Will 2014 Be the Year of Amnesty?
January 3, 2014 by Arnold Ahlert
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) seems determined to undo the political advantage the GOP has gained from the disastrous implementation of ObamaCare. According to the New York Times, Boehner has signaled he may embrace a series of limited changes to the nations immigration laws in the coming months, bringing up a series of bills to advance that agenda. Apparently Boehner is holding firm to the belief that the need for some kind of reform outweighs the risks of alienating his core constituency.
According to the Boehners aides, the Speaker is considering a step by step process, though they did not identify these steps in specificity. The Times, no doubt in an effort to be helpful, suggested that such an agenda might include fast-tracking legalization for agricultural workers, increasing the number of visas for high-tech workers, or embracing citizenship for young illegals whose parents brought them across the border.
Unsurprisingly, gaining control of the border failed to make the list.
Immigration activists were ostensibly buoyed by two recent indications that Boehner is becoming more attuned to their concerns. First, in an effort to push what he called a common sense overhaul of the system, Boehner hired Rebecca Tallent. Tallent is a former staffer for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and former House member James Kolbe, a Republican who represented Arizonas 8th congressional district. Tallent is a pro-amnesty advocate who has been involved in the creation of broad legalization bills for McCain and Kolbe over the last decade. Tallents hiring suggests [Boehner] really does still want to push an amnesty through the House, which to me suggests that the immigration hawks still have their work cut out for them, said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies. She is a professional amnesty advocate.
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If thats still not enough for the GOP, they should consider one more reality. A Gallup poll released last May asked Americans what the most pressing priorities of the nation are. Of the twelve separate categories, reforming immigration finished dead last. Creating jobs and growing the economy finished one and two. In light of a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) report released last June, predicting the Senate immigration bill would drive down wages and make it harder for Americans to find jobs not to mention a Heritage Foundation report asserting reform would cost taxpayers $6.3 trillion in new spending on entitlements and social programs over a 50 year period Republicans might want to reorder their own priorities. A viable opposition party is a terrible thing to waste.
Will 2014 Be the Year of Amnesty? | FrontPage Magazine
