Homeland Security

As the United States begins winding down its war in Afghanistan there is another task still left undone in our twelve-year war on terror. The government has yet to give a full accounting of the Central Intelligence Agency's unlawful use of extraordinary rendition, secret detention and torture.

The shame hidden behind the cloak of secrecy that still surrounds the use of extraordinary rendition, secret detention, and torture should be lifted by making a full disclosure. Openness lends credibility to pledges not to act in such a manner again and can help the United States regain some of the respect it has lost at home and abroad as a result of these activities.

The recent immigration-reform proposals unveiled by President Obama and a bipartisan group of Senators are very much in accord when it comes to general principles. Both proposals advocate smarter and more effective immigration-enforcement measures at the border and in the interior of the country. Both stress the creation of a pathway to legal status and eventual U.S. citizenship for the nation’s 11 million unauthorized immigrants, as well as reforming the way we treat the best and the brightest who come here from around the world. And both call for reforms in the family-based and employment-based immigration systems to reduce backlogs and make limits on future flows more flexible. However, there are significant differences in the specifics of each proposal, particularly those having to do with immigration enforcement.

Today, the House holds its first hearing on immigration reform, followed next week by President Obama’s State of the Union address and the Senate’s own immigration hearing. Amidst the hours of testimony and discussion we are about to hear, lawmakers have a responsibility to ensure that immigration reform legislation includes measures to restore this country’s commitment to providing refuge to those who seek protection from persecution.

It is a fact that our current family-based immigration system is broken, with massive backlogs, arbitrary quotas, and inhumane processes that keep families apart. It has not been updated in over two decades; its dysfunction keeps spouses, children and their parents separated for years and often decades. Current constraints within the legal immigration process place undue burdens on our American families and our economy. For instance, nearly 4.3 million people, including 1.96 million Asian and Pacific Islanders, are waiting in family immigration backlogs for unconscionable periods of time to reunite with their family members.

After serving his country for nearly forty years, Senator Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) departed Capitol Hill earlier this month. It's now up to Congress to honor his legacy by continuing to support his most important legislative achievement.

The Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program was passed twenty years ago. It established an international framework to safeguard and/or eliminate weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their delivery systems located in the newly independent states that resulted from collapse of the Soviet Union.

In a warning to fellow Republicans, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) urged the GOP to not overlook immigration reform, or else run the risk of having U.S. Latinos defect from their ranks as red states could become blue. Sen. McCain is right - immigration reform is a necessary and important first step - but in and of itself, is not enough if conservatives truly want to gain the trust and confidence of the fast growing U.S. Latino electorate. 

If they wish to turn the tide on U.S. Latinos, the GOP must show a deeper understanding of how this key demographic has evolved over time.

To begin, U.S. Latinos are not a homogenous group and the term “Latino” itself is a construction of U.S. origin to describe an otherwise extremely diverse population. The majority of U.S. Latinos are Mexican-American, Puerto Rican and Cuban-American with a growing group of Central and South Americans.  Cuban-Americans, given their history, tend to vote Republican, although they elected the first Cuban Democrat from South Florida, Joe Garcia, in the last election. Puerto Ricans have tended to vote Democrat, although pro-statehood Puerto Ricans lean Republican. Mexican-Americans have voted overwhelmingly Democratic for decades. This recent Congress has the largest number of Latino congressmen ever, with three Senators (all Cuban-American).

As President Obama begins his second term, and his agenda for the next four years begins to unfold, the men and women who make up his cabinet will have the unenviable task of running a massive agency in the face of falling budgets, and increased Congressional scrutiny.
 
Given the president’s performance and inability to work with Republicans, it is not surprising that controversy will befall some of his bigger decisions.  However, the continuing drama over the nomination of Chuck Hagel to replace Secretary Panetta as Defense Secretary represents an unjustifiable opposition based less on fact, and more on personality.
 
Since news of the nomination, lawmakers from both parties were quick to weigh in and air their objections.

The phone rings in the house of an undocumented immigrant who has lived here for decades. The person on the line offers her a deal. If she registers with the US government, goes through a criminal background check, and pays a fine, she will be forever allowed to work, travel, and conduct her affairs in America without fear of deportation. For her children, even better — they will be given a fast-track path to citizenship. And down the line, once more is done to secure the border, she can get in the back of the line and eventually earn her citizenship as well.
 
Is there any chance she would say no?

I applaud President Obama for his extraordinary leadership in this momentous effort to forge long overdue comprehensive immigration reform. Yesterday, a Senate bipartisan working group released an unprecedented set of core legislative principles to resolve our broken immigration system. Today, President Obama advanced this promising and historic moment, outlining a vision that embraces our nation’s long-standing traditions for protecting all families, including same-sex partners, and accepting the huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

On Sunday evening, an important, bipartisan, and influential group of leaders in the Senate introduced their outline suggesting reasonable and balanced solutions for fixing our nation’s outdated and thoroughly broken immigration system. On Tuesday, President Obama will also lean into this issue by introducing his thoughts about immigration reform legislation. Our Conservatives for Comprehensive Immigration Reform coalition applauds this leadership, and we are anxious to review and compare these blueprints. We note that the Senate’s plan is very much in line with the principles that our coalition has been advocating for some time now.