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

    The Washington Post Misses the Point on Immigration Enforcement

    Last week, The Washington Post’s editorial board criticized the GOP for trying to “frighten” voters about a wide-open border. The Post points to substantial increases in border security in the past decade as an indicator that the U.S. is already doing a great deal to stop illegal immigration. Yet, the article misses the real issues…
    David Inserra
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    • News

    ‘We’re Going to Get It Done,’ Romney Says of Immigration Action in Republican-Led Senate  

    Mitt Romney speculated today that a Republican-controlled Senate would mean passage of a conservative immigration reform bill focused on border security that President Obama would sign. Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Romney predicted that although Obama would move ahead with his own executive action on citizenship for illegal immigrants, Republicans would pass a bill in…
    Josh Siegel
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    • Opinion

    The Right Way to Reform Our Immigration System

    President Obama’s executive amnesty policies and failure to enforce immigration laws give conservatives an opening to unite on immigration in a way that appeals to all Americans. By holding to the principles of rule of law and fairness, immigration policy can be firm, fair and in the best interests of citizens and immigrants alike. Comprehensive…
    Derrick Morgan
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    • News

    Her Son Was Killed by an Illegal Immigrant. Now, She’s Making Her Anti-Amnesty Case to Obama.

    Tragedy struck Mary Ann Mendoza’s family in May when an illegal immigrant, who was driving drunk, killed her son. Brandon Mendoza, a Mesa, Ariz., police officer, died in the crash along with Raul Silva-Corona of Mexico. Silva-Corona had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit when he was driving the wrong way on a…
    Melissa Quinn
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    • News

    Attack Ad on ‘Immigration Amnesty’ Puts Karl Rove in Unexpected Camp

    Karl Rove’s support for what many Americans consider amnesty for illegal immigrants has put the Republican political guru at odds with The Heritage Foundation for a decade. That’s why observers of current and past incarnations of “immigration reform” were surprised to learn of Rove’s association with a campaign ad drawing attention in a hot U.S….
    Ken McIntyre
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    • News

    Why Romney Calls Obama’s Plan for Illegal Immigrants ‘Shameful’

    Mitt Romney had some harsh words about what he called President Obama’s plan to “unilaterally” grant amnesty to illegal immigrants after next week’s midterm elections. “[It is] is a very shameful thing,” the 2012 Republican presidential nominee said yesterday in an interview with MSNBC’s Ronan Farrow. “It’s very clear that what he wants to do…
    Kelsey Bolar
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    • News

    The Ad That Says Immigrants Get Most New Jobs in Your State

    NumbersUSA began a seven-figure, 10-state ad buy today that asks viewers whether Americans or “new immigrants” should get new jobs. The 30-second ad, running in states with competitive U.S. Senate races, says immigrants are finding work while longtime citizens or legal immigrants struggle to get jobs. “Should the jobs go to millions of Americans and legal…
    Josh Siegel
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    • Opinion

    New York City Follows Obama Playbook on Immigration

    The federal government is about to get kicked off Rikers Island. Taking a page from the Obama immigration playbook, the New York City Council this week is deciding which immigration laws it wants to enforce and which ones it does not. Under the proposed legislation that will very likely pass the Democrat-controlled council, the New…
    Genevieve Wood
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    • News

    Has Obama Enforced Immigration Laws? It’s All in How You Count the Numbers

    A report published Wednesday showed the Department of Homeland Security removed a record number of illegal immigrants from the country in 2013—many of them recent border crossers and convicted criminals. DHS removed 438,421 illegal immigrants in 2013, an increase of more than 20,000 over 2012 and more than 51,000 over 2011, according to an annual…
    Josh Siegel
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    • News

    Gonzalez: Conservatives Must Not Allow Illegal Immigration Issue to Dominate Dialogue With Hispanics

    Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation, warned Friday that conservatives must speak to Hispanics about issues besides illegal immigration. Gonzalez spoke to a Heritage Foundation audience about how he wanted to write a “wake-up call” for conservatives. “We cannot allow illegal immigration to monopolize how we talk about and to Hispanics,” said…
    Kate Scanlon
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    • News

    By the Numbers: Surging Immigrant Population Sets Record

    Nearly four times as many legal and illegal immigrants live in the United States as did in 1970, according to a report issued by the Center for Immigration Studies. According to the report, which is based on U.S. Census data, the number of immigrants coming from India, China, Latin America, and countries in the Caribbean…
    Gabriella Morrongiello
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    • News

    If Obama Acts Alone on Immigration, House Judiciary Chairman Vows Court Challenge

    The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee says Congress should “go to court very quickly” to stop President Obama if he decides to act alone on immigration by deferring deportations and offering work permits to millions of people in the U.S. illegally. “If the president were to take further action, I believe it would be…
    Josh Siegel
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    • Opinion

    The Sneaky Way the Obama Administration Is Allowing Illegal Immigrants to Join the Military

    Despite the challenges of a growing terrorist threat, the Obama administration has decided now is the right time to allow illegal immigrants to join the military. While the administration is juggling the assembly of an international coalition to degrade and destroy ISIS and its affiliates and identifying the 100-plus American passport holders and the 3000-plus…
    Cully Stimson
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    • News

    Once Here, 70 Percent of Illegal Families Don’t Report Back to Immigration Agents

    Seven of every 10 families released by the Obama administration this year after entering the country illegally didn’t show up for follow-up appointments with authorities, the Associated Press reported today. AP said it obtained an audio recording of a confidential meeting held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at which one ICE official said thousands…
    Josh Siegel
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    • Opinion

    Biden: Obama Will Act With or Without Congress on Immigration

    This week brings another “Say it ain’t so, Joe!” moment. Speaking to Hispanic leaders at a Heritage Hispanic Month event in Washington this week, Vice President Joe Biden told attendees that when it comes to comprehensive immigration reform, President Obama is “absolutely committed to moving forward,” was going to “do an awful lot” and would…
    Genevieve Wood
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    • News

    Did You Know? An Illegal Immigrant Lives in U.S. for 12.7 Years … and Other Interesting Factoids

    The number of immigrants living illegally in the United States has leveled off in recent years, but those who remain are staying much longer than they did a decade ago, according to a recent study. The number of people living in the U.S. illegally last year was steady at 11.3 million, the Pew Research Center…
    Josh Siegel
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    • News

    Group Raps Use of Taxpayer Funds to Ease ‘Unmanageable’ Immigration Courts

    As the backlog of cases in immigration courts grows, the Department of Justice announced it has awarded $1.8 million in grants to legal aid organizations to help move  cases through the system. A prominent proponent of stronger border security, however, denounced the move as an effort to force taxpayers to “underwrite a costly and dysfunctional system.”…
    Josh Siegel
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    • News

    U.S. Immigration Courts Have Huge Backlogs, Leading to Long Waits for Trials

    U.S. immigration courts are backlogged with nearly 400,000 cases, and experts say the Obama administration is to blame. The 396,552 cases awaiting adjudication represent a 22 percent increase over last year, according to Syracuse University researchers. Not surprisingly, wait times are up, too. The average case in Imperial, Calif., currently lingers 857 days before resolution….
    Kenric Ward
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    • News

    Poll: Americans Don’t Want Obama to Act Unilaterally on Immigration

    With the midterm elections two months away, it remains uncertain if—or when—President Obama will use executive action to alter the country’s immigration laws. 63 percent of Americans oppose executive action from Obama on immigration. But a recent poll conducted by Investors Business Daily shows that a majority of Americans believe the president should not act alone on…
    Alex Anderson
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    • News

    Another Day in Immigration Court: 71 Juvenile Cases and a Judge ‘Just Trying to Make You Smile’

    ARLINGTON, Va.—Scores of Central American children here illegally skipped their second day of school for their turn in Judge John Milo Bryant’s courtroom yesterday morning. “You get one day in school and another one out; that’s a pretty good deal,” Bryant says to one boy, who missed class at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria,…
    Josh Siegel
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