revealed 7.4 million excess work permits issued in what she described as a “parallel immigrant work authorization system outside the numerical limits and categories set by Congress.”

Vaughan’s data obtained, via a Freedom of Information Act request, yielded different categories of immigrants. USCIS explained in its response that the new data is an update to the data provided in the FIOA.

Of the updated data, Vaughan explained to Breitbart News that the numbers show the Obama administration has been “abusing what should be considered very limited authority to issue work permits.”

She noted that while work permits have been intended to be a benefit for those who are applying for legal status or as a temporary benefit, the administration has issued them to people who are not eligible for legal status.

“Work permits have always been intended as a transitional benefit to assist someone that is in the process of applying for legal status, or as a temporary benefit.  The administration has used them as a way to secretly give out benefits to huge numbers of people who are not eligible for a legal status,” she wrote in an email to Breitbart News.  “They are using them to bypass the law and evade the rules set by Congress that limit the number of people who can take jobs here.

Vaughan further called on Congress to take action to rein in the issuance of these work permits.

“It’s no wonder people are flocking here to claim asylum, enrolling in school, and using other tactics to get here by hook or by crook.  This shadow immigration system is displacing Americans and legal workers from jobs, and Congress needs to take back control of the process without delay,” she emailed.

When Vaughan’s report broke earlier this year, the chairman of the immigration subcommittee, 

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

80%

, called for an investigation.

“This massive increase in the labor supply has occurred simultaneously with a steep drop in family incomes and a sharp rise in the number of Americans pushed out of the workforce. All jobs gains since the recession have gone to foreign workers, while the slack labor market has depressed median family incomes almost $5,000 in that time,” he said at the time.

Via Breitbart

Continue Reading...

Wide Political Fallout Expected From Massive Nuclear Bomber Deal

Sessions called the deal "a huge procurement."

In a few weeks, the Pentagon will announce the companies picked to develop America’s next bomber jet, sparking a budget war that will last for years and reshape the defense industry, experts say.

The Long Range Strike Bomber, which will probably be called the B-3, will provide more bang for the buck than several fighter jets. But it won’t be cheap. It is likely to cost at least $111 billion to acquire 100 planes, says Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. That’s almost twice the amount the Air Force has quoted before, and it assumes no cost overruns. The higher price tag is due to the service previously understating the costs, not to any real hike in expenses, Harrison says.

Adding the cost to operate the planes more than doubles the price tag yet again to in excess of $200 billion, experts say. Plus, the B-3s are expected to only replace the oldest U.S. bombers, the B-1s and B-52s. An additional program will probably be required in a couple of decades to replace the younger bombers, the B-2s, the experts say.

“It’s a huge procurement,” says Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces. “We will pay much more attention to it as we move forward.”

The B-3 bomber is just one of several multi-billion-dollar weapons to be produced in the 2020s, and advocates for those ships and planes will fight each other tooth and nail, analysts say. The bomber program will also be a test case on Capitol Hill for whether the Pentagon can buy major weapons without massive cost overruns and schedule delays.

The bomber contract decision will lead to changes in the companies bidding for it. If the team that includes Lockheed Martin Corp. wins, it could give that one company unrivaled—and perhaps unhealthy—power as a central player in all three of the newest U.S. warplane programs—the bomber plus the F-22 and F-35 fighter jets—on top of the company’s newly expanded role in the military helicopter market.

What’s more, the bomber award may result in the losing bidder being purchased by another company or at least entering new markets or selling parts of its business. That in turn could reorder which politicians are champions of which companies in the coming budget battles.

“We shouldn’t underestimate how consequential this contract award is going to be for the future of this sector of the aerospace industry,” says Harrison.

Via: Roll Call

Continue Reading....

Sessions' & Gowdy's bill stand above a crowded list of "Sanctuary Bills" in Congress

If any good can come from the tragic shooting of a San Francisco woman earlier this month at the hands of a five-times deported illegal alien, it's that Congress may finally take action to punish sanctuary jurisdictions that protect illegal aliens, including the federal government which has been releasing criminal aliens onto the streets. The response has gotten confusing because at least a dozen bills have been offered in recent weeks to end sanctuary jurisdictions. They have all earned varying levels of attention, with the one pushed by Fox News' Bill O'Reilly getting the most attention even though it's not the best bill. The bills differ in scope and effectiveness, allowing House and Senate leaders to pick and choose the bill they want to move. If recent history serves as a lesson, House and Senate leaders will choose the weakest possible bill to move even though a large majority of American voters are furious and want criminal aliens removed from the United States. THE BEST BILL THAT NUMBERSUSA SUPPORTS NumbersUSA supports passage of the Davis-Oliver Act introduced by Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions (S.1640) and South Carolina Congressman Trey Gowdy (H.R.1148). It's named after Michael Davis, Jr. and Danny Oliver, two California deputy sheriffs who were murdered by illegal aliens. Among many other things, the bill would: Withhold SCAAP funding, 'Cops on the Beat' funding, or any other law enforcement DHS grant to jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration agents (sanctuary jurisdictions) Allow states to pass immigration enforcement laws so long as the penalties do not exceed the federal penalties Require DHS to provide all known data to the National Crime Information Center for aliens who have final removal orders, overstayed or misused a visa, or entered in to a voluntary departure agreement Provide grants to local jurisdictions that help enforce immigration laws The Sessions-Gowdy bills would go beyond simply ending sanctuary cities through additional measures to increase public safety as a whole. They would strengthen the enforcement of federal immigration laws, end benefits for known terrorists, and prevent foreign citizens who pose a threat to public safety from entering the country in the first place. BILLS ADDRESSING ONLY SANCTUARY CITIES None of the other bills, including the so-called "Kate's Law" pushed by O'Reilly, would do as much to make our communities safer. But more importantly, none of them, except for the Sessions-Gowdy bills, address the federal government's sanctuary policies. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has released nearly 70,000 convicted criminal aliens over the last two years. Only the Sessions-Gowdy bills would end this federal complicity. Both Presidential Hopefuls Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have introduced sanctuary bills. The Cruz bill is similar to Kate's Law in that it would only imprison previously deported aliens that return to the U.S. It wouldn't require jurisdictions to notify ICE when they release criminal aliens from prison. The Paul bill would only block funding to jurisdictions that don't cooperate with federal immigration agents, while allowing the federal government to continue its sanctuary policies. Legislation has also been introduced by Rep. Scott Desjarlais (R-Tenn.), Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Penn.), Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), but all of these bills would only block funding to sanctuary jurisdictions without addressing the feds policies. THE CLEAR ACT The only bill that comes close to the effectiveness of the Davis-Oliver Act is Rep. Marsha Blackburn's (R-Tenn.) CLEAR Act. NumbersUSA has promoted this bill in past years, and it's still a good bill, but the Davis-Oliver Act is more thorough and incorporates almost all of the CLEAR Act's state and local enforcement provisions. DAVIS-OLIVER BILL NEEDS MORE CO-SPONSORS The Sessions version only has 5 cosponsors. The Gowdy version has more than 30 cosponsors and has already been approved by the House Judiciary Committee. Just this week, Reps. Dave Brat (R-Va.) and Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.) added their names to the list of cosponsors, but both bills need a lot more support! We have faxes posted to your Action Board urging your three Members of Congress to support the Davis-Oliver Act. Please send these faxes, and if you've already sent them, there's more you can do. Next Monday, please call your Members of Congress or contact them through Social Media. Let's do everything we can to help get the Davis-Oliver Act signed in to law! CHRIS CHMIELENSKI SAT, JULY 18th Via: NumbersUSA Continue Reading....

Sessions: They Won the Vote, But Lost the 'Trust of the American People'

Senator Jeff Sessions will release this statement in response to Senate's vote to advance the fast-track trade bill:

“Americans increasingly believe that their country isn’t serving its own citizens. They need look no further than a bipartisan vote of Congress that will transfer congressional power to the Executive Branch and, in turn, to a transnational Pacific Union and the global interests who will help write its rules.

"The same routine plays out over and again. We are told a massive bill must be passed, all the business lobbyists and leaders tell how grand it will be, but that it must be rushed through before the voters spoil the plan. As with Obamacare and the Gang of Eight, the politicians meet with the consultants to craft the talking points—not based on what the bill actually does, but what they hope people will believe it does. And when ordinary Americans who never asked for the plan, who don’t want the plan, who want no part of the plan, resist, they are scorned, mocked, and heaped with condescension.

"Washington broke arms and heads to get that 60th vote—not one to spare—to impose on the American people a plan which imperils their jobs, wages, and control over their own affairs. It is remarkable that so much energy has been expended on advancing the things Americans oppose, and preventing the things Americans want.

"For instance: thousands of loyal Americans have been laid off and forced to train the foreign workers brought in to fill their jobs—at Disney, at Southern California Edison, across the country. Does Washington rush to their defense? No, the politicians and the lobbyists rush to move legislation that would double or triple the very program responsible for replacing them.

"This ‘econometarian’ ideology holds that if a company can increase its bottom line —whether by insourcing foreign workers or outsourcing production—then it’s always a win, never a downside.

Via: Weekly Standard

Continue Reading....

[VIDEO] Flashback: Jeff Sessions calls on Jeffrey Zients to resign if he can't back up budget number

If President Obama wanted to pick a National Economic Council nominee completely untrusted by Republicans, he could not have done any better than the man he chose, current Office of Management and Budget director Jeffrey Zients.

On Feb. 14, 2012, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., challenged Zients to resign unless he could substantiate his claim that Obama's fiscal year 2013 budget did not increase spending.

Via: Washington Examiner

Continue Reading....

Sessions: Obama's 'Secret' Plan 'Increases Spending by More than $1 Trillion'

Senator Jeff Sessions, the ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee, is releasing a statement this evening that claims President Barack Obama's "secret" plan "increases spending by more than $1 trillion above the current baseline."

"In other words," Sessions adds, "spending will increase $1 trillion above the already projected growth after enactment of the Budget Control Act as part of the last debt deal. It achieves not one dollar in net spending reduction or debt reduction, and it continues the country on a dangerously unsustainable debt path."

The senator's comments come in response to a series of interviews Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner conducted on the Sunday morning talk shows. The top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee is also basing his remarks on reports of details of President Obama's proposal, which he narrows down to these bullet points:

The President proposes growth over and above the BCA baseline, which already calls for spending growth every single year. Specifically, President calls for:

· More than $170 billion in stimulus spending, including $26 billion for extended unemployment benefits, $50 billion for transportation spending, and $90 billion for an extension of the payroll holiday (which is considered on-budget spending)

· The elimination of the $1.2 trillion sequester (half of the spending cuts exchanged in 2011 for the $2.1 trillion in previous debt limit increase) without corresponding spending cuts, resulting in a $1.2 trillion spending increase

· The unpaid-for ‘doc fix’ or Medicare reimbursements ($394 billion)

· Only $600 billion in mandatory ‘savings’ primarily achieved through further reductions in provider payments beyond those in the President’s health law, which do nothing to enhance the long-term sustainability of entitlement spending

Via: Weekly Standard

Continue Reading...

If Economy Is Recovering Why Is Obama Increasing Welfare Spending?

Rising welfare spending has served as a metric for the weakness of the economy, but a new report suggests that will change in the coming years, as Obamacare increases welfare spending even after the economy bounces back.

“As projected by the Congressional Research Service, spending on welfare will continue to rise over the next decade, even as the economy is expected to recover,” the Senate Budget Committee Republicans announced today.

This year, welfare spending was approximately $1 trillion. By 2016, that number will rise by $321 billion, according to figures released by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.

“Altogether, the President’s health law would add a new means-tested federal benefit to 30 million more Americans (many of whom do not currently receive means-tested assistance),” Sessions’ office explained. “In total, fully one-third—approximately 105 million—of all non-elderly Americans will receive their health care through the government once the law takes full effect. That figure will be even higher if the economy continues to experience weak growth.”

Mitt Romney has promised to repeal Obamacare if elected. If President Obama wins a second term, he could veto any repeal of the law unless two-thirds of the House and Senate voted to override his veto.

Via: Washington Examiner

Continue Reading...

Senator Sessions: Administration Ignoring Laws That Prohibit Visas For ‘Likely’ Welfare Recipients

 The Obama administration is waiving a law that requires it to deny visas and entry to non-citizens who are “likely at any time to become” a government dependent – and is ignoring requests for information regarding this move, Sen. Jeff Sessions said today.

Sen. Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued a statement after USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack missed the deadline to reply to oversight requests for data on expenditures for non-citizens on food stamps and information regarding the administration’s waiver of federal immigration law:

“Included in the oversight letter was a request for information about USDA’s contact with the Departments of State and Homeland Security regarding immigration law. Both DHS and DOS have effectively nullified the federal law that prohibits admission into the U.S. for those likely to become welfare reliant, further enabling USDA to surge non-citizen registration.”

“Such activities cannot be justified to the American people, which probably explains why the Administration has been unwilling to provide answers,” Sen. Sessions said.

According to section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which defines “Classes of aliens ineligible for visas or admission”:

“Any alien who, in the opinion of the consular officer at the time of application for a visa, or in the opinion of the Attorney General at the time of application for admission or adjustment of status, is likely at any time to become a public charge is inadmissible.”

Via: CNS News

Continue Reading...

Welfare spending jumps 32% during Obama’s presidency

Federal welfare spending has grown by 32 percent over the past four years, fattened by President Obama’s stimulus spending and swelled by a growing number of Americans whose recession-depleted incomes now qualify them for public assistance, according to numbers released Thursday.

Federal spending on more than 80 low-income assistance programs reached $746 billion in 2011, and state spending on those programs brought the total to $1.03 trillion, according to figures from the Congressional Research Service and the Senate Budget Committee.

That makes welfare the single biggest chunk of federal spending — topping Social Security and basic defense spending.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Budget Committee who requested the Congressional Research Service report, said the numbers underscore a fundamental shift in welfare, which he said has moved from being a Band-Aid and toward a more permanent crutch.

“No longer should we measure compassion by how much money the government spends but by how many people we help to rise out of poverty,” the Alabama conservative said. “Welfare assistance should be seen as temporary whenever possible, and the goal must be to help more of our fellow citizens attain gainful employment and financial independence.”

Via: Washington Times

Continue Reading...

GOP Demands Obama Plan on Debt Ceiling

A pair of Senate Republicans is pressing the Treasury Department for details on when the government will reach its $16.4 trillion debt ceiling — and how long it can avoid hitting the limit.

Sens. Orrin Hatch (Utah) and Jeff Sessions (Ala.) asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday to lay out a precise timeline for when the government expects to near the debt ceiling and what "extraordinary measures" can be taken to prolong the deadline.

The request comes while much of Washington is consumed with addressing the glut of Jan. 1 policy changes known as the "fiscal cliff," and serves as a reminder that the debt ceiling also looms as another high-stakes battle.

Hatch and Sessions are the ranking members of the Senate Finance and Budget committees, respectively.

According to the pair, the government is already drawing near the new limit.

Citing Treasury data, they said the government's debt load, as of Oct. 11, stood $275 billion below the new level, which was expanded by $2.1 trillion under the last-minute debt-limit deal reached in August 2011.

Via: The Hill

Continue Reading...

Obama administration acknowledged releasing illegals who didn’t fit ‘priority’ for deportation

Letters obtained by The Daily Caller show the Obama administration has acknowledged releasing illegal immigrants from law enforcement custody and back into the general U.S. population even when they are outside the qualifications outlined in the president’s new immigration policy.

In March, the administration released an illegal alien from law enforcement custody for the reason that he did not “fit” any administrative “priority” for deportation.

On March 27, according to the Fox News Channel, a “veteran” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer and one of his colleagues “were conducting surveillance on a vehicle in Newark, Del. with [license] plates that were registered to a criminal alien target.”

“During the surveillance, they observed an individual get into the vehicle. The person was detained, questioned and taken to an ICE office so that his fingerprints could be run through a federal database,” Fox News’ Todd Starnes reported in August. “The individual was not their criminal alien target. However, he was a 35-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico who had ten previous traffic violations — including driving without a license.”

When that Fox story broke, National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council president Chris Crane said the ICE agent had exercised “prosecutorial discretion” and decided to “charge [the suspect] as being in the United States illegally and let the judge sort it out.”

That National ICE Council is a subset of the American Federation of Government Employees, an AFL-CIO member labor union. (RELATED: Immigrants don’t have to prove they meet DREAM Act criteria to avoid charges, ICE union chief says)

Political leaders inside ICE ordered the agent to release that criminal alien suspect, however. Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions wrote in a letter to ICE director John Morton on Aug. 3 that the suspect was released because he wasn’t a “presidential priority.”

Via: The Daily Caller

Continue Reading...

Illegal immigrants could reap more than $7B in tax credits this year, senator says

• March 20, 2012: Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP)

Illegal immigrants could receive more than $7 billion this year in federal tax credits, according to one estimate, thanks to a loophole in the law that allows people not authorized to work to reap the government payments with no questions asked. 

Sen. Jeff Sessions' office calculated that, based on recent trends, illegal immigrants could receive roughly $7.4 billion through a provision known as the Additional Child Tax Credit. That's more than quadruple what the payout was four years ago, but the payments have been steadily increasing over the past decade

. 

Though illegal immigrants are prohibited from receiving similar tax credits, a quirk in the law allows them to qualify for the child tax credit. And it's a "refundable" credit, meaning recipients can reap the money -- with average checks totaling about $1,800 -- even if they've paid no taxes.   

An aide to Sessions, R-Ala., the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, said the issue is a "serious matter that deserves attention" and another sign of how "Washington is disconnected from reality." 

Illegal immigrants can qualify because even people not authorized to work in the U.S. are supposed to file returns with the IRS. If they don't have a Social Security number, they are provided what's known as an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number in order to file returns. 

And those filers are not excluded from claiming the Additional Child Tax Credit, which is offered to some families with children under 17 years old. 

A report last year by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found the claims added up to $4.2 billion in 2010. Sessions' office calculated the $7.4 billion figure based on the IG report numbers and White House budget numbers. 

The IG report last year recommended that Congress pass legislation to "clarify" whether the tax credits should actually be paid to those not authorized to work in the U.S. 

Sessions co-sponsored a bill earlier this year to bar illegal immigrants from receiving the credit, but the bill was blocked from reaching the floor by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. 

Reid at the time said the bill targeted the children of low-income Hispanic families. 

Recent expansions to the credit under the stimulus law are set to expire at the end of the year.

Via: Fox News