system is broken
"The [immigration] system is broken"
Summary (posts follow):
A popular and misleading talking point from supporters of comprehensive immigration reform goes something like this quote from Barack Obama:
"We have a broken immigration system. Nobody denies it."
That's misleading because the problem isn't with our rules and laws so much as the fact that they aren't enforced. There wouldn't be a problem with illegal immigration if politicians would simply allow our laws to be enforced. If you consider "system" to including not just our laws but the enforcement of those laws, then the statement isn't misleading. However, since it's almost always said in the context of supporting changes to those laws, it is misleading.
This talking point is like a shady mechanic removing all the spark plugs from your car's engine and then saying, "see, your engine doesn't work."
Last modified Jul 16, 2010
Discussed in (click each link for the full post):
Donald Trump's first Congressional endorsement: pro-amnesty Renee Ellmers - 06/04/16
Donald Trump has issued his first Congressional endorsement: to Renee Ellmers of North Carolina. The Trump robocall endorsing her - from Ellmer's Youtube channel - is below. Ellmers is a supporter of what Trump supporters would call "amnesty". From a 2014 Ellmers OpEd [1]:
Questions for Michelle Obama about immigration - 06/18/14
Taking a break from her many other tasks, Michelle Obama spoke [1] at a naturalization ceremony earlier today and, as many other past and present political figures have done, used the opportunity to promote comprehensive immigration reform.
John Oliver misleads about immigration, helps the wealthy harm American workers (HBO, "Undocumented Opinions") - 06/16/14
John Oliver is an unfunny English comic who was previously on Jon Stewart's show and who now has his own program on HBO called Last Week Tonight.
Aaron Schock's treacherous, out-of-touch immigration comments - 04/22/14
On the video below, Rep. Aaron Schock (GOP of Illinois) makes immigration comments that are nearly as treacherous as some George W Bush made. But, the hallmark of Schock's comments is not so much how un-American they are, but how out-of-touch they are.
Jim Wallis has a low opinion of his supporters (Sojourners, immigration reform) - 02/19/14
If you're a follower of Jim Wallis of Sojourners, I have some bad news: he has a very low opinion of you. In a post at Time Magazine [1], he writes false and misleading statements that would make a used car salesman blush. And, apparently he thinks his supporters aren't going to pick up on how he's misleading them.
GOP "Standards for Immigration Reform": how it's wrong, how it won't work, what you can do - 01/30/14
The GOP "Standards for Immigration Reform" have been released. It's a short summary of the guidelines the Republican Party leadership will use for their own amnesty push.
First I'll quote the full document, followed by a discussion of some of the ways it won't work and it misleads. That's followed by some very effective things you can do to stop the GOP effort.
Jose DelReal makes Politico immigration coverage even worse - 01/21/14
Politico's immigration coverage is already very bad, but their reporter Jose DelReal is apparently working at making it even worse.
For example, DelReal [1] offers "States boost immigration action" ( peekURL.com/zSymrNd ) which contains this:
10 immigration questions for Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook, FWD.us) - 11/24/13
The video [1] below shows Mark Zuckerberg - CEO of Facebook and founder of the advocacy group FWD . us - promoting comprehensive immigration reform.
Scott Walker supports mass immigration, probably including amnesty - 11/20/13
As usual for those in the Koch family sphere, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker supports large-scale immigration. That is, a system where many more people could come here legally than do so currently.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, USCCB mislead about immigration in letter to John Boehner - 11/08/13
On November 7, Cardinal Timothy Dolan - Archbishop of New York and president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops - sent a letter [1] to House speaker John Boehner demanding comprehensive immigration reform.
Jason Stverak misleads about immigration and the free market (Franklin Center, Koch, Krieble) - 10/04/13
In Forbes, Jason Stverak of the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity offers "To Achieve Real Immigration Reform, Put The Free Market Front And Center" ( peekURL.com/zYzhdmf ).
Ted Cruz wants to legalize most illegal aliens, double legal immigration, increase H1B cap to 325,000 - 09/29/13
On the video below [1], Senator Ted Cruz of Texas finally confirms just how bad he is on immigration. Rather than strongly opposing the Senate amnesty bill and completely opposing any form of mass legalization, Ted Cruz wanted to "fix" the Senate bill.
On the video, Cruz talks about what his amendments would do. This is what he supports:
American Bar Association to stress immigration reform; why? (amnesty, James Silkenat) - 09/18/13
James Silkenat is the new president of the American Bar Association and he promises to make supporting comprehensive immigration reform (aka amnesty) one of his top priorities.
Questions for Kelly Ayotte about comprehensive immigration reform (amnesty, New Hampshire) - 06/09/13
New Hampshire senator Kelly Ayotte comes out for comprehensive immigration reform (aka amnesty) in an OpEd entitled "Why I'm backing legislation to fix our broken immigration system" [1].
How is Gene Sperling misleading on economics and immigration reform? - 03/13/13
At the White House blog, Obama economic advisor Gene Sperling offers the highly misleading post "The Economic Case for Commonsense Immigration Reform" [1].
Paul Ryan supports Marco Rubio's immigration amnesty - 01/14/13
On his Facebook page, Rep. Paul Ryan writes [1]:
Senator Rubio is exactly right on the need to fix our broken immigration system. I support the principles he's outlined: modernization of our immigration laws; stronger security to curb illegal immigration; and respect for the rule of law in addressing the complex challenge of the undocumented population. Our future depends on an immigration system that works.
Mitt Romney wimps out on immigration, again (Univision, "our system isn't to deport people") - 09/20/12
Yesterday, Mitt Romney was interviewed on Univision by Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas; a transcript of his answers about immigration is below.
Elizabeth Emken on immigration: weak, GOP boilerplate (amnesty, California, Feinstein) - 09/10/12
Elizabeth Emken is the GOP challenger to Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, a state that's been greatly harmed by massive illegal immigration.
Democratic Party 2012 platform on immigration: why it's wrong - 09/04/12
The section about immigration in the Democratic Party 2012 platform is below. It only has broad outlines and countless Democratic leaders have repeated these same things many times before.
They were wrong then, and the platform is wrong now (see each link for the details):
Paul Ryan is bad on immigration, find out how much (Mitt Romney VP pick) - 08/11/12
Paul Ryan - Mitt Romney's choice for running mate - is on the wrong side of the immigration issue. Not only would he harm middle- and working-class Americans and help the wealthy in direct economic ways, but he'd do the same on the immigration front as well.
Mitt Romney now pandering on immigration reform - 04/03/12
Mitt Romney and his incompetent advisors are inching him closer and closer to a weak immigration position that validates Obama's position on the issue. Romney's advisors clearly aren't smart enough to understand that won't work.
Tom Vilsack promotes illegal activity, uses bogus "crops rotting" line - 02/24/12
At the Department of Agriculture's 2012 Agricultural Outlook Forum, Ag secretary Tom Vilsack once again promoted illegal activity now and an amnesty or guest workers program for illegal aliens in the future.
Center for American Progress unwittingly admits attrition works (Leah Muse-Orlinoff, immigration, self deport) - 02/22/12
The Center for American Progress has released a study in which they attempt to claim that immigration attrition (see the link) doesn't work. What they do instead is unwittingly admit that it does work, it just needs to be nationwide.
Leah Muse-Orlinoff [1] offers "Staying Put but Still in the Shadows: Undocumented Immigrants Remain in the Country Despite Strict Laws" [1]:
10 things Obama's "Blueprint for an America Built to Last" doesn't tell you (immigration) - 02/01/12
After the State of the Union speech, the Barack Obama administration released a "Blueprint for an America Built to Last" [1]. I'll briefly describe what the section about immigration doesn't tell you. Here's the section of the Blueprint that deals with immigration:
Obama at NCLR: "yes, but..." on immigration enforcement; promotes jobs for possible illegal alien construction workers; DREAM Act; comprehensive reform... - 07/25/11
Barack Obama appeared at the National Council of La Raza convention earlier today; see the last link for our extensive coverage of that group. His unremarkable remarks are at [1]: he didn't really say anything that he hasn't said before. As he's done before, he misled, such as by using the system is broken canard.
With millions unemployed, Ag Secy Tom Vilsack demeans American workers, promotes amnesty, opposes enforcement, uses bogus talking points, opposes eVerify - 05/27/11
Secretary of the Department of Agriculture Tom Vilsack held a press conference on Wednesday in which he demeaned American workers, promoted immigration "reform", opposed immigration enforcement, and used a series of bogus immigration talking points.
An account of his remarks is here, with more excerpts at [1].
1. Vilsack ran down American workers, saying: "While some American citizens step up and take (farm) jobs, the truth is even when farmers make their best effort to recruit a domestic workforce, few citizens express interest. In large part that's because this is hard, tough work." The...
Obama misleads about immigration yet again (May 10, 2011 El Paso version) - 05/10/11
For the past three years or so, Barack Obama has been giving the same immigration speech. In fact, his speeches about the topic aren't that much different from those that George W Bush and a multitude of other hacks have read.
Obama misleads on immigration at Facebook; Zuckerberg and incompetent/corrupt GOP, Teaparty leaders help - 04/21/11
Barack Obama spoke live over Facebook yesterday at an event sponsored by that company. He misled about immigration and promoted an anti-American bill. He got direct help with his attempt to mislead from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and he got indirect help from corrupt or incompetent GOP and Teaparty leaders:
Utah Compact would encourage illegal immigration (Mark Shurtleff, Chamber, Sutherland, Catholic Church) - 11/11/10
Earlier today a group of business leaders and public officials signed "The Utah Compact" (utahcompact.com), a small set of principles on immigration. Rather than curbing illegal immigration, their ideas would encourage more of it. Those involved include Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, the Utah Chamber of Commerce, the Sutherland Institute [1], the Catholic Church, and Salt Lake City mayor Ralph Becker [2].
Here's their first of five points:
Immigration is a federal policy issue between the U.S. government and other countries - not Utah and other countries. We urge Utah's congressional...
Obama thinks illegal aliens are Americans; forgets about massive unemployment; promotes massive immigration - 09/29/10
Yesterday, Barack Obama was asked about immigration in Albuquerque, New Mexico and:
1. He referred to illegal aliens as "us"; he's given them citizenship in his own mind or he's confused about basic American concepts...
2. He seemed not to remember that millions of Americans are unemployed...
3. And, he generally promoted massive immigration. He did that with a series of canards and at one point sounded just like George W Bush.
Video of the appearance is at peekURL.com/v26f71b and for the first, here's what he said [1]:
Now, unfortunately, right now this is getting demagogued. A lot of folks...
Obama immigration speech, July 1, 2010 - 07/01/10
On Thursday, July 1, 2010, Barack Obama gave a speech in support of comprehensive immigration reform and his remarks are at whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-comprehensive-immigration-reform
In recent days, the issue of immigration has become once more a source of fresh contention in our country, with the passage of a controversial law in Arizona and the heated reactions we’ve seen across America. Some have rallied behind this new policy. Others have protested and launched boycotts of the state. And everywhere, people have expressed frustration with a system that seems...
Obama slams Arizona immigration law at press conference with Mexico's president - 05/19/10
Video of the first part of Barack Obama and Felipe Calderon of Mexico speaking earlier today at the White House is at peekURL.com/vogmji4 and the second part is at peekURL.com/vcwo6we
Millions unemployed, Harry Reid wants several million new legal workers to compete against Americans (fairly) - 05/11/10
Harry Reid offers "Our immigration system is broken, and only bipartisan work will fix it" (link). If you've already read a few editorials in support of comprehensive immigration reform, everything he says will be very familiar, right down to his use of trite talking points like system is broken, secure the border, immigration line, and the (more rare) immigration wage floor.
However, American workers - especially voters in Nevada - might want to take a closer look at this paragraph:
Fixing our broken immigration system is also important to strengthen America’s economy. We need to protect...
Doug Hoffman might be weak on immigration; do his supporters know he might cost them money? - 10/28/09
[UPDATE BELOW, here are some questions for Hoffman, and here's an update based on his comments about this issue]
I'm not going to get into all of the issues surrounding the current race in upstate New York where conservative Doug Hoffman is battling against the establishment Republican candidate (Dede Scozzafava) and the Democrat (Bill Owens). However, Hoffman doesn't exactly appear to be Tom Tancredo when it comes to immigration issues, and this might be yet another example of the tea parties being useful idiots for someone whose actions will end up raising their taxes.
From his site (link...
Immigration Policy Ctr: U.S. lost Olympic Games bid due to "anti-visitor policy", "broken immigration system" - 10/02/09
Today's "Tie Every Current Event to Your Agenda No Matter How Tenuously" award goes to the Immigration Policy Center, which blames the failure of the U.S. to bring the Olympics home to Chicago on our immigration policies (link). Per a press release:
"A litany of voices have been warning for years that the U.S. is slowly adopting an anti-visitor policy that is harming business, higher education and families... Stories in the press and report after report have all highlighted how our broken immigration system is hampering our nation's ability to attract the best and the brightest and stay...
Obama puts off immigration "reform" until 2010 at SPP summit - 08/10/09
Barack Obama is continuing a proud George W Bush tradition: holding a "North American Leaders Summit" with the leaders of Mexico and Canada as part of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP.gov) effort. In a Feb. 2008 editorial that apparently no one else read, Obama promised to continue that Bush effort.
And, in a move that his allies in far-left and racial power groups probably won't like (link):
President Obama said Monday that efforts to change the immigration system would be a major focus for his administration only next year, after other major priorities were accomplished,...
Michael Dukakis mindlessly spouts massive immigration talking points (Michael Bendetson) - 05/24/09
Remember Michael Dukakis? You know, former Massachusetts governor? The tank photo you see to the right? Ran for president in 1988? In case no one still remembers, raid a game of Trivial Pursuit, he's probably in there somewhere.
Obama will bring back amnesty this fall (immigration "reform"). What you can do about it. - 04/08/09
Julia Preston of the New York Times offers (link, with help from Jeff Zeleny) the not-incredibly-surprising news that Barack Obama will try to push comprehensive immigration reform (aka amnesty) this year. See the last link for the massive problems with that scheme.
The legislation might be introduced in the fall; in May Obama will speak about this and then during the summer they'll lobby the DC establishment to get behind the plan.
According to Cecilia Munoz - a former National Council of La Raza hack now with the administration - it will be framed as "policy reform that controls immigration...