Posted by: Fred Turd on Monday, October 4th, 2010 to Poli-tics me off!


Michael Bloomberg

By- Exiled Writer (@exiledwriter), Political Contributor to Chismetime.com

Media mogul and Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg and his Newscorp counterpart Rupert Murdoch testified this morning before the House Subcommittee on immigration citizenship, refugees, border security, and international law. The subcommittee has been popular recently due to testimony given by Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report.

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Colbert brought his comedic style to a Congressional hearing about immigrant labor on farms. However, Colbert’s testimony was seen as more of a joke instead of a serious discussion about immigration reform and the economic benefits of immigration in America. Even though he was welcomed by the Committee, many on the committee as well as ordinary citizens saw his presence as a mockery to a very serious issue.

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That changed today when two highly respected media executives gave their testimony in favor of reforming current immigration law. Michael Bloomberg besides being Mayor of New York City was also the CEO of media company Bloomberg L.P. Rupert Murdoch (himself an immigrant to the US), CEO of Newscorp (Newscorp owns many media entities including Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, Hulu.com and MySpace.com) Both Bloomberg and Murdoch have expressed that while the borders of the United States must be secure to curb criminal activity, undocumented immigrants must be given some form of legal status to ensure America’s economic viability in a global economy.

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In addition to these testimonies on immigration, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) is expected to introduce a bill before the Senate goes into recess in the next few days. The bill is to reform current immigration law by adding three important components. 1. Uniting American Families Act, this act would allow gay, lesbian and transgendered relatives to apply for residency of their partners and family members as well as request visas for Americans who have partners overseas. 2. DREAM Act, this would allow undocumented minors who are under the age of 15 an opportunity for conditional residency if they go to college or join the military for two years. 3. A pathway to citizenship. The bill, if introduced to the Senate for debate, would undoubtedly be challenged by the more conservative members of the Senate.
Critics of Senator Menendez’s bill see it as just another political move during a contested election which his party may suffer significant losses. Supporters of the bill argue that the immigration issue will not go away and it is best to have constant discussion instead of not discussing it at all. Senator Menendez’ bill may have to wait until the next Congress convenes on January 2011 for the bill to even be debated.

Sources:

Politico

Associated Press

The Miami Herald

Immigration Equality



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