Things are getting pathetic in the land of fruits and nuts.

onalandline · Mar 29, 2014

California to open facilities for illegal immigrants’ driver’s licenses:

The California Department of Motor Vehicles is setting up new facilities to process driver’s license applications for illegal immigrants.

Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill, AB 60, which will allow illegal immigrants to obtain the documents beginning Jan. 1, 2015.

The bill was signed along with a number of others laws seen as favorable to undocumented immigrants.

As part of the driver’s license application process, immigrants will have to acknowledge that they are undocumented. But AB 60 protects applicants from criminal prosecution.

The measure will provide an avenue for the state’s three to four million undocumented immigrants to obtain licenses, which advocates have said are necessary in order for the immigrants to get to and from work. The law is expected to allow up to 1.4 million undocumented immigrants to obtain licenses.

To accommodate that expected influx of new drivers, the state’s DMV is setting up five facilities throughout California. The facilities will be opened in the areas of San Jose, the South Central Coast, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego, DMV spokewoman Jessica Gonzalez told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

More: http://dailycaller.com/2014/03/27/california-to-open-facilities-for-only-illegal-immigrants-drivers-licenses/#!

waltky · May 21, 2014

Citizenship through enlistment & military service...

Pentagon eyes specialized program to enlist undocumented immigrants
May 20, 2014: WASHINGTON The Pentagon is reviewing a program that allows qualified noncitizens to enlist in the military, and officials say theyll consider expanding it to cover some who now live in the United States illegally.

With legislative efforts stalled that would allow undocumented foreign nationals seeking citizenship to enlist in the military, the Pentagon and the White House are looking at alternatives, the Defense Departments head of personnel said Monday at a Congressional hearing in Chicago. We look forward to the time when well be able to grant more individuals the opportunity to serve this great nation, said Jessica Wright, acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. The Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program, or MAVNI, has been used by the services to enlist nearly 3,000 foreign nationals with vital language and medical skills since 2009. The program currently excludes undocumented immigrants, but federal law gives the Secretary of Defense wide leeway in accepting military members deemed vital to the national interest.

Wright said DOD believes in moving forward on defining U.S. vital interests. Allowing undocumented foreign nationals raised in the United States to enlist would provide a larger pool of qualified applicants, as well as more diversity within DOD, she said. But we think its very important to take a look at the MAVNI program that was established a while ago and see what that vital to the national interest means, Wright said at the hearing organized by Illinois Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin, chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense. Durbin for years has pushed immigration reform that would, among other things, allow children brought to the United States illegally to gain citizenship through college education or military service. Immigration reform legislation has passed the Senate but is stalled in the House of Representatives. And House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said Friday he wouldnt allow debate on a bill filed by a fellow Republican, Rep. Jeff Denham of California, to allow children brought illegally into the country to enlist.

Some House Republicans have bashed such efforts, saying they reward lawlessness. Our nations military is full of dedicated men and women and to disrespect them by rewarding illegal aliens with citizenship is an insult, Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said in a recent statement. While undocumented immigrants are normally barred by federal law from the military, the law also allows the secretary of defense to make exceptions vital to the national interest, Durbin said. If the House Republicans refuse to move immigration reform, Durbin said, the Defense Department should use its authority under current law to authorize the enlistment of dreamers, as young immigrants raised in the United States are often called. The MAVNI program, which officials say has been most heavily used by the Army during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is set to expire in September but might be extended. The Department is in the process of reviewing ... program criteria, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Nate Christensen said Tuesday in an email. A final decision has not yet been made.

Currently, Wright said, the MAVNI program exists to capture specific skills and language abilities and the languages dont include Spanish, common in the military and spoken by a large portion of the population who would be affected by immigration reform. The Pentagon and the White House are joined at the hip on the issue, and agree that immigration reform is of vital importance, she said. About 30,000 foreign nationals currently serve in the active-duty U.S. military as well as the Guard and reserve components, according to the Pentagon. For immigrants who hold legal residency, military service is a path to citizenship, with nearly 93,000 military members taking the U.S. citizenship oath since 2002.

http://www.stripes.com/pentagon-eyes-specialized-program-to-enlist-undocumented-immigrants-1.284100
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Supporters urge a vote as military amnesty bill hits roadblock in House
May 20, 2014 ~ House lawmakers and undocumented immigrants rallied Tuesday in front of the Capitol, urging Majority Leader Eric Cantor to drop opposition to a 2015 defense bill amendment granting citizenship to those who live in the country illegally if they serve in the military.

The proposal by Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., has won some bipartisan support in the House. But it appears in deep legislative trouble because Cantor, a Republican from Virginia, has said he will block any attempt to add the immigration measure to the must-pass Department of Defense budget bill for the coming year. Immigrants and supporters say the Enlist Act would provide a path to citizenship for thousands of undocumented residents who were brought to the United States when they were children and now want to serve their country and become legal citizens. The military now bars enlistment by most who do not have a social security number, but the services have leeway on the rule and nearly 3,000 foreign nationals with sought-after language and medical skills have been inducted since 2009. These men and women want to serve the only country they know and a shift in the military enlistment rules should be included in the National Defense Authorization Act, Denham said standing before the Capitol dome with about a dozen undocumented residents.

Abraham Diaz, 20, of San Juan, Texas, said he was 9 years old when he came to the U.S. and has since earned a 4.0 grade point average through high school and college, but his top goal is to serve in the military. There are thousands out there who are doing this, who are fighting for this, he said. We want this legislation to go on to fulfill these dreams. The NDAA is set for a vote on the House floor this week and supporters want a vote on whether to add an amendment to include the immigration reform. Meanwhile, a companion bill called the Dream Act has been introduced in the Senate by Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who on Monday held a hearing in Chicago to urge Congress to support immigration reform that would allow undocumented residents to serve.

The DOD is also looking at changing military induction rules for undocumented residents without congressional intervention. Officials indicated this week that its current program to allow foreign nationals could be expanded to those in the United States. On Tuesday, fellow Republican Rep. Mike Coffman of Colorado and two Democrats Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois and Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas stood beside Denham to support the immigration bill. With so many youths in our communities encouraged to go down the wrong path, we should encourage the youth who want to go down the right path, Gutierrez said. Castro said Congress members have sometimes left candidate positions open at military academies because even high-performing undocumented immigrants cannot be tapped to fill them. Congress has a chance to change that this week, he said.

But Cantors office said Friday that the House will not attach an immigration amendment to the defense budget, seriously weakening any chances of Denhams bill passing the House. Typically, hundreds of amendments are added to the massive piece of legislation but Cantor controls which are considered. Conservatives have come out hard against Obama Administration efforts at immigration reform. Heritage Action, the influential lobbying arm of the Heritage Foundation that keeps scorecards rating lawmakers on conservative values, has been applying pressure to Congress to reject any loosening of the law and specifically targeting the Enlist Act in the House, urging the foundations 700,000 members to call their representatives.

The group called the effort to write reform into the defense budget deplorable and simply terrible policy as interest in the bill ballooned in recent weeks. The Enlist Act creates radical and perverse incentives that will have a negative impact on our military and our immigration system, Heritage Action Chief Executive Officer Michael Needham said in a released statement. It has no place in a debate over the future of our military, which is currently reducing personnel. But the debate may not be over despite the conservative blowback. The proposal could still be introduced as a stand-alone bill in the House one not attached to a massive military budget that must be passed, Coffman said. I just dont think this issue is dead, he said. Such a bill would face an uphill battle attracting enough Republicans in the GOP-controlled House to pass.

http://www.stripes.com/news/support...amnesty-bill-hits-roadblock-in-house-1.284171
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Things are getting pathetic in the land of fruits and nuts.

onalandline Well-Known Member Past Donor

waltky Well-Known Member

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Things are getting pathetic in the land of fruits and nuts.

onalandline Well-Known Member Past Donor

waltky Well-Known Member

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