Morning Roundup: GOP's Anti-Immigration Backlash
Yesterday, House Republicans put national security at risk by attaching draconian, anti-immigrant amendments to a DHS funding bill. However, 26 House Republicans opposed their own party’s partisan attempts to tear families apart and had some harsh words for their colleagues:
Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA): “These children came to our country through no fault of their own… I never know what the Senate is going to do. But I do know what they’re not going to do. And I sure as hell know they’re not going to go for this bill as is.” [New York Times, 1/15/15]
Rep. David Valadao (R-CA): “The legislation passed in the House eliminates prosecutorial discretion, placing immigrant children and violent criminals and sex offenders at equal levels… I could not support legislation that utilizes our finite resources in such an irresponsible way.” [Politico, 1/14/15]
Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA): “This bill is being done for political messaging and I think the message is all wrong…” [The Hill, 1/15/15]
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL): “Regardless of what happens this week, this month, on this issue, it will not make the issue itself go away.” [Washington Post, 1/14/15]
Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO): “What Republicans have to do on the immigration issue is not just be against everything but show or say what we’re for. And I think we’re missing an opportunity here to do that.” [The Hill, 1/15/15]
GOP strategists agree this isn’t the message Republicans should be sending:
Alfonso Aguilar, former Bush administration official: “The Republican strategy is all about undoing what the president has done, not doing anything proactively. The message the Latino community is receiving is one of pettiness — they’re just hearing that Republicans want to treat them all as illegals… It’s not good policy, and politically, it sends a terrible message.” [The Hill, 1/15/15]
Mark McKinnon, GOP strategist: “‘Republicans already have a brand problem with Hispanics. This will only exacerbate the issue.’ said Mark McKinnon, a GOP strategist who served as senior adviser on the presidential campaigns of President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).” [The Hill, 1/15/15]
Leslie Sanchez, Republican pollster: “The Republican Party is at war with itself… It’s going to come up in the debates. We can’t see the self-deportation type language this time around.” [The Hill, 1/15/15]
And the NY Times summarizes it best, highlighting Republican division over immigration policy and the need to govern responsibly:
“Yet, in just their second week of control on Capitol Hill, Republicans on Wednesday were forced to address questions about whether the party again would be hobbled by internal disagreements over immigration policy. And they were faced with an unwelcome distraction from their message of governing responsibly and cooperatively: explaining why the vote on Wednesday should not be seen as an insult to Hispanics, a constituency Republicans lost by more than two to one in the 2012 presidential election and have been trying to woo since.”
Will House Republicans listen? Something tells us they’ll continue to cater to the right wing – undermining national security and failing to address our broken immigration system. If House Republican leaders are serious about protecting the homeland, we hope GOP leaders will abandon this partisan stance and work with Democrats – and their own Members – to legislate responsibly.