The first bill, The Veteran Service Recognition Act, passed the U.S. House in a party-line vote Tuesday.
Democrats praised the bill for honoring the military service of immigrants, framing opposition to it as a betrayal of their service, but Republicans said they were not fooled by legislation that helps illegals convicted of crimes remain in the U.S. if they served in the military.
The bill, which is now headed to the Senate, also protects the relatives of illegal aliens from being deported, among other proposed programs, safeguards, and allowances for illegals.
“It leads the public to believe we are looking at a bill that would recognize the service of our veterans,” Rep. Michelle Fischbach (R-Minn.) said during floor debate. “But once again, you take a closer look, it becomes painfully clear that this is another push for open borders.”
Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, tells AFN the bill was misnamed on purpose by dishonest lawmakers.
“We respect your service,” he says of illegals who served in uniform, “but if you have a relative that has violated the law, that's their problem. And we don't owe you anything to rectify that."
Heritage warning about EAGLE Act
The second House bill, called the EAGLE Act, deals with current federal law foreigners who enter the U.S. to work. It would change current immigration law by ending per-country caps for so-called green cards. A vote on that bill was expected as early as today.
Critics warn ending those caps benefits two countries, China and India, and allowing more Chinese nationals into the U.S. is a national security risk, they said.
Heritage Foundation, the right-leaning think tank, is urging lawmakers to oppose the EAGLE Act. Allowing more Chinese nationals into the U.S., Heritage warns, will put more trained agents in high-tech jobs and in research facilities on university campuses.
Mehlman agrees with that warning.
“China has used our visa system to infiltrate people here who will steal trade secrets,” he says. “People who are flat-out conducting espionage on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party."
Back in 2020, a Reuters news story reported more than 1,000 Chinese researchers had left the U.S. after the Trump-led U.S. Department of Justice launched criminal cases into espionage in 20 U.S. cities. That spy-catching program began in 2018.
Back in February, the Department of Justice announced it was ending the so-called "China Initiative" after the Biden administration was accused of racial bias.
