TEA PARTY PATRIOTS:
IRS watchdog finds 6,400 Lois Lerner emails
“…However, one staffer familiar with the investigation, said the emails were from 2004 through 2013, with the bulk coming from 2012. About 650 are from 2010 and 2011, when the alleged IRS targeting began. Tea Party Patriots president Jenny Beth Martin said the news was another development in a “long line of deplorable actions from the Internal Revenue Service against groups who were merely trying to hold their government accountable.” “It will be very enlightening to see the content of the emails as (the inspector general) continues the investigation,” she said in a statement…”
http://www.wptz.com/politics/irs-watchdog-finds-6400-lois-lerner-emails/32625252
HEALTHCARE:
Auditor: States might be using ObamaCare grant money illegally
“Some states running their own ObamaCare exchanges may be illegally using federal dollars to keep them afloat, according to a new warning from a government auditor. The inspector general for Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said officials must better inform states about the purpose of the grants to prevent them from improperly using the money to prop up their health insurance exchanges. “This issue is a significant matter and requires CMS’s immediate attention,” inspector general Daniel Levinson wrote to the acting head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Under current rules, states can only use the grants for costs related to “design, development, and implementation” of the sites for buying insurance. But with some state exchanges facing budget woes this year, the auditor said “there is a risk” that officials will use the grants to pay for overhead costs instead. For example, the audit said Washington state’s health exchange “might use $10 million in establishment grant funds to support operations” in the second half of 2015, citing budget documents. The Washington exchange faces a funding shortfall of $125 million, with the state Legislature asked to cover the additional costs. The auditor warned that if the financial troubles continue, “it could affect [the exchange’s] ability to fund operations.” The watchdog also highlighted Rhode Island’s exchange, which “currently does not have a dedicated revenue stream.” The inspector general’s office sent its letter at the request of Congress, and says it is continuing to investigate the spending by state-based exchanges. Levinson said the concerns surfaced during the office’s review of states’ budget information, in addition to media reports. ObamaCare required that all state-based marketplaces be self-sustaining by January 2015, and the federal government instructed that grants cannot be used after that date to cover such costs as rent, software maintenance, utilities and staffing. A total of 37 states have received “establishment grants” from the Obama administration, costing $4.8 billion since the rollout of the law. That is in addition to more general “state planning and establishment grants,” which were awarded to 49 states at a total cost of $44 million.”
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/240476-auditor-states-may-be-misusing-obamacare-grants-to-prop-up-exchanges
Two-thirds Of Obamacare Subsidy Recipients Had To Repay IRS
“Most Obamacare subsidy recipients in 2014 were overpaid and had to give hundreds of dollars back to the IRS, substantially cutting into their refunds. Almost two-thirds had to repay an average of $729 of the credit this year, which cut their potential refunds by nearly a third, an H&R Block analysis of its latest filing data found. Their average refund was $2,195. The federal subsidy is supposed to help Obamacare enrollees pay for coverage, but is doled out based on income the recipient must report accurately and update. Because it’s aimed at low-income individuals and families, the repayments could hit hard. One in four of the recipients were underpaid, and received an extra $425 in their refund on average…”
http://dailycaller.com/2015/04/29/two-thirds-of-obamacare-subsidy-recipients-had-to-repay-irs/
ObamaCare tax impact less than expected: TurboTax
“Less than half of taxpayers who got health insurance through the ObamaCare marketplaces had to return part of their tax subsidy to the government, according to data compiled by TurboTax. The online tax preparer said Wednesday that 44 percent of taxpayers who received an incentive to help pay for insurance owed an average of between $315 and $365. For many taxpayers, that payment might have meant a smaller than expected refund. The most recent tax filing season, which ended for most taxpayers on or before April 15, was the first in which people who purchased insurance from healthcare exchanges were forced to reconcile how much of a tax credit they received with earlier estimates of their income. For that reason and others, many tax analysts and practitioners predicted that the IRS would face a rocky filing season. But John Koskinen, the IRS commissioner, has said the filing season went “swimmingly,” even as he bemoaned the agency’s dwindling budget and its poor customer service record…”
http://thehill.com/policy/finance/240532-obamacare-tax-impact-less-than-expected-turbotax
ACA Tax Filing Was Surprisingly Painless, But Not For All
http://www.forbes.com/sites/beltway/2015/04/29/aca-tax-filing-was-surprisingly-painless-but-not-for-all/
Shed sunshine on ObamaCare’s subsidies for Congress
“Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) has a simple question: How and why did Congress qualify as a “small business” eligible for special taxpayer subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA)? For anyone in a real small business — private employers who get no such subsidies — the very idea is absurd. But getting a straight answer is as difficult as getting Lois Lerner’s IRS emails. In search of answers, Vitter proposed subpoenaing documents from the District of Columbia Health Benefits Exchange Authority. But his colleagues on the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee recently voted (14 to five) to block the effort. They’ve tried to justify their lack of curiosity by calling the proposed subpoena an unnecessary “distraction” or an invitation to a “protracted” legal fight. But these are rather obviously lame excuses. Here’s the backstory. In enacting the ACA five years ago, lawmakers voted to take themselves out of their existing coverage in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) and to enroll themselves and their “official” employees in ObamaCare beginning in 2014. The language — Section 1312(d)(3)(D) — was part of then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) manager’s amendment to H.R. 3950. While FEHBP coverage carried a generous federal employer subsidy, the ACA language provides for no special subsidies for Congress or staff participating in the government exchanges. In short, the law neither preserves nor replaces the FEHBP subsidy. Here’s another salient fact. The issue was debated. Before final passage, on March 24, 2010, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) offered an amendment to preserve the FEHBP subsidies for members and staff enrolling in the law’s exchanges and to require the president and executive branch political appointees to also participate in the government exchange program. The Grassley amendment was defeated 56 to 43, with all Senate Democrats voting against it. Shortly thereafter, congressional leaders desperately sought a way out of the mess — an “administrative solution” that would give them a special financial cushion without having to cast an embarrassing vote to get the preferential treatment. Though sympathetic to the plight of Congress, Timothy Jost, professor of law at George Washington University, frankly acknowledged that the language of Section 1312(d) created a compensation problem for members of Congress and staff who would no longer get generous employer-based subsidies for insurance and whose income is too high to take advantage of the statutorily authorized exchange subsidies: “The exchanges are only open to individuals and small employers. No large employers participate in the exchange, at least not yet. There is no provision, therefore for large employers, including the largest — the United States government — to pay for exchange coverage.” Enter the Obama administration. In August 2013, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) rode to the rescue, declaring it would provide FEHBP subsidies for members and staff enrolled in the exchange. There was a problem: Neither the ACA nor Chapter 89 of Title V (the law governing the FEHBP) nor any other statute authorizes any FEHBP subsidies to health plans outside of FEHBP. Indeed, OPM staff initially held that they had no such authority. OPM’s decision to provide FEHBP subsidies for Congress when Congress no longer had FEHBP coverage was a stunning metaphysical feat, never before attempted in the FEHBP. OPM also decided to declare Congress and staff eligible for enrollment in the D.C. SHOP (Small Business Health Options Program) exchange, a program reserved for small businesses. The Vitter subpoena was intended to shed light on the interaction between the D.C. exchange and congressional officials in this ludicrous designation of Congress as a “small business.” This entire exercise, creating special subsidies for Congress and redefining Congress as a “small business,” has been a textbook example of administrative creativity, untrammeled by statutory restraint. An examination of the relevant statutes reveals that continuing FEHBP subsidies for congressional coverage is both illegal and unfair. Some critics go further. Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute characterizes the special subsidies as a “bribe” to keep Congress from reopening the Affordable Care Act…”
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/healthcare/240387-shed-sunshine-on-obamacares-subsidies-for-congress
Lawmakers seek to limit ObamaCare calorie count regulation
“Government regulations that require companies to list the number of calories in the foods and drinks they sell are coming under fire from Capitol Hill. The Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act, backed by Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.), would curb the requirements, which were issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under ObamaCare. Restaurants would still be required to provide calorie counts for regular menu items under the legislation, but most grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations, and movie theaters would be exempted. “Think about it this way: For companies like Domino’s Pizza, every potential toppings combination — well over 5 million options would have to be calculated and publicized,” Rodgers said in a statement. “This requirement simply is not workable.” The FDA issued the controversial menu labeling requirements last November. The menu labeling requirements, which were ordered in the healthcare reform law, apply not only to chain restaurants with 20 or more locations, but also entertainment venues like movie theaters, sports stadiums, amusement parks, bowling alleys and miniature golf course that serve prepared foods. Public health groups praised the menu labeling requirements, arguing they provide consumers with more information about the foods they eat. The National Restaurant Association is also backing the menu labeling requirements as written, saying restaurants want to compete on a level playing field with other companies that sell prepared foods. “As grocery stores and convenience stores continue to sell restaurant food, they should be subject to the same rules as others, allowing consumers to make informed decisions about what they eat regardless of where they were purchased,” Dan Roehl, vice president of government affairs at the National Restaurant Association, said in a statement. But many other companies that serve prepared foods say they will not be able to comply with the rules. “Adhering to burdensome menu labeling requirements will be extremely costly — in both time and resources — for restaurants, grocery stores, delivery chains, and movie theaters across our country,” Rodgers said…”
http://thehill.com/regulation/healthcare/240482-calorie-labeling-rule-under-fire-on-capitol-hill
Buoyed By ACA’s Medicaid Growth, Anthem Adds 1M Enrollees
“Anthem (ANTM), which operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans across the country, said the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and new individual members boosted company profits in the second quarter. Anthem chief executive Joe Swedish said the company added 429,000 new customers in the first quarter covered under its Medicaid plans, which contract with states to provide benefits to poor Americans. Anthem is among insurers benefiting from the expansion of Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Anthem now says government business, which includes Medicaid, is now slightly more than half of the company’s total business. Medical enrollment grew by 1 million members, or nearly 3 percent to 38.5 million by the end of the first quarter compared to 37.5 million at the end of 2014. “The pipeline for our government business remains substantial,” Swedish told analysts this morning on a conference call. Because of Anthem’s growth, Swedish raised earnings guidance for 2015 to “greater than $9.90” per share from the current earnings for cast of greater than $9.70 per share…”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2015/04/29/anthem-adds-1m-customers-buoyed-by-medicaid-expansion/
Health Insurers Skirt Obamacare Fee
“The Internal Revenue Service needs to do better at ensuring that health insurance policy issuers and self-insured plan sponsors pay a fee required under the Affordable Care Act known as the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research fee, according to a new government report. The report, from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, noted that the Affordable Care Act includes a tax provision that provides for an excise tax equal to one or more dollars based on the average number of lives covered under a specified health insurance policy or self-insured health plan during a specific year. The new Patient-Centered Outcomes Research fee is used to offset the costs of the PCOR Institute, which funds research that will provide information to assist patients and their healthcare providers make more informed health care decisions. In its review, TIGTA found that 72,035 health insurance policy issuers/self-insured plan sponsors filed a Form 720, Quarterly Federal Excise Tax Return, with PCOR fees totaling $114 million for tax year 2012. However, of these filers, 30,996 (or approximately 43 percent) paid a PCOR fee of less than $4.25, which is the IRS’s cost just to process these returns. The IRS developed a PCOR compliance plan that states it will use third-party data sources to identify potential nonfilers. TIGTA noted that the IRS is in the process of analyzing this information for use in evaluating tax year 2012 return filing compliance. However, the data that the IRS obtained do not include the necessary information to calculate the potential PCOR fees owed by these nonfilers. TIGTA reviewed additional data from these third-party sources and identified 25 health insurance policy issuers and 1,753 self-insured health plan sponsors that potentially did not file a Form 720 reporting a PCOR fee in tax year 2012 as required. For the quarter ending June 30, 2013, TIGTA also found 2,242 transactions had transcription errors which resulted in an overstatement of approximately 359 million average lives covered. While the average number of lives recorded in the Business Return Transaction File is not reliable, these errors do not affect the PCOR fees paid. “The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research fee is an important source of funds for research that will enable people to make more informed healthcare decisions,” said TIGTA Inspector General J. Russell George in a statement. “As such, it is important for the IRS to take the steps we have recommended to ensure that the applicable health insurance policy issuers and self-insured plan sponsors comply with the requirements in the law.” TIGTA recommended that the IRS obtain the data needed to identify noncompliance with the filing and payment requirements for PCOR fees. Based on these results, TIGTA suggested, the IRS should identify nonfilers, send notices as appropriate, and determine if additional enforcement actions are required. The IRS should also alert and instruct employees on how to avoid the significant Form 720 transcription errors that materially affect the accuracy of the average number of lives covered for the PCOR fees, TIGTA recommended…”
http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/tax-practice/health-insurers-skirt-obamacare-fee-74455-1.html
Health insurers ignoring Obamacare rules
“Health insurers are violating new requirements in the Affordable Care Act, say some of the law’s strongest advocates. Two lengthy reports released Wednesday find that many insurers are either denying coverage for certain services or not covering them as mandated by the 2010 healthcare law. Researchers studied plans in 15 states around the country, and found at least one plan in each state that violates the healthcare law by illegally collecting co-payments or imposing coverage limitations on certain services. For example, 14 plans in seven states offer maternity coverage that does not comply with the law. More than 50 plans in 13 states offer preventive services coverage that falls short, the researchers found. They also found widespread violations of the law’s requirement for plans to cover all types of Food and Drug Administration-approved birth control…”
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/health-insurers-ignoring-obamacare-rules/article/2563790?custom_click=rss
Some brokers encounter hard times under the Affordable Care Act
http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/04/29/51313/some-brokers-encounter-hard-times-under-the-afford/
Report: O-Care ruling would disproportionately affect small businesses
“Small businesses are among the most vulnerable to steep cost increases in healthcare coverage if the Supreme Court rules against ObamaCare, according to new data from the Urban Institute. In addition to the 7.5 million people who could lose their insurance subsidies if the Obama administration loses the case, nearly 3.5 million people on small-business plans would also face “substantially” higher premiums, Linda Blumberg, senior fellow for the Urban Institute, will tell a Senate panel on Wednesday. At least 840,000 of those people would become uninsured, she wrote in prepared remarks for the Senate Small Business Committee’s hearing on the effects of the Supreme Court case King v. Burwell. Families of people who work in small businesses are particularly at risk of feeling the potential aftershock, Blumberg wrote, because they have “disproportionately benefitted” from the law. Healthcare experts have long warned that the loss of ObamaCare subsidies in about three dozen states would trigger an unraveling of the market nationwide…”
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/240434-report-obamacare-ruling-disproportionately-affects-small-businesses
Small business could lose Obamacare subsidies in Supreme Court case
“Small businesses would be hit hard if the Supreme Court strikes down Obamacare subsidies in certain states, according to the left-leaning think tank Urban Institute. If the subsidies go away, a majority of the people affected would be workers at small businesses, the Institute announced in a new analysis released Wednesday. The court will rule in June on the case King v. Burwell, which deals with whether the federal government has the authority provide subsidies to the 34 states that didn’t set up their own exchanges. “The number of uninsured in these states would increase by a total of 8.2 million people in 2016,” according to testimony from Linda J. Blumberg, senior fellow at the Urban Institute, at a Senate hearing Wednesday. Of that 8.2 million, 63 percent, or 5.8 million people, have at least one family member employed by a small business. “Of these 5.8 million people, 4.1 million, or 70 percent, would become uninsured,” Blumberg testified. In addition about 2.5 million people in self-employed families would lose tax credits, 1.6 million of which would become uninsured. If the subsidies go away, these people would face much higher premiums that would be difficult to afford, Blumberg said. The Urban Institute relied on data from its Health Reform Monitoring Survey for the analysis. Congress has bandied about several different proposals for what to do if the high court rules for the plaintiffs in June. So far the GOP has not reached a consensus on any proposal to maintain the public subsidies for private purchases of health insurance. The administration could issue hardship waivers to people who lose subsidies to let them get more low-cost “catastrophic” plans, Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the libertarian think tank Cato Institute, said during the hearing…”
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/small-business-could-lose-obamacare-subsidies-in-supreme-court-case/article/2563771?custom_click=rss
Obamacare case’s threat to small biz workers ain’t small
“They work for small businesses, but they’d be the biggest hit by far if this Supreme Court case goes against the Obama administration. Millions of people in families with small business employees or self-employed workers would drop health insurance coverage if the high court rules HealthCare.gov customers can’t get financial help for their Obamacare plans, a Senate committee is being told Wednesday…”
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102628225
More people buying their own insurance
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/more-people-buying-their-own-insurance/article/2563759
Ohio Obamacare expansion costs $3 billion in first 15 months
“Americans’ tax burden is already $3 billion heavier because of Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare. By putting more able-bodied, working-age childless adults on Medicaid than Kasich projected, Obamacare expansion is reducing incentives to work and threatening traditional Medicaid recipients’ access to care faster and at greater cost than anticipated. After Kasich expanded Medicaid unilaterally, a state panel approved $2.56 billion in Obamacare spending for the expansion’s first 18 months. The money was meant to last until July, but it ran out in February. Kasich’s Obamacare expansion cost $323 million in March — 84 percent greater than estimates revised just six months earlier…”
http://watchdog.org/214520/ohio-obamacare-march15/
Montana officially expands Medicaid
“Montana officially became the 29th state to expand Medicaid Wednesday. Democratic Governor Steve Bullock signed a law Wednesday afternoon expanding the program. The expansion provides medical care to roughly 45,000 Montana low-income residents. The state will have to get a special approval from the Obama administration because it seeks to diverge from traditional Medicaid. For instance, enrollees would have to help pay a small portion of their premiums and co-payments. The bill went through a roller coaster ride to get to the governor’s desk. It passed the state Senate but appeared to die in committee in the Republican-controlled House. However, a group of moderate Republicans and Democrats employed a little-used legislative maneuver to bring the bill to the House floor, where it was approved…”
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/montana-officially-expands-medicaid/article/2563780
Assurant Health may exit Illinois Obamacare exchange
“Assurant Health, new to the Illinois health insurance exchange this year, will either be sold or closed in 2016. If there is no buyer, Milwaukee-based Assurant will not be selling plans on the Illinois exchange in 2016, Assurant spokeswoman Vera Carley said. That means consumers with an Assurant plan will have to shop elsewhere for coverage when enrollment begins again on Nov. 1. “Absent a sale, we will discontinue the filing process for 2016 and work towards a withdrawal,” Carley said. With nearly 1 million customers nationwide, Assurant Health sells insurance to individuals, families and small businesses. Assurant is one of eight companies that offered more than 400 plans this year on the Illinois exchange, Get Covered Illinois. The online marketplace has enrolled nearly 350,000 consumers so far, up about 60 percent from its debut in 2014. A special enrollment period ends tomorrow. Nationwide, nearly 11.7 million consumers picked or were automatically re-enrolled in a plan, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in March…”
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20150429/NEWS03/150429755/assurant-health-may-exit-illinois-obamacare-exchange
Florida files ObamaCare lawsuit
“Florida has filed a lawsuit charging the Obama administration is trying to force it to expand Medicaid under ObamaCare. Kicking off a legal battle involving both Medicaid expansion and a separate pot of federal funding for hospitals, Attorney General Pam Bondi filed suit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. The lawsuit was threatened last week by Gov. Rick Scott, who accuses the administration of trying to coerce him into expanding Florida’s Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act — something he and many other Republican governors have so far refused to do. Scott contends officials are pressuring him by threatening to halt an existing flow of federal funds used to reimburse hospitals for caring for uninsured patients…”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/04/29/florida-files-obamacare-lawsuit/
Florida governor says concession in ObamaCare dispute was ignored
“Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) argues in a newly filed complaint in his lawsuit against the Obama administration that he made a key concession to the federal government that was disregarded. Scott announced earlier this month that he was suing the administration over what he calls an effort to force his state to expand Medicaid, by linking it to the renewal of separate federal funds to cover uncompensated care at hospitals, known as the Low-Income Pool (LIP).
The administration argues that it is a better system to give people coverage in the first place through a Medicaid expansion rather than reimbursing hospitals for covering uninsured people through LIP. But the complaint filed in the case argues that Florida actually agreed to the administration’s requirement that the LIP money not be used for costs that would otherwise be covered by expanding Medicaid, but that the administration’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) disregarded that concession in a letter it then sent to the state laying out its terms. “The CMS letter also asserted that ‘uncompensated care pool funding should not pay for costs that would be covered in a Medicaid expansion,’ yet made no mention of the fact that the State had unequivocally expressed its willingness to tailor the size of its LIP program to eliminate that potential overlap,” the complaint states…”
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/240533-florida-governor-points-to-concession-in-obamacare-dispute
Congress, Here’s How To Prepare for King v. Burwell
Testimony before the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
“Chairman Vitter, Ranking Member Shaheen, and members of the Committee, thank you for your invitation to discuss King v. Burwell, a case concerning the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) currently before the Supreme Court. King v. Burwell challenges as unauthorized by any Congress both the premium subsidies the Internal Revenue Service is issuing in 38 states with federally established Exchanges, and the tax penalties those subsidies trigger. The Court heard oral arguments on March 4, 2015. Court watchers expect a ruling by the end of June. If the Court sides with the challengers, its ruling will free more than 57 million employers and individuals in those federal-Exchange states from the ACA’s employer and individual mandates. Those 57 million Americans include Kevin Pace, a jazz musician and Virginia resident whose income fell by $8,000 when his employer cut his hours to avoid the IRS’s illegal taxes. They include small-business owners who would expand and hire more workers, but are prohibited from doing so by threat of illegal taxes. A ruling for the challengers would protect small businesses and their employees from an out-of-control IRS. Such a ruling would cause a smaller number of Americans — an estimated 6.7 million — to lose access to subsidies that no Congress ever authorized. A ruling for the government, on the other hand, would for the first time allow the IRS to usurp Congress’s exclusive powers to tax and spend. Few things could be more destructive to small businesses, liberty, or our constitutional order. Congress should investigate how the IRS came to tax, borrow, and spend tens of billions of dollars in violation of the clear limits the ACA places on the IRS’s authority…”
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/417642/congress-heres-how-prepare-king-v-burwell-michael-f-cannon
Insurers ignore ObamaCare birth control rule
“Insurance companies are widely ignoring an ObamaCare rule that requires them to provide free or low-cost birth control, according to a report by the National Women’s Law Center. Some insurance companies are still charging women out-of-pocket costs for birth control and limiting their coverage to only certain methods of birth control, both violations of the Affordable Care Act, according to the 22-page report to be released Wednesday. “Unfortunately, not every woman who should be getting coverage of her birth control without out-of-pocket costs has been able to access this important benefit,” states the report, which is based on an analysis of 100 plans in 15 states. The most common coverage problems are for the vaginal ring, the patch and an intrauterine device (IUD). In some cases, the insurance company will “even suggest that a woman switch methods if she does not want any out-of-pocket costs,” according to the report. Some companies are not covering the costs of related doctor’s appointments or are imposing age limits on coverage…”
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/240437-report-some-insurers-violating-obamacare-birth-control-rule
IMMIGRATION:
Immigrant removals continue to decline under Obama
“The Obama administration is on pace to deport the fewest number of immigrants in nearly a decade, according to internal government data obtained by The Associated Press. As of April 20, federal immigration officials sent home 127,378 people in the United States illegally. That puts immigrant removals on track to be among the lowest since the middle of President George W. Bush’s second term. The internal statistics reveal a continuing decline in deportations even as the Obama administration fights a legal challenge to a plan it announced late last year to shield millions of immigrants from deportations. “With the resources we have … I’m interested in focusing on criminals and recent illegal arrivals at the border,” Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee during an oversight hearing Tuesday. The new figures, contained in weekly internal reports not publicly reported, average about 19,730 removals a month for the first six months of the government’s fiscal year that began in October. If that trend continues, the government will remove about 236,000 by September – the lowest figure since 2006, when 207,776 were sent home…”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/29/immigrant-removals-continue-to-decline-under-obama/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS
Immigrant Removals Continue to Decline Under Obama
“The Obama administration is on pace to deport the fewest number of immigrants in nearly a decade, according to internal government data obtained by The Associated Press. As of April 20, federal immigration officials sent home 127,378 people in the United States illegally. That puts immigrant removals on track to be among the lowest since the middle of President George W. Bush’s second term. The internal statistics reveal a continuing decline in deportations even as the Obama administration fights a legal challenge to a plan it announced late last year to shield millions of immigrants from deportations. “With the resources we have … I’m interested in focusing on criminals and recent illegal arrivals at the border,” Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee during an oversight hearing Tuesday. The new figures, contained in weekly internal reports not publicly reported, average about 19,730 removals a month for the first six months of the government’s fiscal year that began in October. If that trend continues, the government will remove about 236,000 by September — the lowest figure since 2006, when 207,776 were sent home. Removals have been declining for nearly three years after Immigration and Customs Enforcement recorded a record 409,849 removals in 2012. That federal agency, known as ICE, is responsible for finding and removing immigrants living in the country illegally. President Barack Obama announced a plan in November that would protect millions of immigrants living in the country illegally, but that effort is on hold after a federal judge in Texas blocked its implementation…”
http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2015/04/29/immigrant-removals-continue-to-decline-under-obama
DEPORTATIONS UNDER OBAMA FORECASTED TO BE LOWEST IN A DECADE
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/04/29/deportations-under-obama-forecasted-to-be-lowest-in-a-decade/
EXPERT: UP TO 400K CHILDREN BORN TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN U.S. ANNUALLY, ONE IN 10 BIRTHS
“Approximately 350,000 to 400,000 children are born to illegal immigrants in the U.S. each year. Due to current policy, all automatically become U.S. citizens, Center for Immigration Studies legal policy analyst Jon Feere testified before a House panel Wednesday. “To put this in perspective this means that one out of 10 births in the U.S. is to an illegal immigrant mother,” Freere said at a House Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security hearing titled “Birthright Citizenship: Is It The Right Policy For America?” He explained that, regardless of the foreign allegiance and/or illegal status of the parents, their children, if born on U.S. soil, are automatically afforded the benefits of U.S. citizenship, including a Social Security Number and U.S. passports. This benefit also applies, he noted, to those born to mere tourists and other people with temporary status in the U.S. “It is unlikely that Congress intended such a broad application of the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause, and the Supreme Court has only held that children born to citizens or permanently domiciled immigrants must be considered U.S. citizens at birth. Some clarity from Congress would be helpful in resolving this ongoing debate,” Feere said. Feere further testified that the number of children in the U.S. with illegal immigrant parents increased from 2.7 million in 2003 to 4.5 million in 2010 and noted that the birthright policy is intrinsically linked to some of President Obama’s executive amnesties. “Under the immigration enforcement priorities of the Obama administration, illegal immigrants who give birth to U.S. citizens have become low priorities for deportation. Furthermore, the president’s DAPA program, the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program, currently held up in court would provide benefits to illegal immigrants who gave birth here and allow them to ‘stay in the U.S. without fear of deportation.’ The broad interpretation of the Citizenship Clause forms the basis for these policies,” he said. The CIS expert highlighted other implications of birthright citizenship, such as birth tourism, where pregnant foreigners come to the U.S. simply to have a child with a U.S. passport. “Birth tourism is becoming much more common with every passing year and Congress will have to address it,” Feere said…”
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/04/29/expert-up-to-400k-children-born-to-illegal-immigrants-in-u-s-annually-one-in-10-births/
DHS SEC: 100 PERCENT ‘SITUATIONAL AWARENESS’ OF BORDER UNLIKELY BEFORE END OF OBAMA ADMIN.
“The U.S. likely will not achieve 100 percent situational awareness of the U.S. border before the end of the Obama administration, Department of Homeland Security Sec. Jeh Johnson says. During a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing Wednesday, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) pressed Johnson on the level of control the government is able to maintain at the U.S. border. “The Department has argued 100 percent operational control objective is imprudent and I understand some of the argument for why that is, because you would be devoting certain kinds of resources in places that might be lower risk threats than if you build a matrix in kind of thinking about where we want to make those investments is to try to deter catastrophic events before all else,” Sasse said. The Nebraska lawmaker then Johnson whether the department had 100 percent “situational awareness” of the border, to which the DHS secretary indicated that they are making progress toward getting to 100 percent. “Every time I’ve looked at this exact issue on the southern border in particular and I think I’ve seen analysis for the northern border as well. Our situational awareness is getting better, but it gets better by virtue of surveillance technology, surveillance capability. And there is a lot of that reflected in our budget request. More mobile surveillance, aerial surveillance and the more we have the more situational awareness we have,” Johnson said. According to Johnson the department does have a 100 percent situational awareness goal, “in at least certain sectors.” “I don’t know whether that would be absolutely true for every single sector of the border,” he said. “In general it ought to be, but in the immediate term I know the numbers, the percentage of border land for which we have situational awareness is increasing all the time.” Sasse then asked Johnson if he believed the department would get to that 100 percent objective by the end of his time as DHS secretary. “Probably not during my tenure, my tenure is growing short, I’d like it to be over at a certain time. I don’t know that we’ll be able to achieve that before the end of this administration, if that is your question,” he said. At the close of the hearing, Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI) encouraged DHS to take a methodical path to achieve situational awareness…”
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/04/29/dhs-sec-100-percent-situational-awareness-of-border-unlikely-before-end-of-obama-admin/
Johnson admits DHS does not have full control of border
“Homeland Security still won’t have a complete handle on the border by the end of President Obama’s tenure, department Secretary Jeh Johnson admitted to Congress on Wednesday, though he said they are quickly getting better. Appearing before several committees to justify his 2016 budget request, Mr. Johnson said his department does not yet have situational control over the southwestern border, nor does it even have full “situational awareness” yet. “I don’t know that we’ll be able to achieve that before the end of this administration,” the secretary told Sen. Ben Sasse, Nebraska Republican, who was quizzing him on it at a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing…”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/29/jeh-johnson-touts-border-security-eyes-improvement/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS
DHS DECLINES TO INVESTIGATE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON H-1B VISA ABUSE ALLEGATIONS
“The Department of Homeland Security has declined to investigate Southern California Edison on allegations that it is replacing American employees with foreign workers on H-1B visas. In response to a bipartisan call from ten U.S. senators led by Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services — an agency within DHS — said that while it is on the lookout for possible H-1B violations, an investigation into the company is “premature.” “At this point, it would be premature for USCIS to speculate as to whether Southern Edison’s participation in the H-1B program has violated any laws,” USCIS Director Leon Rodriguez wrote in a letter dated Tuesday. In a joint statement Wednesday Sessions and Durbin expressed disappointment in the reply to their request for an investigation and took issue with Rodriguez’s letter. “The reply letter was non-responsive, failing to address the questions presented. Director Rodriquez merely stated that ‘it would premature for USCIS to speculate as to whether Southern California Edison’s participation in the H-1B program violated any laws.’ We did not ask for speculation; we asked for an investigation, and an explanation of any legal obstacles to conducting such an investigation,” the pair said. “Why will the Department of Homeland Security not conduct one?” they continued. “Does DHS have insufficient legal authority to conduct such an investigation? This letter does not tell us. There are legions of displaced Americans formerly employed by Southern California Edison and many other companies who deserve answers.” Earlier this month the ten senators called on Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Labor to look into abuses of the H-1B visa program. “Congress has a responsibility to ensure that the law does not permit employers to abuse our visa programs to undercut domestic wages and workers. If USCIS believes existing law does not prevent these activities, then the law must be changed,” Sessions and Durbin argued Wednesday…”
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/04/29/dhs-declines-to-investigate-southern-california-edison-h-1b-visa-abuse-allegations/
Homeland Security rejects request to investigate guest-worker program abuse
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/29/homeland-security-rejects-investigation-guest-work/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS
Demonstrators to gather in Las Vegas for minority issues
“Protesters will gather in downtown Las Vegas Friday to rally for working class and minority issues, such as immigration reform and the growing tension between police and people of color. The Las Vegas Sun reports (http://bit.ly/1ImE0pO ) that the march will be at 4:30 p.m. on May Day, which is typically a holiday for labor groups but has taken on an immigration flavor in the past few years. Local activists have been holding May Day demonstrations in downtown Las Vegas for nearly a decade. The event typically draws hundreds of participants. The protest comes as racial tension has turned to riots in Baltimore after a 25-year-old black man died of a spinal-cord injury under mysterious circumstances while in police custody…”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/29/demonstrators-to-gather-in-las-vegas-for-minority-/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS
The Obama Administration and Immigrant Assimilation
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/417653/obama-administration-and-immigrant-assimilation-roger-clegg
Activists Label GOP Immigration Agenda ‘Mass Deportation’
“The GOP 2016 field may still be picking its way through suitable campaign messaging on immigration, but activists already are defining their party’s approach to reform: “Mass Deportation.” On the same day that House Republicans were holding a hearing on whether people born in the U.S. should get automatic citizenship, immigration and civil rights activists affixed that brand to Republicans in Congress and by extension, the party’s 2016 hopefuls. “The GOP-controlled Congress has all but cemented its anti-immigrant legacy and may meet its destiny in 2016,” the activists said in a report they released Wednesday with the words “Mass Deportation” stamped on the report’s cover in bright yellow letters. The report was produced by the Alliance for Citizenship. The cover has photos of several congressional members and juxtaposes a photo of Sen. Ted Cruz, who is seeking the GOP presidential nomination, with a photo of Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who has made headlines for years by labeling immigrants as drug mules and suggesting they be stopped at the border with electrified fences. In defense of Wednesday’s hearing, Wadi Gaitan, spokesman for the House Republican Conference, said: “Americans across the nation agree that in order to bring forward genuine solutions we must have an open conversation to examine all aspects of our immigration system.” Ruth Guerra, RNC Director of Hispanic Media, said in a statement, “These claims are baseless and inflammatory. Republican presidential candidates will have the opportunity to share their ideas and solutions on how to reform our immigration system, something President Obama and Democrats have failed to do for the past six years.” The activists’ label conjures the failed immigration solution of Mitt Romney who said in his 2012 campaign that immigrants should self deport. He ended up earning just 27 percent of the Latino vote and President Barack Obama won re-election with significant support from Latinos as well from other racial and ethnic groups. Clarissa Martinez de Castro, a deputy vice president at the National Council of La Raza, said there’s still time for Republican candidates to better define their immigration agendas, but she said “it’s not looking bright right now” since several have opposed President Barack Obama’s use of executive authority to protect millions from deportation…”
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/activists-label-gop-immigration-agenda-mass-deportation-n350441
Games People Play on Immigration
“My fellow Bloomberg View contributor Noah Smith thinks Scott Walker “may have accidentally given away the game.” Many people say they are just against illegal immigration, which they oppose because of their concerns about the rule of law. Immigration boosters, including me, have always suspected that this professed concern for the law masks a deeper opposition to allimmigration. Now Wisconsin Governor and potential presidential candidate Scott Walker has given ammo to the skeptics. Here’s an alternative hypothesis. Some people oppose illegal immigration because of their concerns about the rule of law but favor higher legal immigration. Some other people oppose illegal immigration and also favor reductions in legal immigration, and they take these views for a mix of reasons. Walker may be in group two. When people in group two state their position, they are not revealing anything about group one. And when people in group one state their position, they are not hiding anything. The arguments Smith makes about the effects of immigration on wages have some force. But he ignores the impact on the wages of immigrants who are already here; he seems to regard capital and labor mobility as perfect substitutes for each other, which does not seem obviously correct; and he takes an all-or-nothing view about immigration policy that seems to me mistaken. Smith suggests that limiting legal immigration more than we currently do would amount to America’s “throwing away one of its biggest advantages.” But I suppose if you think that wanting less immigration means harboring “opposition to all immigration,” that’s a natural step to take.”
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/417660/games-people-play-immigration-ramesh-ponnuru
BILL TO REGISTER ALL CALIFORNIA DRIVERS TO VOTE ADVANCES
“Last month, Oregon Governor Kate Brown received considerable media attention when she put her signature on a new law that automatically registers every licensed driver in the Beaver State to vote. Here in California, newly-minted Secretary of State Alex Padilla is pushing for the state legislature to follow Oregon’s lead. Padilla is supporting a bill, AB 1461, authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), that would, as in Oregon, require that every person with a driver’s license in California be automatically registered to vote. AB 1461 says that a licensed driver would have to affirmatively opt out of being registered in order not to be enrolled automatically. The bill passed its first legislative hurdle yesterday when Assembly Transportation Committee Democrats, on a party-line vote, approved the bill. In a release, Padilla said, “One of the biggest barriers to citizen participation is the voter registration process. A new, enhanced California Motor Voter law would strengthen our democracy. It would be a game changer. While Oregon could expand its voter rolls by as much as 300,000 voters through their new enhanced Motor Voter process, California could expand it rolls by millions.” Proponents of the legislation, including Padilla and Gonzalez, argue that requiring citizens to register to vote places an additional step in front of the millions of Californian’s eligible to register, and that resources spent encouraging registration are better spent on voter education…”
http://www.breitbart.com/california/2015/04/28/bill-to-register-all-california-drivers-to-vote-advances/
Young immigrants in Arizona want in-state tuition
“Young immigrants who are protected from deportation under a federal program say they deserve to pay in-state tuition rates at Arizona universities. The Arizona Board of Regents will consider a proposal to reduce tuition to 150 percent of in-state tuition for people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. DACA recipients and other immigrants who lack legal status pay out-of-state rates, which are nearly three times as much as the in-state cost. Voters in 2006 approved Proposition 300, banning students who lack legal immigration status from paying in-state tuition and from receiving any state financial aid regardless of whether they attended an Arizona high school. In-state tuition and fees are more than $10,000 annually. But students in Tucson and Phoenix say the 150 percent rate doesn’t go far enough and many still wouldn’t be able to afford the estimated $15,000 or more annually in tuition and fees. Regents plan to review the proposal at a meeting next week. “One hundred and fifty percent is not attainable. Nobody has that kind of money. It’ll open the doors for some people, but not for the majority,” Dario Andrade Mendoza said Wednesday at a rally in Tucson. A similar rally was held in Phoenix on Tuesday. Andrade Mendoza, who studies part-time at Pima Community College, said he has top grades and wants to transfer to the University of Arizona to get his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. The 20-year-old already has an associate degree from the college, but the current price to attend the university – about $30,000 a year – is impossible, he says…”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/29/immigrant-youths-want-in-state-tuition/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS
Cruz Stands By 2013 Immigration Push, Drawing Contrast With Walker
“Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is standing by a push he made to increase legal immigration in 2013, highlighting an apparent divide between Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and the rest of the GOP presidential field on immigration. Walker, a likely contender with Cruz for the 2016 GOP nomination, ignited a media frenzy last week when he said legal immigration policy should revolve around the needs of American workers. “In terms of legal immigration … it is a fundamentally lost issue by many in elected positions today, is what is this doing for American workers looking for jobs, what is this doing to wages,” Walker said in an interview with Glenn Beck, reported by Breitbart News. Since 1970, the foreign-born population of the U.S. has more than tripled to 41 million, according to data compiled by the Congressional Research Service for the Senate Judiciary Committee…”
http://dailycaller.com/2015/04/27/cruz-stands-by-2013-immigration-push-drawing-contrast-with-walker/
Ted Cruz tiptoes around immigration at Hispanic business event
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/ted-cruz-tiptoes-around-immigration-hispanic-business-event
Jeb Bush: U.S. ‘does not do well when people lurk in the shadows’
“Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday that America should be proud of its status as a “nation of immigrants” and that the United States does not do well when people “lurk in the shadows,” as he called for “earned legal status” for illegal immigrants in the country. “We’re a nation of immigrants — this is not the time to abandon something that makes us special and unique,” he said at the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) in Houston. “We have the ability, because of immigration, to be an emerging country again — to be full of optimism, to believe that our future is brighter than our present,” said Mr. Bush, who sprinkled lines in Spanish during the address. “But we have to fix a broken immigration system and do it in short order.” Mr. Bush has been viewed with a wary eye by some conservatives because of his comparatively moderate views on immigration, which he has consistently defended as he lays the groundwork for a potential presidential run in 2016. “That means controlling the border, that means making legal immigration easier than illegal immigration, that means creating a catalyst for economic growth for sure, but it also means dealing with the 11 million undocumented workers that are here in this country,” Mr. Bush said. “11 million people that should come out from the shadows and receive earned legal status where they pay a fine, where they work, where they do what they want to do, which is to come out from the shadows, work, provide for their families, not receive government assistance, and over a period of time be able to receive earned legal status. “This country does not do well when people lurk in the shadows,” he said. “This country does spectacularly well when everybody can pursue their God-given abilities.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/29/jeb-bush-us-does-not-do-well-when-people-lurk-in-t/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS
Jeb Bush leans in to immigration reform in speech to Hispanic Christian organization
“Former Florida governor Jeb Bush forcefully advocated for an immigration reform plan that includes a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants during a speech Wednesday to a Hispanic faith-based group in Houston. And he showed off his Spanish speaking skills while he was at it. “We have the ability because of immigration to be an emerging country