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Illegal Immigration Watch: Senate Passes AMNESTY Immigration Bill
Men rest on a railway track as they travel to the border city of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, hoping to cross into the United States, May 5, 2006. A sweeping immigration law overhaul that would toughen border security and give millions of illegal immigrants a chance to earn U.S. citizenship headed for Senate passage on Thursday and backers prepared for a bruising battle with the House of Representatives.
Reuters: Senate passes sweeping immigration overhaul
The U.S. Senate on Thursday easily passed an immigration overhaul that would give millions of illegal immigrants a chance to become American citizens, as supporters braced for a bruising battle with the House of Representatives.
The Senate voted 62-36 for the bipartisan bill that couples border security and enforcement with a guest worker program that would put most of the 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants on a path to U.S. citizenship.
It is the most sweeping immigration bill in two decades and Senate legislation has to be merged with a vastly different House bill that calls for tough border security and enforcement measures.
President George W. Bush has said he supports a comprehensive approach to immigration reform along the lines passed by the Senate, but lawmakers acknowledged they still had more work to do.The Senate passed an “AMNESTY” immigration bill with GOP help.
Michelle Malkin calls it an AMNESTY BILL.
Vote was 62-36.
Any hope now rests with the House.
Start here.
Now, the devil really is in the details.
Does the Senate immigration bill essentially give Mexico veto power over our border fences? Hearing this from several readers and sources. Reader Greg writes:
Senator Cornyn gave Lou Dobbs a statement saying the last-minute Amendment SA 41[8]8 says Mexico must be consulted before any fence is constructed.
From F/R thread:
I heard this on Sean Hannity’s Fox Radio broadcast a short while ago and just now on “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on CNN:Arlen Specter, according to Congressman John Kyl of Arizona, slipped a provision into the Immigration Bill the Senate passed today requiring the U.S. to consult with Mexico BEFORE building a wall in any area along the border.
I’m checking into it. If anyone has more specific info, please send along. Update: It’s Dem Sen. Chris Dodd’s amendment included in Specter’s manager’s package that passed.
The Senate by Cboldt blog reports.
Good Grief.
The House is our only hope to defeat amnesty for illegal aliens.
Remember:
Previous:
Illegal Immigration Watch: Senate Votes to Limit Debate on Immigration Bill
Illegal Immigration Watch: Senate Bill Protects Employers of Illegal Aliens
Illegal Immigration Watch: 10 Per Cent of Mexico’s Population Now Living in United States
Illegal Immigration Watch: Secure The Border?
Technorati Tags: illegalimmigration, HR4437, illegalaliens, California, Mexico, Congress, UnitedStatesSenate
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George Galloway Watch: The Murder of Prime Minister Tony Blair By a Suicide Bomber Would Be Morally Justified
In this photo made available by the Cuban Government’s Prensa Latina, Cuban President Fidel Castro, right, embraces British Member of Parliament George Galloway before Cuban TV program ‘Mesa Redonda’, ‘Round Table’, in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, May 24, 2006.
The Independent: Galloway says murder of Blair would be ‘justified’
The Respect MP George Galloway has said it would be morally justified for a suicide bomber to murder Tony Blair.
In an interview with GQ magazine, the reporter asked him: “Would the assassination of, say, Tony Blair by a suicide bomber – if there were no other casualties – be justified as revenge for the war on Iraq?”
Mr Galloway replied: “Yes, it would be morally justified. I am not calling for it – but if it happened it would be of a wholly different moral order to the events of 7/7. It would be entirely logical and explicable. And morally equivalent to ordering the deaths of thousands of innocent people in Iraq – as Blair did.”
The Labour MP Stephen Pound, a persistent critic of Mr Galloway during previous controversies, told The Sun that the Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow in east London was “disgraceful and truly twisted”.
He said: “These comments take my breath away. Every time you think he can’t sink any lower he goes and stuns you again. It’s reprehensible to say it would be justified for a suicide bomber to assassinate anyone.”
Galloway is a piece of shit SCUMBAG.
How the Brits tolerate his BULL is beyond me…….
Previous:
George Galloway Watch: Wins Court Case Loses Big Brother Election
George Galloway Watch: The Red Leotard
George Galloway Watch: Maverick or FOOL?
George Galloway Watch: Hitchens Calls Galloway’s BLUFF
George Galloway Watch: “I am Ready to Fly to the US Todayâ€
George Galloway Watch: May Face Criminal Charges for Givng False Testimony Under Oath to U.S. Senate
Technorati Tags: GeorgeGalloway, BigBrother, Moron, Scum
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Missile Defense Watch: United States Tests Ship-Based Missile Defense System Against Short-Range Missile
AFP: US tests ship-based defense system against short-range missile
An interceptor missile fired from a US warship destroyed a short-range target missile in its last few seconds of flight, the US Missile Defense Agency said.
“It was the first sea-based intercept of a ballistic missile in its terminal phase,” the agency said.
The USS Lake Erie, an Aegis cruiser that has been modified for missile defense operations, used a Standard Missile-2 Block IV missile to intercept a short range ballistic missile off Hawaii, the agency said.
The goal of the test was to show that the target missile could be destroyed in the last few seconds of flight either with a direct hit or with a blast close enough to knock it down.
“In today’s test, the threat missile was completely destroyed by the combined effects of these two mechanisms,” the agency said.
The US military has a ground-based missile defense system, the Patriot Advanced Capability-3, designed to intercept and destroy incoming short-range missiles. But it has no ship-borne capability.
A Pentagon report this week highlighted the threat to US aircraft carriers and surface warships of China’s ballistic missiles.
And a nice missile to have deployed next to Israel and adjacent to the Persian Gulf to protect your carriers by defeating Iranian Shahab-3 missiles.
Is this a message to Iranian President Ahmadinejad and the Mullahs?
You betcha…….
Technorati Tags: USSLakeErie, Aegiscruiser, StnadardMissile-2BlockIVMissile, PatriotAdvancedCapability-3Missiles, Iran
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Illegal Immigration Watch: Senator Jim DeMint – “Top Ten Reasons to Oppose the Senate Amnesty Billâ€
***UPDATE – A majority of United States Senators have voted to approve this bill ***
Senator Jim DeMint, R- South Carolina
DeMint Lists “Top Ten Reasons to Oppose the Senate Amnesty Billâ€
Today, Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C) announced his intention to vote against the Senate immigration compromise that would grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. Senator DeMint also released his “Top Ten Reasons to Oppose the Senate Amnesty Billâ€.
“We will never solve the problem of illegal immigration by rewarding those who break our laws,†said Senator DeMint. “We must stop illegal immigration by securing the border and creating a temporary worker program that does not reward illegal behavior with a clear path to citizenship and voting rights.â€
“This bill fails to do that. Instead, it guarantees amnesty with only the promise of border security and enforcement. We tried the same formula in 1986, and it only made the problem worse. This puts those here illegally in front of those waiting to enter the right way, and that’s the wrong message for a nation of laws to send.â€TOP TEN REASONS TO OPPOSE THE SENATE AMNESTY BILL1. Rewards Illegal Behavior with Clear Path to Citizenship and Voting Rights – Amnesty
- As noted by former Attorney General Ed Meese in the New York Times on May 24, 2006: “Like the amnesty bill of 1986, the current Senate proposal would place those who have resided illegally in the United States on a path to citizenship, provided they meet a similar set of conditions and pay a fine and back taxes. The illegal immigrant does not go to the back of the line but gets immediate legalized status, while law-abiding applicants wait in their home countries for years to even get here. And that’s the line that counts. In the end, slight differences in process do not change the overriding fact that the 1986 law and today’s bill are both amnesties.â€
2. Creates Temporary Worker Program That is Neither Temporary Nor Work-Based
- The bill’s guest worker program would allow millions of illegal immigrants to qualify for permanent green cards within four years. Additionally, the Senate approved Senator Kennedy’s amendment that each year would allow up to 200,000 immigrants who cross the border illegally and work just 6 days a year (including self employment) to qualify for a permanent green card.
3. Unprecedented Wave of Immigrants – 66 Million Over 20 Years
- This bill is estimated to skyrocket the number of immigrants, from its current level of 19 million over the next 20 years, to an unprecedented number. Heritage Foundation: “…[O]ur estimate of the number of legal immigrants who would enter the country or would gain legal status under S. 2611 … [would be] 66 million over the next 20 years.â€
4. Insufficient Border Security
- The Senate rejected an amendment by Senator Isakson that would have prohibited the implementation of any guest worker program that grants legal status to those who have entered the country illegally until the Secretary of Homeland Security has certified to the President and to the Congress that the border security provisions in the immigration legislation are fully funded and operational.
- While the Senate adopted Senator Sessions’ amendment to increase “real fencing†by 370 miles and add 500 miles of vehicle barriers, the House passed a bill requiring at least 700 miles of “real fencingâ€, a more likely needed amount to secure the 2,000 mile long border.
5. Terrorist Loophole Disarms Law Enforcement
- Heritage Foundation reported May 24, 2006: “The Senate’s immigration reform proposal … would restrict local police to arresting aliens for criminal violations of immigration law only, not civil violations. The results would be disastrous. All of the hijackers on (9-11) who committed immigration violations committed civil violations. Under the bill, police officers would have no power to arrest such terrorists.â€
6. Social Security Benefits, Tax Credits for Illegal Work
- The Senate rejected Senator Ensign’s amendment that would have prevented Social Security benefits from being awarded to immigrants for time that they worked illegally in the United States. If the immigration compromise bill before the Senate were enacted into law, an estimated 12 million illegal workers would be able to use their past illegal work to qualify for Social Security benefits.
- Provisions in S. 2611 would require newly legalized immigrants to file tax returns for work they performed while in the U.S. illegally. And while some would be required to pay back taxes, many others could qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit, which has a maximum payout of $4,400 per year.
7. Costs Over $50 Billion A Year to Federal Government; States Foot The Bill for Immigrant Health Care
- Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation described the bill as a “fiscal catastrophe,†and has said the measure would prove to be the largest expansion of government welfare in 35 years. According to Rector, the bill would increase long-term federal spending by at least $50 billion a year.
- The Senate bill does not reimburse state and local governments for health care and education costs related to the millions of undocumented immigrants. While the underlying bill creates a state impact assistance account for future temporary workers, it is an unfunded account.
8. Hurts Small Business
- The Senate approved an amendment by Senator Obama extending Davis-Bacon “prevailing wage†provisions for guest workers, but not American citizens, in all occupations covered by Davis-Bacon (currently limited to federally paid work). Small businesses would be forced to pay inflated wages to guest workers above the pay American citizens receive for performing the same work.
9. Gives Some Immigrant Workers Greater Job Protection Than American Workers
- As reported by Robert Novak of Chicago Sun Times on May 24, 2006: “The bill supposedly would protect American workers by ensuring that new immigrants would not take away jobs. However, the bill’s definition of ‘United States worker’ includes temporary foreign guest workers, so the protection is meaningless… Foreign guest farm workers, admitted under the bill, cannot be ‘terminated from employment by any employer … except for just cause.’ In contrast, American ag workers can be fired for any reason.â€
10. Weak Assimilation/English Requirements
- The Senate approved Senator Inhofe’s amendment to make English the national language and require those seeking citizenship to demonstrate English proficiency and understanding of U.S. History. However, a far weaker amendment by Sen. Salazar gutted the Inhofe amendment, leaving it in doubt, and also giving immigrants the right to demand the federal government communicate with them in any language they choose.
There is NO reason other GOP Senators in the Senate could NOT hold the line against this nefarious bill. They will be remembered if they ever run for national office. From Right Wing News:
In my opinion, the votes on some of the amendments offered to the Senate bill can clue us in to who’s on the side of the American people, and who’s on the side of the foreign criminals. The Isakson (security first), Ensign (no Social Security), Kyl (prevent temp workers from staying forever) and Feinstein (total amnesty and citizenship) amendments came up for votes recently. The following Republicans voted the wrong way on at least two of the first three amendments:Sam Brownback (KS)
Lincoln Chafee (RI)
Mike DeWine (OH)
Lindsay Graham (SC)
Chuck Hagel (NE)
Richard Lugar (IN)
Mel Martinez (FL)
John McCain (AZ)
Arlen Specter (PA)
Ted Stevens (AK)
George Voinovich (OH)
Norm Coleman (MN)
Susan Collins (ME)
Larry Craig (ID)
Lisa Murkowski (AK)
Olympia Snow (ME)
John Warner (VA)The following Senators up for reelection this year voted to give blanket amnesty and a path to citizenship to ANYONE who was here before the first of this year:Daniel Akaka (D-HI)
Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Lincoln Chafee (R-RI)
Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
Kent Conrad (D-ND)
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Ted Kennedy (D-MA)
Herb Kohl (D-WI)
Joe Lieberman (D-CT)
Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)by CavalierX on 2006-05-25 13:20:48The only hope conservatives have to defeat this bill is a tough conference committee.Stay tuned……Previous:Illegal Immigration Watch: Senate Votes to Limit Debate on Immigration BillIllegal Immigration Watch: Senate Bill Protects Employers of Illegal Aliens Illegal Immigration Watch: 10 Per Cent of Mexico’s Population Now Living in United StatesIllegal Immigration Watch: Secure The Border?
Technorati Tags: illegalimmigration, HR4437, illegalaliens, California, Mexico, Congress, UnitedStatesSenate
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Iran Nuclear Watch: Iranians Pledge to Become Suicide Bombers
Iranian women wearing white shrouds indicating their willingness to give their lives to defend their country and Islam, attend a gathering in the south of Tehran Thursday, May 25, 2006. Under a banner showing coffins draped with U.S., Israeli and British flags, more than 150 Iranian men and women pledged to become suicide bombers to defend their country and Islam.
ASSociated Press: Iranians pledge to become suicide bombers
Under a banner showing coffins draped with American, British and Israeli flags, more than 100 Iranian men and women pledged Thursday to become suicide bombers — if necessary — to defend their country and Islam.
The event, held in a burial area for war dead and martyrs, was similar to others in recent years, with Islamic chants and songs and volunteers donning white coverings to symbolize their willingness to die.
But this gathering — coming at a time when many Iranians worry their country could come under attack by the United States or Israel — was tailored to send a message of defiance against any possible military action over Iran’s nuclear program.
“The threats from America have swelled our ranks and given us added conviction,” said 27-year-old Margess, who like the other volunteers would only give her first name and used a scarf to cover all but her eyes. “We will stand up against them with our lives.”
No weapons or explosives were displayed, but the ceremony was organized by a shadowy group believed to have links to the Basiji paramilitary group that is backed by Iran’s Islamic regime.
A huge banner used as a backdrop showed flag-covered coffins. And a message — in English — promised to “damage the U.S. worldwide” in retaliation for any attack on Iran.
Let Flap show them what happens to Iranian women who want to be suicide bombers against the United States, Israel and their allies:
Get it?
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Previous:
Iran Nuclear Watch: Israeli Prime Minister Olmert – “The Test of Our Timeâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: Ahmadinejad – Iran Has “Mastered†the Nuclear Cycle
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Test-Fires Long-Range Missile
Iran Nuclear Watch: Israel Seeks Cruise Missiles
Iran Nuclear Watch: United States Moves To Establish Anti-Missile Site in Europe
Iran Nuclear Watch: Israel Prime Minister Olmert – Iran Just a Few Months Away from Atomic Bomb Know-How
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Rejects Plan Floated by United Nations Security CouncilIran Nuclear Watch: Ahmadinejad – Holocaust Is a “MYTH†– But in Iran Wear A Yellow BADGE Anyway
Iran Nuclear Watch: Ahamdinjead – “Suffering from Mental and Psychological Problemsâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Wants Accord But Will Enrich Regardless
Iran Nuclear Watch: Ahmadinejad Rejects European Offer of Light Water Reactor
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Sought Pakistani Advice on Nuclear Facilities Attack
Iran Nuclear Watch: More Enriched Uranium Found in Iran – Density Close to Make a Nuclear Weapon?
Iran Nuclear Watch: Ahamdinejad – “Ready to Engage in Dialogue With Anybodyâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: Ahmadinejad – Israel is a “Regime Based on EVILâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: Ahmadinejad – Worry Over Nuclear Program “A BIG LIEâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: “Ahmadinejad Isn’t Bluffingâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: The Letter from Ahmadinejad to Bush
Iran Nuclear Watch: UNSC Foreign Ministers Fail to Agree on Iran Resolution
The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.
Technorati Tags: Iran, Ahmadinejad
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Michael Ramirez on Senator Harry Reid
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Technorati Tags: MichaelRamirez, HarryReid
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American Idol Watch: Congrats to Taylor Hicks 2006 American Idol
Congrats……
Taylor Hicks – American Idol
The American Idol Tour begins in a city near you soon.
Discuss this blog post and MORE…. at the FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blogs, My Dental Forum.
Technorati Tags: AmericanIdol, TaylorHicks
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Representative William Jefferson Watch: “Trying to Protect Their Own”
House Speaker Dennis Hastert leaves the House Republican Conference meeting on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, May 24, 2006.
ASSocated Press: Some lawmakers wary of fight over FBI raid
Some lawmakers are warning of a voter backlash against members of Congress “trying to protect their own” if party leaders keep escalating a constitutional dispute over the
FBI’s raid of a representative’s office.Yet not long after House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi demanded on Wednesday the bureau return documents it took, White House aides were in talks with Hastert’s staff about the possible transfer of the material, perhaps to the House ethics committee, according to several Republican officials.
The goals of any transfer, they said, would be to deny the documents both to prosecutors and to Rep. Willliam Jefferson, a Louisiana Democrat ensnared in a bribery investigation, until the legal issues surrounding the weekend search of his office are resolved. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the confidential nature of the discussions.
The confrontational approach by Hastert, R-Ill., and Pelosi, D-Calif., did not sit well with some colleagues.
The confrontational approach berating the FBI does NOT sit well with the VOTERS.
After all, they found the cold hard cash in Representative Jefferson’s home freezer and the FBI obtained a search warrant for his Congressional office that was signed by a federal judge.
How is Representative Jefferson any different than Flap or you?
Even the Washington Post has a piece dismissing any constitutional issues.
“Criticizing the executive and judicial branches of our government for fully investigating a member of Congress suspected of criminal wrongdoing sends the wrong message and reflects poorly upon all of Congress,” Rep. Barbara Cubin (news, bio, voting record), R-Wyo., said in a statement. “They should not expect their congressional offices to be treated as a safe haven.”
A GOP colleague, Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana, said the public “will come to one conclusion: that congressional leaders are trying to protect their own from valid investigations.”
While some lawmakers contended the executive branch overstepped its authority, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada has declined to condemn the search.
“I’m not going to beat up on the FBI,” said Reid, a frequent critic of the White House’s use of executive power.
Captain Ed has an analysis:Post: Congress Hysterical (Update: Someone’s Listening)
In my opinion, the Post is too easy on Congress. I don’t even think the uproar is “understandable”. Jefferson resisted that subpoena for eight months without Congress making any effort to force him to comply. If the rule of law truly applies to everyone, then the FBI had to seek a search warrant to seize the materials that Jefferson and the Congress refused to cooperatively release.
Clearly, the leadership of both parties in the House played chicken with the FBI on the Jefferson subpoena, and now want to cry foul after the FBI ran into them head-on. Their cries of indignation appear to be some sort of ersatz distraction from their responsibility in obstructing the Department of Justice probe into serious corruption on Capitol Hill. They will quickly find out that the American people have no sympathy for those who sell us out for bribes, and little for those who protect them from detection.
In case House leadership is too dense to figure even that out, let me be more blunt: this argument is a loser. Drop it now, or risk being seen, justifiably, as an arrogant enabler of public corruption.
Speaker Hastert acts like a politician who WANTS to be defeated.
Remember the First Plank of the Republican Contract with America?
On the first day of the 104th Congress, the new Republican majority will immediately pass the following major reforms, aimed at restoring the faith and trust of the American people in their government:
- FIRST, require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply equally to the Congress;
Flap wonders if the rest of the GOP House agrees?
Stay tuned for the damage control……
Michelle Malkin agrees: WHACK-A-POL
William Jefferson, Dennis Hastert, assphants, cluebats: Thwap.
Blogosphere:
- Conservative Outpost
- E L Frederick
- Left Wing = Hate
- La Shawn Barber’s Corner
- Stop The ACLU
- Michelle Malkin
- Provoking the Muse » Blog Archive » Culture of Corruption Continues
- PAXALLES
- Capital Region People
Previous:
Representative William Jefferson Watch: Jefferson Refuses to Quit Ways and Means Committee
Representative William Jefferson Watch: GOP Challenges FBI Raid of Jefferson’s Office
Representative William Jefferson Watch: “There are Two Sides to Every Storyâ€
Representative William Jefferson Watch: FBI has BRIBES on Tape
Technorati Tags: WilliamJefferson, DennisHastert
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Illegal Immigration Watch: California Governor Schwarzenegger Warms Up to Idea of National Guard Deployment
President Bush (R) is met by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger after arriving on Air Force One at the Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View, California April 21, 2006. Schwarzenegger, initially opposed to Bush’s border security plan, said on Wednesday he was ready to commit National Guard forces to help police the Mexican frontier.
Reuters: Schwarzenegger prepared to send Guard to border
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, initially opposed to President George W. Bush’s border security plan, said on Wednesday he was prepared to commit National Guard forces to help police the Mexican frontier.
Fellow Republican Schwarzenegger, who faces re-election in November, had criticized Bush’s plan to station up to 6,000 National Guard troops along the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) U.S.-Mexico border to curb illegal immigration.
Yet a day before the former movie star is to hold talks with Mexican President Vicente Fox in Sacramento, Schwarzenegger gave his clearest signal yet that he would support Bush’s plan to use the Guard in a support role for the U.S. Border Patrol, at least for now.
“I will make it clear to President Fox that I oppose the using of military for law enforcement troops,” Schwarzenegger told a news conference in Sacramento. “However, I am prepared to commit the California National Guard troops in support of border patrol operations.”
“However, as I say, it has to be on a temporary basis.”
Previously, the governor had complained that the state’s Guard was overstretched because of the war in
Iraq and because of natural disasters at home. He also had called the idea a “Band-Aid solution.”The truth of the matter is that Schwarzenegger prefers to pander to Hispanic voters and really wants to do NOTHING – much like the President. He will tell the President of Mexico Fox today that this is a “wink wink” temporary measure and when the heat dies down in D.C., California will go back to “open borders” as before.
Deployment of the National Guard is a President Bush ruse/fraud to provide some GOP Senators “cover” in order to support illegal immigration AMNESTY. A plan that will pass the U.S. Senate today.
However, the pandering of GOP politicians nationally and in California will not be forgotten.
Stay tuned…….
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Previous:
Illegal Immigration Watch: Senate Votes to Limit Debate on Immigration Bill
Illegal Immigration Watch: Senate Bill Protects Employers of Illegal Aliens
Illegal Immigration Watch: 10 Per Cent of Mexico’s Population Now Living in United States
Illegal Immigration Watch: Secure The Border?
Technorati Tags: illegalimmigration, HR4437, illegalaliens, California, Mexico, Congress, UnitedStatesSenate
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Day By Day by Chris Muir
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