My Response to President Obama’s Remarks Today



Once again, President Obama has made a speech about his immigration plans. Nothing new today, just more of the same. He stands in the East Room surrounded by his staff pretending this is some august occasion for ceremony. We were treated to an alternating series of platitudes and outrageous and false claims that his immigration plan would end illegal immigration while sending economic growth soaring.

Each day at FAIR we hear rumors of one Republican or another “drafting a bill in secret” or “negotiating for an amnesty in secret” as a swarm of lobbyists and ideologically-driven journalists seek to generate momentum around a non-issue. Each day we must investigate each rumor and, when verified, work to limit the damage. Today, we hear that Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) has drafted a limited amnesty bill. Why Issa? Why now?

The facts are simple. Any bill passed by the House becomes “amnesty bait” for the Senate bill. The House cannot conference with the Senate-passed amnesty bill. The Senate bill is flawed public policy. The Senate legislation reforms nothing. It fails to live up to the standards of good and effective public policy. The President’s claim that it will increase economic growth is true only if you accept the proposition that the average American family should become poorer as a result. Why should the left wing turn its back on American families? Because they calculate that the long-term political benefits of amnesty and more immigration justify an alliance with big business and the profiteers pushing low wages and entrenched poverty.

Where is a leader who can stand for Americans?

About Author

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Dan is the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)'s President after joining the organization in 1982. He has testified more than 50 times before Congress, and been cited in the media as "America's best-known immigration reformer." Dan has appeared on virtually every significant TV and radio news/talk program in America and, in addition to being a contributing editor to ImmigrationReform.com, has contributed commentaries to a vast number of print media outlets.

29 Comments

  1. avatar

    How can Barry Soetoro aka Barack Hussein Obama be president? He isn’t a natural born American citizen as required by the Constitution. By his autobiography, and his refusal to identify himself (his “birth certificate is proven false), we don’t even know if he’s an American citizen.

  2. avatar

    NO AMNESTY, PERIOD!!! NO AMNESTY, PERIOD! NO AMNESTY, PERIOD! NO AMNESTY, PERIOD! NO AMNESTY, PERIOD! NO AMNESTY, NO AMNESTY,PERIOD!!

  3. avatar

    America has the most corrupted politicians ever! Why do they want to just sell their own Americans out??? There is massive illegal immigration in America, America has massive illegal aliens who had actually invaded America, and now they are allow to change our American constitution, our laws, rules, and regulation for their own purposes in America, what is so sick, they are allow to do this like no American citizens in America exist at all!! just look how bold and rude they are, they have the nerve to be in America illegally, to just march and protest in our America streets to ask our lawmakers, to just overlook all their wrongdoings, their illegal status, and just give them amnesty or legalization! They constantly cry about all their Americans dreams, like Americans have no kind of American dreams at all! They had taken jobs from millions of Americans, maybe I should say our own backstabbing American employers, had taken jobs from Americans and gave them to illegal aliens! There are hardly no such thing as American employers not knowing that they hire illegal aliens, millions of them know, and they just do not get any kind of penalties, which is long over due! It hurts to know that illegal aliens can lie to get jobs in America without background checks, while at the same time most of the time Americans are required to have background checks before they are considered hired!!!!!!!! Our many American laws are so terribly double standard when it comes to millions of illegal immigration in America. Why can our laws, politicians remove millions of illegal aliens out of our jobs now! And replace their jobs with millions of jobless Americans now! what make illegal aliens so much better then Americans any way???????

    AND THE SAD THING ABOUT ILLEGAL ALIENS, THERE ARE MILLIONS OF THEM AT WORK, THEY HAVE JOBS, ALLOW TO BRING HOME PAYCHECKS TO THEIR FAMILIES, AT THE VERY SAME TIME THERE ARE MILLIONS OF AMERICANS WHO HAVE LEGAL STATUS TO THIS COUNTRY ARE LEFT TERRIBLY JOBLESS!!!!! WHAT IS THIS SAYING ABOUT OUR AMERICAN POLITICIANS, ALL YOU HEAR THEM TALK ABOUT IS ILLEGAL ALIENS AND THEIR FAMILIES, GIVING THEM WHAT THEY WANT AND SUPPOSIBLY NEED OF AMERICA! THEY JUST HAVE COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN ABOUT THE WELFARE OF THEIR OWN AMERICANS, AMERICA IS NOT CHANGING FOR THE BEST WITH GIVING MILLIONS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS AMERICA! IT JUST WILL NOT BE GOOD FOR THE ECONOMY LIKE OUR PRESIDENT AND SOME OF CONGRESS SAID. AMERICA IS BEING SOBATODGE BY ANOTHER COUNTRY MILLIONS OF POOR WITH THE HELP OF OUR CORRUPTED AMERICAN POLITICIANS, ( LAWMAKERS!) AMERICA HAS A BUNCH OF ILLEGAL ALIENS, WHO COME HERE ILLEGALLY, PURPOSELY OVER POPULATE THEM SELF TO BECOME THE MAJORITY. THIS IS CALLED TAKEN OVER, TO THE POINT NOW THAT AMERICANS VOTES DO NOT EVEN COUNT ANY MORE! THEY USE ARE AMERICAN BIRTHRIGHT LAWS, JUST FOR THE SAKE OF GETTING THEIR CHILDREN BORN HERE AUTOMATIC AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP! OUR AMERICA ARE JUST TO LENIET TO ILLEGAL ALIENS, TO JUST ABOUT ANY BODY! THEY ALLOW THEM TO JUMP IN THE FRONT OF THE LINETO JUST ABOUT ANYTHING, WHILE THEIR OWN AMERICANS ARE LEFT IN THE BACK OF THE LINES IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY……..

  4. avatar

    Amnesty? They can’t be serious. These people are here illegally (as in they’re not supposed to be here) and as such we shouldn’t work to craft a means rfor them to circumvent the current immigration law. This would be inherently unfair to virtually every American citizen and other aliens awaiting their turn to immigrate legally. All this would do is to create hardship and hard feelings, not to mention encouragement for other laws to be ignored. We have more than just Mexican nationals coming across our southern border. There are plenty of terrorists that know they can stay under the radar through a southern entry. Gunrunning, drug smuggling and people smuggling are just the beginning. women and girls are kidnapped and taken to Mexico for sale into forced prostitution. Who are these people commiting those crimes? Not legal residents or citizens of America for sure. Amnesty for illegal residents means they will take jobs that other Americans won’t be able to garner. If that won’t be the case then we’ll at least have more welfare burden to bear at a time when we have the least to spare. At any rate the unemployment will skyrocket. How can there be any good from this? I am tired of hearing the story of the teen that was brought here through no fault of her own and now must leave the only country she has known. This case didn’t happen 20 million times, this is simply anecdotal. What is so wrong in this person returning to a country that represents her/his roots. She/he probably already speaks Spanish (taught by parents that don’t know English) and it shouldn’t be that much of an adjustment. I already know of several Americans that were taken to other countries by parents who found work there and was raised in that country but when the time came to return, it was no problem other than a language accent to explain. My own children were raised overseas due to my military career. There was an adjustment to make and they eventually acclimated to the culture. When we eventually returned, no problems. I’m sure these youngsters that Obama yaps about all the time can make adjustments like 99 percent of all children.

    • avatar

      Which makes congress as criminal as the illegal aliens by their knowingly aiding and abetting the criminals if they pass that bill.

  5. avatar

    Dan–

    The People, our ‘will’ , your will, FAIR, and other conscientious Patriots are the ‘Leader’ in this politically divisive issue. We will have the ‘last and final’–‘justice will prevail over blatant disregard and disrespect for ‘rule of law’. We must purge our government policymakers of the contagion that is pro-amnesty, once and for all! No conference on Amnesty—-let us scream in unison to the tops of our lungs! Dan, can you explain to me why what is happening NOW, with the millions invading our country, it is not construed as ‘incursion’ as warned against in our Constitution?

    Let us all continue to fight the good fight.

    All reports tend to lean towards to nothing being done in the House. (source: Mark Krikorian).

    …fingers crossed…

  6. avatar

    Let me tell you, I live in Los Angeles and what everyone says is fact. The # of illegals have destroyed this city and state to the point we should just give it back to Mexico. Jobs that US citizens did are being done by illegals, houses that were once affordable are taken over by illegals and the neighborhoods is one you wouldn’t want to visit let alone live in. So this leave affordable housing out of touch for many who refuse to pay 379k for a 500 sq ft condo.
    This country and state needs to do something & it starts with enforcement of our laws including deportation of illegal aliens and heavy fines for businesses that hire them

  7. avatar

    Any other country DEPORTS illegals. Matter a fact – Mexocpo has the strictest Immigration Laws on the books. Obma is a Crook ! How do we know when He lies? Real simple : “As soon as he opens his mouth .” He sold gullible Americans durig his campaign speeches and htey went for it Lock Stock and Barrel by treating this sharlatan like the secon coming of Christ .. I used to feelo nauseos when listening to bush after avout 2 years … With Obama I felt grea disdain long before he was elected .. He sounds to me in a way like Hitler – promising everything and just causing destruction with in his case “OIL WARS” Our boys are dying for OIL .. He is he filthiest warlord ever that recieved the Nobel Price for his criminal acts . I can imagine that by now the Nobel Price committee members must feel like idiots .. (I hope)

  8. avatar

    The Presidents plan just might end illegal immigration. Once we are completly overrun by illegals and there are no jobs, just mass unemployment and every state, and poblic program goes bankrupt this will be a third world country and no one will want to come here seeking employment. Bad news for those overrunning our country right now, If you think Canada is next you better think again. In Canada they control their immigration with an iron hand.

  9. avatar

    We have laws concerning immigration which many are obeying, and waiting for possible entry into the U.S. Where is the justice for them if we allow millions to break the immigration laws BUT overlook the fact that they have broken the law…AND allow them entry before those who are following the laws of our land ?? I am totally confused at the time spent in Washington even considering this non-issue. It is pretty well known that the majority of the people from below the border are sending money back to their families in the country of their citizenship…to spend…buy properties…all benefiting the economy there, but hurting the economy here. Isn’t that foolish ? It’s like having your house broken into and valuables taken…and then fixing a lunch for the robbers !! There are SO many things wrong with this behavior among our leaders !! Obviously SOME are benefiting from this…either in votes, profit for companies using these aliens, or other factors.

    • avatar

      You know the people behind it are the elites. They need no money or work for it. This is some type of plan. The plan will destroy the U.S. as we ever knew possible. It’s a rigged game and the main population is paying the price. Think why is it Verizon made billions last yr and managed to pay zero in taxes as did many other corporations. The burden put on the working citizen. Along with everything else.

  10. avatar

    Dan: Maybe Obama thinks he will “end illegal immigration” if he creates policy where it is impossible to be an illegal immigrant. No enforcement of law allowed for illegal entry, and providing many “rewards” for coming here makes being “illegal” an honor and a privilege.

    • avatar

      Totally agree with Martin Linskey! Enforcement works. Our government should try it. I am tired of hearing these pro-amnesty groups whine about separation of families. When an adult chooses to enter the country illegally they take a chance on one day being deported. The illegal is the one causing the separation from their family not the ICE official for enforcing the law.

  11. avatar
    Concerned Citizen on

    Why should the left wing turn its back on families, indeed.

    Last night, I was on the phone with a friend who lives in Southern California, and he said he’s noticed a significant increase in the number of homeless families. He told one story of a family of Indian immigrants, a mother, father and three children, who were begging with a cup. My friend asked the man about their story and the father said he’d lost his job but was looking. They were hungry and hadn’t eaten all day. My friend took pity on them, went to an ATM, and gave them $60 in cash. The father was eternally grateful because now they could eat for a short time.

    This is troubling news. If you dig around on the internet, you’ll find all kinds of information about the bull market in homelessness, and by the way, many of the new homeless are children. 1.6 million children according to one conservative estimate. The official number of homeless is equal to the population of Philadelphia, another report said, but since many parents living in vans, tents and cars are afraid to report their status out of fear that authorities will take their children away, the actual number is likely the size of Los Angeles. Again, according to one report.

    It’s not just native-born Americans who are suffering. Many are immigrants, legal and illegal. For example, homelessness is epidemic among refugees, many of whom arrive here with few marketable skills in a foreign land they barely understand. Apparently, refugees often crash temporarily in the homes of generous people, often from the same ethnic group, then move on to new homes, constantly shuffling around. They will often trade groceries in the form of food stamps for rent, which means they go hungry. The Obama Adminstration, despite these cold, disturbing facts, plans to increase the number of refugees that we accept…and my understanding is that they’re raising the numbers before looking at studies that have been commissioned.

    The bottom line is that there is NOTHING humanitarian about America’s immigration policy, and it will only get more wicked if ideologues such as McCain, Schumer, Rubio, Adelson, Bloomberg and Zuckerberg succeed in pressuring Congress to the do the wrong thing and throw open our borders to more wage depression, misery and homelessness.

    Folks, the crisis is going on out there and you only have to open your eyes to see it.

    • avatar

      I have read that very thing about Los Angeles and homelessness. Even working people cannot afford housing. More immigration is simply going to make things worse.

      • avatar
        Concerned Citizen on

        Leland, a similar thing is happening in New York City, apparently. Many on the lower economic rungs, and these are people with jobs, can no longer afford housing so they go homeless. Kids go to school, then come home to a shelter, but they don’t tell anyone at school because they’re too ashamed and they fear going to a foster home. This is all happening on Bloomberg’s watch (he actually cut back shelter benefits to try to prevent permanent shelter living, but it’s been controversial), yet he still bangs the drum for more cheap labor.

    • avatar

      So True Concerned Citizen

      Its FAR worse in India too, but they’ve ignored overpopulation poverty in that country for the last century and yes, its gotten FAR worse there today than many decades ago too.

      Does that mean America must replicate a hopeless overpopulation India model, since we can take on more population density economic and social destruction; because Asia, Africa and Central/South America are FAR worse than America’s pitful state today? Hades no!

      We must set an example for Earthday to threst of the world by depopulating, not TOTALLY contradict our domestic livielihood and environmental roots.

    • avatar

      I heard a rumor that the Obama administration has actually been passing leaflets to Mexico urging illegals to come in. I don’t know if that is true. It wouldn’t surprise me because if we keep getting over run with illegals there will come a day very soon when there will be too many of them the fight amensty and the Dems know this, this is why they have been encouraging as much illegal immigration as possible. It is not enough to stop amnesty, we need to start dealing harshly with those who hire these illegals.

    • avatar

      and we should not be allowing refugees who cannot take care of themselves into this country. Many countries have requirements requiring your own funds to take care of yourself, and not the govt of that country. The same should hold true here, the citizens of the US should not be taking care of illegals or refugees. Homeless American citizens is one thing, homeless illegal aliens are not our responsibility.

  12. avatar

    Let me understand, we were forced into Obamacare because it was the “law of the land, but this administration has refused to follow the law of the land when it came to dealing with illegals, our boarders and corporations that illegally hire them?

    • avatar

      Did you see in the Senates amnesty bill that they will actually wave the requirements of obamacare everytime an employer hires one of these amnestied illegals? This means it will be far cheaper to hire amnestied illegals than american citizens and legal immigrants. That is the Obama adiminstration at work for the American Citizen.

  13. Pingback: My Response to President Obama’s Remarks TodayAlternate Viewpoint | Alternate Viewpoint

  14. avatar

    GOP will not introduce a bill because then it would force a conference with the Dems. And, as Reid has said, “We’ll get our own bill anyway.”

    http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/316389-reid-house-wont-allow-conference-on-immigration-

    Amnesty for over 20 Million Illegal Aliens will not improve the economy nor reduce the deficit. Wages for blue collar and working poor will be depressed for up to 20 years: Blacks (15% unemployment), Hispanics (10%), native-americans (poverty).

    CBO statements that S. 744 would decrease the budget deficit are misleading, as CBO counts the $200 billion to be paid in during the first 10 years by the newcomers and amnestied illegals in FICA taxes as “revenue”, when actually these dollars are SS trust fund money which is fully obligated to be paid back to the immigrants in the future. During the their first 10 years in the U.S., of course, the immigrants will not be collecting SS payments.

    http://www.examiner.com/article/amid-u-s-unemployment-crisis-illegal-aliens-sending-even-more-money-to-mexico

  15. avatar

    Too bad no member of the public or press gets the chance, before the news media, to ask the question, ”
    Why should we trust that you would enforce all provisions in a NEW immigration law, when you aren’t enforcing those we already have?”