Rupert Murdoch Calls for Amnesty for 'Law-Abiding' Illegal Immigrants

Thursday, September 30, 2010
By Edwin Mora

Rupert Murdoch Calls for Amnesty for 'Law-Abiding' Illegal Immigrants

(CNSNews.com) - News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch said he supports amnesty for “law abiding” illegal immigrants because as legal residents they can help the nation’s economy by adding to “our tax base.” He also said he supports securing the border to prevent more illegal immigrants from entering the United States.

At a hearing on Thursday before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Murdoch testified, “I joined Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg in organizing the Partnership for a New American Economy because I believe that all Americans should have a vital interest in fixing our broken immigration system so we can continue to compete in the 21st century global economy.”


“While supporting complete and proper closure of all our borders to future illegal immigrants, our partnership advocates reform that gives a path to citizenship for responsible, law-abiding immigrants who are in the U.S. today without proper authority,” said Murdoch, who was born in Australia and is a naturalized U.S. citizen.

The News Corp. CEO, whose company owns the Fox News Channel, further said it is fiscally unfeasible to deport the illegal immigrants who are already in the United States, which he estimated as totaling about 12 million people.

“It is nonsense to talk of expelling 12 million people,” testified Murdoch. “Not only is it impractical, it is cost prohibitive.”

Murdoch cited a study that gauged “the price of mass deportation at $285 billion over five years,” which amounts to $57 billion per year, adding that “there are better ways to spend our money.”

“A full path to legalization--requiring unauthorized immigrants to register, undergo a security check, pay taxes and learn English--would bring these immigrants out of a shadow economy and add to our tax base,” said Murdoch.

He continued, “According to one study, a path to legalization would contribute an estimated $1.5 trillion to the Gross Domestic Product over 10 years.”

Murdoch did not cite the source for the studies he cited during his testimony.

Regarding border security, Murdoch said “we need to do more” than spend money on resources to secure our borders.

“We can and should add more people, technology and resources to ensure that we have control over who comes into this country,” said Murdoch, “but I worry that spending alone will not stop the flow of illegal immigrants.”

He said that while the United States has increased border security funding every year since 1992, “the estimated population of illegal immigrants has more than tripled.”

“That number only started to decline when our country hit a recession and there were fewer jobs,” said Murdoch. “So, our border security must also be matched with efforts to make sure employers can’t hire illegal immigrants.”

Both Murdoch and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg testified about the role of immigration in strengthening America’s economy.

“Our system of immigration, I think it fair to say, is broken,” Bloomberg told the subcommittee. “I think it’s undermining our economy, it is slowing our recovery, and it really is hurting millions of Americans. And we just have to fix it.”

“Creating a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants will strengthen our economy,” said Bloomberg.

Bloomberg also said that his and Murdoch’s experience with the issue stems from having hired thousands of people over the years.

In contrast to Murdoch's and Bloomberg's testimony, Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, told the subcommittee that the economic losses caused by illegal immigrants outweighed the benefits.

He pointed out that the National Academy of Sciences has examined the fiscal impact of immigration.

“They found that the fiscal impact was enough to eat up the entire economic gain,” said Camarota. “So if you put the economic gain with the fiscal impact, you get no benefits at all, it would seem.”

Camarota also testified that illegal immigrants take jobs from Americans while also lowering wages. He said that the wage loss is 12 times bigger than the benefits.


National Geographic: Following an Illegal Alien

Patrol agents run a sting to catch the guides who take cash in exchange for helping illegals cross the border...

Decide tribunal que dejar agua a inmigrantes no ensucia el desierto

Sep 6, 2010

DiarioSanDiego.com

Una corte federal de apelaciones determinó que dejar botellas con agua en el desierto de Arizona donde las puedan encontrar indocumentados para salvar sus vidas, no es ensuciar, como había determinado un juez federal.


Un panel de magistrados de la Novena Corte de Apelaciones falló a favor del activista Dan Millis, quien el año pasado fue arrestado, enjuiciado y encontrado culpable de ensuciar el desierto de Arizona al dejar botellas con agua para salvar vidas de indocumentados.


Millis, de la organización "No más muertes", dijo que decidió llevar agua a corredores donde la pudieran encontrar los inmigrantes luego de encontrar los restos de Joselinne Hernández, una niña de 14 años, originaria de El Salvador.

Arizona colleges accused of immigrant discrimination in lawsuit - latimes.com

Sep 4, 2010

Arizona colleges accused of immigrant discrimination
Before this year, Phoenix-area community colleges asked legal immigrants to show a green card before hiring them. The Justice Department calls the policy abuse and seeks damages.

By David G. Savage, Tribune Washington Bureau
Los Angeles Times
September 4, 2010

Reporting from Washington — Employers who hire illegal immigrants can be fined, but the Obama administration warned this week that they also can be fined for asking legal immigrants to show their green cards before hiring them.

The Justice Department's civil rights division sued the Maricopa County Community Colleges in Arizona, seeking damages from schools for having "intentionally committed document abuse discrimination."

Prior to this year, the local colleges in the Phoenix area asked job applicants who were not U.S. citizens to show a driver's license, a Social Security card and their permanent resident card, commonly called a green card...