{"id":2031706,"date":"2023-09-14T12:06:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-14T16:06:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-competing-hearings-democrats-and-republicans-seek-to-shape-immigration-narrative\/"},"modified":"2023-09-14T12:08:49","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T16:08:49","slug":"in-competing-hearings-democrats-and-republicans-seek-to-shape-immigration-narrative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-competing-hearings-democrats-and-republicans-seek-to-shape-immigration-narrative\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats and Republicans vie for control of immigration narrative in rival hearings."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fin-competing-hearings-democrats-and-republicans-seek-to-shape-immigration-narrative%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2031706&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div data-post-content=\"true\" class=\"post_content\" id=\"post_content\">\n<p>On-screen, a clip from the movie &#8220;Sound of Freedom&#8221;\u200c shows Department of Homeland Security special agent Tim Ballard, played by Jim \u2062Caviezel, rescuing a scared little boy from a trafficker at the border.<\/p>\n<p>As the scene ends, the real Tim Ballard pipes up: &#8220;This scene depicts a moment from my real life I&#8217;ll never forget.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Ballard was \u200ctestifying\u2064 before the Republican-controlled House&#8217;s Homeland Security Committee. He was one of four\u200b witnesses who appeared at a hearing on what the committee described as &#8220;the devastating human costs of the Biden-Mayorkas border crisis.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h2>Related Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>\n        <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/nyc-mayor-could-not-last-a-week-in-texas-amid-illegal-immigration-crisis-gov-abbott-5490755\">NYC\u2063 Mayor \u2018Could Not Last a Week in Texas\u2019 Amid\u2064 Illegal Immigration Crisis: Gov.\u2062 Abbott<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-comp-caption\">9\/13\/2023<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n        <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/gaetz-presses-mayorkas-for-info-on-illegal-immigrants-dui-after-officer-harmed-5490600\">Gaetz Presses Mayorkas for Info on Illegal Immigrant&#8217;s DUI After \u2063Officer Harmed<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-comp-caption\">9\/13\/2023<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Others who spoke included Mayra Cantu, the wife of a U.S. Border Patrol agent, and Sandy Snodgrass, the mother of a young Alaskan\u2014Robert Bruce Snodgrass\u2014who died of fentanyl poisoning.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Alaska&#8217;s being targeted by the drug cartels,&#8221; she testified. Ms. Snodgrass recommended that the\u2063 cartels and their partners be designated terrorist organizations.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-figure\" style=\"margin-left:0;margin-right:0;max-width:1200px\">\n<figure style=\"width:640px;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto\" class=\"aligncenter\"><figcaption>A cartel scout\u2019s campsite can\u200c be seen below a \u2064tree on the Mexican side of the border wall near Naco in Cochise County, Ariz., on Dec. 6, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson\/The Epoch Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Elsewhere in the nation&#8217;s capital, the Democrat-controlled Senate&#8217;s budget committee was holding a very different hearing on immigration.<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode post-related-videos\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Its title, &#8220;Unlocking America&#8217;s Potential: How Immigration Fuels Economic Growth and Our\u200c Competitive Advantage,&#8221; cast the immigration debate in a different light.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>    &#8220;Research <a href=\"https:\/\/direct.mit.edu\/rest\/article-abstract\/103\/1\/177\/97762\/The-Impact-of-Immigration-on-Firm-Level-Offshoring?redirectedFrom=fulltext\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">has shown<\/a> that an influx of migrants and \u2062refugees leads \u200dto firm-level onshoring of investment,&#8221; said Britta \u2062Glennon, \u200ban assistant professor of management at the \u2064University of Pennsylvania&#8217;s \u200dWharton\u2064 School, in her testimony before\u2064 that committee.\n  <\/div>\n<p>&#8220;When we\u2064 restrict \u2063immigration, we lose, \u200cand other countries gain instead,&#8221; Ms. Glennon said.<\/p>\n<p>In another House\u2064 hearing, this one titled &#8220;The Impact of Biden&#8217;s Open Border on the American Workforce,&#8221; the\u200c Center for Immigration Studies&#8217; Steven Camarota spoke about some of the economic costs of the open border, particularly for those Americans \u200cwho compete against low-wage illegal entrants.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>    \u200b  \u2062  &#8220;While having access to illegal\u2064 immigrant\u200d workers \u200bmay be desirable from the point \u200cof view of business\u2064 owners, <a href=\"https:\/\/nap.nationalacademies.org\/catalog\/23550\/the-economic-and-fiscal-consequences-of-immigration\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">there is evidence<\/a> that illegal \u200cimmigration reduces the wages and employment of working-class Americans,&#8221; Mr. Camarota stated in his <a href=\"https:\/\/edworkforce.house.gov\/uploadedfiles\/9.13.23_camarota_testimony_help_subcommittee_hearing_on_open_borders_and_workforce.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">written testimony<\/a>.\n  <\/div>\n<p>After returning from recess earlier this month, lawmakers have wasted little time driving competing narratives on an \u2062ongoing \u200dborder crisis that has seen illegal immigrants pour across the southwest border and into \u2063sanctuary cities across the country.<\/p>\n<p>The three\u2064 hearings, scheduled for the same, or roughly the same time on Sept. 13, underscored the significance of \u2063the border, and immigration more generally, as the 2024 election\u2062 approaches.<\/p>\n<p>They also reaffirmed \u2064how deep the partisan divide on \u200dthe issue runs,\u200c at least in\u2063 today&#8217;s Washington.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>    Where \u2062many Republicans may see a crisis, many\u200c Democrats may still see an\u2062 opportunity.<\/p>\n<h2>Public Opinion and Immigration Realpolitik<\/h2>\n<p>    Not so very long ago, the two major parties were more united on immigration\u2014for better or for worse.\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<p>The Security Fence Act of 2006, which helped fund hundreds of miles of border fencing, passed the Senate 80\u201319. Future President Barack Obama, then the junior \u200bDemocratic senator from Illinois, was \u200camong its supporters.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>    \u200d \u200d  A generation before that, \u2064the 1990 Immigration Act, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-fix-inflation-with-amnesty-for-illegal-aliens-more-immigration\/\" title=\"Democrats: Fix Inflation with Amnesty for Illegal Aliens, More Immigration\">expanded legal immigration<\/a> and created the &#8220;temporary protected status&#8221; category, among other\u200c moves, passed that same chamber \u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.senate.gov\/legislative\/LIS\/roll_call_votes\/vote1011\/vote_101_1_00117.htm#position\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">81\u201317<\/a>.\n  <\/div>\n<p>With the exception of\u200b the\u200d late Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) and a few others, all Senate Republicans voted for the \u2062bill.<\/p>\n<p>So\u200d did most\u2063 Senate Democrats, \u200bthough not Tennessee&#8217;s Al Gore.<\/p>\n<p>Although the bill met with more Republican opposition in the \u200bHouse, it passed there too.<\/p>\n<p>A Republican president, George H.W. Bush, then signed\u200c it into \u2063law.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-figure\" style=\"margin-left:0;margin-right:0;max-width:1200px\">\n<figure style=\"width:640px;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto\" class=\"aligncenter\"><figcaption>Former U.S. President George Bush \u200dvisits a tent camp for earthquake survivors on the outskirts of\u200c Islamabad in Pakistan on Jan. 17, 2006. (John Moore\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In recent years, the \u200dimmigration\u2063 issue has become more \u2064polarized along \u2062partisan lines.<\/p>\n<p>Opinion polling could offer some insights into why.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>    \u2063  According\u2062 to <a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/1660\/immigration.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gallup&#8217;s \u200bnumbers<\/a>, opposition to more \u2064immigration has broadly trended down since the mid-1990s. Support for additional numbers generally rose over roughly the same period.\n  <\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/short-reads\/2020\/08\/20\/key-findings-about-u-s-immigrants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pew Research<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/cis.org\/Report\/ForeignBorn-Population-Hits-Nearly-48-Million-September-2022#:~:text=As%20a%20share%20of%20the,one%20in%2013%20U.S.%20residents.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Center for Immigration Studies<\/a> report that the percentage of foreign-born Americans increased starkly over the past half-century, rising from 4.7 \u200dpercent in the early 1970s to 14.6 \u2064percent in September\u2063 2022.\n  <\/div>\n<p>The Center for Immigration Studies&#8217; 2022 analysis projected\u2062 the percentage could have hit 14.9 percent by now, higher than at any point \u200bin the nation&#8217;s history.<\/p>\n<p>Immigrants who \u2062can vote tend to favor Democrats over Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>Asian and Hispanic Americans, who make up the overwhelming majority of recent \u200bimmigrants, also break Democratic.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, for Democrats, more immigration may be the formula for electoral success.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>    In just the past few years, however,\u2062 Americans have sharply pivoted\u2064 in the direction of \u200dwanting less immigration,\u200c per Gallup&#8217;s figures\u2014and Republicans have \u200cmade gains \u200camong at least some Hispanic voters, including in\u2062 the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/black-hispanic-voters-on-why-they-voted-for-trump-3600371\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2020 presidential election<\/a>.\n  <\/div>\n<p>The latest influx \u200bof migrants into major American cities far from the southern border,\u200c busload after teeming busload, may be making its mark on American politics \u2063too.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>    \u2064  New \u2063York\u2064 City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/i-dont-see-ending-to-migrant-crisis-that-will-destroy-nyc-mayor-5487633\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">earlier this \u2064month<\/a> that events now unfolding &#8220;will\u2062 destroy New York City.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>Odd Bedfellows<\/h2>\n<p>    \u200b    Opposition to \u200bimmigration, or at least illegal immigration,\u200b is currently associated with Republicans.\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<p>Yet, some libertarian and conservative think tanks that are \u2063aligned with the \u200dGOP on many, \u2062if not most issues \u2062can be counted on to advocate more immigration, including of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/minimum-wage-hike-led-to-higher-prices-at-mcdonalds-study-finds\/\" title=\"Minimum Wage Hike Led To Higher Prices At McDonald\u2019s, Study Finds\">low-skilled workers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A thriving economy will need people of all types. Immigration isn&#8217;t the singular answer, but it helps,&#8221; said David J. Bier of the Cato Institute in \u2062the Senate hearing.<\/p>\n<p>In the House hearing on the open border and the workforce,\u200d Douglas Holtz-Eakin of the American Action Forum, which describes itself as center-Right, pointed out that employers may find some of the dynamics created\u200d by illegal immigration advantageous.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>    \u2064 &#8220;The lower pay for illegal workers can permit firms to produce more, sell more, and create \u200dmore\u200c jobs,&#8221; he stated in <a href=\"https:\/\/edworkforce.house.gov\/uploadedfiles\/9.13.23_holtz-eakin_testimony_help_subcommittee_hearing_on_open_borders_and_workforce.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">written testimony<\/a>.\n  <\/div>\n<p>&#8220;More generally, nobody should favor illegal immigration,&#8221; he stated in \u200bthat same testimony, while also outlining what he presented as the benefits of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-competing-hearings-democrats-and-republicans-seek-to-shape-immigration-narrative\/\" title=\"Democrats and Republicans vie for control of immigration narrative in rival hearings.\">making\u200d high-skilled illegal immigrants legal<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, at least one unexpected figure backstopped some common conservative co-complaints about\u2063 the economic impact of the U.S. immigration system.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>    \u200c   Ronil Hira, a professor of public policy at Howard University in Washington <a href=\"https:\/\/profiles.howard.edu\/sites\/profiles.howard.edu\/files\/2022-03\/Ronil%2520Hira%2520CV%2520Jan%25202019.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">whose CV<\/a> states that he served on \u2062Democrat House staff, described how \u200bBig Tech firms have used guest worker programs\u200b to replace \u200dAmericans in the information \u200btechnology sector.<br \/>\n\u2062\n  <\/div>\n<div class=\"post-figure\" style=\"margin-left:0;margin-right:0;max-width:1200px\">\n<figure style=\"width:640px;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto\" class=\"aligncenter\"><figcaption>An entrance sign near the\u200c main gate \u2062at Howard University Oct. 25, 2021, \u200bin Washington. (Drew\u2063 Angerer\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;The firm ships as many jobs overseas as possible, but\u200b a sizable \u2063share of the work \u2062cannot be offshored because \u2062cert<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>, played by Jim Caviezel, portrays Department of Homeland Security special agent Tim Ballard in the movie &#8220;Sound of Freedom.&#8221; In a powerful clip, he saves a terrified child from a trafficker at the border. The real Tim Ballard emphasizes that this scene reflects a memorable event from his own life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":2031707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2031706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2031706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/152"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2031706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2031706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2031707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2031706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2031706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2031706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}