Immigration

In addition to his remarks about the GOP "re-grouping," Sen. John Cornyn also reignited the debate over immigration Thursday morning.

Speaking on MSNBC, Cornyn said he was "disappointed" with President Obama's remarks on immigration reform at Wednesday's press conference.

"I was a little disappointed to hear the president backtrack last night on his commitment to deal with this in the first hundred days of his presidency," Cornyn said. "This is an issue that has been around a long time."

"I'd like to see the president's plan," Cornyn went on. "That's part of leadership, and that's the only way this is going to get done with the president laying out for the members of Congress what his plan is and rallying people to try to deal with this very difficult and complex issue."

Obama said Wednesday that he is committed to forming a working group on immigration reform. He also said he is taking administrative steps, such as strengthening security on the border, to pave the way for larger reforms.

That didn't satisfy Cornyn.

"Well, forming a working group to think about what the process might be... it's backtracking on his commitment to deal with this."

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Former Congressman Tom Tancredo said Friday that he and President Obama are both committed ideologues willing to do anything to implement their vision for the country.

The difference, of course, is that Tancredo is dedicated to strict anti-illegal immigration ideology while Obama is a "socialist."

And while Obama has the ultimate bully pulpit to advance his ideas now, the former congressman said he will seek out ways to implement his agenda, including a possible run for governor of Colorado in 2010.

In an interview with the BBR, Tancredo said he believes he and Obama share the same dedication.

"The one thing I do admire about Obama," he said, "is he is a committed ideologue. He is a committed socialist. He'll do everything he can to bring about his view of what America should be. I have the same motivation."

When asked what that ideology is, Tancredo responded: "To advance the idea that the America I'm talking about is committed to the concept of the Constitution. It is a country in which the English language is the official language of the country. It is the thing that holds us all together."

Tancredo's remarks come following a 10-year career in the House and an unsuccessful bid for the GOP presidential nomination last year. That campaign focused primarily on stricter immigration laws, a cause for which Tancredo has become something of a national spokesman.

Recently, Tancredo was greeted by somewhat violent protesters at an appearance at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Tancredo was there to discuss his opposition to giving in-state tuition benefits to illegal immigrants. But before he could speak, protests broke out and something, perhaps a brick, was thrown threw the window of the room. (Check out video here) Read more...

Wow. In the video below, former Rep. Tom Tancredo got a pretty unfriendly welcome from students at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Tancredo was at the university to talk about immigration and his opposition to granting in-state tuition benefits to illegal immigrants. The Colorado Republican, who ran a brief and unsuccessful presidential campaign last year, has lead the charge for much stricter immigration laws.

But, at least when he first got thee, the former congressman wasn't able to get a word in. He was greeted by boos and chants of "no dialogue with hate" and eventually protesters were escorted from the standing room only crowd.



Stay tuned for more on this.

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A government program for checking the work-eligibility of immigrant workers is on the verge of elimination in spite of a dramatic increase in usage, according to a new study by the Center for Immigration Studies.

The Center for Immigration Studies, a non-partisan nonprofit that has a pro-immigrant and low-immigrant mission, studied the E-Verify program. Employers can use the program to determine the legality and work-eligibility of new hires. The group cited data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that found the use of the E-Verify program has gone up 442 percent since 2007.

By the third week of February, three million queries had been sent to the program, nearly half of the 6.6 million for all of 2008. There will be 17.7 million queries this year, according to the group

President-elect Barack Obama and his former general election rival, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz), have come to an agreement on immigration, Senate Majority leader Harry Reid told the Detroit Free Press in a recent interview.

Reid said the two standard-bearers have agreed to move forward on immigration legislation during Obama's White House tenure.

"On immigration, there's been an agreement between Obama and McCain to move forward on that," Reidsaid when how Congress would handle immigration and healthcare with expanded Democratic majorities and Obama in the White House.

Early on in their general election campaign, both McCain and Obama pledged to enact sweeping immigration reforms. McCain attempted to pass a massive immigration bill during the last Congress, forging alliances with such heavyweights as Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and President Bush. McCain proposed granting a pathway to citizenship for illegal resident aliens and ramping up security efforts along the U.S./Mexico border. The effort failed.

When asked if immigration reform would cause "as much of a fight" in Congress the next time it comes up, Reid cited McCain as a key GOP ally who could enable Democrats to enact reforms.

"We've got McCain and we've got a few others. I don't expect much of a fight at all," Reid said.

The Detroit Free Press posted Reid's interview to its website Sunday.