Featured Immigration- and Refugee-Related
Videos of the Day

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Rallies in Seattle and Los Vegas.  On Saturday, April 11, 2010, advocates in favor of comprehensive immigration reform held rallies in a number of cities across the country.  Two of the more well-attended rallies occurred in Seattle, Washington and Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Click on the play buttons below to see the four video reports on the April 11, 2010, Las Vegas and Seattle rallies:

Seattle Rally	Seattle Rally
Las Vegas Rally	Las Vegas Rally

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Libertarians Discuss Immigration Policy on Fox Business Channel.  A panel of libertarians appeared on the Fox Business Network's "Stossel" show on Thursday, April 8, 2010, to discuss immigration from a libertarian perspective.

Click on the play button below to view a clip from the "Stossel" Show:

Friday, April 9, 2010

National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" Story on Border Violence And American Border Residents' Reaction To It.  In a story that aired during the April 9, 2010, edition of NPR's "Morning Edition," correspondent John Burnett reports on anxiety and actions on the United States side of the border with Mexico in the wake of several recent high profile murders of U.S. citizens that authorites suspect were perpetrated by illegal immigrants.  Among the actions that Burnett reports on is a call by one border area sheriff to his consituents to "arm yourself..."  

Click on the play button below to hear the NPR "Morning Edition" report:

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Dan Stein of the Federation for American Immigration Reform Responds to the Obama Administration's Pledge to Protect Wage Rights of Illegal Immigrants.  In an April 6, 2010, interview on Fox News Channel's "Your World with Neil Cavuto" program, Dan Stein, President of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), spoke about his disagreement with the Administration's media campaign informing illegal immigrants of their wage rights.  Stein, who heads one of the nation's leading immigration restrictionist organizations, responded during his appearance to a series of Department of Labor public service announcements (PSAs), including one by Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, urging people to call the Department and Labor to complain of wage problems, regardless of whether they are undocumented.  

Click on the play buttons below to see videos of Secretary Solis' PSA and Mr. Stein's appearance on the Fox News Channel:

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Representative Xavier Becerra Talks About Health Care Reform, Immigration, and the House Legislative Agenda with Southern California Public Radio.  In an April 6, 2010, interview on Southern California Public Radio's KPCC in Los Angeles, Representative Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Vice-Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, spoke about his disappointment with some of the immigration-related provisions in the health care reform bill that President Obama recently signed into law, but he insisted that passing it was very important. Representative Becerra also spoke during the interview about the importance of comprehensive immigration reform.

Click on the play button below to hear audio of Representative Becerra's interview with Southern California Public Radio:

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Pro-Immigrant Advocates Use Internet Video to Attack the Obama Administration's Immigration Enforcement Practices.  On Monday, April 6, 2010, America's Voice, one of the leading pro-immigrant advocacy organizations based in Washington, DC, aired a video attacking the Obama Administration's immigration enforcement practices.  The video compares the Obama policies to those of controversial Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio; shows clips of then-candidate Barack Obama criticizing the very policies that America's Voice implies his administration is now pursuing; and calls the Obama immigration enforcement policies "more rogue than right."

Click on the play button below to see the video produced by America's Voice:

Politics, Substance, and Process of the Enactment of Comprehensive Immigration Reform.  On Monday, April 6, 2010, National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation" aired an extensive report on the prospects and politics of comprehensive immigration reform legislation.  The report, which runs 30 minutes, included a discussion of the politics of the issue by journalist Ron Elving, as well as a joint appearance by George Grayson, board member for the Center for Immigration and International Studies (CIS), and Clarissa Martinez de Castro of the National Council of La Raza.  Mr. Grayson and Ms. Martinez de Castro debated the merits of comprehensive immigration reform, discussed the prospects and politics of immigration, and took questions from callers.

Click on the play button below to hear audio of the NPR "Talk of the Nation" report:

 
Monday, April 5, 2010

Non-Citizen United States War Veterans Facing Deportation Despite Military Promises of Citizenship.  On Monday, April 5, 2010, Democracy Now ran a report looking at the threat of deportation that non-citizen veterans of American wars face.  The report talked at length with Rohan Coombs, a Jamaican-born U.S. veteran who was in the U.S. Marine Corps for six years and served in the Persian Gulf War. He spent eight months in prison for a marijuana-related conviction. The day he was to be released he was told he would be deported.

Click on the play button below to see the video report from Democracy Now:

Thursday, April 1, 2010

"Perfect Storm" Developing in Arizona as Bid to Enact What Would Be the "Toughest Immigration Law in the Country" Advances and Senator John McCain's Reelection Prospects Continue to Deteriorate.  The recent murder of a popular rancher just inside the U.S. border with Mexico by an assailant who is suspected of being an illegal immigrant is precipitating what could be the perfect political storm in Arizona.  The murder is propelling the candidacy of former Representative J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) in his bid to upset longtime Senator John McCain's (R-AZ) bid for reelection to the U.S. Senate, and it is giving an additional push to the Arizona legislature's bid to enact what is being billed as the toughest immigration law in the country.

On Wednesday, March 31, 2010, a committee of the Arizona House of Representatives advanced SB 1070, the "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act," readying the measure for consideration by the full Arizona House of Representatives.  The measure would prevent local law enforcement agencies from having policies that do not fully cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security; require law enforcement  to inquire about the immigration status of persons they encounter; require noncitizens to carry their immigration papers with them at all times; forbid day-labor-like sites; penalize persons who harbor or transport illegal immigrants in the state; and make illegal presence while in Arizona a crime.  A version of the measure has already passed the Arizona State Senate.

Click on the play buttons on the videos below to see news reports on the "perfect storm" that is brewing in Arizona.  The reports aired on the evening of Wednesday, March 31, 2010, on KPNX television and KTVK television, both in Phoenix:

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Video Featuring Representative Luis Gutierrez Speaking to the March on America Rally in Washington, DC.  Democracy Now ran a report on the March 21, 2010, March on America Rally, featuring an extensive clip of the remarks made by Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Immigration Task Force, at the rally.

Click on the play button below to see the video:

 Video of House Immigration and Refugee Hearings

            

 

Video of House Immigration and Refugee Markups

July 22, 2009

            

Video of House Immigration and Refugee
Floor Actions

            

Video of Senate Immigration and Refugee Hearings

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

             


 

October 8, 2009

Hearing Examining Faith-Based Perspectives on Comprehensive Immigration Reform.   On Thursday, October 8, 2009, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security held a hearing on faith-based perspectives on comprehensive immigration reform.  Testifying at the hearing were Leith Anderson, President, National Association of Evangelicals; Luis Cortes Jr., CEO, Esperanza USA, Philadelphia; Theodore E. McCarrick, Cardinal Archbishop Emeritus, Diocese of Washington; Michael Gerson, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Global Engagement, Center on Faith and International Affairs; and James Tolle, Senior Pastor, The Church on the Way, Van Nuys, California.

Click on the thumbnail below to see video of the October 8, 2009, hearing:

 

Human Rights Violators and Asylum.  On Tuesday, October 6, 2009, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law held a hearing on human rights violations and asylum.  The hearing was titled, "No Safe Haven: Accountability for Human Rights Violators, Part II."  Testifying at the hearing were Lanny Breuer, Assistant Attorney General, Criminial Division; John T. Morton, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Immigration and Customs Enforcement; David T. Donahue, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services, Bureau of Consular Affairs; and Arthur M. Cummings II, Executive Director, National Security Branch, FBI.

Click on the thumbnail below to see video of the October 6, 2009, hearing:

• Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee Holds Hearing on IDPs in Pakistan.  On Wednesday, July 29, 2009, the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs held a hearing on Pakistan's Internally Displaced Persons (IDP)) Crisis.  Among the witnesses testifying at the hearing was Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Eric Schwartz. 

             

• Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on the EB-5 Investor Visa Regional Centers Program.  On July 22, 2009, the full Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on "Promoting Job Creation and Foreign Investment in the United States: An assessment of the EB-5 Regional Center Program."

            

• Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Holds Hearing on E-Verify  and Biometric Employment Authorization Verification Systems.  On July 21, 2009, the Senate Judiiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security held a hearing on immigration-related employment verification systems.  The hearing examined the controversial E-Verify system as well as potential biometric-based employment verification systems. 

            

• Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Holds Hearing on REAL ID Act and PASS ID Act.  On July 15, 2009, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held a hearing examining the REAL ID Act.  The hearing was titled, "Identification Security: Reevaluating the REAL ID Act".

            



June 3, 2009

• Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on the Uniting American Families Act.  On June 3, 2009, the full Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on S. 424, the "Uniting American Families Act", legilsation that would amend U.S. lasw to permit "permanent partners" of gay United States citizens and permanent residents to be treated under immigration law as if they were the spouses of such persons.

Click on the thumbmail below to see video of the June 3, 2009: 
 

            

May 20, 2009

• Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Holds Hearing on U.S. Border Enforcement.  On May 20, 2009, the Senate Judiiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security held a hearing titled, "Securing the Borders and America's Points of Entry, What Remains to Be Done". 

Click on the thumbmail below to see video of the May 20, 2009, hearing:

            

• Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Comprehensive Immigration Reform.  On April 30, 2009, the Senate Judiiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security held a hearing titled, "Comprehensive Immigration Reform in 2009, Can We Do It and How?"

Video and Audio of Senate Immigration and
Refugee Markups

• Senate Appropriations Committee Approves FY '10 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill.  On Thursday, July 30, 2009, the senate Committee on Appropriations approved its version of the Fiscal Year 2010 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, which funds the federal government's refugee resettlement, trafficking victim assistance, torture victim assitance programs, as well as the care and placement of unaccompanied alien children. 
  
  While the text of the Committee-approved bill has not yet been publicly released, reports indicate that it would cut the Administration's request for refugee and unaccompanied alien child programs by $10 MILLION.
  
  Click on the thumbnail below to listen to audio of the July 30, 2009, markup: 

 

• Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Approves Bill to Replace Key Provisions of the REAL ID Act.  On Wednesday, July 29, 2009, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs approved S. 2161, the "Providing for Additional Security in States' Identification Act of 2009", or the "PASS ID Act".

 

• Senate Appropriations Committee Approves FY '10 State, Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill.  On Thursday, July 9, 2009, the senate Committee on Appropriations approved S. 1434, its version of the Fiscal Year 2010 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill.

            

• Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Approves FY '10 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill.  On Wednesday, June 17, 2009, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security approved its version of S. 1298, the Fiscal Year 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill.

            

Video of Senate Immigration and Refugee
Floor Actions