NumbersUSA Newsletter - Trump's V-P Pick Mostly Strong Immigration Record

Newsletter

This Issue: Trump's V-P pick has mostly strong immigration record in Congress and as Indiana governor Fri, Jul 15th In 90 votes and co-sponsorships during 12 years in Congress (2003-12), Indiana Gov. Mike Pence earned a Career B+ Grade from NumbersUSA. That means he usually voted against increases in immigration that would drive American wages down through a looser labor market and that would force more rapid population growth on local communities. He nearly always voted for extra controls to reduce illegal immigration. And he made several attempts to reduce overall legal immigration. Except for one category (H-1B visas), the record shows Pence was a stalwart in the battle for immigration policies that serve the interests of our national community. IMMIGRATION REDUCTION, E-VERIFY, BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP Pence was a minor player in the effort to end chain migration. But he was continuously involved in trying to eliminate the visa lottery. He was a consistent supporter of mandating E-Verify to keep tourists and illegal migrants out of U.S. jobs. Pence showed leadership throughout his time in the U.S. House of Representatives in trying to halt the practice of automatic citizenship for births to tourists and illegal migrants. SOLID ANTI-AMNESTY, EXCEPT . . . Pence's congressional record is much better than many of us remember because we tend to think first of something that was not a congressional action and, thus, doesn't show up in our NumbersUSA scoring -- the infamous Pence "touch-back amnesty." During the George Bush amnesty frenzy of 2006 and 2007, Pence floated the idea of what he thought would be a giant compromise breakthrough in which all illegal aliens would be invited to return to their home countries with most of them rewarded with an opportunity to immediately return to the United States with lifetime work permits and the chance to be a U.S. citizen. The public blowback was immediate and fierce. Pence never submitted legislation, but the negative reaction from grassroots Republicans was so great it knocked him from a national pedestal of previous adulation. He may have learned something from the experience, as he compiled a strong Career A-Grade anti-amnesty record, including a 2010 vote against the Dream Act amnesty. As governor, he said a bit ambiguously in 2014: "I just always believe that we should not reward people with citizenship whose first act in this country was a violation of the law, and I continue to hold that view. But there's plenty of room here for compassion and there's plenty of room here for crafting a solution that will deal with this in the long term." http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/08/22/indiana-gov-mike-pence-on-iraq-immigration-and-2016/ Pence has been outspoken in his condemnation of Pres. Obama's executive amnesties and praised the Supreme Court ruling that resulted in the blocking of those amnesties. Indiana was one of the 26 states that had brought the lawsuit. EARLY SUPPORT FOR FOREIGN TECH WORKERS Pence's Career immigration report card shows him with an A+ in four categories, an A in four categories and an A-minus in the "Challenge Status Quo" category (a much better grade than most get in that category). But in the category of "reduce unnecessary worker visas," Pence's six actions earned him an F-minus grade. His support for big expansions in the H-1B visas for high tech workers are causing watchdogs among American tech workers to be wary of Trump's vice-presidential choice. One positive sign is that Pence stopped promoting H-1B visas during his final four years in Congress. However, we have yet to find a statement from Pence indicating he understands the reality of the tech job market or how immigration policy should relate to the fact that nearly 60 million working-age Americans don't work. REFUGEES AND INTERIOR ENFORCEMENT As governor, Pence ordered state agencies to suspend the relocation of any more Syrian refugees to Indiana until he received assurances from the federal government that proper security measures have been taken. He was active throughout his congressional career in fighting fraud in the asylum program. Pence took 21 actions in Congress to deny rewards for illegal immigration, and 25 actions to strengthen border security. His boldest work may have been in the area of interior enforcement. His 35 actions were especially strong in the area of assisting local governments in immigration enforcement. Read Pence's full immigration record for yourself at https://www.numbersusa.com/content/my/congress/952/gradescoresheet/ Roy beck Action Congress begins its 8-week summer recess this weekend! Here's what you can expect over the next 8 weeks: Van will be sending alerts to individual districts as we learn about public events where your Members of Congress will be appearing. Next week, we'll be sending out a Summer Recess Cheat Sheet listing the key issues and talking points that we'll be pushing over the next 8 weeks. We'll be posting Meeting Notes on your Action Board as we learn about Town Hall meetings in your area. Making in-person contact with your Members of Congress while they're home in the districts is the most impactful type of activism you can do! The second half of July and August should provide lots of opportunities to meet up with your elected officials, especially since many of them will be up for re-election this fall. If you're able to attend a public event or schedule a face-to-face meeting with your Members of Congress, please send a message to Chris Chmielenski (cchmielenski@numbersusa.com) or Van Esser (vesser@numbersusa.com), so we can provide you with talking points specific to the Member. Action Board Account Please make sure your Account information is up to date. You can update your mailing address, email address, phone number, and email subscriptions on your Account page. Click on this link to view your Account Settings. Feature Order Free Cards -- Bring Numbers Out of Hiding Would you like a half-dozen of our foldover immigration/population cards? Just email Fritz and let him know. These are really easy to carry in a wallet, purse, pockets, etc. so you have them handy to give them to others to visually show why immigration is of a magnitude that demands attention. Over the years, our members have handed out more than 100,000 of these cards as a way to quickly and politely introduce people to government numbers they probably have never seen. They are the numbers that make so many Americans passionate about the mission of NumbersUSA to reduce total immigration to a level that serves the national interest. And if you want to see a video presentation of the information on the foldover card, click here.

Criminal Justice Reformers Fail to Account for Criminal Aliens Chris Chmielenski Thu, Jul 14th Recent events have brought a renewed focus on criminal justice reform in Congress, and yesterday, the four Senators leading the effort in that chamber called for the consideration of their legislation S. 2123 to reform the federal sentencing guidelines. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Corey Booker (D-N.J.) gave consecutive speeches on the Senate floor, pushing for passage of the bill, but not one of them talked about the benefit the bill would have, if passed, for thousands of criminal aliens.

India to Challenge Visa Reductions in International Court Thu, Jul 14th India says it will contest a bill to reform the H-1B and L-1 visa programs, if passed, saying it would violate international trade agreements. Last week, Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) introduced the H-B and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2016 that would prevent companies from misusing these visas to replace American workers.

House Panel Questions State Dept. Policy on Deportations Thu, Jul 14th The State Department puts foreign relations ahead of the safety of American citizens with respect to immigration laws, according to Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) who chairs the House Committee for Oversight and Government Reform. The committee listened to testimony from State Department officials on Wednesday on the agency's use of a rarely used provision that's been around since 1952, allowing it to deny visas to countries that refuse to repatriate criminal aliens with deportation orders.

Ryan Pushes Gang of Eight Style Amnesty at CNN Town Hall Wed, Jul 13th While discussing the new GOP agenda at a CNN town hall yesterday, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) repeated his support for a Gang of Eight type amnesty of offering work permits to illegal aliens currently living in the U.S. "And then those people who need to get right with the law, give them a way to earn their way, through fines, through penalties, learn English, civics, reapply a policy of assimilation, so that they can get a work permit to work," responded Speaker Ryan when asked about illegal immigration.

Recent Events Disrupt Elite Narrative on Immigration Eric Ruark Wed, Jul 13th The result of the June 23 Brexit vote continues to cause much gnashing of teeth on both sides of the Atlantic from those who expected the United Kingdom would remain in the European Union; many of who arrogantly dismissed the notion that the citizens of Britain might actually want to regain control of their own affairs.

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