Minnesota Independent

Group inducts Bachmann into the Immigration Hall of Shame

By Andy Birkey | 04.22.11 | 9:08 am

Immigrants’ List, a federal PAC that backs candidates who support immigration rights, lists Rep. Michele Bachmann on its Immigration Hall of Shame. She’s among the nine Republicans and one Democrat the group says are blocking immigration reform. Immigrants’ List cites Bachmann’s support for Arizona’s SB 1070 and her erroneous statement that Phoenix is the kidnapping capital of the United States.

Franken sponsors immigration rights for same-sex couples

By Andy Birkey | 04.18.11 | 8:30 am

Sen. Al Franken is the sponsor of legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate late last week that would give binational same-sex couples the same rights as married couples for immigration purposes. The Uniting American Families Act is authored by Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont and is sponsored by 18 other Democrats.

Bachmann sits down with Bryan Fischer after he claims Muslims have no First Amendment rights

By Andy Birkey | 03.25.11 | 8:41 am

Bryan Fischer, an analyst for the American Family Association, is well known for controversial statements about LGBT people (“gay sex is a form of domestic terrorism”) and Muslims (inbreeding has caused “lowered intellectual capacity”), false or misleading statements that have landed the AFA on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of “hate groups.” On Thursday, shortly before he interviewed Rep. Michele Bachmann on his radio program, Fischer shared another opinion: That because of their faith Muslim Americans have “no fundamental First Amendment claims.” Bachmann, who speaks at an AFA event in Iowa today, is not the first potential 2012 candidate from Minnesota to join Fischer; Tim Pawlenty met with him in January.

Bachmann sponsors bill to make English official U.S. language

By Andy Birkey | 03.16.11 | 8:04 am

Rep. Michele Bachmann has sponsored a bill that would make all federal government operations use English and require all people undergoing citizenship testing to demonstrate their ability to speak English. The bill is very similar to one offered by Republicans in the Minnesota Legislature.

Republican bill seeks to ban immigration ‘sanctuary cities’

By Andy Birkey | 02.08.11 | 1:25 pm

Minnesota House Republicans introduced a bill Monday that would prevent cities, counties and other local governments from making laws related to immigration enforcement. St. Paul, Minneapolis and Worthington have ordinances on the books that direct city employees to check the immigration status of their residents only in certain instances and instead leave immigration enforcement to federal officials. These “sanctuary cities” are the target of HF348, which would invalidate those local ordinances.

Minnesota Capitol. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

GOP introduces bill to make English Minnesota’s official language

By Andy Birkey | 01.10.11 | 3:17 pm

Among the first bills introduced in the Minnesota House this session is one aimed at establishing English as the official language of the state. Republican Reps. Steve Drazkowski of Mazeppa, David Hancock of Bemidji, Sondra Erickson of Princeton, and Roger Crawford of Mora introduced the bill on Monday.

House passes DREAM Act

By Todd A. Heywood | 12.09.10 | 10:21 am

The DREAM Act — the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act — passed the House by a 216-198 margin Wednesday. CNN reports the vote was mostly along partisan lines. In Minnesota that was true, except in one case: Blue Dog Democrat Collin Peterson sided with Republicans Michele Bachmann, John Kline and Erik Paulsen in opposing the bill.

Minnesota group pushes for Arizona-style immigration bill

By Andy Birkey | 11.30.10 | 12:05 pm

Minnesotans Seeking Immigration Reform (MINNSIR) has begun a push for an Arizona-style immigration law for Minnesota, according to a posting on Confederate Americans for Secure Borders. The group’s leader, Ruthie Hendrycks, said she has spoken with members of the Minnesota Legislature who will be offering the bill in the upcoming session.

The lame-duck session could be the last chance for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to pass a number of bills. Photo: Pete Marovich/ZUMApress.com

Harry Reid promises DREAM Act vote during lame-duck session

By Ed Brayton | 11.18.10 | 11:30 am

A day after President Barack Obama urged Congress to pass the DREAM Act during the lame duck session before the new Republican majority can kill the bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised that he would bring the bill up for a vote during that brief session.