Border & Immigration News
The Daily Signal provides border and immigration news, including reporting, analysis, and commentary on policy, enforcement, and political debates.
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- Opinion
Did Obama Administration Really Accidentally Disobey Judge’s Order on Immigration?
The Justice Department’s latest filings in the immigration lawsuit brought by 26 states in the Southern District of Texas are a little hard to believe—and somewhat comical, in a way. Back in February, Judge Andrew Hanen issued a preliminary injunction against the implementation of President Obama’s executive orders on immigration. Now, in an attempt to…Hans von Spakovsky -
- Opinion
Newly Passed Human Trafficking Bill Only a Start to What US Must Do to Combat Trafficking
On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015. If signed by the president, the bill would create a domestic fund for victims of child sex trafficking from fines levied against traffickers. Fines collected from traffickers will bolster local law enforcement training and capabilities, among other capacity building…Olivia Enos -
- News
House Approves Defense Spending Bill After Removing Controversial Immigration Provision
The House of Representatives today passed the National Defense Authorization Act, which is annual legislation that funds the Department of Defense. The final version of the legislation stripped out language that would have asked the Pentagon to consider allowing young immigrants who came to the country illegally as children to become eligible for service in…Kate Scanlon -
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GOP-Led House Considers Bill Encouraging Illegal Immigrants to Serve in Military
The National Defense Authorization Act, currently making its way through the Republican-controlled U.S. House, includes language encouraging the secretary of defense to allow immigrants who are in the country illegally to serve in the military. The provision asks Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to consider making those who were approved for deferred deportation under President Obama’s…Kate Scanlon -
- Opinion
Defense Funding Bill Shouldn’t Allow Illegal Immigrants to Enlist in the Military
Despite the fact that the U.S. House of Representatives has voted down repeated attempts to encourage the recruitment of illegal immigrants into the military, we are seeing yet another attempt to encourage such recruitment recently inserted into a must-pass defense funding bill. Even worse, the push to recruit illegal immigrants is happening at a time…Rep. Dave Brat -
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NDAA Should Be About Defense, Not Immigration
The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) narrowly voted to include a provision that supports President Obama’s harmful and unlawful immigration actions. The provision, Section 538 of the National Defense Authorization Act, does little itself but merely expresses support for what the president has already done. First, President Obama unilaterally decided to give pseudo legal status,…David Inserra -
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How Many Illegal Immigrants Have Been Deported in Your County? This Map Has the Answer.
The Center for Immigration Studies has released an interactive map by depicting the number of illegal immigrants deported from each county as part of the U.S. government’s Secure Communities program. According to the nonpartisan Center for Immigration Studies, the deportations occurred between October 2008 and February 2015. The three counties with the most deportations during this…Kate Scanlon -
- Opinion
Obama Administration Admits It Violated Judge’s Order to Halt Implementation of Immigration Plan
In another midnight filing last week in the immigration lawsuit filed by 26 states against the Obama administration in the Southern District of Texas, the U.S. Justice Department admitted that the Department of Homeland Security had violated federal Judge Andrew Hanen’s Feb. 16 injunction against President Obama’s immigration amnesty plan. This was not the first…Hans von Spakovsky -
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Did Scott Walker ‘Evolve’ on Immigration?
For weeks now, Scott Walker has attracted attention from politicos and pundits with his statements on illegal and legal immigration. Whether they like or loathe what they hear the Wisconsin governor saying on processing illegal immigrants and curbing legal immigration, tuned-in activists want him to spell out his thinking if he seeks the Republican nomination…Ken McIntyre -
- Opinion
Why Doesn’t the White House Want to Help Immigrants Assimilate?
When it comes to assimilating immigrants, the Obama administration appears to have drawn a line under the day the president first took office and forgotten much that came before it. That’s a pity, as the country had learned a thing or two about acculturating immigrants since the first German Mennonites and Pietists settled in colonial…Mike Gonzalez -
- News
Why Jeb Bush Says He’s Right About Immigration
A gathering of conservatives gave Jeb Bush a strong round of applause applause after he made a spirited defense of his call for decisive action on immigration reform, which many of them oppose. Bush apparently got credit for standing up in the lion’s den – in this case a program earlier this week associated with…Ken McIntyre -
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US Immigration Exam Replaces ‘Freedom of Religion’ With ‘Freedom of Worship’
A Republican senator from Oklahoma pressed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson at a hearing Wednesday about why the U.S. is “misrepresenting” Americans’ First Amendment right to freedom of religion to immigrants who are applying to become U.S. citizens. “We in the United States actually have freedom of religion, not freedom of worship,” Sen….Kelsey Bolar -
- Opinion
As Coast Guard Combats Drug Trafficking, Budget Shortfalls Linger
Following 19 interdictions along the Central and South American coasts, the crew of the United States Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell returned home on April 16 with over 28,000 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $424 million. Collectively, these busts are a significant accomplishment for the sea service; however, they only represent a portion of the…Max Meizlish -
- Opinion
Obama Lawyer Struggles to Defend Immigration Plan’s Implementation as Case Goes Through Courts
The Obama administration’s lawyer, Benjamin Mizer, the acting assistant attorney general of the Civil Division at the Justice Department, did not have an easy time in his argument last Friday before a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in the immigration lawsuit filed by 26 states. He was questioned about all of the…Hans von Spakovsky -
- News
Will Obama’s Immigration Actions Remain on Hold? Appeals Court to Decide.
A federal appeals court today will hear oral arguments about whether to keep or rescind a hold on President Obama’s recent executive actions on immigration. Learn more about the case in this video.Alex Anderson -
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Texas Attorney General: ‘If the Law Matters,’ Courts Will Side With States in Fight Over Obama Immigration Policy
As a federal appeals court considers whether to keep or rescind a hold on President Obama’s immigration program, the attorney general of the state leading the charge against the president’s executive actions “is very confident” the plaintiffs will win out. “All I can tell you is, based on the law, I feel very confident,” said…Josh Siegel -
- Opinion
Texas Judge Delivers Blistering Rebuke of Obama Administration Immigration Lawyers’ Misbehavior
In an order issued late Tuesday, federal district court Judge Andrew Hanen refused to lift the preliminary injunction he had previously issued stopping the implementation of the immigration amnesty plan announced by President Obama last November. And in a second order, an obviously infuriated Judge Hanen said that the “attorneys for the Government misrepresented the…Hans von Spakovsky -
- News
Study: Qualifiers of Obama’s Immigration Program Could Earn $1.3 Trillion in Government Benefits Over Lifetime
For the parents of U.S. citizens who benefit from President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, the value of cash welfare benefits they receive will be greater than the amount of money they pay out in new taxes, according to a study by a conservative researcher. Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation,…Josh Siegel -
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A New Strategy for Those Looking to Stop Obama’s Executive Action on Immigration
After a failed attempt to block implementation of the president’s executive action on immigration by not funding it through the Department of Homeland Security funding, Congressional Republicans are seeking another strategy to combat the president’s action. One writer has raised the idea of blocking judicial nominees until the president relents. Curt Levey, the president of…Kate Scanlon -
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Thousands of Illegal Immigrants Likely to Get Social Security, Thanks to Obama’s Immigration Executive Actions
President Obama’s executive actions on immigration will likely lead to a hike in the number of people eligible to collect Social Security. This information comes as the Social Security Administration faces questions about 6.5 million active Social Security numbers registered to Americans who are likely deceased. “Starting in 2017, the Social Security Administration expects that…Kate Scanlon