A Heritage Foundation scholar has resigned after a firestorm erupted over his 2009 dissertation alleging Hispanics do not have “IQ parity with whites” and that Hispanic immigrants to the United States will have “low-IQ children and grandchildren.” 

"Jason Richwine let us know he's decided to resign from his position," the conservative think tank said in a statement. "He's no longer employed by Heritage."

Richwine’s Harvard University dissertation, written before his employment at Heritage, asserted that an influx of "low-IQ" immigrants coming to the country would result in “a lack of socioeconomic assimilation among low-IQ immigrant groups, more underclass behavior, less social trust, and an increase in the proportion of unskilled workers in the American labor market."

"No one knows whether Hispanics will ever reach IQ parity with whites, but the prediction that new Hispanic immigrants will have low-IQ children and grandchildren is difficult to argue against," Richwine wrote.

The dissertation, first reported by the Washington Post, was particularly explosive because of Richwine’s role in co-authoring a major Heritage Foundation report – released Monday - on the cost of comprehensive immigration reform. 

That report, which was widely criticized by pro-reform Republicans for failing to take into account immigrants' contributions to the economy, estimated that the cost of allowing undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship would top $6 trillion. 

Heritage Foundation spokesman Michael Gonzalez said earlier this week that Richwine "did not shape the methodology or the policy recommendations" in the cost report released this week and that he provided only "quantitative support" to lead author Robert Rector. 

The dissertation's findings, Gonzalez said,  "in no way reflect the positions of The Heritage Foundation."

A new study from the conservative Heritage Foundation estimates that granting a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants will cost US taxpayers at least $6.3 trillion. 

Heritage Foundation scholar Robert Rector co-authored the long-anticipated study, which is sure to be cited frequently by foes of the immigration reform effort as lawmakers take up legislation to overhaul the nation’s system. 

But the study also drew swift criticism from Republicans supporting the reform effort, who called the Heritage Foundation's estimate politicized, exaggerated and flawed in its methodology. 

The $6.3 trillion calculation derives from the federal benefits Rector and co-author Jason Richwine believe an estimated 11 million newly legalized immigrants will receive over their lifetimes versus the taxes they will pay.

A summary of the report, for example, states that "former unlawful immigrants together would receive $9.4 trillion in government benefits and services and pay $3.1 trillion in taxes, for a lifetime 'fiscal deficit' - at minimum -- of $6.3 trillion (total benefits minus total taxes.)" 

Those benefits, the study states, will eventually include means-tested welfare benefits and health care as well as Social Security payments. 

The report's authors acknowledge that their estimated price tag concentrates only on the citizenship piece of proposed immigration reform legislation rather than estimating the costs of the massive bill as a whole. But they argue that the economic benefits of a comprehensive reform that includes a path to citizenship would still be minimal compared to cost of "amnesty."

"No sensible thinking person could read this study and conclude that over 50 years that this could possibly have a positive economic impact," said Heritage president and former senator Jim DeMint at a press conference unveiling the study. 

Under the Gang of Eight proposal that was introduced in the Senate last month, qualified undocumented workers could pay fines and back taxes to become eligible to apply for a probationary legal status that -- after 10 years, more fines and a clean criminal record – can be adjusted to legal permanent residency and ultimately citizenship.

During that probationary status, previously undocumented immigrants would not be eligible to receive federal benefits like welfare.

But Rector states that, because the average age of an undocumented immigrant is just 34 years old, the accumulated benefits after these individual become citizens will far outweigh their contributions to the economy. 

That’s a calculation that others in conservative community dismiss, including economists like Doug Holtz-Eakin and policy analysts at the Cato Institute who dispute the Heritage Foundation’s methodology and say that the estimate fails to take into account the cumulative effects of immigration reform on America’s economy. 

In a conference call sponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Center, former Mississippi governor and onetime RNC head Haley Barbour slammed Heritage's report as a "political document" designed to scare off Republicans inclined to support comprehensive reform. 

"That Heritage is trying to kill this in the crib now, I think, is a political statement that they know that this is going to be a movement for reform that’s going to get stronger and stronger because it’s truly good policy," he said. 

And Sen. Jeff Flake, a Republican member of the Senate's Gang of Eight, took to Twitter to blast the study shortly after its release. 

"Here we go again," he wrote. "New Heritage study claims huge cost for Immigration Reform. Ignores economic benefits. No dynamic scoring."

This story was originally published on Mon May 6, 2013 11:37 AM EDT

On Monday, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., joined a band of Republican lawmakers arguing to “press pause” on immigration reform after last week’s Boston bombings.

“Until we can fully understand the systematic failures that enabled two individuals to immigrate to the United States from an area known for being hotbed of Islamic extremism, we should not proceed,” Paul said in a statement on his website. (The bombing suspects came to the United States as children and teenagers after their parents gained asylum, and they lived in the country as legal immigrants.)

Paul also sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, requesting a hearing dedicated to the national security aspect of immigration reform before any comprehensive effort moves forward. “The facts emerging in the Boston Marathon bombing have exposed a weakness in our current system,” he said. “If we don't use this debate as an opportunity to fix flaws in our current system, flaws made even more evident last week, then we will not be doing our jobs.”

This was the latest change for Paul -- a potential presidential candidate in 2016 -- on the issue of immigration. He has moved from opponent of birthright citizenship (that is, granting citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants born in the U.S.), to supporter of comprehensive immigration reform, to one who believes the Boston bombings should slow down the legislation.

Here’s a look back at Paul in his own words on immigration: 

Jan. 2011: Paul issues a press release after co-sponsoring a constitutional amendment to end birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants.

“Citizenship is a privilege, and only those who respect our immigration laws should be allowed to enjoy its benefits.”  

Feb. 8, 2013:  Paul pens an op-ed for the Washington Times, in which he says that he supports immigration reform. But he adds that, under his plan, Congress would vote annually for five years on whether border security has progressed – and only after that period would undocumented immigrants in the country receive green cards. He does, however, also reference them becoming citizens.

“Gradually, the undocumented persons would immigrate to the United States, internal immigration as they would not be asked to return home. These immigrants would not be given special privileges except that they would not have to leave the country…. I share the goal of a working immigration system, and a new approach to allowing those here in our country who want to work and stay out of trouble to stay here. Would I hope that when they become citizens, these new immigrants will remember Republicans who made this happen? Yes.” 

March 19, 2013: Paul delivers a speech on immigration reform at the U.S Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Based on his remarks, journalists begin to write that he supports a “pathway to citizenship.”

“Let’s start that conversation by acknowledging we aren’t going to deport 12 million illegal immigrants. If you wish to work, if you wish to live and work in America, then we will find a place for you.”

March 19, 2013: Paul holds a conference call to clarify reporting that he supports a “pathway to citizenship,” per the Huffington Post.

“Those who are here, if they want to work, let's find a place for them. If they want to become citizens, I'm open to debate as to what we do to move forward."  

April 17, 2013: Paul speaks at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast, refraining from endorsing the Gang of Eight legislation on immigration reform.

“Generally, I am for immigration reform. It’s not that I’m going to be for anything with no rules, though.”

As most Americans slept, the Senate bipartisan Gang of Eight formally filed the long-awaited “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Bill of 2013,” releasing a flood of responses from pro-reform groups that had been waiting for the legislative text.

Clocking in at 844 pages, the legislation proposes a 13-year path to citizenship for qualified undocumented immigrants along with ambitious goals to secure the nation’s southern border and a realignment of legal immigration systems to favor more employment-based visas.

After 2 a.m. Wednesday morning, the bill was posted online in its entirety. (you can read it here)

A bipartisan House group that has been working behind the scenes on its own compromise bill applauded the upper chamber’s legislation and said it hopes to reach its own agreement “soon.”

“We believe we will soon agree on a reasonable, common-sense plan to finally secure our borders and strengthen our economy with a tough but fair process that respects the rule of law so immigrants can contribute to our country,” said the group, which includes eight members of Congress. “While we have made substantial progress, we continue to work diligently towards a bill that keeps America strong, competitive and true to our values.”

The statement was signed by Democrats Xavier Becerra and Zoe Lofgren of California,  Luis Gutierrez of Illinois and John Yarmuth of Kentucky; and Republicans John Carter and Sam Johnson of Texas, Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, and Raul Labrador of Idaho.  

Groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus also praised the bipartisan spirit of the effort and expressed optimism about the legislative process.

The Chamber, which was heavily involved in negotiating a compromise on temporary workers with labor union AFL-CIO as the bill was being drafted, praised the proposal for including its goals for border security measures, worker visa expansions, a path to citizenship and an E-Verify system.

“There is no doubt that there will be additional input and analysis through Senate hearings and amendments, and we look forward to being part of that needed process,” the Chamber wrote in a statement.

NCLR, a top Latino group, similarly applauded the “courage” of the Senate members for working across party lines.

“This legislation, while not perfect, is a monumental step forward in ensuring that this nation has a fair, humane and effective 21st-century immigration policy that serves our nation’s best interests and works for all Americans, including families, workers and businesses,” wrote NCLR president Janet Murguía

Stakeholders will work to tweak the legislation to address their particular concerns as the bill wends its way through Congress. Civil liberties groups are wary of the employment verification system, and many pro-citizenship groups (in sync with the White House) have expressed skepticism in the past about the idea of security “triggers” that must be met before the legalization process can begin for undocumented immigrants.

The bill will also be strongly opposed by those who say the measure rewards lawbreakers, harms American jobs and costs too much during an economically perilous era.

This story was originally published on Wed Apr 17, 2013 10:23 AM EDT

John Moore / Getty Images, file

A U.S. Border Patrol agent looks into Mexico on the border near Sonoita, Arizona. A new proposal suggests allocating $3 billion for increased surveillance and manpower along the country's southern border.

After months of negotiations, a bipartisan Senate group on Tuesday will unveil sweeping legislation to overhaul the nation’s immigration system, an effort that has been a major focus of President Barack Obama’s second term agenda and one that some Republicans view as a political necessity.

The plan outlines an emphasis on shifting legal immigration towards more skilled workers; sets ambitious goals for surveillance and security along the nation’s southern border; and offers qualifying undocumented immigrants a decade-long process – dependent on external border security triggers -- towards legalization and eventual citizenship in the United States.

Included in the bill are the following provisions, according to a summary memo provided to NBC News:              

• Allow undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States continually since before December 31, 2011 to apply for “Registered Provisional Immigrant Status” if they pay back taxes and $500 in fines, and if they have not been convicted of a felony or 3 or more misdemeanors or voted illegally. Individuals with this status can work for any employer and travel outside the country but are not eligible to receive means-tested federal public benefits.
•  After 10 years in Registered Provisional Immigrant Status, individuals will be eligible – pending border security measures and a clearing of existing backlogs for legal immigrants – to earn a merit-based green card if they have worked in the United States, demonstrated knowledge of the English language and paid an additional fine of $1000.
• Allow eligible DREAM act applicants and certain agricultural workers to apply for green cards within five years
• Regarding border security, the bill would set a goal of “90% effectiveness” – meaning the rate of apprehensions and turnbacks of potential entrants – per fiscal year in the most high-risk areas of the southern border. If that goal is not met within five years, a bipartisan “Border Commission” made up of border state governors and experts will be formed to issue new recommendations on how to achieve it.
• Allocate $3 billion for increased surveillance and manpower along the country’s southern border and an additional $1.5 billion for fencing.
• Include a border security “trigger” requiring that no undocumented immigrant can achieve legal “Registered Provisional Immigrant” status until strategies for border security have been submitted by the Department of Homeland Security to Congress.
•  Require an additional “trigger” that prevents those with “Registered Provisional Immigrant” status from becoming eligible to apply for Lawful Permanent Resident status until the Department of Homeland Security and the Comptroller General certify that border security strategies are operational and a mandatory employment verification system has been implemented.
• Create a new “W” visa program to allow non-agricultural temporary workers to come to the United States to work for registered employers. 
•  Eliminate family-based visas for siblings of United States citizens as well as the Diversity Visa program while eliminating caps on visas for certain employment-based categories.
•  Use a point system for a new “merit based” visa, of which 120,000 would initially be awarded per year, with a maximum cap of 250,000 annually. Points will be awarded based on criteria including education, employment and length of residence in the U.S.
• Require an “enhanced E-Verify” system to prevent ineligible workers from taking jobs in the United States. Employers with more than 5,000 employees will be phased in within two years; employers with more than 500 employees will be phased in within three years.
• Raise the annual cap on H1-B visas for high-skilled workers from 65,000 to 110,000, with provisions to prevent such workers from undercutting American wages. Set a maximum cap at 180,000 such visas.

While events in Boston Monday caused organizers to postpone a planned Tuesday press conference to roll out the bill, the legislation will be formally filed in the Senate later today. Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York and John McCain of Arizona will visit the White House to brief the president on the plan. 

Related:
Revealed -- a path to citizenship, shift to employment-based visas

10 things you need to know about the Senate immigration bill

Once filed, the process of examining the bill will begin in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where panel members will hold two hearings in the next week. The group is expected to continue its markup of the legislation into the month of May.

The proposal, drafted by four Democrats and four Republicans, represents the first major attempt to comprehensively address illegal immigration, border security, and the existing backlog for legal immigrants to the United States since a bipartisan bill stalled in the Senate in 2007. 

This story was originally published on Tue Apr 16, 2013 12:00 AM EDT

Drafters are racing to complete the text of a comprehensive immigration reform bill slated to be unveiled on Tuesday, with minor loose ends causing some in the Senate’s Gang of Eight to urge a delay to presenting the sweeping legislation.

But, with pressure growing after multiple missed deadlines for the completion of the reform bill, sources within the group tell NBC News that the proposal is still likely to be formally presented in a press conference tomorrow.

The Senate Judiciary Committee was expected to hold its first hearing on the legislation on Wednesday, but that has now been postponed to Friday. An additional hearing will be held next Monday as well. 

Senate Republicans and Democrats have yet to be briefed on the legislation in their respective formal meetings. The bill includes the opportunity -- if certain border security criteria have been met -- for qualified undocumented immigrants to obtain probationary legal status for 10 years before becoming eligible to apply for a visa.

Republicans are expected to meet tonight at 5:45 pm to review the plan within their own conference. (Lead GOP negotiator Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida was originally scheduled to brief his colleagues last week, but lengthy discussion of pending gun legislation pushed the presentation off the agenda.)At noon on Tuesday, Republicans also plan to sell the plan to outside conservative interest groups.

Democrats have yet not scheduled an internal briefing but would likely share the bill with colleagues during a regularly scheduled Tuesday lunch meeting tomorrow.  

With the caveat that negotiators still need to review and agree on legislative language, two key Senate lawmakers said Sunday that a deal on a comprehensive immigration reform bill is close but not complete after a breakthrough in talks between business and labor groups this weekend. 

"With the agreement between business and labor, every major policy issue has been resolved on the Gang of Eight," said Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer, one of the eight Senate leaders working on the legislation, during an interview on NBC's Meet the Press. 

Noting that the group has pledged not to come to a final agreement until legislative language is finalized, Schumer said he is "very, very optimistic" that the group of lawmakers will have a deal by next week. 

Republican Jeff Flake of Arizona, also a member of the Gang, agreed that lawmakers will be focused on the exact wording of the bill. 

"We've still got a ways to go in terms of looking at the language and making sure that it's everything we thought it would be," Flake said on NBC. "But we're closer, certainly." 

Another member of the group, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said on CNN that negotiators have a 'conceptual' agreement.

"It’s got to be written up," he said. "We haven’t signed off; there’s a few details yet. But conceptually, we have an agreement between business and labor, between ourselves. It has to be drafted. It will be rolled out next week"

After the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO reached an agreement on the parameters of a guest worker program -- one of the main holdups in the negotiations -- Republican Sen. Marco Rubio warned that reports of an overarching Gang of Eight deal were "premature." 

Schumer said Sunday that Rubio's statement did not indicate any kind of disagreement within the Senate group. 

"As Senator Rubio correctly says, we have said we will not come to final agreement until we look at all the legislative language, and he's correctly pointing out that language hasn't been fully drafted," Schumer said. "There will be little kerfuffles but I don't think any of us expect there to be problems."

Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants whose biography and conservative credentials make him a key GOP voice on immigration, also wrote in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and again in a press statement early Sunday that proponents should not rush the legislation to passage. 

"Arriving at a final product will require it to be properly submitted for the American people’s consideration, through the other 92 senators from 43 states that weren’t part of this initial drafting process," Rubio said. "In order to succeed, this process cannot be rushed or done in secret.”

Flake echoed that sentiment Sunday, pledging that the draft legislation will be amended in the Senate Judiciary Committee process and on the Senate floor.

"There will be input, there should be input," Flake said. "It will make it a better product." 

Schumer rejected the notion that Rubio could break from the Gang of Eight over concerns about the process.

"He is protecting some of the things that he thinks are very important in the bill, but I don't think that will stand in the way of any final agreement," Schumer said. "I think we're all on track."

Calling Rubio is "extremely important" to the bipartisan coalition, Flake said he's confident that the Gang of Eight will remain united. 

"I think that we'll stick together as a Gang," he said. "And I hope that we can pull some Republicans our way. I think a number of them are with us already." 

This story was originally published on Sun Mar 31, 2013 10:19 AM EDT

A Republican congressman from Alaska on Thursday used a slur referring to immigrants, particularly Mexicans, in an interview with a public radio station in his home state.

Amid a hot-button debate in Washington over how to overhaul the nation's immigration laws, Rep. Don Young, a 21-term lawmaker, referred to immigrant workers as "wetbacks" — a term that could threaten to inflame the debate about immigration reform.

"My father had a ranch; we used to have 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes," Young said in an interview with radio station KRBD. He was discussing the number of jobs that have been made irrelevant due to advances in automation. 

"It takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It’s all done by machine," Young added.

While the veteran congressman wasn't referring directly to immigration reform, his remarks certainly cut against the broader Republican effort to repair the party's dismal image with Latino voters.

Becky Bohrer / AP

U.S. Rep. Don Young addresses a rally in front of the state Capitol on Thursday in Juneau, Alaska.

"Wetback" is a derogatory term for migrant workers, particularly Mexicans or Mexican-Americans who now reside in the United States.

In a statement, Young said he "meant no disrespect" in using the word.

“During a sit down interview with Ketchikan Public Radio this week, I used a term that was commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in Central California," the statement said.

"I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays and I meant no disrespect.

“Migrant workers play an important role in America’s workforce, and earlier in the said interview, I discussed the compassion and understanding I have for these workers and the hurdles they face in obtaining citizenship. America must once and for all tackle the issue of immigration reform.” 

This story was originally published on Fri Mar 29, 2013 1:30 AM EDT

The Service Employees International Union – one of the major labor groups working for an immigration overhaul – has launched a new ad advocating for a reform plan that includes a path to citizenship.

The ad, called “America,”  is part of a $300,000 buy that will run on national cable, says SEIU. It is the organization's first television ad pushing for immigration this year – and the second buy (SEIU bought time for Spanish-language radio ads last month.)

The 30-second spot depicts a diverse group of people repairing a broken flagpole and hoisting an American flag as a narrator urges Congressional action on immigration reform.

“With back taxes paid, English learned and a real path to citizenship,” the narrator says.  “No half measures.  Let’s fix it once and for all." 

This story was originally published on Tue Mar 26, 2013 11:17 AM EDT

This story was originally published on Mon Mar 25, 2013 11:57 AM EDT

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Tuesday that the Obama administration is “urgently awaiting” immigration reform legislation being drafted by a bipartisan group of senators, adding that critics’ efforts to separate border security benchmarks from a larger comprehensive reform package are mere stalling tactics.

“The notion that we have to secure our border first is kind of another way of saying ‘we don’t really want to deal with immigration reform,’ right?” Napolitano said during a panel at the National League of Cities conference in Washington DC.  “We keep moving that goalpost.”

Napolitano, the former governor of border state Arizona, told the group of city officials that the federal government has implemented unprecedented security measures at the border in terms of manpower and technology, reducing the flow of illegal immigrants into the country to decades-old lows.

“We have driven down the numbers, so that the number of illegal immigration attempts is at 40-year lows,” she said. “We haven’t seen these kinds of numbers since the early 1970s.”

Napolitano said the president is of supportive of the “Gang of Eight” Senate group that is working behind closed doors to craft legislation, and she urged quick unveiling of those congressional proposals.

“He is urgently awaiting the product that emerges, hopefully sooner rather than later,” she said.

While senators have been relatively mum on the status of the negotiations, recent reports have indicated that they are close to consensus on the bill's path to legal status for illegal immigrants as well as on some border security proposals. 

President Barack Obama has been criticized by some reform advocates for failing to address immigration during his first term, a promise he made on the campaign trail during his first presidential run. 

Napolitano said Tuesday that reform likely couldn’t have been achieved four years ago – but now the time is right.

“When I came here to serve as Secretary, it was not the time. There just weren’t enough people ready to dive in and there were other issues that were crowding the calendar for the Senate floor and the House floor,” she said. “But now is the time when this issue rises to the top.”

This story was originally published on Tue Mar 12, 2013 10:40 AM EDT