Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) released a video Thursday night reminding the nation that the Republican Party is the party of legal immigration.

The video includes clips from a 2018 naturalization ceremony in Oklahoma City to illustrate the importance of legal immigration in the United States.

Lankford has previously introduced legislation to protect DREAMERS. This past week he introduced legislation to end the separating of families at the Mexican-American border.

​“This afternoon, if you want to apply for any job in the country, you can. You’re an American. You can buy any place. You can live anywhere. You can travel anywhere. You can go to any house of worship you choose to go to…because you’re in America,” Lankford says in the video, welcoming the naturalized citizens to their new home.

Read the complete story from themaven.net

FWD.US OKLAHOMA COALITION TO HOLD TELE-ROUNDTABLE ON CONGRESSIONAL ACTION ON DACA, WILL RELEASE LETTER TO OKLAHOMA REPRESENTATIVES URGING ACTION

OKLAHOMA CITY – The FWD.us Oklahoma Coalition will host a tele-roundtable on congressional action on DACA on Thursday, November 30 at 10:30 AM CT. Coalition members will provide an update on the current state of play and the urgent need for congressional action to protect approximately 800,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program recipients, who are currently living and working in the United States but face the imminent threat of deportation if Congress does not pass a permanent legislative solution.

The tele-roundtable comes as nearly 20 FWD.us Oklahoma Coalition members released a joint letter to Oklahoma lawmakers urging for the passage of a permanent legislative solution for Dreamers this year, and highlighting the tremendous impact it could have on Oklahoman communities and the local economy.

Time is running out for Congress to respond to the Trump Administration’s Sept. 5, 2017 decision to rescind the DACA program, and the threat is growing for nearly 6,800 Oklahoma Dreamers who have lost or will lose their DACA status in the coming months. If Members of Congress do not pass a permanent legislative solution by March 5, every single day between March 6 and November 6, approximately 1,700 DACA recipients will lose their protections from deportation, and could be ripped out of the workforce, separated from their families, and deported to countries they may not even remember.

The tele-roundtable will include a state-of-play update from event participants, including their opinion and expertise on what needs to be done to protect Dreamers and to urge Congress to act this year. The update will be followed by a brief Q&A, providing coalition and community members the chance to ask for an expert opinion on the role they can plan in passing a long-term legislative solution for Dreamers.

WHAT: Tele-roundtable event on the current state of play of DACA in Congress

WHO: Peter Boogaard, Communications Director, FWD.us
Erika Lucas, CEO, StitchCrew
Carlos Rubio, DACA recipient and student at the University of Oklahoma
Robert Ruiz, President, Scissortail Community Development Organization

WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 30 at 10:30 AM CT
WHERE: Conference Line: 605-475-3235 Access Code: 776992#

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About FWD.us: FWD.us is a bipartisan organization started by key leaders in the tech and business community to promote policies to keep the United States competitive in a global economy, starting with commonsense immigration reform and criminal justice reform.

Lankford, Tillis & Hatch Introduce The SUCCEED Act: Merit-Based Legislation To Address The Legal Uncertainty of Undocumented Children

WASHINGTON, DC – Senators James Lankford (R-OK), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) today introduced the Solution for Undocumented Children through Careers Employment Education and Defending our nation (SUCCEED) Act, a solution to address the legal uncertainty facing undocumented children who were brought to the United States as children.

The SUCCEED Act provides a fair, multi-step process for undocumented children to qualify for conditional permanent resident (CPR) status by requiring them to earn and maintain their status once they become adults by either being gainfully employed, pursuing postsecondary, or vocational education, or serving in the US military.

“It is right for there to be consequences for those who intentionally entered this country illegally,” said Lankford. “However, we as Americans do not hold children legally accountable for the actions of their parents. President Trump rescinded the DACA executive action so that this issue could be resolved the right way—through legislation from Congress. It is time for Congress to stop ignoring the obvious problems with our border security and immigration system and stop pretending that this issue will resolve itself, it will not. To address the uncertainty facing children who were brought to America, the SUCCEED Act is a fair solution that gives them a place to call home, but it also discourages future illegal immigration.”

“For years, Congress has tried but failed to provide legal uncertainty for undocumented children who were brought to the United States through no fault of their own,” said Tillis. “The SUCCEED Act is a fair and compassionate solution that requires individuals to demonstrate they are productive and law-abiding members of their communities to earn legal status. This is a merit-based solution that should unite members of both parties, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on the path forward.”

“I’ve said all along that we need a workable, permanent solution for the Dreamer population,” said Hatch. “This bill provides that solution, in a way that ensures that Dreamers who want to stay in the United States long term get their education and obtain gainful employment. Immigration is a difficult issue, but I’m convinced there’s a path forward on this, and I’m committed to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to find that path and to enact meaningful reform, which must also include increased border security.”

To qualify for CPR status, undocumented children must first pass a rigorous vetting process. Eligibility and vetting requirements include:

• Arriving in the US before the age of 16 and before June 15, 2012, the enactment date of DACA.
• Obtaining a high school diploma or equivalent, if 18 or older.
• Passing a thorough criminal background check, which extends to information obtained from INTERPOL, or the country of origin to screen for individuals with a criminal past or gang affiliation.
• Submitting biometric and biographic data to the Department of Homeland Security.
• Registering for the military selective service.
• Paying any existing federal tax liabilities.
• Signing an acknowledgment that they will not be eligible for any form of relief or immigration benefit pursuant to the legislation if they are convicted of a crime while on CPR status.

After five years of CPR status, individuals may renew their status for another five years if they fulfill their commitment to pursue at least one of the three merit-based pathways over a 48-month or 60-month period and have demonstrated good moral character. Individuals could lose their CPR status if they fail to fulfill their merit-based obligations, commit a felony or a serious misdemeanor, or become a “public charge” (defined by the USCIS as one who becomes primarily dependent on the government for subsistence).

After 10 years of holding CPR status, individuals would be eligible to apply for Lawful Permanent Status (LPR) or a “green card” after paying any tax liabilities. The bill requires green card holders to wait a minimum of five years before they are able to apply for naturalization if they choose to do so.

Additionally, the SUCCEED Act prevents the parents of undocumented children from receiving benefits or preferential treatment and prevents undocumented children from petitioning their parents.

The bill also deters future illegal immigration by requiring future non-immigrant visa recipients to sign a waiver forfeiting any future immigration benefits if they violate the terms of their visa.

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U.S. Sen. James Lankford will co-sponsor legislation to protect from deportation young people brought to America by undocumented immigrants.

Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, told CNN on Thursday that he has worked for weeks with U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., on a legislative alternative to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an executive order by former President Barack Obama that was rescinded by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Sept. 5.

“These individuals are literally in limbo, people without a country. We have to be able to resolve this,” Lankford said.

The senator declined to give details of the Tillis-Lankford bill. There are about 7,500 DACA beneficiaries in Oklahoma.

Read the complete story on NewsOK.com

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – A Republican member in the Oklahoma House is suggesting that tens of thousands of non-English speaking students in public schools be turned over to U.S. immigration officials as cost-saving measure in the cash-strapped state.

Broken Arrow Republican Rep. Mike Ritze told News9 in an interview Wednesday that the newly created Republican Platform Caucus believes the state could save $60 million if Oklahoma would identify what the caucus believes is 82,000 non-English speaking students “and then turn them over” to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to determine whether they are citizens.

It’s unclear from the segment if he was referring to turning over the students’ names or rounding up the children. The State Department of Education said there are actually about 50,000 English learners in pre-K through 12th grade in Oklahoma public schools, but many of those students could be U.S. citizens.

Ritze also questioned whether the state should have to educate children who aren’t citizens, although a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision holds states cannot deny students a free public education based on their immigration status. Also, the United States also has no official language.

Read the complete story from the AP. 

Sen. James Lankford will send a letter to the White House on Thursday asking the president to clarify his remarks that there will be “consequences” for government officials who do not comply with his executive order on immigration.

This is the second attempt Lankford, R-Okla., has made to have President Barack Obama explain his statement.

During remarks at a town hall at Florida International University in February, the president was asked about his executive order in light of a ruling by a U.S. District Court allowing deportations to continue.

“Look, the bottom line is, is that if somebody is working for ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and there is a policy and they don’t follow the policy, there are going to be consequences to it,” he said.

Read the complete story on dailysignal.com

As President Obama’s time left in office draws to a close, it’s clear that he’s grasping at any and all opportunities to leave a legacy. He has either refused to work with or negotiate with lawmakers in the present Congress or failed to encourage a previously split-party Congress to find compromise. With his loss of a Democrat-led Senate, the president has now shown that when met with opposition to his policies, his arrogant answer will be to bypass Congress and act alone. That temper tantrum-like behavior, “my way or the highway” attitude and disrespect for the role of the legislative branch has been noticeably present in his intended action and perspective on immigration policy.

Last November, the president announced that he would grant legal status to approximately five million illegal immigrants. This unilateral executive action included the planned expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals—a program established by the Administration in 2012— as well as the creation and implementation of a new program called the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents. Both programs from the Administration aim to prevent the deportation of certain illegal residents, grant legal status to those individuals and allow them to acquire and be eligible for work permits.

Predictably, there was a loud outcry against the president’s plan to unilaterally change immigration policy without any input whatsoever from Congress. It came not only from the American people, but also from lawmakers who reminded the president that changes to immigration law must start in the legislative branch. Shortly thereafter, then-Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott led a 26-state coalition, including Oklahoma, to challenge the constitutionality of the president’s action through a federal District Court lawsuit.

Read the complete story on tulsaworld.com

The GOP infighting over blocking President Obama’s executive actions on immigration through a bill funding the Department of Homeland Security isn’t over yet.

A week after the House cleared legislation to avoid a DHS shutdown without provisions to revoke the executive actions, a conservative group with ties to anti-establishment GOP candidates announced it raised more than $90,000 to help three lawmakers targeted by a group affiliated with House GOP leadership.

The American Action Network, which has ties to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the rest of the House Republican leadership team, is spending more than $400,000 on TV ads aimed at three conservative House members who opposed funding DHS without attaching provisions to undo President Obama’s executive actions to shield certain illegal immigrants from deportation.But the Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF), which aligns with GOP hard-liner candidates, said Tuesday that it has raised more money than the $51,000 the American Action Network has spent on media so far in the three lawmakers’ districts.

The 30-second TV ads from the American Action Network are aimed at Reps. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.), Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Jordan is the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, an upstart group formed earlier this year of hard-line conservatives that led the charge on the DHS funding fight. The American Action Network also plans national ad buys on conservative radio programs like those hosted by Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

SCF President Ken Cuccinelli accused the GOP leadership of trying to oust members of their own party in a primary.

Read the complete story on thehill.com

OKLAHOMA CITY – Attorney General Scott Pruitt applauded a federal judge’s ruling granting an emergency injunction halting the president’s executive actions on immigration.

The judge’s ruling late Monday night temporarily prevents the president’s executive actions from taking effect in Oklahoma.

“Today’s ruling is a step in the right direction in undoing the president’s unlawful executive actions on immigration. We appreciate the court and U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen for granting this emergency request by the states,” Attorney General Pruitt said. “The lawsuit brought by Oklahoma and other states seeks to hold the executive branch accountable to faithfully execute the laws passed by the legislative branch. The president cannot rewrite our nation’s immigration laws simply because Congress hasn’t acted in a manner with which he agrees. But that is what the president doing with these executive actions. As this case proceeds, Oklahoma will continue the legal fight to stop the unlawful executive actions and hold the executive branch accountable to its constitutional duty.”

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Final Coburn Oversight Report Finds Major Problems in DHS:
700 Miles of the Southern Border Go Unguarded; Fewer than 3 in 100 Illegal Immigrants Will Ever Be Deported

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) –On his final day serving in the U.S. Senate, Senator Tom Coburn released an oversight report, A Review of the Department of Homeland Security’s Missions and Performance, which finds the Department of Homeland Security is not successfully executing any of its five main missions.

“Ten years of oversight of the Department of Homeland Security finds that the Department still has a lot of work to do to strengthen our nation’s security,” Dr. Coburn explained.  “Congress needs to review the Department’s mission and programs and refocus DHS on national priorities where DHS has a lead responsibility.”

The following are some of the report’s key findings:

•  The Department of Homeland Security spent $50 billion over the past eleven years on counterterrorism programs, including homeland security grants and other anti-terror initiatives, but the Department cannot demonstrate if the nation is more secure as a result.
• As of 2014, 700 miles of the Southern border remain unsecured.
• DHS is not effectively administering or enforcing the nation’s immigration laws, and only 3 in 100 illegal immigrants will ever face deportation.
• DHS spends more than $700 million annually to lead the federal government’s efforts on cybersecurity, but struggles to protect itself and cannot protect federal and civilian networks from the most serious cyber attacks.
• DHS has spent $170 billion for natural disasters since 2002, in part because of an increased federal role in which the costs of small storms are declared “major disasters.”

Despite these findings, Senator Coburn expressed optimism about the Department’s future if Congress acts soon to address the problems identified in this report. “I am confident that Secretary Jeh Johnson is leading the Department in the right direction,” Senator Coburn commented.  “One of the biggest challenges that Sec. Johnson and DHS face is Congress and its dysfunctional approach to setting priorities for the Department.  Congress needs to work with the Department to refocus its missions on national priorities and give Secretary Johnson the authority to lead and fix the Department.”

As he ends his term in the Senate, Dr. Coburn thanked his fellow members of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee: “It has been an honor to serve on the Committee over the past ten years.  I thank my friend Chairman Tom Carper and the other members of the Committee. I am confident that under the leadership of Chairman Ron Johnson and Senator Carper, the Committee will continue to be a model of bipartisanship and work together to improve DHS. I hope that this final report will serve as a useful tool in that effort.”

Read the full report here.

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OKC CONVENTION & TOURISM PRESIDENT COMMENTS ON EXPANSION OF VISA WAIVER PROGRAM
NEW STUDY SHOWS SMARTER TOURIST VISA LAWS WOULD ADD MORE THAN $7.5 BILLION IN REVENUE AND 50,000 JOBS WITHIN FIVE YEARS

New tourism ad to air in airports, taxicabs, movie theaters, on Facebook and Twitter

Oklahoma City, OK — The Partnership for a New American Economy today released a new study showing how expanding the Visa Waiver Program to six new countries – Brazil, Hong Kong, Israel, Poland, South Africa, and Turkey – would result in $7.66 billion additional spending and 50,000 American jobs within five years.

The Partnership also released a new ad in its series highlighting the need for immigration reform across broad sectors of the economy. This ad showcases the role of international tourists as significant revenue generators and American job creators.

“Responsible expansion of the Visa Waiver Program is good for the tourism industry in Oklahoma. As an example, just in the last month we have welcomed citizens from Argentina, Brazil, Israel, and Poland to Oklahoma City who are members of an international association headquartered right here, but they have to acquire a Visa to be able to come to their headquarters or any other location in the USA for US based events of that association”, said Mike Carrier, President of the Oklahoma City Convention & Tourism Bureau.

“No one wants to open our borders in an irresponsible manner. We need to make the flow of legal travel between nations a positive experience instead of the challenge that is so often presented to our international friends,” Carrier continued.

Key findings from the report include:

•             The Visa Waiver Program has a meaningful impact driving increases in U.S. tourist volumes. Our analysis found that when a typical country joins the Visa Waiver Program, it sees a notable increase in the number of tourists who chose to visit the U.S. in the immediate years that follow. Over the course of its first five years in the program, the number of tourists arriving from a participating country rises by 16.4 percent.

•             If a handful of trusted countries currently being evaluated for membership in the Visa Waiver Program were to gain entry in 2015, the impact on U.S. tourism volumes would be sizeable. If just six countries—Brazil, Hong Kong, Turkey, Israel, South Africa, and Poland—were to gain entry into the Visa Waiver Program in 2015, more than 600,000 additional travelers from those countries would visit America in the year that followed. Between 2015 and 2019, an estimated 1.7 million more residents of these areas would arrive in the U.S. as tourists than would have otherwise.

•             Expanding the Visa Waiver Program would support our economy and create valuable jobs. Expanding the Visa Waiver Program to the six countries outlined above would result in $7.66 billion in additional tourist spending within a five-year period. It would also create at least 50,000 American tourism jobs within five years.

Read the full report, “Passport to Future Economic Growth: How Expanding the Visa Waiver Program Will Strengthen the U.S. Economy and Create American Tourism Jobs,” here.

About the Partnership for a New American Economy

The Partnership for a New American Economy brings together more than 500 Republican, Democratic and Independent mayors and business leaders who support immigration reforms that will help create jobs for Americans today. The Partnership’s members include mayors of more than 35 million people nationwide and business leaders of companies that generate more than $1.5 trillion and employ more than 4 million people across all sectors of the economy, from Agriculture to Aerospace, Hospitality to High Tech and Media to Manufacturing. Partnership members understand that immigration is essential to maintaining the productive, diverse and flexible workforce that America needs to ensure prosperity over the coming generations. Learn more at www.RenewOurEconomy.org.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt announced Tuesday that Oklahoma is suing the president over his unconstitutional executive actions on immigration.

“The president’s executive actions on immigration are unlawful and unconstitutional. The constitution doesn’t give the president the power or authority to rewrite our nation’s immigration laws but that is exactly what the president is trying to do through his executive actions – even though he’s said numerous times he doesn’t have any such authority. It takes two branches of government to pass a law.

The president has a constitutional responsibility to faithfully execute the laws as passed by Congress and he is not. Oklahoma will work to hold the president accountable and stop his unconstitutional executive actions on immigration,” Attorney General Pruitt said.

Oklahoma on Tuesday joined the multistate lawsuit filed in federal district court in Texas. The states that are a part of the lawsuit are seeking a temporary injunction to halt the executive actions the president announced in November.

“Attorneys general from across the nation recognize the president’s actions violate the constitution and are joining together in this lawsuit to seek an immediate end to his unconstitutional action,” Attorney General Pruitt said.

The states argue the president’s unilateral executive action violates the U.S. Constitution and federal law by bypassing Congress in order to rewrite U.S. immigration laws.

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President Obama has taken numerous actions that “clearly” violate the U.S. Constitution and constitute an “unfaithful” execution of the law, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt declared Sunday in a radio interview.

“As far as taking actions that would constitute an unfaithful execution of the law, I think that’s clear,” Pruitt said. “I think he has acted in a way that is entirely inconsistent with his obligation under the Constitution to faithfully execute the laws. And as such it has prompted much litigation – many pieces of litigation that Oklahoma has led, and we will continue to do so.”

Pruitt added: “What that means to the politicians in D.C. is up to them to decide, but I can tell you from a legal perspective he has acted clearly in an unlawful way.”

Pruitt was speaking on “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio” on New York’s 970 AM The Answer.

Klein had asked the Oklahoma attorney general for his legal opinion about whether Obama could face impeachment over Obamacare, executive amnesty or other alleged offenses, including the president’s failure to inform Congress before releasing five Gitmo detainees in exchange for captured U.S. soldier Bowe Robert Bergdahl.

Read the  complete story on WND.com