Immigrants and immigration have been in the news for a long time, but recently, there has been increased focus, both locally and on the national stage. Locally, we were treated to the controversy around the refugee resettlements happening in the Fargo area, orchestrated by Lutheran Social Services. There was an outpouring of local sentiment ranging…
Heidi Heitkamp's Choice: Honor Campaign Promises Or Continue To Be A Hypocrite
If there was a theme to Senator Heidi Heitkamp’s 2012 campaign to the U.S. Senate (outside of running as far away from Barack Obama as she could) it was the idea that she is a pragmatic leader who would help cut through obstruction to get things done. On her still-active campaign website Heitkamp said there…
AG Wayne Stenehjem Joins North Dakota To Texas Immigration Lawsuit
According to a source in the Legislature, North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem has decided to join North Dakota to Texas Governor-elect Greg Abbott’s lawsuit over immigration. The suit asks the federal courts to block President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration which would grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. There were 19 other…
Matt Evans: The Immigration Scandal You May Not Have Heard About
I work in the software industry. Some of my co-workers are immigrants. There are some people who are anti-immigration, or who would prefer that American companies hire Americans first. I won’t argue for or against those sentiments here. What I can say, is that I’ve done hundreds of interviews over the years, and it is…
Hoeven Has A Hard Time Defending Immigration Amendment
North Dakota Senator John Hoeven was on the Hugh Hewitt yesterday talking about his controversial amendment to the immigration bill. Hewitt had some tough questions for Hoeven about the amendment, and Hoeven didn’t have a lot of good answers. You can read the full transcript here. This was an interesting exchange: HOEVEN: I’d have to…
Senator Rubio: America Can Make Immigrants Conservative
At the heart of opposition to immigration reform is fear, I think. Fear that an influx of new immigrants will upset the political balance. Steal jobs. Undermine our culture. Specifically, conservatives see granting amnesty to illegal immigrants as minting whole new generations of Democrat voters. Senator Marco Rubio addressed those concerns today in an impassioned…
Group Targets Senator John Hoeven With Ad Blitz Over Illegal Immigration
NumbersUSA, a group opposed to amnesty for illegal immigrants, has announced that they’re targeting North Dakota Senator John Hoeven for his efforts to get immigration reform passed: BISMARK, N.D., June 26, 2013 — /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — NumbersUSA Action has launched an online ad blitz across the state of North Dakota asking what Senator John Hoeven is…
Does The Immigration Bill Create An Incentive To Hire Illegal Immigrants Under Obamacare?
“Under Obamacare, businesses with over 50 workers that employ American citizens without offering them qualifying health insurance could be subject to fines of up to $3,000 per worker,” reports Phil Klein for the Washington Examiner. “But because newly legalized immigrants wouldn’t be eligible for subsidies on the Obamacare exchanges until after they become citizens –…
What's The Worst That Could Happen: Obamacare Data Hub Will Centralize Your Financial, Health Care Information
With the NSA scandal in the headlines, Americans are becoming a little more sensitive about what data the government collects on us. But it’s not just the NSA that’s collecting our emails, and documenting our phone calls. Thanks to Obamacare, the federal government will soon have a massive central database containing our financial and health…
Hoeven Immigration Plan Myth Vs. Fact
I haven’t been paying nearly as much attention as I should to the national debate over immigration reform which North Dakota’s Senator John Hoeven has been a major part of. I’m of two minds on immigration reform. On one hand, much like the “war on drugs,” I think the “war on illegal immigration” is something…