Immigration and the election.

Thee is a new Zogby poll (yes, the usual caveats for Zoby apply) covering several immigration topics.

Some highlights:

Immigration and border security was far and away “the number one issue facing the United States in terms of domestic security,” the poll results show. Fifty percent of all respondents chose it above port security, at 20 percent, transit security, 10 percent. Aviation security, the final choice, was picked by just 4 percent.

The perception of immigration and the border as the key domestic security issue was particularly notable among Republicans, of whom 75 percent picked it, and independents, 55 percent.

This seems to belie the general perception that imigration is just not that big an issue with the public or the Republican base. But remarkably, the Republican Presidential candidates believed to be most capable of dealing with the immigration issue were Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani.


It's possible that the people selecting Giuliani know and approve of his immigration stance, but it seems more likely that they are simply unaware that he has a similar position on immigration to Bush and McCain.

It's deja vu all over again.

As you should already know, the Senate is attempting to pass a bill to give amnesty to illegal aliens. So far most Senators have not declared how they intend to vote. The following is the list of undeclared Senators who voted to kill the amnesty bill in June. You can get their contact information here.

Alabama: Shelby
Alaska: Murkowski, Stevens
Arkansas: Pryor
Colorado: Allard
Georgia: Chambliss, Isakson
Idaho: Crapo
Indiana: Bayh
Iowa: Grassley, Harkin
Kansas: Brownback, Roberts
Kentucky: McConnell
Louisiana: Landrieu
Maine: Collins
Michigan: Stabenow
Minnesota: Coleman
Mississippi: Cochran
Missouri: Bond, McCaskill
Montana: Baucus, Tester
Nebraska: Nelson (Ben)
Nevada: Ensign
New Hampshire: Sununu
New Mexico: Bingaman, Domenici
North Carolina: Burr, Dole
North Dakota: Dorgan
Ohio: Brown, Voinovich
Oklahoma: Coburn
Oregon: Smith
South Carolina: DeMint
South Dakota: *Johnson, Thune
Tennessee: Alexander, Corker
Texas: Cornyn, Hutchison
Utah: Hatch
Vermont: Sanders
Virginia: Warner, Webb
West Virginia: Byrd, Rockefeller
Wyoming: Enzi, Barrasso

As written, the DREAM Act (Senate Amdt 2237) offers amnesty to any illegal in the US. Don't be misled by claims that it only applies to children. According to the Heritage Foundation;

There is no upper age limit. Any illegal alien can walk into a U.S. Customs and Immigration Ser­vices office and declare that he is eligible. For example, a 45 year old can claim that he illegally entered the United States 30 years ago at the age of 15. There is no requirement that the alien prove that he entered the United States at the claimed time by providing particular documents. The DREAM Act's Section 4(a) merely requires him to "demonstrate" that he is eligible—which in practice could mean simply making a sworn statement to that effect.

The intention is to attach this amendment to the defence appropriations bill. However, I have seen reports that Mel Martinez opposes doing this and is likely to vote against the amendment as offered. That would be a notable pickup for the anti-amnesty side if true.

Please make an effort to contact as many people on the above list as you possibly can, by phone if possible, by email if not, and ask them to vote No on Amendment 2237, the DREAM Act.


UPDATE: The Heritage report on the DREAM Act is here.


UPDATE: The following Senators are being reported as having confirmed their opposition to the amendment.

Alabama: Sessions
Arizona: Kyl
Georgia: Chambliss; Isakson
Kansas: Roberts
Kentucky: Bunning
Louisiana: Vitter
North Carolina: Burr
Oklahoma: Inhofe
Tennesee: Alexander, Corker

I've also seen unconfirmed reports that Lindsey Graham and Trent Lott will vote No. If true, this suggests the amendment is in serious trouble.