Where do we stand on IMMIGRATION?
Despite Speaker of the House John Boehner pledging he would never enter into conference negotiations on the Senate’s “Gang of 8” amnesty bill, the House has cleared the calendar for the Speaker to engage. Recently he announced he is preparing to release a set of “principles” and “standards” by which the GOP can proceed on the path to full-scale reform. This, along with his recent hiring of a well-known amnesty proponent, has Washington anticipating the rollout of House immigration bills.
On January 29th, the House Republican Conference will begin its annual retreat to discuss its legislative agenda: their plans for piecemeal reform will undoubtedly be the subject of much debate. As concerned PATRIOTS we need to take action and let our Congressmen know where we stand as they move forward on this issue. Urge them to vocally oppose any immigration reform bills as they would undoubtedly end up in conference committee with the Senate amnesty bill.

“We would prefer a big comprehensive bill but any way the House can get there is okay by us. If they pass individual, smaller bills they will get agglomerated."
– Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), August 7, 2013

Any immigration measure would provide a vehicle for the House to commence conference negotiations with the Senate—a legislative move that gives this issue momentum and the political class would undoubtedly exploit to pressure the House into accepting some form of amnesty in advance of the November elections.

Call to Action
House Republicans are expected to take two major actions this week that could alter the entire nature of the immigration debate:

1. First, House Leadership is expected to release a set of principles it says will guide Republicans as they debate immigration this year. These principles are widely expected to embrace legalization (amnesty) for some if not all of the illegal population and a massive expansion of guest worker programs. Not surprisingly, the Leadership staffer in charge of coordinating this effort is Becky Tallent, Senator McCain's former chief of staff, and now Speaker John Boehner's immigration advisor.

2. Second, beginning Wednesday afternoon, House Republicans will be gathering outside of Washington D.C. for a retreat at which they will debate their strategy on immigration, among other issues facing them in 2014. All sources indicate that Leadership will use the retreat to try to convince House Republicans to support the amnesty outlined in their newly-released immigration principles!

THERE IS NO TIME TO WASTE! These two events will have a critical impact on the immigration debate — in 2014 and beyond. We need your help to make sure House Republicans know you oppose any form of legalization and that you want TRUE Immigration Reform, an immigration policy that puts the needs of Americans first.

HERE ARE TWO WAYS YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE:

1. If your Representative in the House is a Republican, please call him/her and say:

o You want him oppose any form of legalizing illegal aliens (amnesty)
o Legalizing illegal alien’s rewards law-breakers, is inherently unfair to those who came to the U.S legally, undermines the rule of law, and hurts American workers.
o Instead of amnesty, you want TRUE immigration reform — reform that puts the needs of Americans first.

2. After you've called your Representative, please call:
o House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) 202-225-0600 and
o House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) 202-225-4000 and
repeat the message above.

OTHER CONTACT INFORMATION:

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
District 3 Rep. Ted Yoho, FAX (202) 225-2256 – Phone (202) 225-5744 or (904) 276-9626
511 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 or
1213 Blanding Blvd, Orange Park, FL 32065
Complete email form at https://yoho.house.gov/contact/email-me

District 4 Rep. Ander Crenshaw, FAX (202) 225-2504 – Phone (202) 225-2501 or (904) 598-0481
440 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 or
1061 Riverside Avenue, Suite 100, Jacksonville FL 32204
Complete email form at https://forms.house.gov/write/crenshaw/email-me.shtml

District 5 Rep. Corrine Brown, FAX (202) 225-2256 – Phone (202) 225-0123 or (904) 954-1652
2111 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington DC 20515 or
101 East Union St., Suite 202, Jacksonville, FL 32202Complete email form at https://forms.house.gov/corrinebrown/webforms/contact-me.shtml

District 6 Rep. Ron DeSantis, FAX (202) 226-6299 – Phone (202) 225-2706 or (904) 827-1101
427 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 or
3940 Lewis Speedway, Suite 2104, St. Augustine, FL 32084
Complete email form at: https://desantis.house.gov/contact/email-me

Use this link to find your Congress members:
http://www.wrhammons.com/the-113th-congress.htm

ADDITONAL INFORMATION:
Last year, the Senate passed the “Gang of 8” amnesty bill (S. 744), which created a framework to legalize the estimated 11 million people currently living in the country unlawfully. In the aftermath of the Senate vote, House Speaker Boehner (R-OH) pledged he would never enter into conference negotiations on amnesty and many House members agreed. However next week, the House Republican Conference will begin its annual retreat to discuss agenda items for the year and Speaker Boehner’s plans for immigration reform and amnesty will undoubtedly be front and center among them.
According to press reports, we can expect “separate bills that would fast-track legalization for agricultural laborers…and provide an opportunity for young immigrants who came to the country illegally as children to become American citizens.”

DREAM (or KIDS) Act: While the stand-alone House version has not been unveiled, the Gang of 8’s DREAM plank would legalize between 2-3 million individuals currently in the country illegally. Once legalized, they could then sponsor family members--those abroad and those who are currently in the country illegally--resulting in a “chain migration” that could triple the number of amnesty recipients. As Heritage Foundation’s Robert Rector explains:
Once unlawful immigrant households were legalized, there would be an increased tendency for brothers, sisters, and cousins to migrate from abroad both lawfully and unlawfully to join their relatives. Thus, other things being equal, amnesty would likely increase future unlawful immigration, in turn increasing future fiscal costs.
Though many on both sides of the aisle would have you believe this is a law for children, under the DREAM Act provision to the Senate bill, individuals of any age may apply for amnesty, so long as they have a high school diploma and they claim they were under the age of 16 when they entered unlawfully. Moreover, the Administration has wide discretion to waive various requirements of such a bill by invoking special exemptions for “hardship” or “public interest.” Given President Obama’s broad use of executive power, the only certainty for unlawful citizens is amnesty.

In fiscal terms, each new citizen would be eligible for a host of mean-tested welfare programs, the total cost of which may well amount to billions each year. Additionally, this bill would incentivize parents abroad to attempt perilous border crossings in the hope that their children might be granted amnesty as well. While the House version may vary, it is apt to bear the same framework, and any significant conservative footholds are likely to be capitulated once the bills go to conference, or ignored by the President.

Agriculture Jobs Amnesty: The “Agricultural Guest Worker Act” (H.R. 1773) grants amnesty to all current illegal agricultural workers and welcomes 500,000 new workers each year (permitting the Secretary of Agriculture full discretion to raise the cap to accommodate a number of elusive considerations). Not unlike the DREAM Act, this bill creates a new center of gravity from which chain legalization and government subsidies will follow.
Not only would amnesty reward those who came here illegally (which is unfair to the current 4.4 million people patiently wading through the arduous process of visa authorization), but it would also set a precedent that will encourage others to enter or stay in the U.S. illegally in hopes of the same reward of citizenship.
Conservatives recognize a variety of defects in our current immigration system and would welcome the opportunity for real reform. Unfortunately, in conjunction with Senate Democrats, the sitting administration has only shown interest in exploiting the debate for political gain.

Once again I thank you for your attention and action on this matter.
God Bless YOU and may GOD BLESS OUR AMERICA
Leanne