Immigration and Customs Enforcement Archives

U.S. Rep. Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) is showing his support for law and order in the wake of the violent riots that have been occurring in Los Angeles this week.

Massive unrest started in the city in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids last week. Federal agents executed search warrants at four businesses suspected of unlawfully employing undocumented immigrants and falsifying employment records.

In response to the violence, Moore is cosponsoring the RIOT Act, which would make non-U.S. citizens convicted of “actual or attempted assault, battery, or use of force” against any law enforcement officer eligible for deportation.

The law would also permanently ban any of those deported immigrants from ever returning to the U.S.

“If you riot, attack police, or destroy property during a state of emergency, you need to leave this country and never come back,” Moore said. “I am proud to be a co-sponsor of [Rep. Dan Crenshaw’s] RIOT Act that protects American families by deporting criminals who foster chaos and violence in our communities.”

If you riot, attack police, or destroy property during a state of emergency, you need to leave this country and never come back.

I am proud to be a co-sponsor of @RepDanCrenshaw ‘s RIOT Act that protects American families by deporting criminals who foster chaos and violence in… https://t.co/fqY0w2f3US

— Rep. Barry Moore (@RepBarryMoore) June 10, 2025

Moore also criticized the coverage of the riots by mainstream media earlier this week.

The fake news is lying again. This is not “just a bunch of people having fun watching cars burn” – it is a violent riot spurred by the Left’s obsession with protecting illegals.

California needs law and order. https://t.co/n2yL5i3Vz5

— Rep. Barry Moore (@RepBarryMoore) June 9, 2025

President Donald Trump has mobilized the National Guard and deployed 700 U.S. Marines to help quell the violence.

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee

The ongoing Los Angeles riots that erupted in support of illegal immigration is stoking a fierce law-and-order backlash from conservatives — including President Trump and U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville — who are zeroing in on California Governor Gavin Newsom’s refusal to intervene.

On Monday, that exchange got heated and direct between Tuberville and Newsom.

“Gavin Newsom has failed to do his job,” Tuberville (R-Auburn) posted on Monday morning. “LA looks like a third world country — anarchists are in charge, law enforcement is being attacked, and the rule of law is nonexistent.”

“Lock him up,” Tuberville said.

https://x.com/CoachForGov/status/1932150258139881528

Tuberville was echoing a suggestion from President Donald Trump, who, when asked if Governor Newsom should be arrested for obstructing federal immigration operations, responded, “I would do it if I were Tom [Homan]… Gavin likes the publicity, but he’s done a terrible job. He’s grossly incompetent.”

As Los Angeles burns, Newsom took the time to deflect Tuberville’s direct statement at the expense of the Yellowhammer State.

“Alabama has 3X the homicide rate of California,” Newsom posted. “Its murder rate is ranked third in the entire country.”

“Stick to football, bro.”

https://x.com/GavinNewsom/status/1932166178790920360

Within minutes, Tuberville fired back a reply.

“You’re burning Los Angeles to the ground to protect illegal aliens,” he said. “I would say stick to governing, but you CLEARLY aren’t doing a very good job of that.”

With up to 700 Marines on standby, President Trump has already deployed 300 National Guard troops into Los Angeles as of Monday afternoon.

Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.

As President Donald Trump makes good on his cornerstone campaign promise to conduct mass deportations of illegal aliens living in the United States, federal officials are beginning the search for those who are undocumented in South Alabama.

On Monday, Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch told reporters that his department will provide any resources federal authorities may require to conduct operations in the area, including making additional jail room available to hold those arrested awaiting deportation.

“There’ll be teams picking people up as they’re able to identify persons who are, just known criminals that are here illegally,” Burch said. “And we will work with them and assist them in any way we can. With personnel and if need be, I’ll make room in the jail for them until they’re processed and sent back.”

It’s not just criminal illegal aliens that are being arrested, according to Burch.

“You know, frequently as they will go looking for the individuals they’re looking for, there will be several other people with them that are illegal,” he said. “And collaterally, they will more than likely be detained as well.”

In the executive order that mandates the deportations, the Trump Administration pointed to the preponderance of crime and ill acts being committed by illegals as the guiding reason for the mass deportations.

“Many of these aliens unlawfully within the United States present significant threats to national security and public safety, committing vile and heinous acts against innocent Americans.” the order read. “Others are engaged in hostile activities, including espionage, economic espionage, and preparations for terror-related activities. Many have abused the generosity of the American people, and their presence in the United States has cost taxpayers billions of dollars at the Federal, State, and local levels.”

According to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE made 956 arrests of illegal immigrants nationwide on Sunday followed by 286 arrests on Saturday, 593 arrests on Friday, and 538 arrests on Thursday.

Burch said the searches and arrests in the area officially began on Sunday. He anticipates that immigration raids in Mobile will continue into the near future.

Austen Shipley is the News Director for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten

On December 16th, 1978, in Taipei, two young families huddled around the television and watched with fear and trepidation as President Jimmy Carter announced to the world from the Oval Office in Washington, D.C., that starting on January 1st, 1979, the United States would establish diplomatic relations with Beijing’s government in China. Widespread angst began to take hold across the otherwise calm island of Taiwan.

As the days and weeks went on, fear began to set in amongst the Taiwanese people who were bracing for what was at the time thought to be a forthcoming Communist invasion of their island from China.

From 1927-1936 and again from 1945-1949, a bloody civil war was fought by the Nationalists “Kuomintang”, led by Chiang-Kai Shek, and the Communists, led by Mao Zedong. As the Kuomintang lost control of territory in China, Chiang-Kai Shek and his government retreated to the island of Taiwan and established their seat of government in Taipei.

To this day, Taiwan and China remain divided, and their respective territories are administered by two different governments. Until 1979, the United States maintained diplomatic relations with Taipei’s government until the Carter administration switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing’s government.

For those two young families, it was time to finally follow their dreams and come to the United States of America. They went through all the proper procedures. They applied for their visas and waited. Several years later their visas were approved, and they were finally able to immigrate to the United States. Those two young families were my grandparents’.

As a young child, I heard my grandparents tell me this story dozens of times. I remember asking them at one of our family gatherings, “If everyone was so worried that the Communists were about to invade Taiwan, why did you guys wait so long before moving to America?” My grandpa’s response always stuck with me. He said, “What kind of example would I be setting for my kids if we broke the laws of our new country in order to get here? Yes, we were worried. Yes, we were concerned for our safety. But we had to wait and do it the right way.”

Today, our southern border is being overrun by migrants. While most migrants are from Central and South America, there are migrants from all over the world crossing our southern border. Customs authorities have no way of knowing who is coming into our country nor their backgrounds. Some migrants may have recently been let out of or escaped prisons. Other migrants may even be tasked by our foreign adversaries to enter the United States.

In FY2023, the United States Border Patrol encountered 169 individuals listed on the terrorist watch list between ports of entry along the southern border. How many on the terrorist watch list were not encountered by Border Patrol and successfully made their way into the United States? Drug Cartels engaged in drug smuggling and human trafficking are taking advantage of America’s porous Southern Border and are making a fortune.

The fentanyl trafficked by the cartels are killing our fellow Americans every day.

The Biden-Harris administration’s weak policies on the border are wreaking havoc on communities across the country. Illegal immigration is not an issue that only affects Americans living near the border.

Illegal immigration is a problem that affects all Americans, including Alabamians. An influx of illegal immigrants into Alabama will have a long-term negative impact on the state and impose a major strain on the infrastructure and resources across our communities. The Biden-Harris administration must reverse their disastrous immigration policies so that we may regain control of our borders and effectively combat illegal immigration.

Every American should ask themselves, is it fair to put those entering the United States illegally ahead of those who are abiding by our immigration laws and are doing it the right way?

Derek Chen is an Alabama-based attorney and conservative activist. Born in California to Taiwanese immigrants to the United States, he is now a proud resident of Vestavia Hills. He received his JD from Samford University and his MBA from the University of Alabama.

U.S. Rep. Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) joined a handful of his fellow GOP colleagues in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to convey their dissent over President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for Border Patrol agents.

In the letter, congressional Republicans suggested that the DHS head should consider alternatives to the edict for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

In announcing his cosigning of the letter, Moore asserted that the Biden administration should focus on border security efforts rather than enforcing “oppressive vaccine mandates.”

“It is unthinkable that the Biden administration would push out hundreds of Border Patrol agents during the middle of the border crisis it created,” declared Moore. “These agents are at the frontline of keeping our borders secure and communities safe, and to punish them with unconstitutional vaccine mandates a year after hailing them as heroes during the early days of the pandemic would be criminal. Secretary Mayorkas must do the right thing and prioritize a secure border over oppressive vaccine mandates.”

Under Biden’s vaccine decree, federal employees who opt against becoming inoculated against COVID-19 could face termination as early as November.

The process for hiring Border Patrol agents on average takes more than 400 days to complete, according to a release from Moore’s office. Upon being hired, agents are required to attend a 20-week training program at the Border Patrol Academy. Due to the methodical onboarding process for border enforcement personnel, some have indicated concern that the federal government may have difficulty filling potential vacancies in a timely manner.

Concern expressed in the letter from congressional Republicans over the border enforcement workforce comes as government data shows illegal border crossings have risen to record highs.

Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Monday announced two recent Alabama arrests by its Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) division.

According to a release, HSI made the pair of arrests in the Yellowhammer State on July 22.

Agents of the HSI Birmingham office reportedly arrested Christian Martinez, 32, a Salvadoran national and U.S. fugitive, on two state charges of attempted murder, as well as a charge of shooting into an occupied dwelling and another for being an alien in unlawful possession of a firearm. (more…)

An illegal alien has been charged with enticing and raping a 13-year-old girl in Madison County, Alabama, through the use of social media.

Rodrigo Ortega, a 24-year-old illegal alien, has been accused of being responsible for the disappearance of a 13-year-old girl he lied to and told he was 19-years-old, according to the Madison County Sheriff’s Office. (more…)

A detained Spanish-language reporter facing deportation after he was arrested while covering an immigration rally in Tennessee is seeking release from custody.

Lawyers for Manuel Duran said Thursday that they have filed a petition seeking his release from the Etowah County Detention Center in Alabama. (more…)

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was busy this week, arresting illegal immigrants in Alabama.

WZDX in Huntsville on Thursday reported on ICE’s raids across the northern part of the state.

“ICE has arrested a total of approximately 30 persons in violation of federal immigration law across Northern Alabama this week in accordance with its ongoing daily enforcement activity,” Brian Cox, Southern Region Communications Director for ICE, said, per WZDX.

He continued, “These arrests were made by Alabama-based officers regularly assigned to the area who conduct targeted enforcement actions as part of their everyday duties.” (more…)

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall on Monday participated in a White House panel on border security and was a special guest afterward at President Donald Trump’s ceremony honoring the brave men and women of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Marshall accepted the invitation to be a part of this extremely select, six-person White House panel discussion to address border security and how the crime associated with border-related drug trafficking and illegal immigration affects the people of Alabama.

“Due to our state’s proximity to Atlanta, a major distribution point for drugs, and to Texas, a border state, Alabama has become a prime transit point for drug trafficking,” Marshall explained in a press release. “We see marijuana, cocaine, meth, and now illicit fentanyl coming into our state as a result.”

He continued, “The drug trade brings dangerous and violent illegal aliens into Alabama. Just this summer, our state was rocked by the brutal murder of a special needs 13-year-old girl— killed by affiliates of the Mexican drug cartel. I am grateful to the president and the White House for allowing me to share the observations of Alabama law enforcement and our citizens.”

Marshall also praised the White House for highlighting, during a special ceremony and speech by President Trump, the contributions of America’s ICE and CBP agents as they uphold their duty to enforce the law and safeguard the nation’s security, even while being under fire by liberal advocacy groups as part of the immigration policy debate.
(more…)

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, commonly known as ICE, is the federal law enforcement agency tasked with enforcing our nation’s border control, customs, trade and immigration laws. The agency was formed back in 2002 when Congress passed the Homeland Security Act.

ICE has over 20,000 employees, including over 400 offices in the United States and additional offices in 46 other countries. ICE is responsible for enforcement and removal procedures against those who enter our country illegally. They also play a critically important role in cracking down on human and drug trafficking.
(more…)

“We’re a nation of laws, and we’re not following our laws on immigration,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told Attorney General Jeff Sessions at a Senate hearing on Wednesday. “Is there anything that we can do about sanctuary cities, in terms of legislation, that would help you?” the senator asked the AG.

“Absolutely,” Sessions replied. “For example, I think we could authorize explicitly…legislation that mandates a cooperative relationship with state and local areas.”

Sessions condemned the “ideological open-borders, radical policy” whre a city or county refuses to honor ICE requests to detain illegal aliens who have committed crimes:
(more…)

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) wears a "Make Mexico Great Again, Too" hat during Donald J. Trump's visit to Mexico. — Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) wears a “Make Mexico Great Again, Too” hat during Donald J. Trump’s visit to Mexico.

PHOENIX, Ariz. — After accompanying Donald J. Trump to Mexico to meet with President Enrique Peña Nieto, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) returned stateside with the Republican presidential nominee to rally a crowd of supporters while donning a “Make Mexico Great Again Also” hat.

“We’re on track to turn this country around,” Sessions declared before a roaring crowd. “There’s one man with the strength, the courage, the determination, the guts to challenge the things that are going wrong in this country and put us on the right track, and that’s Donald J. Trump.”

Sen. Sessions, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Vice Presidential nominee Mike Pence warmed up the crowd before Mr. Trump delivered a highly anticipated immigration policy speech, which included vows to triple the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and launch a deportation task force.

Sen. Sessions called Mr. Trump’s speech “the best laid out law enforcement plan to fix this country’s immigration [system] that’s been stated in the country — maybe ever.”

“It’s going to be so good,” he added. “You’re going to be proud and pleased about that. I’ve been watching this issue for a long time and I’m concerned about it. We’ve not done what needs to be done to strengthen this country… I believe it’s absolutely clear that this is the last chance we have to restore a lawful system of immigration that serves the national interest. The American people have been asking for this, pleading for it for over thirty years.”

Sen. Sessions also heaped praise on Gov. Pence, calling him “a truly wonderful person” who “loves America.”

“He cares about our country and values. He’s a man of integrity and decency. He’s a proven congressman. He rose up through the ranks as a conservative and fought against the establishment in the House, and advocated for values that I think most of you and I share. He then got elected governor and had a great record as governor. He’s a friend of mine, a man I admire greatly. I think it speaks highly of Donald Trump that he chose him as his vice presidential nominee.”

Mr. Trump on Wednesday had what conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt called “the absolute best day of his campaign,” drawing mostly positive reviews for his first turn on the international stage.

The visit comes as national polling shows the presidential race tightening between Mr. Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

The election will take place 67 days from today on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) at the Republican National Convention (Photo: Matt Rourke)

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) bounced between interviews Wednesday afternoon, fresh off of his star turn on the big stage the night before when the Republican National Convention’s theme was “Make America Safe Again.”

No subject could have been more fitting for Alabama’s junior senator, who has spent much of the last decade sounding the alarm that “open borders” could leave the United States vulnerable to attack — from both terrorists and illegal immigrants.

Many would argue he has been proven right.

In one particularly heart-wrenching example, 32-year-old Kate Steinle was murdered on a pier in San Francisco by an illegal alien who had been convicted of seven felonies but was continuously released back onto the streets.

Sessions invited her father to testify before a U.S. Senate committee last year while the body was considering a bill to crack down on “sanctuary cities.”

“We were walking arm-in-arm on Pier 14 in San Francisco enjoying a wonderful day together,” Mr. Steinle testified. “Suddenly a shot rang out, Kate fell, and looked at me and said ‘Help me, Dad.’ Those are the last words I will ever hear from my daughter.”

It is the Steinles and countless other families around the country who have been negatively impacted by U.S. immigration and border policies for whom Sessions sees himself fighting.

Who he’s fighting against is often a little more abstract. Although they sometimes have names — Obama and Clinton or Zuckerberg and Gates — they are usually referred to more broadly as simply the “Masters of the Universe.”

As a constant reminder of this, above Sessions’ desk in his Capitol Hill office hangs a drawing of He-Man and Battle Cat from the 1980s comic book series and cartoon of the same name.

“(O)ur greatest ‘Masters of the Universe,’ as I like to refer to them, have joined… (together) to share their wisdom from on high and to tell us in Congress how to do our business,” Sessions declared on the Senate floor in 2014 in the midst of a tense fight over so called comprehensive immigration reform. “Sheldon Adelson… Warren Buffett… and Bill Gates… all super billionaires, aren’t happy, apparently. They don’t have much respect for Congress, and by indirection the people who elect people to Congress… Those three billionaires have three votes. The individual who works stocking the shelves at the grocery store, the barber, the doctor, the lawyer, the cleaners operator, and the person who picks up our garbage are every bit as valuable as they are. So I know who I represent. I represent citizens of the United States of America.”

But while Sessions’ clashes with immigration advocates have become high profile affairs in recent years–and foreshadowed the Trump phenomenon–that has not always been the case. In 2007, with a Republican president pushing immigration reform along with members of his own party in both houses, Sessions made a sometimes lonely stand.

He won.

And to this day, just below the “Masters of the Universe” drawing hangs an excerpt from the remarks Sessions delivered on the Senate floor just before the vote that sent the bill going down in flames.

“No one small group of people have a right to meet in secret with special-interest groups and write an immigration bill and ram it down the throat of this Senate,” he said. “I oppose it. It is not right.”

But in spite of the legislative victories, President Obama has used–and Sessions would argue abused–his executive power to grant de facto amnesty to wide swaths of illegal immigrants. This has led many Trump supporters to fantasize about what it might look like for Sessions to transition out of his role as the Senate’s conservative elder statesman and into a Trump Cabinet post atop the Department of Homeland Security.

If the billionaire businessman makes it to the Oval Office, it very well could go from fantasy to reality, although the always humble Sessions dismisses such ideas offhand.

That does not mean, however, that he has not thought at great length about what needs to change inside the third largest Cabinet department (trailing only the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs).

“A lot of things need to be done immediately,” Sessions told Yellowhammer at the Republican National Convention. “Sadly, the Department is one of the largest in the federal government, but they have the lowest morale of all the major agencies, and have for several years.”

The head of the border patrol agents union has said that current DHS leadership is “punishing law enforcement officers who are just trying to uphold U.S. law,” and is “willing to take away their retirement, their job, their ability to support their families in favor of someone who is here illegally and violating our laws…either taking a disciplinary action [or] threat[ening] disciplinary action.”

The vice president of the National Border Patrol Council testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that, “(Border Patrol) agents who repeatedly report groups (of illegal aliens) larger than 20 face retribution. Management will either take them out of the field and assign them to processing detainees at the station or assign them to a fixed position in low volume areas as punishment. Needless to say agents got the message and now stay below this 20 person threshold no matter the actual size of the group.”

As a result, in addition to the victims mentioned above, Sessions has also become a champion of immigration and customs agents.

“The agents in that organization sued their supervisors and the Secretary of Homeland Security basically saying, ‘You’re ordering us to violate our oath and violate the law,'” Sessions explained. “I’ve never heard of that before — suing your boss for not letting you do your job! That’s the level of disfunction.

“So the first thing that needs to happen is that those officers need to be rallied, respected and empowered,” he continued. “Let’s put them to work. They’re ready. Let’s build a wall and the barriers we need, empower the officers, back them up with tough prosecutors, and deport the people who are caught here illegally.”

Sessions believes that such an approach would completely revolutionize Homeland Security and drastically change the way the U.S. is viewed by would-be illegal entrants.

“We would immediately send a message to the world that the border is no longer open,” he concluded. “I guarantee you we would see a major reduction in attempts to enter the country illegally, because right now many people are just coming because they believe–often rightly–that they’ll get away with it.”

Six months from today a new president will be sworn into office, and he or she will presumably bring an entirely new Cabinet with them. Whether Sessions ends up being offered such a post remains to be seen. But you can bet the “Masters of the Universe” will be holding their breath as the process unfolds.

United States Senate candidate Jonathan McConnell (Photo: Screenshot)

WASHINGTON — The country’s most well-known anti-illegal immigration group is wading into Alabama’s U.S. Senate primary after 33-year-old Republican Jonathan McConnell told a local conservative group that plans to remove millions of illegal immigrants from the country are impractical, and he would propose giving them “tax ID numbers.”

A voter attending the monthly meeting of the Rainy Day Patriots Tea Party asked McConnell what he would do with the illegal immigrants already in the country.

“So you issue everybody a tax ID number today, right? And I know you’re not a fan of this,” McConnell said before being interrupted.

“I’m tired of politicians saying that (expelling illegal immigrants already in the country) can’t be done,” replied the questioner, Edward Bowman, who supports Shadrack McGill, another candidate in the race. “It can be done.”

“I’m all about trying,” McConnell interjected. “We’ll try that first, but if it doesn’t work. OK, so let’s try it. I’m all about it. And if we can deport 3 million, and then if that works, then hey…”

The audience member continued to press the issue, saying, “So we issue them a tax ID, so we’re going to give them amnesty is basically what you’re saying.”

“No, no, no,” McConnell insisted. “So you give them a tax ID number, and if anybody is caught paying one – you do it based off the corporations. So if a corporation is using someone illegally. So they’re paying taxes on one, but you also fine them – or not fine them – but you add pretty much double the taxes paid on that one person, you never give them a single benefit, right?”

(Audio and a full transcript of the exchange can be found here.)

McConnell’s proposal appears similar to one advanced by the Obama administration, which calls for giving illegal immigrants federal identification numbers.

The IRS said such a plan would allow illegal immigrants to retroactively file tax returns for the previous three years, which would cost American taxpayers roughly $1.7 billion over the next decade.

Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, told Yellowhammer this week that his organization is adamantly opposed to McConnell’s proposal.

“NumbersUSA opposes giving tax ID numbers to illegal migrants,” he said plainly.

After McConnell received criticism for his immigration proposal and incumbent Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) began running ads accusing him of being pro-amnesty, McConnell pointed to the “true reformer” label he had received from NumbersUSA as evidence that the attacks were unfounded.

“I am so honored to have been named a ‘True Reformer’ by conservative Immigration policy group NumbersUSA,” McConnell said in a statement. “My opponent, seeing his poll numbers slip, is making false accusations against me. But he is sorely mistaken. He and his cronies are trying to fool conservatives like you. But we both know our votes cannot be bought… NumbersUSA rates me significantly higher than 37-year incumbent Richard Shelby.”

Beck told Yellowhammer that McConnell’s claim that he is rated “significantly higher” than Shelby is inaccurate. Both Shelby and McConnell received the “true reformer” label based entirely on a survey they filled out.

“NumbersUSA offers every candidate a survey about 12 categories of actions that would limit the number of illegal and legal immigrants and the negative effects on jobs, wages and taxes,” Beck explained. “‘True Reformer’ status is based on answers to survey questions on what candidates pledge to do in the future.”

In addition to the survey, elected officials also receive a score based on their actions during their time in office.

“Grades are based on past votes and co-sponsorships of any candidate who has served in Congress,” said Beck. “(Senator Shelby’s) actions over his entire congressional career earn a straight A grade.”

In light of Mr. Beck’s comments, Yellowhammer asked the McConnell campaign if he stands by his assertion that he received a “significantly higher” rating than Senator Shelby, and if he continues to believe giving tax ID numbers to illegal immigrants is a viable solution.

McConnell campaign spokesperson Elizabeth BeShears replied with the following statement:

Jonathan may not have a voting record on immigration yet, but is exactly because of his work outside the D.C. bubble Shelby has inhabited for the last 37 years that he would be able to pursue an effective strategy to finally address the illegal immigration problem.

The assertion that Jonathan McConnell is in favor of amnesty is highly inaccurate and dishonest. He believes Congress must use every tool at its disposal, beginning with securing the border and allowing local law enforcement agencies to assist ICE in deporting all the illegal immigrants they can find. To assist in that, Jonathan advocates using economic means as well, including requiring the use of eVerify, and fining severely the businesses caught breaking the law.

The viral video that helped propel Mr. Beck and NumbersUSA to their current status as the country’s most well-known anti-amnesty group can be found below.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL4) will introduced legislation Wednesday that takes direct aim at President Obama’s executive orders on immigration. The Alabama congressman plans to defund the President’s immigration orders by attaching his bill to funding for the Department of Homeland Security, taking a major step toward delivering on a promise Republicans made late last year.

In December, prior to Republicans taking control of the Senate, Congress passed the so called “CRomnibus,” funding the government through September, with the exception of the Department of Homeland Security, which it only funded through Feb. 27.

In spite of opposition from staunch conservatives, backers of the bill said it put Republicans in a position to roll back the President’s immigration orders by waiting until the GOP assumed control of the Senate.

Aderholt’s bill seeks to deliver on Republicans’ promise, and will likely garner the support of hardline conservatives.

One of the challenges Republicans have faced in defunding the President’s executive orders is that he could simply reword and re-issue them under a different name.

Aderholt’s bill would not only defund the current orders, but would also take away the President’s ability to issue similar orders moving forward.

“I am introducing legislation today that not only defunds President Obama’s Executive Amnesty orders but also removes his discretion in granting the benefits that goes along with them,” Aderholt told Yellowhammer on Tuesday. “My goal was to draft a conservative bill that addresses the executive amnesty issue and that is what we have done.”

The most notable part of Aderholt’s bill blocks the benefits granted to illegal immigrants in the President’s executive actions, denying, for example, the issuance of green cards and work permits.

It also creates penalties for lack of enforcement in handing over criminal illegal aliens to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and speeds up the deportation process by applying the humanitarian standards (religious persecution, sex trafficking, etc.) at the beginning of the deportation process instead of at the end. Aderholt’s office says that will “save hundred of millions of dollars by returning the illegal entrants to their home country within weeks instead of months and years.”

Other House members are expected to propose immigration solutions that do not go as far as Aderholt’s, but could receive the backing of House leadership. Last summer, it was Aderholt’s tougher enforcement language that made it into the House’s final border bill, in spite of House leadership’s early objections. However, that bill was not taken up by the Democratic-controlled Senate and Aderholt’s language was not included in the CRomnibus.

His challenge now will be to rally enough support from his colleagues to get the bill attached to Department of Homeland security funding bill, which is no easy task. But with the introduction of his bill on Tuesday, Aderholt has joined Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions as one of Washington’s most important players in the current immigration debate.

Like this article? Follow me on Twitter and let me know what you think.

— Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) December 3, 2014

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) spars with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) over over the impact the proposed immigration reforms will have on the domestic job market. (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) has long been the most vocal opponent of President Obama’s immigration policies in the United States Senate, even taking to task members of his own Party for backing immigration reforms that do not adhere to the rule of law.

Sessions has lambasted amnesty supporters from the Senate floor; written countless op-eds urging Republicans to stand up for American workers; appeared on national television and syndicated radio programs to make his case; and utilized just about every other platform imaginable to rally support for his immigration fight.

He has tended to use data, rather than anecdotes, to support his argument that the president’s immigration policies damage the U.S. economy.

But on Monday, Sessions took aim at the very heart of liberals’ irrational push for amnesty, penning a single paragraph that debunks the entire premise of the Obama Administration’s immigration argument.

But before we get to the paragraph, let’s recap a couple of phrases used by Administration officials in the past couple of years that are important to remember before reading what Sen. Sessions wrote this week.

1. Prosecutorial discretion — In Oct. of 2011, John Morton, then-director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), formally directed immigration officials to no longer simply enforce the country’s immigration laws the same for everyone. Instead, he told them to consider a range of factors when deciding whether or not to enforce the laws at all. Examples of factors that should be taken into consideration, Morton wrote in a memo, include “how long a person has lived in the U.S., whether he or she came to the U.S. as a young child and whether family members have served in the military. Community ties, such as spouses, parents or children who are U.S. citizens, should also be considered.” In short, immigration officials could apply — or not apply — immigration laws however and whenever they saw fit.

2. “No fault of their own” — In June of 2012, Janet Napolitano, then-Secretary of Homeland Security, told reporters that the Obama Administration’s official position was that “Young people brought to the U.S. (illegally) by no fault of their own” would no longer be deported. President Obama followed Napolitano’s statement with an executive order codifying the policy, which applied to illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. before they were 16 and are younger than 30.

3. “Civil right” — In April of 2013, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, the nation’s highest ranking law enforcement officer, referred to amnesty as a “civil right.”

On Monday, in an effort to explain how misguided the Obama Administration’s immigration policies have became, Sen. Sessions laid out a hypothetical scenario describing what it might be like if the U.S. government approached enforcement of its tax laws the same way it currently approaches enforcement of its immigration laws:

Imagine that the Administration announced it would no longer enforce any tax fraud violations in amounts under $1 million, as a matter of “prosecutorial discretion.” Would we not see a massive spike in tax fraud in amounts less than a million dollars? It would be a unilateral repeal of an entire section of the criminal code by the Executive Branch. Now further imagine the Administration expanding the policy to say that tax fraud — in any amount — will be permitted so long as the proceeds are transferred to a minor relative. After all, this minor, the Administration argues, received the money “through no fault of their own” and so it would be morally improper to apply the law in such cases — it would be a violation of their “civil rights.” Does anyone doubt this would lead to a total collapse of tax enforcement nationwide?

Sometimes a simple, well-constructed analogy can be more powerful than all of the data being used to support an argument combined.

It would be laughable to suggest the IRS approach the enforcement of tax law the way the Obama Administration is currently approaching immigration enforcement.

Jeff Session should be applauded for reminding the American people and our President that we are, as John Adams famously put it, “a nation of laws, not of men.”

RELATED: Here are the immigration-related headlines Sessions has made on Yellowhammer since the first of the year:

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WASHINGTON — Alabama Sens. Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby, joined with several of their Senate Republican colleagues today in sending a letter to President Obama expressing “grave concerns” about the Administration’s refusal to enforce the country’s immigration laws.

“The evidence proves that the Administration has collapsed immigration enforcement,” Sen. Sessions said. “As a result, millions of struggling Americans have been deprived of their jobs and incomes. Congress must work to end the lawlessness and restore constitutional order. Yet Congressional Democrats continue to empower the illegality and stonewall all efforts to stop it.”

The letter, which can be read in full below, lays out in detail the Obama Administration policies that have led Republicans to question whether the president has failed to uphold his oath of office by refusing to enforce the rule of law.

Dear President Obama:

We write to express our grave concerns over the immigration “enforcement review” that you ordered after meeting with advocacy groups on March 13, 2014, and that is now being carried out by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). According to reports, the changes under consideration would represent a near complete abandonment of basic immigration enforcement and discard the rule of law and the notion that the United States has enforceable borders.

Clearly, the urgent task facing your administration is to improve immigration enforcement, not to look for new ways to weaken it. Since 2009, your administration has issued policy directives and memoranda incrementally nullifying immigration enforcement in the interior of the United States – to the point that unless individuals in the country illegally are apprehended, tried, and convicted for a felony or other serious offense, they are free to live and work in the country.

According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) own figures, in 2013, nearly all individuals removed from the United States were convicted criminals and recent border crossers. As the LA Times reported, since 2009, there has been a 40% decline in removals of individuals living and working in the interior of the country. And, recently revealed documents from ICE show that in 2013, the agency released 68,000 potentially deportable aliens deemed by ICE to pose a criminal threat.

As a result of your policies, individuals here illegally who do not meet administration “priorities” are not only largely exempt from the law, but are released even if they come into contact with federal law enforcement authorities. Because these priorities require at least one, and frequently multiple, criminal convictions, countless dangerous offenders are released back onto the streets on a continual basis. Since ICE frequently takes no action until after the most serious crimes have occurred and the offenders have been tried and imprisoned, the administration is allowing preventable crimes harming innocent people to take place every day.

Chris Crane, President of the National ICE Council, testified before Congress about the inability of ICE agents to do their jobs, saying: “I think most Americans assume that ICE agents and officers are empowered by the Government to enforce the law. Nothing could be further from the truth. With 11 million people in the country illegally, ICE agents are now prohibited from arresting individuals solely on charges of illegal entry or visa overstay—the two most frequently violated sections of U.S. immigration law.” He also described how your administration is punishing ICE agents who want to uphold the oath they took to serve America. He stated: “As criminal aliens are released to the streets and ICE instead takes disciplinary actions against its own officers for making lawful arrests, it appears clear that Federal law enforcement officers are the enemy and not those that break our Nation’s laws.”

These policies have operated as an effective repeal of duly enacted federal immigration law and exceed the bounds of the Executive Branch’s prosecutorial discretion. It is not the province of the Executive to nullify the laws that the people of the United States, through their elected representatives, have chosen to enact. To the contrary, it is the duty of the Executive to take care that these laws are faithfully executed. Congress has not passed laws permitting people to illegally enter the country or to ignore their visa expiration dates, so long as they do not have a felony conviction or other severe offense on their record. Your actions demonstrate an astonishing disregard for the Constitution, the rule of law, and the rights of American citizens and legal residents.

Our entire constitutional system is threatened when the Executive Branch suspends the law at its whim and our nation’s sovereignty is imperiled when the commander-in-chief refuses to defend the integrity of its borders.

You swore an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. We therefore ask you to uphold that oath and to carry out the duties required by the Constitution and entrusted to you by the American people.

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Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., took to the floor of the United States Senate on Thursday and delivered one of his most passionate speeches yet in defense of the rule of law with regard to America’s immigration policies.

Sessions isn’t a newcomer to holding court on the floor of The World’s Greatest Deliberative Body. As a matter of fact, even though Sens. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul got more attention in 2013 for their senate talkathons, Sen. Sessions actually clocked the most hours of talk time on the floor over the last 12 months — even surpassing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who opens and closes each session.

Senate Bar Graph

On Thursday, it was less about the length of Sessions’ remarks, and more about the pointed rhetoric he was utilizing to eviscerate the Obama Administration’s complete lack of enforcement when it comes to the nation’s immigration laws.

The full five-and-a-half minute video is well worth your time and can be viewed above, but here is a lightly edited transcript of Sessions’ remarks, with the top 8 quotes numbered and highlighted.

So this is open borders. If you get past the border, get into the interior, you go to St. Louis, go to Salt Lake City, you got to Little Rock, Arkansas, then you can just stay. That cannot be the policy of the United States of America. 1. It just cannot be the policy of a nation who expects its laws to be respected that if you can get past the border, or if you can get a visa into the country and overstay, nobody is going to have any intention of removing you or enforcing the agreement you made.

Attorney General Holder and Cecilia Muñoz, who’s the president’s policy person on immigration… they’ve described amnesty as a civil right. 2. So you come into the country illegally and the Attorney General of the United States declares that these individuals have a civil right to amnesty. How can this possibly be the chief law enforcement officer in America?

3. Vice President Biden recently said, ‘You know, 11 million people live in the shadows. I believe they’re already American citizens.’ 11 million undocumented aliens are already Americans? Goodness! The Vice President of the United States would make such a statement? It’s stunning beyond belief.

Apparently somebody whose visa is up and they were due to get on an airplane yesterday, and they read the Vice President’s statement and say, ‘Well, I’ll just stay. Why would I go back now? I kind of like this place. If I go back I’ll have to wait in line. I’ll have to compete within the system like everybody else who comes lawfully. But I’m here, I’m just not going to leave.’ Is it any wonder why we have more people staying?

4. We’ll just ignore the law when there’s a company down the street in an area of high unemployment and they’ve got five employees working illegally. Those would not be removed. They would be allowed to stay and just continue to work unlawfully. And Americans who can’t get a job would be drawing unemployment insurance or other subsidies. This is happening all over America.

More than two-thirds of all ICE removals last year were border apprehensions… 5. 94 percent of the people removed last year were either apprehended at the border, which is not a true deportation, or were convicted of a crime while in the United States. Do you hear that, colleagues? 94 percent of the people removed were either captured at the border, or had committed a serious crime. And most of the rest were repeat violators or fugitives who had been arrested on a fugitive warrant.

6. So, 99.9 percent of the 12 million illegal immigrants and visa overstays without known crimes on their record, including those fleeing from authorities, did not face removal last year.

7. If you are a run-of-the-mill immigrant here illegally, your odds of getting deported are close to zero. It’s just not going to happen. Now that’s the truth. I was a federal prosecutor. I know how the system works. I’ve worked with ICE officers and border patrol officers and prosecuted their cases. This is what the reality is.

If an individual has false documents, which is a felony for American citizens, that doesn’t count as a deportable crime. It’s only a drug dealing or a crime of violence or some robbery under the policies that we’re carrying out. 8. So it just goes to show that our law enforcement system is in a state of collapse. It’s a deliberate plan by the President of the United States and it’s wrong. And people need to be aware of it and need to stand up to it, and I think the American people are beginning to do so.

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WASHINGTON — Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents recently revealed that tens of thousands of convicted criminal aliens were freed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last year. Additionally, nearly one million individuals who authorities have ordered to be removed from the country remain in the U.S. unlawfully, many of them as fugitives and absconders.

U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today concerning the newly-released DHS documents:

The preponderance of the evidence demonstrates that immigration enforcement in America has collapsed. Even those with criminal convictions are being released. DHS is a department in crisis. Secretary Johnson must reject the President’s demands to weaken enforcement further and tell him that his duty, and his officers’ duty, is to enforce the law — not break it. As Homeland Secretary, Mr. Johnson is tasked with ensuring the public safety and the rule of law. But Secretary Johnson is not meeting these duties.

American citizens have a legal and moral right to the protections our immigration laws afford — at the border, the interior and the workplace. The Administration has stripped these protections and adopted a government policy that encourages new arrivals to enter illegally or overstay visas by advertising immunity from future enforcement. Comments from top Administration officials, such as Attorney General Holder’s claim that amnesty is a civil right, or Vice President Biden’s claim that those here illegally are all U.S. citizens (apparently including someone whose visa expired yesterday), demonstrate the Administration’s increasing belief in an open borders policy the American public has always rejected.

The Administration’s lawless policies have not only impaired public safety but increased economic suffering for millions of vulnerable Americans by depriving them of their jobs and wages.

Unfortunately, Congressional Democrats continue to empower this lawlessness. Republicans must work to end it.

DHS considers an individual to be a criminal alien only if they have a criminal conviction (excluding traffic offenses). So the actual number of illegal aliens released with a criminal record is undoubtedly even larger than the document reveals.

Individuals released by ICE include those with numerous arrests and multiple convictions. In some cities, nearly half of all criminal aliens encountered were released. In some, more than half were released.

Overall, there was nearly a 30 percent drop from 2012 in the number of charging documents issued. Of ICE’s entire caseload, less than 2 percent were in detention at the end of Fiscal Year 2013. Approximately 870,000 aliens ordered removed had not departed. Roughly 3 in 4 non-citizens encountered were released for one reason or another.

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