Mark Zuckerberg’s pro-immigration lobby, FWD.us, is already losing big names. Among them is Tesla Motors founder and eco-friendly exec Elon Musk, who took issue with the group’s willingness to work with politicians on issues directly against his own—such as Keystone XL. “I agreed to support Fwd.us because there is a genuine need to reform immigration. However, this should not be done at the expense of other important causes,” he explained. Former Yammer exec David Sacks also jumped ship, but the group says they don’t plan to change tactics. (By the way, it’s worth noting that Tesla Motors had a really awesome quarter recently.)
Jason Richwine’s comments and general world view are a mark against the conservative community and against all fruitful discussions that would lead to comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform.Rep. Ruben Hinojosa • Responding to a new Heritage Foundation study on the supposed costs of granting amnesty to illegal immigrants, which was co-authored by Robert Rector and Jason Richwine. The study is catching quite a bit of flack this week, thanks to WonkBlog’s unearthing of Richwine’s doctoral dissertation, which included the claim that “no one knows whether Hispanics will ever reach IQ parity with whites.” The Heritage Foundation has defended the accuracy of their latest study, telling The Hill that the dissertation was not commissioned by the Heritage Fondation, and that Richwine’s dissertation “in no way [reflects] the positions of The Heritage Foundation.” source
Leaders in the technology community have every right to talk about how immigration reform will benefit their businesses. But instead, FWD.us has chosen a strategy that’s condescending to voters and counterproductive to the cause of reform.Former Sen. Russ Feingold • In a statement given to Politico, offering an explanation for why Progressives United, MoveOn.org, and other left-leaning organizations have decided to stop advertising on Facebook for at least two weeks. The advertising boycott is in response to several televised ads from FWD.us, the Mark Zuckerberg-founded advocacy organization which is supposedly focused on immigration reform, that support construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and attack “Obamacare.” source
How can we beef up security checks on those who wish to enter the United States? How do we ensure that people who wish to do us harm are not eligible for benefits under the immigration laws, including this new bill before us?Senator Chuck Grassley • Linking myriad security issues associated with surviving alleged Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to the U.S. immigration system — Dzhokhar and his older brother Tamerian began living in the United States at ages 9 and 15 respectively. To read Grassley’s remarks you’d think that the Tsarnaev brothers had passed through the traditional immigration protocols chiefly debated in today’s politics, but there’s a complicating wrinkle in their case — they became citizens not through regular immigration channels, but via an asylum request. This already entails security checks for fraudulent applications, and after a year of living here in asylum their family could apply for green cards (Dzhokhar got a green card in 2007, and was naturalized in 2012, while elder brother Tamerian was not granted citizenship, reportedly due to a domestic violence incident). Rep. Bruce Braley, of Sen. Grassley’s home state of Iowa, called the latter’s linking of the bombings to immigration “misguided,” insisting they are separate issues which ought to stay as such. source
Greek police were hunting three foremen on Thursday who were suspected of shooting and wounding more than 20 migrant workers at a strawberry farm.
The supervisors were believed to have opened fire on Wednesday at a crowd of about 200 mostly Bangladeshi immigrants who were demanding wages that had not been paid, police said. The wounded were taken to hospital but none of the injuries was serious.
Anti-foreigner sentiment has been rising in Greece, where one in four workers is unemployed after five years of recession.
We’re glad to hear that all of the wounded are expected to survive, but this is a pretty troubling story given the recent in-roads being made by Greek political organizations like Golden Dawn, Obviously, such organizations don’t represent the majority opinion in Greece, but a noted rise in anti-immigrant violence is always worth keeping an eye on.
One group that advocates against illegal immigration said it will begin using the term “illegal invaders” after the Associated Press announced it would no longer use the term “illegal” or “illegal immigrant.
Group to use ‘illegal invaders’ term in response to AP ban [Los Angeles Times]
I have another I-Word for describing people who want to incorporate the terms “invaders” or “infiltrator” into this discussion, the word is idiots.
(via thenoobyorker)
It’s worth noting that the difference here is that one runs a wire service that everyone relies on, and the other is just some advocacy group that you didn’t know existed until the LA Times did this story. So once this story fades, nobody will notice.
Will the new guidance make it harder for writers? Perhaps just a bit at first. But while labels may be more facile, they are not accurate.The Associated Press’ reasoning (in a nutshell) for officially dropping the term “illegal immigrant” from the AP Stylebook on Tuesday. Official AP style now calls for writers to specifically state that a person(s) is living in a given location illegally, rather than referring to the person(s) themselves as being illegal. source
Finally, Congress will reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act: The legislation, dreamed up and championed in 1994 by then-Senator Joe Biden, died in the House last year when the Republican leadership refused to put it to a vote (it had already passed the Senate). The problem, if you want to put it that way, was that Senate Democrats had modified the legislation to add protections for LGBT women, Native Americans and undocumented immigrants. John Boehner and company objected to these additions so strongly that they refused to let the House vote on it, despite indications that it would pass if they did. Today, Boehner relented, and will allow the House to vote on the bill. It’s expected to pass and will likely land on the President’s desk at the end of the week. (Photo: Getty images) source
While Obama’s job ratings are up at least slightly among many demographic groups, one of the most striking turnarounds over the past year is in the views of Hispanics. Read more.
It’s hard not to assume that the upswing in President Obama’s job approval rating among hispanics relates to the recent push for immigration reform. And though well it may be, it’s worth remembering that immigration isn’t the sole politically-influenced area of hispanic life in America. There’s a panoply of topics before us — jobs, health care, education, justice, and social issues among them — that animate people across all demographic lines. It’s important not to lose sight of that complexity.
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House Majority Leader Eric Cantor tweeting in support of Dream Act during State of the Union.
This seems rather significant, no?
Right now, leaders from business, law enforcement, faith communities, all agree. Now is the time for comprehensive immigration reform. Now is the time. Time to get it done.President Obama, calling for comprehensive immigration reform, subsequently citing his administration’s increase of “boots on the ground” along the Mexican border. He did seek to strike a balance between liberal and conservative dialogues on immigration, however, stating that undocumented immigrants would go “to the back of the line.”
Native American tells anti-immigration protesters “You’re all f***ing illegal”
Epic protest, complete with stroller and baby. (warning: swears)
EDIT: This version was removed. The original is here, though.
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