Anti-Amnesty Groups Signal Tentative Support for New Border Bills

Anti-amnesty groups that were opposed to the House border plan Thursday signaled tentative support for the revamped effort Friday.

“We won’t decide for sure until we see the language, but if everything I’m hearing is true, we will support both bills,”  NumbersUSA’s director of government relations, Rosemary Jenks, told Breitbart News. 

Thursday, NumbersUSA circulated a message to House GOP members — that the group would have scored a vote for the initial proposal as “a vote for continued open borders.”

The changes that were being discussed on Capitol Hill Friday morning, however, found Jenks singing a different tune, but noting that “all depends on the details.”

“The Carter-Aderholt language they are using to replace the Cornyn-Tallent language is awesome, so we are definitely happy with that. It sounds like they’ve gone back to strong DACA defund language, too, so that’s great,” Jenks added. 

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies also sounded a positive note. 

“From what I’m hearing yes,” he told Breitbart News when asked if the new proposals are something he could support. 

Krikorian’s words marked a shift from Thursday when CIS issued a press release declaring that the Thursday border bill “ensures continue illegal influx.”

“If it’s what I’ve been led to understand, the answer is yes,” Krikorian continued Friday, going on to add that the proposal “is unquestionably an improvement over what they didn’t vote on yesterday.”

To be sure Krikorian frowned at the fact that House leadership went along with the Obama administration’s interpretation of the 2008 trafficking law that the border bill seeks to make it easier to remove unaccompanied illegal immigrant minors from countries other than Mexico. 

“The administration’s application of the trafficking law is itself an example of lawlessness,” Krikorian said.

He further questioned why leadership did not go with Friday’s discussed plan earlier.

“The fact that they had to finally concede and adopt the tighter versions of both of those measures just reinforces the suspicion the base has about the Republican leadership” Krikorian said. “That they are squishy on everything, that they want to go along to get along.”