FROM THE CEO (JAMES MASSA)
WELCOME TO THE "INSIDE IMMIGRATION" NEWSLETTER OF NUMBERSUSA
September 2023 CBP enoucnters exceed 330,000
WHY SECURING THE BORDER IS TOP PRIORITY
Let NumbersUSA do the math for you. With 300,000 monthly encounters, while Secretary Mayorkas continued to evade answering straightforward questions to both the House and Senate, the Customs and Border Patrol is encountering someone trying to enter into the United States illegally EVERY 10 SECONDS of every day of every month!
That does not include the known "gotaways" (600,000 per year) or the Visa Overstays (854,000 per year), or those unknown who have certainly entered undetected.

Securing the border is the number one priority to ensure fair wages, reduce environmental impact, defend the nation from both terrorists and criminals, as well as, avoid the overwhelming of our cities' infrastructures and abilities to provide health care, housing, and education to our citizens.

As a NumbersUSA member, be sure you use the Action Board to send your elected officials messages to include H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, on any must-pass legislation, such as this upcoming continuing resolution which must be addressed by November 17th.

Also, be sure to share this newsletter with your friends, family, and work associates. NumbersUSA exists to empower voters to achieve a sensible immigration policy. Let others know their voices can be heard!

TO OUR VETERANS:
Thank you for your service

REFRESHED WEBSITE COMING SOON
NumbersUSA will be launching a website modernization and refresh just after Thanksgiving. ALL YOUR ACTION BOARD AND OTHER CAPABILITIES WILL STILL BE AVAILABLE TO YOU. However, we are modernizing the look and feel of the website to ensure that the next generation of American voters can more readily access the information, tools, and resources (like Grade Cards, Action Board, Sprawl Studies, Town Hall Meeting notices, and more) so that they can be informed activists. This will also include ensuring the website is mobile device friendly so you can access it from your mobile phone, tablet, or other device.
FEDERAL (GRANT NEWMAN)
SENATE BORDER EFFORTS
The Senate is currently looking for a path forward on Ukraine funding. Border security has become a central issue in that discussion. Some Republican Senators have been offering various policy changes on the border, while other Republican and Democratic Senators have been focused on simply increasing border resources. Simply providing more money without policy changes will result in faster processing of illegal immigrants into the country rather than reducing illegal immigration. NumbersUSA continues to emphasize your messages to elected leaders that insist on policy changes that will end the border crisis. Read more about Ukraine funding and gridlock in the Senate here.
HOUSE EFFORTS - STATUS OF H.R. 2
The House of Representatives continues to move through their appropriations bills, but all eyes are on new Speaker Johnson and how the House will offer to fund the government by November 17th. The Senate is looking at passing a short-term continuing resolution, but the House appears to prefer a spending deal that gets Congress out of the normal year-end logjam. H.R. 2 is still part of the spending discussion, but like the Senate, there are discussions occurring about whether border policy changes should be tied to any additional funding to Ukraine. Read more regarding the countdown to shutdown here.
MAYORKAS TESTIMONY
Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee Wednesday morning, and as usual, continued to dodge questions from Congress. See some of those moments below:
Senator Hoeven asks about terrorists coming into the country

Senator John Kennedy "Have you vetted the 8 million border encounters?"

Senator Hyde-Smith "Is the border situation a disaster?"

STATE (ANDREW GOOD)

Florida State Representative Kiyan Michael is recognized by NumbersUSA for her championship of E-Verify in the State of Florida. At right, NumbersUSA CEO, James Massa, awards her the NumbersUSA Torchbearer Award for her accomplishment and provided her with an E-Verify Bling Belt to signify the hard-fought battle she had fought and won.

FLORIDA UPDATE
With the passing of mandatory E-Verify for employers with 25 or more employees in the State of Florida, over 90% of all employees now must be screened for US citizenship or possession of a valid work permit. However, leaders in Florida are not stopping there. Next legislative session is expected to bring debate and legislation on the taxing of remittances, those funds send by people to relatives and cartels to whom they owe money in their country of origin.
MASSACHUSETTS UPDATE
The morning of Tuesday, November 14th, the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development in the Massachusetts State Legislature will hold a hearing on a bill to require the use of E-Verify statewide for all employers. We are encouraging all our members to submit testimony and support this effort, which is also being supported by the Massachusetts Coalition for Immigration Reform.
TEXAS UPDATE
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is convening yet another "special session" of its legislature, which started earlier this week (November 7). While immigration-related issues are again included as part of the "call," it is unfortunately yet another special session that does not include expanding the use of E-Verify. E-Verify is the most cost-effective solution to reduce illegal immigrant presence in any state. We continue to advocate that an E-Verify requirement for all employers be made an explicit policy goal of Governor Greg Abbott.
WEST VIRGINIA UPDATE
Early next week, the West Virginia State Legislature will be meeting in an interim session in Wheeling, WV. The session will include consideration of anti-illegal hiring measures and assessment of enforcement options, and will be an important event in advance of the 2024 legislative session. NumbersUSA will have staff on the ground for the interim session as we urge West Virginia to push through an E-Verify law next year.
SUSTAINABILITY (ROB HARDING)

Left: NumbersUSA's Scientific Director Leon Kolankiewicz and Idaho sprawl study advisor Laurin Scarcello ahead of Leon's presentation at the Country Barn in Cataldo, Idaho. Right: NumbersUSA's Scientific Director Leon Kolankiewicz presenting in Cataldo. Sunday, October 29 Credit: Rob Harding
IDAHO SPRAWL STUDY LAUNCH
Scientific Director Leon Kolankiewicz and Sustainability Outreach Liaison Rob Harding represented NumbersUSA on October 29 at the Country Barn Bed & Breakfast and Event Center in idyllic Cataldo, Idaho for the first presentation of the findings from NumbersUSA's new Idaho sprawl study, the latest in a series. This NumbersUSA Idaho sprawl study presentation + Q&A event was graciously hosted by the Kootenai-Shoshone Farm Bureau, which is a county-level branch of the ~76,000 member Idaho Farm Bureau Federation.
In addition to distinguished attendees from the Kootenai-Shoshone Farm Bureau Board of Directors, the Kootenai-Shoshone Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors, and the Kootenai County Aquifer Protection District Board, two noteworthy attendees included Kootenai County Commissioner Bruce Mattare and Idaho Governor Brad Little's North Idaho Field Director & Policy Advisor Jake Garringer. The quality of the group in attendance in terms of interest and concern was through the roof!

Benewah County Farm Bureau President Jeff Bloomsburg was in attendance, and he invited Sustainability Outreach Liaison Rob Harding to the Benewah County Farm Bureau's Annual Meeting held on November 3 at the Soaring Hawk RV Resort in Plummer, Idaho. At the November 3 meeting, Jeff kindly introduced Rob as a distinguished guest and offered Rob five minutes to say a few words about NumbersUSA and our new Idaho sprawl study. Looking ahead, Rob will attend the Kootenai-Shoshone Farm Bureau's Annual Meeting on Saturday, November 11 and will once again have an opportunity to tell fellow attendees about NumbersUSA and the Idaho sprawl study. We expect some additional outreach and engagement opportunities like these to emerge in the coming months.

HERE WE GO TO IDAHO
Rob Harding at the liberty BellNumbersUSA's Sustainability Outreach Liaison, Rob Harding, coming hot off the Idaho Sprawl Study launch event stopped at the state capitol in Boise, to begin engagement with Governor Brad Little's staff.
NumbersUSA continues to coordinate and gain synergy from its Federal, State, Sustainability, and Hiring Line initiatives as all these bring focus and impact on the issue of immigration impacting our country.

HIRING LINE (ANDRE BARNES)

CHICAGO "STOP THE BUSES" RALLY
In a joint effort with Black American Voters Project, NumbersUSA sponsored the Stop the Buses Rally. The featured panelists were NumbersUSA founder, Roy Beck, along with Speaker and Newsweek Contributor, Denise Long, and Director of HBCU Engagement, Andre Barnes. Each provided rich amounts of information regarding immigration policies and history, as well as, discussed actions people could take at the local and national level to address the volume of immigrants overwhelming their communities. The panelist opened up the floor to Q & A and armed the participants with specific information and actions they could use to continue to fight sanctuary city ordinances.
Roy, Denise, and Andre were all interviewed by local Chicago TV media, including CBS 2 and Fox 32, as well as, several radio and podcast stations.

The event was also live streamed via X and Facebook to nearly 10,000 viewers. The recorded link to that live stream event is here.


NUMBERSUSA IN THE NEWS
NumbersUSA representatives are frequently featured in the media – on radio, TV, podcasts, and in print – providing commentary in support of sensible immigration policies. Check out a few recent highlights.
National Journal - Cristina Maza - November 2nd - Years after Afghanistan withdrawal, lawmakers seek solution for Afghan parolees

Spokane Public Radio - Steve Jackson - November 3rd - Idaho growth not viewed favorably by many people who live there

FOX 32 WFLD - Kasey Chronis - November 6th - Englewood residents rally against migrant bus arrivals

NewsBreak - Natalie Frank - November 7th - Chicago's Englewood Residents Continue to Fight Against Large Number of Migrant Bus Arrivals

PR Newswire - Staff Writer - November 8th - NumbersUSA Awards Florida State Representative Kiyan Michael for her Outstanding Achievement in Expanding E-Verify in Florida
NUMBERS THAT MATTER
FY2023 WAS THE WORST YEAR FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ENCOUNTERS ON RECORD.
Jan 21 - Sep 23: 2 million caught and released, equal to the population of Idaho. 6 million illegal entry attempts, equal to the population of Maryland. 2 million gotaways, equal to the population of Nebraska
There are two ways to think about illegal immigration numbers: 1) the number trying to enter illegally; and 2) the number entering illegally. The best metric to gauge the former is the "encounter". August 2023 encounters were the highest in history at over 300,000; the September numbers are expected to be even worse when they are made public.

To measure the number of people who enter illegally, you have to add up catch-and-release numbers and so-called "gotaways". The precise numbers are either not known or not made public by the government, but since January, 2021, an estimated 4 million people - roughly the population of the city of Los Angeles - have bypassed the legal immigration system established by Congress.

To get the full sense of illegal immigration's impact on the interior, you then have to add in visa overstays (which hit a record high in 2022). That gives you an estimated 5.7 million - or roughly the combined populations of Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas - since 2021.

"Record-breaking" is not something to be proud of when it comes to illegal immigration. And record-breaking illegal immigration is not inevitable. The House of Representatives has already passed H.R. 2 that, if enacted, would immediately begin to solve the border crisis. A companion bill in the Senate is gaining cosponsors. Congress needs to break its record of inaction on the border and pass H.R. 2.

HR 2 A Better Border Policy
ALLIANCES (JIM ROBB)
NumbersUSA has launched its Alliances program with the intention of working with many more organizations on immigration related issues that are shared interests. Some of these organizations may be involved with many more topics other than immigration. However, both on a national level and a state or local level, NumbersUSA is ready to partner to bring about sensible immigration policy.

One potential alliance is with Citizens for Defending Freedom (CDF), a county focused organization which has strong presence in Florida, Texas, Georgia and soon to launch in Michigan. CDF was a strong supporter of Florida State Representative Kiyan Michael. Featured above is Executive Director Kathleen Murray as she chairs a monthly meeting at which NumbersUSA presented Rep Michael with the Torchbearer Award.

CDF is a national organization focused on educating and activating citizens at the grassroots to advocate for policies that affect their communities. On October 30, at the group's regular monthly meeting, the Duval County FL chapter hosted NumberUSA, where James spoke to a full house crowd of over 100 active members, to introduce NumbersUSA. Discussions continue as to where NumbersUSA's mission and goals on immigration may align with those of CDF.
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