ImmigrationWorks USA
President and CEO of ImmigrationWorks USA, a pro-immigration federation of small business owners; journalist and author and fellow at the New America Foundation; former senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a market-oriented conservative think-tank (1989-2007)
The Immigration Debate Is Obama acting as an imperial president or a common sense immigration reformer?
The Road to Immigration Reform: Rough as Ever When Congress took off for the two-week Easter recess, the so-called "Gang of Eight" Senators had not finished their work on immigration reform. So the AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce took up what some called the only remaining issue, a guest-worker program for unskilled immigrants, which scuttled George Bush's effort six years ago. Over the weekend, they announced a deal, leading to agreement from South Carolina Republican Lindsay Graham and New York Democrat Charles Schumer. But another Senate player, Florida Republican Marco Rubio, says the celebration is " premature ." Are elements of the new coalition unhappy? What about border security and the "path to citizenship" for guest workers and the 11 million illegals already here?
Immigration and the Fourth of July In the aftermath of Arizona's new immigration law , with the prospect of other states passing similar crackdowns, President Obama has made an impassioned plea for comprehensive immigration reform, although there's no chance of action before November's elections. Transparently courting the votes of Hispanics, he bashed the Republicans. But he also addressed all sides of an issue that is polarizing the nation. He wants accountability for the federal government's failures, the greed of employers and the lawbreaking by undocumented workers. Will his speech help resolve differences or make them worse? Will it stop other states from going the way of Arizona?
States, Feds Shift Tack on Illegal Immigration Illegal immigration has become a big issue all over the country, in cities and towns that have never had to deal with it before. The Bush Administration is dramatizing the issue with high-profile raids , but in the absence of action by Congress, more and more state and local officials are passing their own laws. Local police departments are rounding up immigrants and turning them over for deportation. In Mississippi, it's a felony for an undocumented worker to hold a job. In Georgia, an immigrant was deported for fishing without a license. What's the economic impact on communities that crack down and those that don't? Are the presidential candidates caught between Lou Dobbs and Latino voters?
Is the U.S. entering a new era in immigration? Under the immigration bill now being debated in the U.S. Senate, skilled and educated workers will be given preference over family ties - a huge shift in an immigration policy that has long favored reuniting families. Is the change overdue? Will the U.S. lose its competitive edge in global markets without these workers? Why isn't the U.S. producing enough high-skilled workers at home?
Negative Campaigns Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and other founding fathers exchanged personal insults and publicized each others' extramarital affairs. Lyndon Johnson all but accused Barry Goldwater of wanting a nuclear war. So it's no surprise that President Bush and Senator Kerry are at it again even though neither is on any ballots this year. All over the country, candidates are accusing each other of idiocy, flip-flopping and corrupting the Boy Scouts. With the war in Iraq and control of the Congress at stake, we talk about the crucial role of negative campaigning in US elections.
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.