indago

CNN — LOU DOBBS TONIGHT — Aired October 23, 2007 - 18:00 ET

LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: The United States Senate is at it again, Senator Harry Reid demonstrating why he should be leader of the Democratic Party on Capitol Hill.

The Senate today starting debate on a proposal that amounts to amnesty for millions of illegal aliens. You thought this issue had been resolved? Well, not so.

The new legislation is part of the failed so-called grand compromise Immigration Reform Act. Now Democratic lawmakers are trying, once again, one bill at a time, trying to subvert the will of the people who expressed themselves about as clearly as can be expressed this past June. This time, these legislatures are calling it the DREAM Act.

And, as Lisa Sylvester reports, the DREAM Act awards citizenship to illegal aliens if they go to college or join the military.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SYLVESTER (voice-over): Led by Senator Dick Durbin, the DREAM Act has been reawakened. The plan that could provide conditional legal status for more than a million illegal aliens was part of a comprehensive illegal bill that failed this summer. The Illinois Democrat is hoping a limited version he is now pushing forward will attract more votes.

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: We're dealing with young people brought to the United States by their parents, some of them as toddlers, who have grown up here and know no other country.

SYLVESTER: The bill would grant amnesty to illegal aliens up to 30 years old who entered the United States before age 16, and have lived in the country for at least five years. They would be eligible for college federal student loans and work study programs.

And if they stay in college or join the military for two years, they would be put on a path to citizenship. Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama estimates that 1.3 million young people could take advantage of the program, but calls it a backdoor amnesty for millions more.

SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R-AL), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: That if a person is legalized under this process, they can bring their wife and children and legalize them. They can bring their parents and brothers and sisters. So the 1.3 million, which is quite a large number, is a really low figure. It would be much more than that.

SYLVESTER: Sponsors of the DREAM Act need 60 votes to get the bill through. To gain more supporters they held a news conference in the Capitol with illegal alien college students who would benefit from the program. But that may have backfired. Opponents demanded federal immigration officials detain the illegal aliens.

ROSEMARY JENKS, NUMBERSUSA: Just the idea of bringing illegal aliens into the U.S. Capitol, you know, if the U.S. Capitol is a sanctuary, why shouldn't everyone come in illegally?

SYLVESTER: Congressman Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican running for president, echoed that sentiment, saying — quote — "If we can't enforce our laws inside the building where American laws are made, where can we enforce them?"

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SYLVESTER: None of the students was detained.

Now, on the DREAM Act, a vote is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Supporters need 60 votes to move it forward. They estimate right now that they have about 55 votes or so, but they're lobbying hard to pick up additional votes in the coming hours — Lou.

DOBBS: So, at this point, it looks like the cloture vote will succeed or fail?

SYLVESTER: At this point, it's a little too close to call. They are estimating that they have about 55 votes or so. If they can pick up five additional votes, it will go through. And either side says it could go either way. So, for instance, Senator Jeff Sessions is urging people to call their members of Congress.

DOBBS: Call their members of Congress and whichever way you feel about this, let your U.S. senator know exactly what you think of this utter nonsense.

This is a clear effort on the part of the Democratic leadership and that brilliant leader, Senator Harry Reid, to subvert, again, the will of the American people, to disregard the interests of the American people and American citizens, and to pander, to pander to the socio-ethnocentric interest groups in this country, corporate America. And, believe me, this battle is going to continue.

And if the American people flag in their both interest in the subject and their vigilance over the Democratic leadership in both the Senate and the House, they're going to have their way, and the will of the majority is going to be disregarded again by what the Democratic leadership and the Senate wants to call a progressive approach. Absolutely absurd.

Rod

I watched that program.

This guy is truly off the wall.

His deal was these poor suffering businesses who hire illegals now being made criminals. So irritating and such BS.

Here in Iowa they made a raid against the family farms. Heck they took the small family pig farms out in the 70's and 80's. Obtained their land by rook and crook. Then started massive hog lots owned by a few. Enjoy your morning bacon while considering the cost to the families that were ruined in the big land grab and fleecing of America while corporate thugs stole the land.

Last year one of these pig operations was raided in Iowa. Over thirty illegal aliens taken in the raid. All the demoncratig leadership here could do was bitch about how inconsiderate that was of the agency when they made the raid to remove illegals.

These so called "poor businesses" have no right to take away from the regular working class citizen in order to create a subsidized illegal alien workforce. They already have and are still working each day to take away what is left of the true small family farm. I cannot see subsidizing these criminals while they take away from my neighbors, their families and myself.

Any person willing to create a bonafide valid legal business is trashed by these same arrogant individuals who think they are above the law and it does not apply to them. People willing to subvert the law and the will of the people do not belong in public office.

fxashun

What scares ME is that they say they are only a few votes short...That's crazy. I can't believe how "close" off-the wall legislation like this is to passing. It lets you know that our society is on the brink...of something. I just don't know what the hell that something is.

__________________

Rod

Thing is if you raise issues with some of your representatives they simply ignore your letters and inqueries.

In farming states the big claim is they need these workers in order to bring in the crops. On a whole that is utter BS in any state except for California and Florida. Even there all they need to do is create a viable system for the temporary workforce to harvest the feilds.

Here in Iowa this is what the poster says concerning Iowa minimum wage.

Your Rights Under The Iowa Minimum Wage Law

Hourly Minimum Wage

$6.20 April 1 to December 31, 2007
$7.25 Effective January 1, 2008
The minimum wage applies to most hourly wage earners employed in Iowa. Most small retail and service establishments grossing less than $300,000 annually are not required to pay the minimum wage. The majority of supervisory and administrative employees paid a salary are not covered by the law. Employers are eligible to pay less than the minimum wage for the first 90 calendar days of employment.
TIP CREDIT—The tip credit which an employer may claim with respect to "Tipped Employees" is 40% of the applicable minimum wage. ("Tipped Employees" customarily and regularly receive more than $30.00 a month in tips.)

Slavery is alive and well in Iowa and I am sure many other states. It is called "Right to Work" and below poverty wage standards. Bring on the illegal workers when people refuse to work for wages that they cannot take care of themselves with much less their families.

indago

CNN — LOU DOBBS TONIGHT — Aired May 16, 2008 - 19:00 ET

LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Pro-amnesty senators tonight making a new effort to ram their open border's agenda down the throats of the American people, now let's go back to June 28, 2007 when the American people made their views known to the United States Senate and the closer vote failed. It was very clear at that point what the will of the majority in this country was, but now two senators, Dianne Feinstein (ph) and Larry Craig suddenly have added an amendment that would provide amnesty for illegal alien farm workers in this country, they and their family amounting to some three million people.

And they're putting this little number into a bill funding the war in Iraq. You're not supposed to notice. We're not supposed to notice. And the American people are not supposed to notice. These two senators added the amendment in the dark of night, and they did so without debate. They're duplicitous, deceitful, and absolutely dishonorable in doing so.

Kitty Pilgrim has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PILGRIM (voice-over): This meeting yesterday at the Senate Appropriations Committee convened to vote on funding U.S. spending in Iraq. But late in the day 100 pages were added to the bill that would make an estimated three million people illegal alien farm workers and their families eligible to work in the United States and it passed 17 to 12.

SEN. JEFF SESSIONS, (R), ALABAMA: Why would they stick it on a war supplemental? That is a deliberate attempt to bypass scrutiny and to see if they can slide it through without the American people realizing what's happening, on a bill that we really need to pass.

PILGRIM: The supporters of the AG Jobs (ph) Measure, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Larry Craig proposed a program they claim is needed to keep farms operating. Illegal aliens who have either worked for 150 days in agriculture or have earned $7,000 since January 2004 would qualify for a five-year amnesty.

Another measure added by Senator Barbara McCulsky that would open the door to low skilled nonagricultural workers. It would allow anyone who worked on the H2B work visa for the last three years to return for another year without being counted in the annual quota. Groups opposed to this legislation are up in arms.

STEVEN CAMAROTA, CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES: It's striking how something this controversial and really this important for the country can be put in, in this way without any really public disclosure and discourse and debate. It seems to be the worst aspect of special interest politics.

PILGRIM: Senator Jeff Sessions' office calculates the H2B visa revision could bring in a million more low skilled foreign workers over the next three years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PILGRIM: Now this is expected to come to the floor early next week for debate and a vote. Senator Feinstein says it's an emergency to get this passed. And they say it's clear they want to attach it to one of the few pieces of legislation likely to become a law before November.

DOBBS: Let me be clear again, this is only my opinion, not CNN's or anyone else's. But I think this is politics at its dirtiest, its worst, its most duplicitous. And Senator Feinstein I frankly thought was a legislator with more character, more honor. And to be involved in this is utterly just absurd.

PILGRIM: Many of the people we spoke to today say it is an absolute abuse of the appropriation process.

DOBBS: It is an abuse and you know what, Senator Harry Reid, I want to remind the Democratic leadership if I may that they are the ones who talked about a culture of corruption in the midterm election campaign in 2006. And I want to congratulate Senator Harry Reid, because you have, I think, in many respects met and outdone the standard set by the Republican leadership when they were in charge in 2006.

You're just as duplicitous, disgusting and absolutely indifferent to the interests of this country as the Republican leadership, so you should be proud. You've kept the culture of corruption alive and well in our nation's Capitol. I just hope that somebody, somebody in this country finally gets a belly full of your nonsense. Because this country needs far better than what we're getting from these two political parties.

Kitty thank you very much — Kitty Pilgrim.