Archives for 2013

Republican congressman Bob Goodlatte- Immigration Zero

Republican congressman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia has drawn a line in the sand

by repeatedly stating he will not vote for any immigration reform that leads to a path to citizenship for the approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants in our country.

He told a town hall meeting in the Shenandoah Valley in August, 2013, that,

“the House must chart its own course on immigration even if it never results in a bill President Barack Obama can sign.”

To further clarify his point, he said that,

“he’ll do everything he can to ensure the House never takes up the Senate’s comprehensive immigration bill, which includes a path to citizenship for the 11 million immigrants in the country illegally.”

If you read the full article you will see he also places the blame for not passing immigration reform squarely on the Democrats by stating,

“The folks who want to have a path to citizenship have held everything else hostage.”

So, by his rationale, anyone who insists on something being in the future immigration reform bill is holding the legislature hostage, doesn’t that also apply to the Republicans for having the exact opposite position? After all, if you state you “will not vote for any immigration reform that leads to a path toward citizenship, and are going to make sure the House never takes up the Senate bill,” aren’t you, by the same standard, doing the exact same thing? And by refusing to put the Senate bill to a vote, isn’t that just like shooting the only horse in the race? It is, after all, the Democrats, along with a few Republicans, who have been working tirelessly to propose an immigration bill that the Republicans could get behind. All the Republicans have done is refuse to bring it to a vote.

Immigration Reform in 2014

We must ensure comprehensive immigration reform in 2014.

If we don’t make immigration reform a priority by December 1, 2014,we may not see another opportunity for years.

What will our country look like then?

It is no secret that the US immigration system is a mess. It is so out of touch with our society that even the people running it don’t know what to do. To deport or not to deport has become a heated argument all across America. The fact is, our immigration system has not been designed to achieve a unified strategic plan, so it doesn’t.  Instead, it has been cobbled together, one piece at a time, for over four hundred years. We have created laws that, at times, have been set up to achieve specific individual goals, such as keeping out people from specific nations, or allowing other European countries higher numbers of immigrants in order to keep our country light-skinned. We have never looked at our country and asked what it needs to grow and be healthy. We have only looked at our country with an eye towards protecting that with which we rightfully stole. Looking at the state of our country today and it is obvious very little has changed. We are still run by a paranoid minority that is trying to keep their hold on the country and keep “undesirables” out.  In a word, our immigration laws are “hateful,” and where hate is involved, the one thing our immigration laws don’t do is discriminate—they hate everyone.

  • They hate the schools and universities that try to strengthen our competitiveness in the face of global competition by limiting their access to bright young minds and deporting many graduates and pre-grads, who otherwise could have been high-value alumni donors.
  • They hate big business by limiting their access to the bright young people we educate so well. These corporations offer these students internships that train them with highly specialized skills, only to ship them back to their home countries where they become that same company’s chief competition.
  • They hate small businesses who need labor to flourish amidst the American obsession for ever cheaper goods and services in the aftermath of a national financial meltdown.
  • They hate the law’s enforcers who are confused as to whether or not to enforce the current laws on the books, or worse yet, are minimally trained in immigration law procedures but expected to perform immigration law enforcement duties.
  • They hate the politicians who must decide whether to submit to their party’s extremist policies to gain their support and watch their popularity among voters plummet, or give the voters what they ask for and risk the ire and abandonment of their party’s extremist kingmakers. Either way they stand to face almost certain failure in their next election cycle.
  • They hate American families who are already facing a high divorce rate by separating and deporting one or more parents from the family. Add to this a ban from re-entering the US for several years, and the family must struggle to survive more stress and endure more hardships than most successful families.
  • And let’s not forget the immigrants. It hates them by waving the jobs they seek in front of them and then criminalizing them for coming here and taking them.
  • It hates the migrant workers who normally return to their home country after harvest season, by increasing border security and forcing them to stay here, in a much more expensive society, all year round for fear of getting cut off from their livelihood.
  • It hates the solo worker who normally comes here for a year or two and sends money back home to raise and care for their family by forcing them to stay in the US indefinitely, forever cut off from their home and family, for fear they might not make it back to their jobs when they need to get back to work.
  • Most of all, our immigration system hates our children. It casts a shadow over their lives with the threat of ripping their parents, relatives, neighbors and classmates right out of their lives overnight, without warning. When this actually happens, it shocks and disrupts them so violently and completely, we are certain to see a new generation of rebellious young US citizens who hate our laws and authority figures. Expect to see them wreaking havoc on our society very soon.

 

Our current immigration system works against every person in the United States. This situation has been like this for many, many years, and it gets worse with each passing day.

So why haven’t we fixed it already?

The answer is obvious—it’s right in front of us every time we read or watch a news cast about the deadlock in congress over immigration reform legislation.

Our political system has failed us.

What should our immigration and naturalization system do for our country?

  1. Allow our schools to train the best minds from around the world
  2. Allow our corporations access to recruit, train and retain the brightest minds from around the world.
  3. Allow our small businesses to access the labor pool they need in order to be competitive and give the American people access to the goods and services they need.
  4. Protect our families and prevent the breakup of otherwise peaceful and law-abiding citizens.
  5. Protect our children by not depriving them of the parents they need to raise them.
  6. Keep our politicians from sabotaging our efforts at establishing fair and successful immigration laws.
  7. Protect our families from Drugs and criminals who would do harm to our families and neighborhoods.
  8. Create an inviting and rewarding environment for workers from around the world to support their families as they see fit whether that be sending money home, seasonal work or bringing their families with them to create the life they desire.
  9. Incentivize immigrants who are already in our country to step forward and become a legal and welcome part of our society.
  10. Ensure for the safety and well being of immigrants who don’t wish to be citizens.
  11. Have this system be self-funding so as not to burden the American people with the problems of the world.
  12. Train people to support and carry out the laws that we create to do these things, and give them the tools and support to do this.
  13. Give citizenship to anyone who joins our military.

Can you think of anything else our immigration laws should do for our country and for the immigrant labor and brainpower we are going to need to compete in the 21st century?

Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn- Immigration Zero

Rep. Scott DesJarlais, a Republican from Tennessee has shown his support for the Conservative Republican platform. He values the enforcement of dysfunctional laws over compassionate reform.

During a town hall meeting the congressman was asked by an 11 year old girl if we should allow her father to be able to stay in the US. His answer was not very compassionate, but he garnered cheers from some in the audience, and he was pretty happy with that. Keeping families together is apparently not a big priority for the Republican party, which is contradictory to it’s stated “Christian family values” platform. Someone needs to tell this guy what the value of an American family should be, and then ask him, “what would Jesus do? He obviously is just along for the ride on the Republican “Tea Party”  train, which puts punishment before reform. See the interaction HERE.

Tell the Government what YOU want

Are you tired of having a few angry congressmen dictate to us what THEY want in the way of immigration legislation?  According to Reform Immigration for America these three members of congress  stand in the way of good immigration reform:

I would add Sen. Ted Cruz. He is loudly opposed to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and he is trying to convince fellow Republicans that they will do fine with Hispanics by voting against immigration reform.

Really? Does he get the paper? Does he even listen to what people are saying about him and his ultra-conservative views?

Tell the government what you want, and they had better get it right. Go over to Reform Immigration for America and send a quick email. Let these senators know they do NOT speak for you, and you do NOT support them. It’s about time we take back our government from the people who would do us harm by forcing their narrow-minded beliefs on us.

WeBelongTogether teaches kids they matter too.

It has been said many times that children are our future, but the phrase seems to lose all meaning once it is said. WeBelongTogether.org gets it. This organization is getting kids to write to Congress and pleading with them to pass better immigration laws so they can keep their families together.  Teaching children how to participate in the political process is the first step in changing our nation. If we all do something to help our children learn how to use the political process and exercise free speech, then maybe the world can be changed. Check out their letter writing movement at www.webelongtogether.org/wish

Rep. Luis Gutierrez A real leader

Luis GutierrezRep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.,

He was part of a bipartisan working group of House lawmakers working on reform legislation before its Republican members left. He says that although Syria and the government shutdown “knocked immigration reform off the front page in English language papers,” the issue is still leading the news in Spanish-language media.

“Republican leadership has apparently walked away from reform and is putting all its energy into denying health care to people,” Gutierrez said, referencing the House GOP’s push to repeal Obamacare, which they’ve attached to the stalemated spending bill.

Gutierrez also added that soon, headlines of the Obama administration’s 2 millionth deportation would hit the news, pressuring the president to again renew his focus on reform. 

Rep. Luis Gutierrez is also the founding father of the DREAM ACT and has been working tirelessly to educate the Senate as to the dire situation todays immigrants, as well as millions of American families face today.

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Steve King Advocate for no change

Steve KingSteve King has promised to vote no on any immigration bill that comes to the House of Representatives. He says he is also bringing a bunch of other Republicans with him.

Didn’t he learn anything from Mitt Romney’s defeat?

He says he has organized a small but growing number of conservatives who are committed to voting against any House immigration bill—no matter what it says—because they fear that the Senate will inevitably find a way to add “amnesty” to the equation.

King doesn’t tell us how many members he’s got on board. Some insiders say it’s somewhere between 20 and 70 members. Even at the low end of that range, it’s enough to prevent any Republican-led immigration bill from passing.

It is thinking like this that has perpetuated a dysfunctional immigration system for over fifty years.

This is one politician we don’t need next term.

The Dishwasher’s Son.org immigration news website

PRESS RELEASE

The Dishwasher’s Son.org new immigration reform website

Author creates website to help US immigration reform legislation

Redwood City, CA, October 3, 2013:  Mike J Quinn, author of  “The Dishwasher’s Son” has created a new website at  www.thedishwashersson.org to help elevate the immigration debate and keep it from falling to the wayside amidst our country’s other problems.  As the House of Representatives has no intention of passing an immigration reform bill any time soon, he has taken it upon himself to arouse interest and elevate the discussion around this important topic.

Mike, himself a father and husband in a multi-national family is pushing for immigration reform so his family, and millions of other American families won’t have to worry about being separated by our outdated and dysfunctional immigration system. He has written a novel, “The Dishwasher’s Son,” a story about how the US/Mexico border runs through a contemporary American family.

 

 

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If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Mike J Quinn, please send him an email at info@thedishwashersson.com

US Immigration Reform Plan A

 

If we don’t want the House of Representatives to hijack our immigration reform efforts, we need to tell them what we want. Right now they are taking it upon themselves to tell us what they are going to give us, irregardless of how adversely it affects our country. Every credible study that has ever been done regarding our country and its immigrants has shown that they are a valuable part of our society and indeed, have made us the great nation we are today. The Republicans are the only ones saying otherwise.

Stand up and let them know you will not be beaten into submission. Read this ebook and join the conversation.

Click Here to download the free ebook

John Boehner- Leader of Dysfunction

john boehnerAs Speaker of the House no one has more responsibility for the performance of this institution, and it has been noted that this has been the most impotent government in our history.

He has lead us to the brink of the “fiscal cliff” last year, and into a Government shut down this year because of his party’s desire to defund the Affordable Care act. We didn’t ask them to do that, they came up with that all on their own. Somebody needs to tell them we didn’t elect them to be dictators. This congress has not only been ineffectual, but downright harmful.

As far as immigration goes, for months he has said he will not bring the bill that passed through the Senate to the floor of the House of Representatives, stalling something that has been long in the making and heavily watered down by his own party. His refusal to participate in something that our country desperately needs is shameful.

Should he be allowed to do this all over again next term?