Bachmann referred to Perry’s statement at last week’s debate that opponents of the Texas Dream Act “didn’t have a heart,” which Perry has since walked back.

“Last week, we conservatives were accused of not having a heart,” Bachmann said. “Nothing could be further from the truth, but it’s just that we have a mind to go with that heart.”

Bachmann’s ad, which was posted Thursday represents yet another attempt by the candidate to regain the support of conservatives, who abandoned her in droves after Perry entered the race. Bachmann has been falling in most polls, although she’s recently seen a slight surge in Iowa.

Bachmann says in the video that immigration policies like in-state tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants have “created chaos on our borders.”

“We can’t settle for a president that thinks building a fence to secure the border is on its face ‘idiocy,’” Bachmann said, vowing to build a border fence and again referring to comments by Perry. “Just because we have policy differences doesn’t make us any less compassionate.”

A conservative PAC aligned with U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s presidential bid is targeting Texas Gov. Rick Perry on immigration in a spate of radio ads starting Tuesday in South Carolina.

The ads by Keep Conservatives United (KCU) paint Perry as being soft on illegal immigration and says “illegals take jobs.”

The radio ads supplement two television ads that have been running in the state in support of Bachmann since mid-August.

“The ad shows voters in next year’s critical South Carolina primary the clear differences between Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry on illegal immigration,” Bob Harris of KCU said in a statement on the website. “It will reach a politically attuned audience for a week to build support for Bachmann.”

The PAC has been airing two television ads targeting Perry. One targets his spending:

Another ad accuses Perry of embracing President Bush:

Bachmann, of course, has been the target of ads that poke fun at her embrace of President Bush:

Miriam Jordan of The Wall Street Journal reports on a pseudonymous couple who illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico to settle in Minneapolis. They held jobs paying well over the minimum wage, plus benefits, before the Obama Administration began cracking down on employers. Both of them now work lower-paid jobs and work for less than the minimum wage.

More about the audits:

The audits, started by the Obama administration in 2009, put the onus on business to police workers, requiring companies to turn over employee records to federal agents. If the papers aren’t in order, the workers are quietly let go without penalty while the companies are punished.

The audits, conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, a unit of the Department of Homeland Security, were initially hailed by some immigrant advocates as more humane because they eliminate deportation raids, the norm during the Bush administration.

But it has become increasingly clear that the policy is pushing undocumented workers deeper underground, delivering them to the hands of unscrupulous employers, depressing wages and depriving federal, state and local coffers of taxes, according to unions, companies and immigrant advocates.

It’s not clear whether their employer, ABM, looked the other way or the couple simply provided false documents. Employers are required to accept documents for an I-9 form or else be open to charges of employment discrimination. Either way, they were treated well — the husband made up to just over $14 an hour, and both entitled to paid vacation and sick days.

Minnesota required the use of E-Verify for state employees and contractors doing more than $50,000 in business with the state from 2008 until 2011, when Gov. Mark Dayton reversed the executive order of Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

With the recession and increased immigration enforcement, it’s unlikely that the couple will find other jobs that pay well above minimum wage and include benefits.

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 statement that Phoenix is the kidnapping capital of the United States.

“We need reform that unites families, promotes fair employment practices and restores America’s place as a nation that welcomes those seeking freedom from persecution and a better way of life,” said Amy Novick, executive director of Immigrants’ List.

Here’s what the group had to say about Bachmann who ranked fifth on the Hall of Shame:

5. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) — The potential presidential candidate has a history of inflammatory statements which go along with her outlandish voting record. She’s spread the widely-debunked rumor that Phoenix is “the kidnap[ping] capital of the United States,” using that myth to justify her support for an armed presence on the border. She’s advocates Arizona SB 1070, and told Bill O’Reilly that all local law enforcement should be required to ask for proof of immigration status. Bachmann chairs the House Tea Party Caucus.

Bachmann friend and Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King took the top spot in the Hall of Shame for saying that he favors an electrified wire border fence because “we do that with livestock all the time” and for citing the Bible in his opposition to immigration reform.

“Politicians like Steve King — who compare people seeking a better life to ‘livestock’ — appeal to people’s worst instincts,” Novick said. “And in doing so, they prevent the reform Americans want.”

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.

Even though same-sex marriage is legal in seven jurisdictions in the United States, couples in which one partner is not a citizen do not have any right under current federal law.

The bill would make immigration laws equal for same-sex couples, including allowing same-sex partners of refugees and asylum seekers to immigrate to the United States. It also provides for the same penalties for same-sex couples who misrepresent their relationships for immigration purposes as current law does for married couples.

The bill makes provisions for same-sex couples to provide documentation of their partnership.

“A core tenet of our immigration policy is preserving family unity. Yet gay and lesbian Americans are still forced to choose between their country and being with those they love,” said Leahy in a statement. “I hear from Vermont couples who face this difficult decision every year. No American should face such a choice. I hope that my colleagues who supported this important civil rights reform will join me in calling for fairness and equality in our immigration laws.”

In addition to Franken and Leahy, the bill is sponsored by Sens. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Robert Casey (D-Pa.), Christopher Coons (D-Del.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

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.

The English Language Unity Act of 2011, authored by Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King, was introduced by Bachmann and 59 other Republicans on Friday.

The bill’s purpose is to “declare English as the official language of the United States, to establish a uniform English language rule for naturalization, and to avoid misconstructions of the English language texts of the laws of the United States, pursuant to Congress’ powers to provide for the general welfare of the United States and to establish a uniform rule of naturalization under article I, section 8, of the Constitution.”

It would prohibit federal employees from conducting official functions of government in languages other than English, with certain exceptions. It would not apply to teaching foreign languages, communicating with disabled Americans such as in American Sign Language, communicating on issues of national security and international relations, conducting census activities and in court proceedings.

The bill also requires immigrants to know English and would make the citizenship testing services in English, only with the exception of those seeking asylum in the United States.

A companion bill has been offered by Republicans in the U.S. Senate.

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.

The bill, introduced by Republican Reps. Bob Barrett of Shafer, Mike Benson of Rochester, Steve Drazkowski of Mazeppa and Glenn Gruenhagen of Glencoe, also contains language that would prohibit local governments from providing immigration data to the Department of Homeland Security.

St. Paul has chosen to direct its public safety resources away from immigration enforcement, although its ordinances say it will enforce those laws where appropriate.

“The city works cooperatively with homeland security, as it does with all state and federal agencies, but the city does not operate its programs for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration laws,” the ordinance reads. “Homeland security has the legal authority to enforce immigration laws in the United States, in Minnesota and in the city.”

The ordinance continues, “It is the policy of the city to respect the role of homeland security by avoiding pro-active enforcement of civil immigration laws. This chapter is not intended to limit the proper enforcement of generally applicable laws. It is the policy of the city that all residents are equally entitled to protection and that all residents should be able to access city services to which they are entitled, without regard to their immigration status under federal law.”

The text of the GOP bill says, “Notwithstanding any other state or local law, no political subdivision, whether acting through its governing body or by an initiative, referendum, or any other process, shall enact any ordinance, regulation, or policy that limits or prohibits a criminal justice agency, peace officer, or official or employee of the political subdivision from communicating or cooperating with federal officials with regard to (1) information concerning the immigration status of any person within Minnesota or (2) the enforcement of federal immigration laws and regulations.”

Drazkowski is also the author of another immigration-related bill this session, one which would limit government services only to those who speak English.

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.

HF 64 would make English the official language of Minnesota: “No law, ordinance, order, program, or policy of this state or any of its political subdivisions, shall require the use of any language other than English for any documents, regulations, orders, transactions, proceedings, meetings, programs, or publications, except as provided in subdivision 3.”

The bill is nearly identical to previous bills that have been proposed under a DFL-controlled legislature.

Exceptions to the English-only rule include teaching languages other than English in educational settings; complying with the Native American Languages Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; promoting trade, commerce, and tourism; and promoting state or agency mottos.

Minnesota’s state motto is in French: L’Etoile du nord.

The English-only issue came to a head last summer when Lino Lakes, St. Paul suburb, passed an English-only ordinance at the urging of an extreme anti-immigration activist.

Rep. Drazkowski is the lead author of the bill and has introduced similar versions in the past. In 2009, former Rep. Cy Thao of St. Paul challenged Drazkowski to a spelling contest in English. Thao, who is Laotian-born Hmong, said if he lost the contest, he’d vote for Drazkowski’s bill.

Here’s that exchange:

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.

Arizona’s SB1070 has come under intense criticism because of a provision that allows police officers to make arrests based on “reasonable suspicion” about individuals’ immigration status, a move that many say would include racial profiling. It also directs local police officers to enforce federal immigration laws. A lawsuit currently challenging that provision argues that the U.S. Constitution says the federal government, not the states, should enforce those laws under the Supremacy Clause.

The bill has spurred national boycotts against travel to and commerce with the state of Arizona.

Hendrycks of MINNSIR wrote, “I have already spoken with several Minnesota Legislator(s) concerning legislation options and actions in MN. We have Legislators willing to bring this legislation to the floor – let us provide the support they need to start enforce immigration laws here in MN via our voices and this petition drive.”

Earlier this year, Republicans in the Minnesota House introduced a bill with virtually identical wording as SB1070. Bill author Rep. Steve Drazkowski was joined by fellow Republican Reps. Ron Shimanski, Bob Dettmer, Peggy Scott, Greg Davids, Mark Buesgens, Bud Nornes, Bruce Anderson, and Mark Murdock.

Hendrycks and MINNSIR are launching a petition to build support for the bill.

MINNSIR got its start as the Minnesota Minutemen, a group the Southern Poverty Law Center lists as “Nativist Extremist.”

The group has falsely claimed that immigrants from Mexico are responsible for a record increase in cases of leprosy (also known as Hanson’s disease) and has campaigned to get Spanish-language radio stations shut down.

A rally for Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer at a Lake Street Mexican restaurant was canceled on Thursday after pressure from members of Minnesota’s Latino community and supporters. The rally, to be held at a popular Lake Street restaurant, was canceled after the owner was told the event was for Emmer. He told Spanish-language radio station La Invasora 1400 that the organizers failed to tell him it was a political rally.

Oscar Reyes, owner of the Los Mojarras Restaurant, said that the rally was set up by Rich Aguilar, who did not tell him it was a rally for Emmer. Aguilar, a Republican activisit, is a member of the Metropolitan Council who was appointed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. He did not respond to a weekend request for comment.

Calling the move “cínico” (cynical), radio host Alberto Monserrate said, “In all of the organizing I’ve observed, those setting up events let businesses know that it’s a campaign-related event because of the potential for customer disapproval. Those organizing this rally appear to have sought a meeting in the Latino community, but failed to tell the Latino small business owner that this event was for Emmer.”

The Republican Party of Minnesota sent out an email to its members on Oct. 19 alerting them to a “rally with gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer in Minneapolis.” By Thursday, the event had been canceled. An email alert to members didn’t explain the cancellation or the controversy surrounding it: “The Tom Emmer event that was originally planned for Saturday morning in Minneapolis has been CANCELLED,” the email said.

According to a press release, Reyes said learned that it was an Emmer rally after “community organizers and activists” made hay out of the planned event on Twitter and Facebook.

On La Invasora, Reyes and Monserrate noted that some of Emmer’s policies are not in line with mainstream Latino voters.

Emmer made headlines earlier this year when he said that Arizona’s SB1070 was a “wonderful first step.” He has also called for making English Minnesota’s official language.

The interview with Oscar Reyes is available here.