Gang of 8 Amnesty Dead! 2015 funding urgently needed to stop Obama's executive amnesty.
The Gang of Eight amnesty is officially dead. Your celebration will be all the sweeter if you recall how depressing it was two years ago listening to nearly all media predictions pointing to the Gang of Eights comprehensive amnesty becoming law. But the media failed to account for the power of grassroots mobilization. This two-year Congress has adjourned for the last time and that automatically kills all bills that did not become law. The massive amnesty is one that didnt make it! And the New York Times recently suggested that the primary blame belongs to NumbersUSAs grassroots mobilization system. You can take a bow if you made the phone calls and sent the faxes that stopped the House from taking up the Senate-passed S. 744 legislation. You can take more of a bow if you attended the town hall meetings and visited district offices to deliver the message in person. And all of us bow to YOU if you helped make all that activism possible by providing on-line donations to support NumbersUSAs Grassroots Mobilization Machine. Ill tell you a little more about this years final tallies of activities, but first I want to note that NumbersUSA Actions grassroots lobbying that is so effective on Capitol Hill is supported nearly entirely by citizens who give $10, $25, $100 at a time in response to these email requests that generally come from Jim Robb, one of our vice presidents. By law, foundations cannot donate to this effort. And less than 5% of the money that pays for all the grassroots lobbying comes from large individual donors (who nearly always prefer to give instead to our educational foundation where they can receive a tax deduction). In short, the most robust part of NumbersUSAs activities depends almost entirely on small donations from citizens like you. But isnt that what one should expect out of a public-interest group? Were collecting money right now to prepare for what promises to be a scary start to the new Congress as the corporate lobbies are doing all they can with their gigantic sources of money to persuade the next Congress Republican leaders to pass their own amnesty and to increase the flow of foreign labor. For the most part, Democratic leaders are ready to help them do it. Only another wildly enthusiastic and powerful response from our Grassroots Mobilization Machine is likely to be able to stop this Republican/corporate amnesty while also de-funding the executive temporary amnesty that Pres. Obama ordered in November. Thank you for all the financial help you can give this month so we are well situated to hit the ground running in January. Gang of 8 Bill Far Worse Than Obama's Amnesty You are likely as concerned about the executive amnesty as I am. But even that unilateral action by President Obama was a kind of victory for us because we forced the president to settle for so much less than he wanted. The Gang of Eight amnesty (S.744) not only would have granted LIFETIME work permits to around 11 million illegal aliens, but it would have doubled legal immigration from around 10 million to more than 20 million over the next decade. All 33 million of them would have been on a path to citizenship. Instead, monumental pressure from our NumbersUSA members kept the U.S. House of Representatives from even voting on S. 744. No doubling of legal immigration. No permanent amnesty for 11 million. Pres. Obamas executive amnesty which we will throw all of our efforts into eliminating does not increase legal immigration at all. And it affects only half as many illegal aliens. And the illegal aliens get temporary, rather than lifetime, work permits with no pathway to citizenship. It is bad, but only a fraction as destructive as the Gang of Eight bill would have been. 6.4 million faxes sent to Congress A few numbers to demonstrate what we did with our tools in 2014:
Unlike most internet-based organizations, NumbersUSA maintains a daily physical presence on Capitol Hill with our own staff and with several firms retained based on special expertise they have to offer. We believe some of our greatest effectiveness comes through the work we do through firms, individuals, and organizations that act in their names and not ours. Our staff routinely educates and motivates other groups to stand strong publicly in advancing immigration policies that would benefit struggling American workers and our society as a whole. Amazingly, this is done on the basis of fairly small donations but small donations from very large numbers of citizens. Please be one of them this month. Thank you. You Can Donate 4 Ways: 1) On-line credit card. We take all major cards. 2) Give by ******. 3) Check -- see the instructions and a form to print out and send with your check. 4) Call (877) 885-7733 to arrange a wire transfer, stock donation, or to make a credit card donation over the phone. If our office is closed, please leave the time and your phone number and we will call back. Thank you, Roy Beck President, NumbersUSA |