Below is an alert from MALDEF…

Immigration Bill Advocates win early amendment fights
Senate turns back the Hutchison and Webb Amendments

The first two votes on amendments to the Comprehensive Immigration bill have gone our way. The Senate has rejected two amendments that we informed you of that would have made the legalization program unworkable.

This morning the Senate tabled, by a vote of 53-45, Senator Hutchison’s (R-TX) amendment that would have required both parents to leave the country, lacking immigration status, in order to apply for the Z visa. Had it passed, millions of immigrants would have been forced to risk being out of the country and out of status without their families. Few would have taken that risk. By a wider margin, the Senate tabled Senator Webb’s (D-VA) amendment, 79-18, that would have denied four million unauthorized immigrants the opportunity to apply for legalization. Your calls undoubtedly made a difference.

The Senate continues on immigration reform this week. More challenges are ahead – including even more damaging amendments — but MALDEF and other Latino, immigrant and community advocates will not “throw in the towel.” Today, MALDEF President and General Counsel John Trasviña joined Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, National Association of Latino and Appointed Elected Officials executive director Arturo Vargas, National Council of La Raza Vice President Cecilia Muñoz, United Farm Workers union president Arturo Rodriguez, Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, and Eliseo Medina, Executive Vice President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in a national press teleconference to express continued support for Senate action.

The next hurdle facing Comprehensive Immigration Reform is an amendment expected to be offered by Senators Graham, Kyl and Martinez. This amendment would, like the Hutchison Amendment, require immigrants to return to their home country out of status before they get a Z visa. It would also permanently bar from legal status individuals who overstay their visa and require the mandatory detention of people who overstay their visas by 60 days even if they pose no threat or danger to the community or have substantial ties to the community.

We urge you to remind Senators that the Department of Homeland Security is already required to detain those who pose a threat to our community or national security; the amendment takes away all discretion from the Department of Homeland Security and uses up more detention bed space than is currently or even conceivably available in the future; and violates the rights of people who have legitimate reasons to be in the United States, may be domestic violence or trafficking victims fleeing their captors, or the victims of government error. Finally, this amendment would make the legalization program unworkable and would only replace the existing broken immigration system with another one.

All Senators may be reached at 202-224-3121

PLEASE SEE HERE FOR NEWS FROM ACROSS THE NATION…I DO, EVERY DAY

Roy Beck suggests that we call the Democratic National Committee at 202-863-8000.
Since Clinton, Obama, Dodd and Biden, all candidates for president, voted “yes” on cloture yesterday, they deserve some attention… They must be getting a lot of calls because they are pretty testy over there. This rude man suggested if I didn’t like the bill I should call my senators.

I loved pointing out to him that my two Republican senators actually listened to their constituents and changed their votes.

From a DIS supporter:

Over at HOTAIR.com they have pointed out that the Republican Member Services phone number is 202-863-8743. The Republican party has a policy of returning all donations it has received over the last year if so requested. Unfortunately, when calling, all their voice mail boxes are full and they are not accepting any further messages. I suggest calling tomorrow after 9:00. They should be nice and fresh, and ready for another avalanche by then.

SEE HERE

Michelle Malkin’s HotAir.com has suggested that, if you’ve contributed to the
RNC to support Republicans, and are opposed to how GOP Senators conducted
themselves today re AMNESTY…call and request a REFUND of any monies you contributed.

Personally, I cannot make the call as I have not given these people a dime.

Make Yourself Heard
Found in Mundo Hispanico
Written by Mundo Hispanico
Posted on 2007-06-25

Posted on GALEO website on 6/25/07.

MUNDOHISPÁNICO
Hágase Escuchar
June 14 to 20, 2007
A8 Actualidad
Translated by Emily Lemon, GALEO Intern on 6/20/07

Make Yourself Heard
The moment to act is now, assures Jerry González, director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO). “It is important to call because (the Hispanics) need a voice in this process. We cannot complain and not do anything; this type of mentality is the reason we are where we are. We need to express our voices, it is critical,” he says.
READ THE REST HERE

Christian.Keller@asu.edu wrote: Re: Reply to homepage intro

You shouldn’t be mad at all mexicans because one crazed out lunatic ran a red light. It’s not like any other races don’t drink and drive and cause wrecks. Our own president has a couple of teenage DUI’s under his belt.

Loosing a love one is really tough but that doesn’t mean you have to be bitter and mean to people who are trying to find refuge in a country that hates them.All mexicans aren’t the same so you shouldn’t treat them the same.

Billy Inman, as good a man as I know, replies:

I am not mad at the Hispanic folks at all. I am more upset with my government .Period.Like I was telling (you)there is good an bad in ALL OF US and most of us are ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS…. a lot of ILLEGAL ALIENS are not held accountable and the Legal Folks are paying the price!!!!!

Note from D.A. – We don’t hate anyone. Mexican is not a race…it is a nationality. “Hispanic” is not a race…it is an ethnic designation, but we note from here that race seems to be a constant theme in the illegal alien/open borders lobby’s constant argument.

National Review Editorial
Seven who could stop amnesty

Stopping amnesty is entirely within the power of senators who oppose it. Later today, the Senate will vote on whether to proceed on the bill. To revive the once-stalled bill will require 60 votes, which means that if the senators who vote no and the senators who don’t vote add up to 41, the bill is dead…< …MORE

Those votes are available from a bipartisan group of senators who say they oppose the amnesty bill. They are Sens. Kit Bond, Sam Brownback, Richard Burr, Thad Cochran, Norm Coleman, John Ensign, and Jim Webb

( Note from D.A. – after the vote:Bond (R-MO), Yea – Brownback (R-KS), Yea – Burr (R-NC), Yea – Cochran (R-MS), Nay – Coleman (R-MN), Yea – Ensign (R-NV), Yea – Webb (D-VA), Yea )

If any of these senators votes to revive the bill, his professions of opposition to amnesty should no longer be taken seriously. He will have done his crucial bit, when the amnesty bill was most vulnerable, to help shepherd it to passage.

We know how senators who claim to oppose amnesty will try to explain away a vote to revive the bill. They will rely on procedural obfuscation: They didn’t want to obstruct the process, they wanted to get a vote on an amendment, etc. But amnesty is staying in the bill — no amendment to strike the bill’s central features has any chance of passage — and it deserves to be obstructed.

Note from D.A. – the bill is not dead, but it is not over yet…KEEP CALLING MCCONNELL! I will post contact info for the above Senators later….

How they all voted here

The senate just voted 64 to 35 to end debate on the amnesty-again legislation. See here. It seems that Bush bought a lot of votes yesterday.

It ain’t over.

Watch the Senate here C-SPAN 2

Enforcment works….

Some background on Lawyer Kennedy here