Roll Call Acknowledges Efforts of NumbersUSA and its Members

In media coverage — from cable news programs to newspaper editorial boards to YouTube videos- — , immigration appears to be taking a backseat only to the struggling economy and late night talk show appearances by President Obama.

But Senate Minority Whip John Kyl said yesterday that immigration is not a high priority issue right now in Congress.

“If you’ve picked any subject that isn’t really on the front burner right now, you’ve picked it,” said Kyl, who also serves on the Judiciary Committee, when asked if immigration reform might be taken up soon.

— Congress Daily (3/25)

This comes just one week after Obama promised the Hispanic Caucus to pursue comprehensive immigration reform, a.k.a. Amnesty, and in the midst of pro-immigration, anti-American worker advocate and Illinois Rep. Luis Guiterrez’s nationwide immigration tour. Just last week, the Californians for Population Stabilization released the video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling immigration law enforcement actions un-American once again forcing the issue into the limelight.

NumbersUSA members responded to both Obama and Pelosi with a massive fax response. Even early this week, our fax machines were still churning. Americans ordered more than 400,000 faxes through our website since the middle of last week. Not to mention, more than 3,500 new members who joined NumbersUSA over the last five days, sending faxes to their elected officials.

Immigration may be on the back burner for Congress, but it’s front and center for the millions of Americans impacted daily by the federal government importing 138,000 foreign workers a month.

New Jersey residents responding to a poll conducted by Gannett papers overwhelmingly oppose rewards granted to illegal aliens such as driver’s licenses and in-state tuition benefits. Yet, the New York Times, which serves the northern half of the Garden State, just yesterday criticized Obama for pulling back on his nomination of attorney Thomas Saenz to head the civil rights division of the Justice Department. The person who was nominated is also a key pro-amnesty leader but doesn’t have as aggressive of a profile as Saenz. The Times and others saw this as a big set-back.

Mr. Obama may have avoided a nasty fight this time. But if he is ever going to win the battle to put 12 million illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship, he will to have to confront and dismantle the core restrictionist argument: that being an illegal immigrant is an unpardonable crime, one that strips away fundamental protections and forgives all manner of indecent treatment.

— New York Times Editorial (3/24)

So far in March, the Times has pumped out six editorials/op-eds supporting the Amnesty argument. Newspapers across the country are printing sob stories about illegal aliens negatively impacted by the souring economy and worksite enforcement.

Every once in a while, immigration-reduction advocates get a quote here and a paragraph there, but there is little coverage to an issue that places millions of Americans out of work while reducing the quality of life for millions more.

On Monday, Roll Call, a specialty publication that ranks No. 1 in total readership with Congress, gave us some substantial ink. “Sealing Off the Borders; Anti-Immigration Groups Gear Up for Action” written by Matthew Murray gave Roy and our grass-roots’ efforts some considerable recognition.

Roy Beck, NumbersUSA’s executive director, said his group has the e-mail addresses of 1.6 million individuals, 900,000 of whom are regular users of the group’s proprietary online software, which allows them to electronically communicate their disapproval of immigration legislation to Senators and House Members.

The organization also has a team of contract lobbyists led by its government relations head, Rosemary Jenks.

… “There were three major amnesty votes in 2007 and we beat all of them [with] very little advertising,” (Beck said. “We were leveraging grass-roots power through the Internet and talk radio, and that’s what we’ll do again this year.”

— Roll Call (3/23)

The pro-immigration groups may get most of the attention, but our work isn’t going unnoticed. All we can do is continue to contact our leaders and tell them how high immigration numbers are hurting American workers.

Senate Minority Whip Kyl’s comment saying not to expect Congressional action on immigration any time soon may mean they’re hearing your protests against Amnesty.