Amnesty advocates are planning more acts of civil disobedience in 2014 to force Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform because they know that this year may be their last chance to get such legislation passed.
The New York Times notes that “advocates for an immigration overhaul will start 2014 with a race against the election-season clock,” and will have campaigns “aimed at forcing action on Capitol Hill.” They will be joined by big-business groups that will pour millions of more dollars into the pro-amnesty campaign.
According to the Times, “civil disobedience demonstrations are planned in Washington and elsewhere. Business groups are readying lobbying blitzes on Capitol Hill. Labor leaders and evangelical ministers are considering more hunger fasts to dramatize what they say is the urgent need to prevent deportations.”
In 2013, amnesty advocates staged hunger strikes, engaged in acts of civil disobedience, and were in “all-out harassment mode” to force Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform, which often backfired and turned public opinion–and those of elected officials–against them. Meanwhile, big-business interests and high-tech lobbying groups, like Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg’s FWD.us group, spent hundreds of millions of dollars pressuring Congress to enact comprehensive immigration even though reports indicated that the so-called shortage of American high-tech workers is a myth.
The Chamber of Commerce is set to spend $50 million in 2014 to crush the Tea Party, largely to try to pave the way for amnesty, which the Congressional Budget Office determined would lower the wages of American workers. Lobbyists already cheered when House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) badmouthed the Tea Party for opposing the budget deal that raised taxes and cut military benefits.
In a story about how Boehner and Rep. Paul Ryan (D-WI) are expected to try to get amnesty passed in 2014, the Times reports that amnesty advocates believe the best time to pass a bill would be after the Republican primary season in June. Amnesty strategists are even considering getting something passed in the lame-duck session of Congress.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has said comprehensive immigration reform will pass before June if it passes at all. And though the Times wrote that amnesty advocates may try again in 2015 if amnesty fails this year, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) has emphasized that this year would be amnesty’s last chance. Gutierrez said he did not believe the next Congress would tackle comprehensive immigration reform, which, according to Gallup, only three percent of Americans believed was the most important issue facing the country.
And that is why amnesty advocates are planning to double down on their protests and disruptions in 2014.
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