AFA of PA ACTION ALERT
April 24, 2014
Issue
Attempt to Attach Amnesty Bills to Defense Bill
Details
Republicans in the House seem determined to pass some sort of immigration bill before the November mid-term elections and have been working behind closed doors to advance their plans.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has thrown his support behind Rep. Jeff Denham’s (R-CA) attempt to add his “Encourage New Legalized Immigrants to Start Training” or ENLIST Act (H.R. 2377), a military-based DREAM Act, to the must pass National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This bill would let some young illegal immigrants join the military and be granted legal permanent residence, labeled as a green card, which is a key step on the pathway to citizenship.
The House Armed Services Committee will begin debating the defense policy bill at the end of this month and hold a full committee vote May 7.
Committee Chairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, California Republican and co-sponsor of the ENLIST Act, said he will not include legalization in the main NDAA bill he introduces, which means it will be up to someone else to offer an amendment in the committee or on the floor. His decision is a plus, as it’s tougher to add language to a bill than remove it.
The Military Enlistment Opportunity Act ( HR 435 ), sponsored by Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO), also has support from the pro-amnesty crowd. This bill would codify Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an unconstitutional amnesty granted in 2012 by the executive branch, into federal law and use it as the basis for allowing illegal aliens to enlist in the military. Either of these bills could be inserted into the NDAA, or even combined to create a third bill.
Last week the American Legion announced its opposition to the efforts to pass immigration by attaching such as an amendment to the bill that funds our military. “The NDAA needs to stand alone, and I think attaching an issue as contentious and complex as immigration and recruitment policy would only stall the NDAA,” said John Stovall director of the American Legion national security division. “Immigration policy needs to be debated on its own outside the debate of NDAA.”
Action Steps
If amnesty promoters believe they actually have the support they claim, then they should push for passage of their stand alone bills and not attach them as amendments to the national defense bill. Go to our ACTION CENTER and ask your Congressman to oppose attaching as amendments bills such as HR 2377 and HR 435 which would add the contentious issue of immigration to the NDAA debate.
Loading ...