*** UPDATE *** Sen. Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago)…

As the first Asian American elected to the Illinois State Senate and the first Indian American elected to the Illinois General Assembly, I am unfortunately surprised by the accusation that Senator Durbin is anyone short of a champion for ALL immigrant families.

This “Divide and Conquer” strategy, as it relates to the different immigrant communities. by Donald Trump has been a longstanding, deep concern of mine. The notion that the Trump administration and Senate Republicans are pro-immigrant is absurd. They are cynically using this issue to appeal to immigrants, who are rightfully frustrated and who have faced severe injustices, with a flawed solution.

I would ask the immigrant communities who are behind this particular legislation consider the following:

1) Today it is other immigrant communities that Donald Trump and Republicans want to target. Tomorrow it could be you. Wouldn’t you want people to stand together in a way where every community can thrive and prosper?

2) Let’s set the record straight. Senator Durbin has been a staunch supporter of comprehensive immigration reform and ALL immigrant communities throughout his career.

He LED the bipartisan effort for comprehensive immigration reform in 2013, which included lifting the per-country caps and clearing the backlogs for ALL immigrants waiting in line for green cards.

It passed with 68 votes. President Obama made it clear he would sign this legislation. Republican House Speaker John Boehner wouldn’t call it for a vote. Where was Donald Trump at that time? What did Senator Mike Lee do that time (HINT: He voted NO)?

To question Senator Durbin’s record on immigration is to not know the facts.

3) If you are serious about achieving a resolution, let’s sit down and try to work it out. Don’t smear the record of someone who has fought for our communities for decades.

The President and his apologists in Congress have stopped all immigration measures in the Senate. No committee action, and no meaningful floor debate. Join me in calling on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to hold a hearing.

* India West…

The Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act, which would eliminate the per-country cap for employment-based visas, was once again stalled in the Senate Sept. 26.

The authors of S386, Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Kamala Harris, D-California, have asked for unanimous consent on the measure, which has received support from numerous Indian American advocacy groups, including Immigration Voice. Unanimous consent allows a bill to come to the floor on an expedited track, but cannot be used if a single senator objects.

Currently, Indians who have approved green card applications are stuck in a queue with an average wait time of 75 years before they receive a green card, due to per-country caps which state that no country can receive more than 7 percent of all employment-based green cards available that year. S386 — and HR 1044, which passed the House in July — would eliminate the per country cap. In the first of three phases, Indian Americans would be eligible for 85 percent of all green cards available that year, and 90 percent the following year.

* The video is here, but Sen. Dick Durbin was the one who blocked the bill from coming to an immediate vote…

“Let’s be clear — lifting green card country caps alone without increasing green cards … will not eliminate the backlog for Indian immigrants,” Durbin said in a Senate session last week.

“And it will dramatically increase backlogs for the rest of the world,” he said.

Durbin’s competing legislation, the Relief Act, vows to clear the entire backlog over a five-year time frame and is endorsed by such organizations as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

But the Cato Institute’s Bier told the Nikkei Asian Review that a proposal to issue more green cards has little chance of being enacted by the Trump administration, which has an antagonistic stance on immigration.

* A group called Immigration Voice placed an ad in the Chicago Tribune slamming Durbin…

The group has also raised about $160,000 online so far to run more ads…

Senator Dick Durbin is trying to trick immigrants into believing that he is not anti-immigrant. However, now everyone knows that Senator Durbin is not at all sincere about the parody bill he is using to attack the Fairness Bill. […]

Senator Durbin falsely claimed that this is a “Republican” bill. In reality, this bill was written by the Democratic Immigration Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren and passed with 224 Democratic votes in the House, including the entire Illinois House Delegation. The companion bill in the Senate has 15 Democratic Cosponsors.

Though Senator Durbin gets furious and red-faced whenever anyone tries to add our kids, who are in danger of losing their legal status once they age out in the backlog, to his Dream act so that they too have legal protection once they age out—he has no trouble or shame sabotaging this bill because he resents the people who it will help, which includes children like Manhitha, Uma Shreya, and Ankitnoor.

* In other congressional news, here’s Illinois Review…

The conservative Club for Growth has launched digital advertisements in four key Congressional Districts, including Illinois’ 14th CD. They point is to encourage voters to tell their 2018-elected representatives to “stop supporting the phony impeachment process and instead start solving problems. Part of the reason they picked IL’s 14th CD is it is among four districts nationwide whose seats were flipped from Republican to Democratic in 2018.

No Facebook ads are showing up, so there’s only this YouTube video which currently has just 7,744 views…