Republicans never can jump high enough on immigration amnesty
So what’s the point of jumping right now?
Sometime this week House Republicans will unveil a short list of immigration “reform” priorities for the coming year. That release could take place at any moment.
The big headline so far is that there will be a legalization of all illegal aliens, with a path to citizenship for those brought here as young children, Backing in G.O.P. for Legal Status for Immigrants.
The big questions are why, and why now?
The Editors of National Review have an excellent editorial, Don’t Do It:
The House Republican leadership has been confronted by devilishly difficult tactical choices over the years. But what to do on the issue of immigration right now isn’t one of them. The correct course is easy and eminently achievable: Do nothing….
The basic tactical reason not to act now is that the last thing the party needs is a brutal intramural fight when it has been dealt a winning hand on Obamacare. It is not as though the public is clamoring for an immigration bill. Only 3 percent cited immigration as the biggest problem facing the country in a Gallup poll earlier this month. In the key contests that will decide partisan control of the Senate, Republican candidates are much more likely to be helped than hurt by refusing to sign onto any form of amnesty.
The other prudential reason not to act is that President Obama obviously can’t be trusted. Any immigration deal would have to trade enhanced enforcement for an amnesty. Since the president refuses to enforce key provisions of his own health-care law, let alone provisions of immigration law he finds uncongenial, he obviously can’t be relied on to follow up on his end of any bargain. It is hard to fathom how any Republican can possibly believe otherwise.
Finally, the path set out by the House leadership will — if the early reports are to be believed — represent bad policy. Unfortunately, many Republicans have convinced themselves that the key question is whether or not illegal immigrants eventually get citizenship, and insist that only a law that creates a “path to citizenship” is amnesty. They are wrong on both counts. The central question is whether illegal immigrants are allowed to work and live here legally. As soon as they are, that’s the amnesty. For most of these immigrants, eventual citizenship will be an afterthought.
Whatever the proposal is, it will not be enough to satisfy Democrats. Nothing short of complete and total amnesty, including extended family “reunifications,” will be enough.
Already, with rumors of the Republican proposal afloat, the demands are being made to jump higher. Greg Sargent at The Washington Post, a reliable conduit of Democratic Party thinking, already sets down the marker that any conditions on legalization are unacceptable:
Here’s the question: What will Republicans demand as a condition for legalization?
If their basic principle is that legalization will be contingent on undocumented immigrants paying back taxes and a fine, and on the Department of Homeland Security producing a border security plan (as in the Senate bill), that could be a real stepping stone to negotiations and possibly even something approximating comprehensive reform.
But if their basic principle is that legalization will only happen after various border security metrics being met — such as E-Verify being fully operational, or proof that 90 percent of border crossers must be being apprehended and 100 percent of the border must be being surveilled — then that’s going to be a very discouraging sign.
Update: Byron York notes:
A fight is coming. Perhaps the only people not fully engaged might be the broad majority of Americans, who don’t see any urgent need for reform. In a new survey from Pew, in which voters were asked what should be the top priority for the president and Congress, immigration reform ranked 16th out of 20. In a new poll from Gallup, just three percent named immigration as the nation’s most pressing issue.
After a look at those numbers, lawmakers might reasonably conclude it’s time to move on to something else. But don’t look for Washington to take the voters’ hint.
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Comments
Only the “stupid party” would do such a ridiculous thing, literally snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in the upcoming 2014 election.
Do they ENJOY losing? Do they want the GOP to die? Do they hate the TEA Party base that much?
I do believe we all know the answers to those questions.
I truly believe this is a disinformation campaign. I know there are big dollars behind Amnesty. But, I believe the GOP lawmakers recognize the danger of being painted as AMNESTY WHORES.
Well, it looks and feels like as of now, our nation has a one party system.
Exactly. It is a bitter pill for independents and conservatives to swallow, but there is precious little difference between the Republican leadership and Obama. The total GOP surrender during the recent “shutdown” – when the GOP leadership rubber-stamped Obama’s demands – should have been the clearest warning.
I note that former Virginia GOP Senator John Warner has endorsed the current Democrat Senator Mark Warner (no relation) over his Republican challenger. The GOP candidate – Ed Gillespie – is a run-of-the-mill Big Tent Republican that John Warner and other “moderates” claim the GOP needs more of.
In endorsing the other Warner, John Warner is doing what he has always wanted to do. John Warner wants welfare state fascism, and the GOP is not moving swiftly enough for him. In endorsing amnesty, the GOP leadership is moving on its dream to make the Republican Party a carbon copy of the Democrat Party. The losers are the majority of American people who don’t want this.
I think the alleged ‘two parties’ have been playing ‘good cop/bad cop’ all the while tacking toward socialism/big government control.
We have two competing crime families in the District of Corruption who are operating in a symbiotic relationship – scratching each other’s backs and filling each other’s wallets at the expense of the middle class taxpayer.
I hasten to observe…as I have before…that NO amnesty program…ANYWHERE…ANY TIME…has ever worked to do what it was promised to do.
What is it when you try something that is known not to work?
Any Republican that signs on to amnesty Lite will get approval from the left, for starting to see things properly, and for “rejecting the racist, stupid, bigoted tea party”. Divide and conquer.
The left gets to frame the issue in terms of the right hating the poor, especially Hispanics. They poll in terms of “force them all to leave immediately, OR let them stay and earn citizenship, while paying back taxes.” Options like Romney’s “self deport” get roasted as hateful somehow, although some of that has happened as the economy has slowed.
Columns mention the scholarly students, or the hard working Catholic Mexican migrant worker. Never the gangs taking over LA, the drug trade and gray market economy, and cheap labor for “the rich”, or the two time criminals that kill Americans through drunk driving and homicides. Free health care for the illegals is a given, though about that from Obama, “He Lies”.
But real polling would inspire Republicans to stand up for the moral majority.
Sung to “War. What is it good for” by Edwin Starr
GOP rhymes with Pop
[ @MicahStone_ ]
GOP! huh-yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Uh-huh
GOP! huh-yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Say it again y’all
GOP! huh good God
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me?
Ohhh? GOP! I despise
Because it means destruction
Of American value
GOP means tears
to thousands of patriots eyes
When their sons have to fight
ILLEGALS for their lives
I said – GOP! Huh Good God y’all
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
GOP! Whoa, Lord …
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me?
GOP! It ain’t nothing but a heartbreaker
GOP! Friend only to the lib-takers
GOP! It’s an enemy to all patriot-kind
The thought of GOP blows my mind
The GOP is desperate to keep the money/bribes from “Business” flowing to them and not to the Democrats.
Yes, they are that disconnected from reality.
The corporate lobbyist posing as elected reps. are counting on us to be LowInfoVoters / NoInfoVoters, blindly punching the party ticket.
You can count on the GOP also pushing for a massive bailout for the “Health Care Insurance Industry” as well. They took the money for “Part D / Prescription Coverage”, remember?
Another brick in the “No Difference between the Parties” wall. That wall will keep the disgusted conservative voters away.
OOOOO..What a bad widdle boy johnny is..
House Speaker John Boehner issued a stern warning to President Obama ahead of Tuesday night’s State of the Union address: “We have a Constitution. We abide by it. If he tries to ignore it, he’s going to run into a brick wall.”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/01/28/have-constitution-boehner-warns-obama-on-exec-orders/
Boehner is grandstanding. He won’t stand up to anyone unless they are a conservative.
All the corporate lobbyists up for re-election are making the same noises.
Look at how suddenly the NSA / domestic spying issue is getting a lot of “hot air” posturing.
As usual, renewing their “conservative credentials” for election season. I’m not buying it.
Agree completely. But after a night at his favorite drinking establishment, he sounded tough.
I’m mystified as to why any Republican would think this is a good idea. First of all, it’s terrible policy: It will simply usher in another generation of illegals who will see that, no matter what anybody says, they and/or their children will be eventually legalized.
Second, the GOP is NOT going to get any political credit for doing this. They will ALWAYS be portrayed as “anti-immigrant” because whatever Boehner, et al, are agreeable to doing, Obama and the open-borders crowd will always insist on more. So if in a year, the left is insisting on the governments’ dispatching limousines to bring foreign nationals across the border, and Boehner opposes this, then GOP will once again be demonized as “anti-immigrant.”
Third, the leaders of the GOP have a responsibility to the people they represent to NOT [blank] us in the [blank] by supporting legislation that they KNOW the vast majority of Republicans staunchly oppose. Sorry, Mr. Boehner, but this isn’t a pro-amnesty party. If you think that makes all of us Neanderthals, then there’s the door; you know how to use it. Don’t betray the trust of the rank and file by doing something you KNOW we don’t want just because you think you have superior judgment. You may HAVE superior judgment, but you don’t have license to make this decision unilaterally on behalf of the GOP.
Well, it looks Boehner et al are looking forward to being in a permanent minority. They get all of the perks without having any of those icky responsibilities that come with actual governing.
In short, should the GOP prove this fatally stupid, that party will join the Democrats in the “I will never effing vote for you again” bin.
I was disgusted, but not surprised, to read that the head of DHS went on a Sunday talk show recently and asserted that illegal aliens have “earned” the right to become citizens.
I wish some curious reporter would have asked Mr. Secretary what other rights and privileges can be “earned” in the U.S. by deliberately and persistently violating U.S. laws. After all, why should foreigners get all the breaks?
There are lots of Americans who would like to “earn” themselves some new rights and privileges. So Mr. Secretary, are there some specific federal laws that we should start breaking to “earn” our new rights, or will we — like the illegal aliens — be allowed to simply pick and choose which U.S. laws we’re willing to obey?
who wants this and why?
It depends on the who doing the wanting.
In the case of Demoncrats, it’s pretty obvious: new recruits to the entitlement addiction guaranteed to vote Demoncrat for ever.
Now this is where it gets interesting: in the case of establishment Republicans, amnesty is a move designed to drive the Tea Party and Conservatives out of the Republican Party. Boehner, McConnell, John Cornyn, the Chamber of Commerce, High Tech hiring managers and farm picker hiring managers want the Tea Party and Conservatives gone. These people know that by supporting Amnesty, the T&C (Tea Party & Conservatives) are going to bolt from the Republican Party.
And those who want the T&C out of the Republican Party never really have been about winning elections and making change. They are about distracting everyone while the growth of Big Government continues relentlessly.
When you look at it this way, it all makes perfect sense … force the T&C to purge themselves from the Republican Party so the RINOs can go back to business the way it was before T&C’s came along.
Interesting.
Question : How do they expect to get any votes if they have driven the party base away? ( i.e. Are they that Stupid? )
Looks like they really are that stupid.
I assume they think “Those Conservatives might be *mad* at us, but it’s temporary — there’s *NO WAY* they’ll vote Democrat. So we really, really DO have a lock on their votes, no matter how many angry letters they write us. So we appeal to Libs and immigrants by being liberal, and we appeal to the Tea Party and Conservatives by being (a little) more conservative than anybody else on the ticket. Win-Win !!!”
It comes down to this.
Conservatives and the TEA Party cannot prevent the Institutional Republicans from committing suicide. If they really want to, they will. The only thing that we can do is make sure that when they do attempt suicide that they do not accidentally survive it.
Let them do it now; so we have more time to try to build a SECOND party before any putative elections in 2016.
if you want to end the democratic dominance of minority groups, just end welfare. Once the patronage stops, so will the loyalty. The only thing keeping hte libs from taking over hispanics is that without citizenship they haven’t been able to make all the patronage payments they need to lock the group in, so people still have to work for a living. Once that’s gone, it’s all over.
There is a way to effectively solve the illegal alien criminal immigration problem – to hell with both political parties.
$50 or $100 bounty on each illegal alien criminal immigrant with no bag limit.
ACTION–Not words, is the only true avenue for Americans to halt a possible immigration reform package being pressed by Republican Speaker John Boehner, with a compromise for the Democrat instigators led by President Obama and miserable old man Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada. Just writing comments, with all of us subsisting in our own world and getting frustrated isn’t going to go anywhere? SPEAKING UP AND CALLING ON THESE POLITICAL BOZO’S, WHICH WE EVIDENTLY VOTE FOR AGAIN AND AGAIN–IS GETTING US NOWHERE? Our only chance of forcing the United States Congress to follow the people’s will is the hammering voice of the people. The Tea Party has grown in mega-membership of Americans from every Race, religion and political Left, Right relationship. We have been lied to, by egotistical and delusional bunch of narrow-minded people and have unceasingly ignored us, with the inception of 1986 amnesty. Numbersusa, a grassroots organization, sees the danger of overpopulation and the socialist factions don’t? Fax for FREE Congress – Tell them to secure the borders first! petitions.conservativeactionalerts.com. . Use your voice and crash the switchboard in Washington DC at (202) 224-3121.
INSTEAD OF BOTH THE DEMOCRATS AND THE REPUBLICANS PANDERING TO ILLEGAL ALIENS FOR VOTES AND CHEAP LABOR, INSTEAD APPROVE A FLAT OR FAIR TAX? ELECT TEA PARTY REPRESENTATIVES AND THEY WILL..? IMMEDIATELY!
With over a 10 million Americans still seeking work and another 6 million either given up or not seeking a job, there should no thoughts of pressing for the objectionable Senate bill or the Republicans set of new policies. We certainly can do without another 30 million illiterate people; as many will end up on welfare; meaning cash payments for illegal parents for their children; more food stamps; billions of dollars for already overcrowded schools; health care will become a catastrophe? Obama is advancing toward Martial Law and accelerating his second-term plans. High-ranking military officials are being taken out and the loyal military men and women across all of our armed forces are being replaced by loyalists.
Enough is enough. Obama has defied and defiled the Constitution, bypassed Congress, gone against the laws of this country and the will of the people. The only true Conservatives who will enforce immigration are the “Break-away” Peoples TEA PARTY dot org. President Barack Obama is pushing for amnesty even though the Congressional Budget Office determined it will devastate the wages of working class Americans. If Washington gets its way we will lose our jobs to illegal immigrants. We will be forced to pay even more outrageous health care costs to pay for these law-breakers. They already openly defy our laws, deface our flags and feed off our system. What will happen if they’re rewarded for their illegal and illicit activities? Backdoor Amnesty: Deportation Cases Closed by ‘Prosecutorial Discretion’ so illegal immigrants walk free. This man has continuously violated “THE RULE OF LAW.”
Bogus Argument Watch
Argument 1: Amnesty for “kids” because they have no responsibility for their parents breaking our immigration laws.
Response: If parents embezzle funds or fraudulently avoid taxes are the children allowed to benefit? Rewarding
children when the parents break the law encourages more law-breaking. It is immoral to reward the children of
lawbreakers by letting them cut in line ahead of those seeking citizenship legally.
Argument 2: It’s not “Amnesty” since they will have to pay a fine.
Response: How would you feel if someone broke into your house and were told that if they paid a fine, they could
stay in your house as long as they want and can keep whatever they took? Is this justice? Besides, after the
performance on the Obamacare rollout, who really thinks that millions will be competently screened and assessed
fines that will actually be collected?
Argument 3: It is immoral to break up the family by deportation.
Response: Parents are permitted to return to their country of origin with their children, where they can reside
legally and together. It is not America’s fault if they choose to abandon their children.
It is time to speak up and speak out: No Amnesty! No Legalization!
The Eric Cantor Plan: Come to America illegally and we will make sure your kids are given citizenship.