Real Immigration Reform...?

Well, look at this - there appears to be an actual, legitimate effort to implement America-first immigration reform in Congress!  Led by Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Republicans in the Senate are planning a group of a dozen or so bills that would address specific border security and immigration goals, including:

• Require jail time for illegal immigrants caught crossing the border.
• Make it harder for illegal immigrants to open bank accounts.
• Compel illegal immigrants to communicate in English when dealing with federal agencies.
• Discourage states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants by docking 10 percent of highway funding from states that continue to do so.
• Extend the presence of National Guard on the border.
• End language assistance at federal agencies and the voting booth for people with limited English ability.
• Block federal funding from cities that bar their police from asking about immigration status.
• Give the Department of Homeland Security the authority to use information from the Social Security Administration to target illegal immigrants.
• Require construction of 700 miles of fencing along the Southern border, not including vehicle barriers.
• Impose sanctions on countries that refuse to repatriate their citizens.
• Deport any immigrant, legal or illegal, for one drunken-driving conviction.
• Enable local and state police to enforce federal immigration laws.

Many of these measures are echoed in the House SAVE Act, but some go even further.  There is little chance that any of these will actually be debated with Democrat control of both houses of Congress, but it will at least put pressure on Democrats to make real changes.  And, it's great to see that the Republicans have finally figured out that the American peopel will not rest until something is done!

One of the specific bills is Sen. Jim DeMint's Complete the Fence Act, which sets 2010 as the deadline for 700 miles of fence on our southern border.

Additionally, the Senate Border Security and Enforcement First Caucus has officially been formed to lead these issues.  Contact your Senator if you want them to join.  These are some real moves in the right direction, and need to be encouraged while the momentum is still positive.  The ball has started rolling, now we just need to accelerate it to get some real things done!

There's my two cents.