Sen. Grassley: Obama Going Behind Congress' Back On Immigration

By Adrianna McGinley

Ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), argued Tuesday that the White House is improperly operating behind lawmakers’ backs on immigration policy.

The senator specifically questioned the motive and intention of a memo released by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in August calling to establish a working group to review the cases of hundreds of thousands of undocumented individuals.

“The Obama policies may be an impermissible intrusion on Congress’s plenary authority over immigration law,” Grassley said during an appearance before Judicial Watch, a “conservative, non-partisan educational foundation, [that] promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law”.

In September, Grassley and 18 other senators sent a letter to Obama requesting the new policies be rescinded and that Napolitano be made available to questioning by Congress. She is scheduled to testify Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“It will be our chance to conduct oversight over her department and their policies,” Grassley said. “You can be sure that prosecutorial discretion will come up. I also plan again, to express my concern with how this administration is enforcing the laws, and whether they are trying to find creative ways to keep as many illegal people in this country.”

Grassley also expressed concern over a memo released last summer giving “prosecutorial discretion” to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and “gun walking” that took place under Operation Fast and Furious.

Under the controversial Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) operation, weapons were allowed to “walk” in to the hands of Mexican drug cartels. Two of these weapons were found at the scene of the December murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

“My motivation is to make sure nothing like this ever happens again, and get the truth for the Terry family as well as an untold number of Mexican citizens who may be victims as well,” Grassley said.

Senate Democrats Look To Beef Up Border Security

Senate Democrats introduced new legislation Thursday that is aimed at beefing up security along the country’s Southwest border.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), alongside Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), unveiled a $600 million emergency measure in an effort to fully secure the U.S.-Mexican border.  The proposal would deploy 1,500 new enforcement agents and fund unmanned aerial vehicles to boost border surveillance.

“This package shows a serious commitment to securing the border, even though we know it will take comprehensive immigration reform to fully address the problem,” Schumer said. “We plan to push this measure immediately in the Senate, and it will send the personnel and equipment we need along the border.”

Sens. Schumer and McCaskill touted the new bill by distinguishing it from a similar bill introduced by Senate Republicans. Under the GOP’s version, funding would originate from surplus Recovery Act funding, a measure Democrats said would eliminate jobs.

Democrats plan to fuel this measure without increasing the nation’s debt while simultaneously creating jobs.

“[The bill] would avoid adding to the deficit by raising fees on a handful of foreign corporations that exploit U.S. visa programs to import workers from India,” the Sens. said in a statement. “The Senate Democrats’ proposal is paid for by raising fees on companies that take jobs away from U.S. workers.”

The Senate duo are hopeful this measure hits the floor running and comes up before the Senate breaks for recess.

AZ Attorney General Says DoJ Is Justified In Filing Suit Against S.B. 1070

By Rob Sanna - Talk Radio News

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard told the Subcommittee on Border, Maritime, and Global Counterterrorism Thursday that standards must be set before action can be taken towards improving the security of the nation’s southwest border.

“Alot of words have been wasted talking about securing the border without defining what that means,” Goddard said. “We need objective standards.”

The Border Patrol agency has increased its numbers over the last ten years. Earlier this week, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced that the Department of Homeland Security plans to deploy 100 additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, 300 more Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agents and new border monitoring aircrafts to Arizona.

Arizona’s top law enforcement official also defended Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to file suit against Arizona’s controversial immigration reform law, S.B. 1070, if Holder believed it to be unconstitutional.

“If that’s what he thinks, yes,” Goddard said.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton began hearings Thursday in Arizona’s federal court after the Department of Justice filed suit to prevent the law from being implemented. The controversial bill is currently on track to take effect July 29.

Senators McCain And Kyl Call For 3,000 National Guard Troops Along Southwest Border

By Antonia Aguilar - University of New Mexico / Talk Radio News Service

Arizona Senators John McCain (R) and Jon Kyl (R) called Monday for the immediate deployment of 3,000 National Guard troops to help secure the U.S. border along Arizona and Mexico.

“Arizona has been disproportionately hit by this situation,” said McCain during a press briefing on ways to counteract violence stemming from illegal immigration. “Last year there were 1 million apprehensions of border crossing. 600,000 of those took place in the state of Arizona.... We’re not talking just about people who are crossing our border to go to work, we’re talking about criminal elements that are increasingly sophisticated in their operations.”

The deployment of 3,000 troops is one of ten strategies within McCain and Kyl’s proposed Ten Point Border Security Action Plan to secure the Arizona/ Mexico border. The plan also includes permanently adding 3,000 Custom and Border Protection Agents and constructing 700 miles of fencing along the border.

“It doesn’t take that much in the way of resources to accomplish what we are trying to accomplish,” said Kyl. “This is doable. It can be done and it’s got to be done.”

Department Of Interior Regulations Have Jeopardized U.S. Safety, Say House Republicans

By Antonia Aguilar - University of New Mexico / Talk Radio News

House Representatives Rob Bishop (R-Ut), Doc Hastings (R-WA) and Peter King (R-NY) accused the Department of Interior (DOI) of endangering U.S. citizens by interfering with border protection, during a press briefing on Wednesday to announce new legislation that will better protect U.S. borders.

“The Department of Interior and to a lesser extent the forest service have failed to protect American citizens,” said Bishop. “Their politically correct policies have put American citizens in harm.”

According to the House Natural Resources Committee, current guidelines prohibit border patrol access on federal land making it harder for U.S. border patrol agencies to properly secure 20.7 million acres that are owned by the DOI and U.S. Forest Service (USFS). These policies prohibit border patrol agencies from entering into designated wilderness areas with vehicles and from installing security and communication structures on land that is rumored to be highly used by illegal immigrants.

“We are faced with a terrorist issue, we are faced with an illegal immigration issue and yet we have a cabinet office of the United States government preventing the Department of Homeland Security and Border Patrol from doing their jobs,” said Peter King.

The proposed legislation will lift current regulations on federal land and allow border patrol agencies free reign to secure all U.S. borders.