Administration Pushes Ahead with Amnesty

The Bush Administration continues in its efforts to broker an amnesty bill which Senate Republicans can accept. Initially the administration proposed "Z visas" which would allow illegal aliens to remain in the U.S. by paying a fine of $3,500 every three years. To get permanent residence they would have to leave the country and pay a $10,000 fine. Also, it proposed a guest worker program which would not allow families of guest workers to come.

Now, however, according to CongressDailyAM (4/25/07), Bush is willing to weaken these provisions, with a fine lower than $10,000 and by allowing guest workers to bring their families if the income of the guest workers is above a certain level and they have health insurance.

The New York Times reported (4/25/07) that Sen. John Kyle (R-AZ), who opposed permanent residence (amnesty) for illegal aliens last year is now "a key player in President Bush's efforts to enact one." Last year, "in the middle of a tough re-election race in a border state racked by strong feelings about immigration, [he] adamantly opposed . . . a Senate-passed plan that allowed illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship and created a guest worker program." At present, he is "hard at work on just such a measure."

San Francisco Mayor Declares Sanctuary City

Mayor Gavin Newsome, mayor of San Francisco, announced that police and other employees of his city would not assist federal immigration law enforcement in San Francisco. Said Newsome, "I will not allow any of my department heads or anyone associated with this city to cooperate in any way, shape, or form with [immigration] raids. We are a sanctuary city, make no mistake about it."

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) replied, "Now that Mr. Newsome has made it crystal clear that he intends to flaunt federal law, I would like to know what actions the Justice Department will take to ensure compliance. The Colorado congressman also characterized Newsome as "a rogue mayor." Source: Austin-American Statesman, 4/25/07.

The law to which Tancredo referred is the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Responsibility Act (IIRIRA). Section 642 (a) of (IIRIRA) states, "Notwithstanding any other provision of federal, state, or local law, a federal, state, or local government entity or official may not prohibit or in any way restrict any government entity or official from sending to or receiving from the Immigration and Naturalization Service information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual."