1.     Openers

Dear Readers:

I am not shocked very easily when it comes to the immigration debate, but that was certainly the case last week when I learned that Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told a reporter that he was seriously considering introducing a bill to substantially alter the 14^th Amendment to the Constitution as it pertains to birthright citizenship. Extremists on the far right have argued for years that time has come to end automatic citizenship for all children born in the United States. That this has been the cornerstone of civil rights protections in the US for nearly 150 years and most mainstream politicians would not even mention scrapping birthright citizenship – that is until this week.

Graham’s comment was especially surprising given that he has been one of the few voices in the Republican Party supporting comprehensive immigration reform. Graham was quickly joined by a number of other Republicans which effectively signified the end of any hope that the GOP will participate in negotiating on an immigration bill. It also means that the GOP has effectively written off the Hispanic vote for decades in the hope of appealing to the Tea Party wing of their party. Of course, this is a group that was already voting Republican.

All that this position may do is energize some of these voters to turn out in November. That may even help the GOP regain control of the House of Republicans. But it spells doom in the long run. A party that appeals primarily to white southerners and westerners can perhaps do well when the economy is mired in recession and the election is a referendum on the Democrats’ performance. But when the economy recovers, they will be in serious trouble.

 
I’ve written a piece in this issue on why we should be worried about repealing the 14^th Amendment. The article was originally

run on the American Immigration Lawyers Association web site on their leadership blog (I’m on the board of governors). Hopefully, the GOP will get some common sense and start moving again back to the center. Right now, it seems like the ship is rudderless.

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There have been other important developments as well since our last issue. One was the leaking of a USCIS memorandum outlining how the Administration can accomplishment many goals of comprehensive immigration reform without depending on legislation. Republican lawmakers were naturally furious given how effectively they’ve blocked reform in Congress. The White House was basically silent – as was probably wise – and is keeping it’s plans to itself.

The other news was the passage of a $600 million border enforcement bill by both houses of Congress. In a shameless attempt to show the measure is budget neutral, Democratic legislators claim that a large increase in H-1B fees to be imposed on the largest Indian IT staffing companies will cover the costs. First, why H-1B applicants should have to underwrite sending money to the Mexican border is beyond me. Second, even if this is justified, the dollars that will be raised are not going to be nearly enough to cover the bill. Politics at its worst.

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This week I’m off to speak at ImmigrationWorksUSA’s national conference in Seattle where I’ll be joining my friend Lou Moffa on a panel discussing developments in state immigration.  We’ll talk about the Arizona law as well as immigration laws popping up in other states.

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Readers are reminded that they are welcome to contact my law office if they would like to schedule a telephone or in person consultation with me or one of my colleagues. If you are interested, please call my office at 901-682-6455.

Regards,

Greg Siskind