The Senate GOP’s campaign manager for the 2018 campaign is pushing a new amnesty bill that would aid millions of illegals — even though polls show 2018 voters overwhelmingly prefer immigration policies which aid Americans.
Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner’s pro-amnesty bill “is a real conflict of interest … [because] it damages the White House and the [GOP] Senate,” said one source.
The Gardner bill was criticized by the Department of Homeland Security.
Gardner is pushing his amnesty even though President Donald Trump and the GOP leadership are backing an amnesty-and-reform bill by Sen. Chuck Grassley which includes several popular proposals to curb illegal immigration, chain migration, and the visa lottery.
Gardner is the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee which provides GOP Senate candidates with money and messaging to win their 2018 races. In November, the GOP has a good chance to win several of ten seats now held by Democratic Senators in states won by Trump in 2016.
Many of the 2018 voters in those states voted for Trump in 2016 because of his immigration policies, yet GOP candidates in 2018 may not be able to highlight Democrats’ pro-amnesty policies because of Gardner’s NRSC control over funding and the campaign messages.
Gardner’s reluctance to press the GOP advantage on immigration is visible at the NRSC site, which downplays the role of immigration — and buries the Democrats’ apparent favoritism for migrants over Americans.
Gardner’s February 14 proposal was drafted with Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, who was a charter member of the 2013 “Gang of Eight” group of pro-amnesty Senators.
The joint proposal would provide an amnesty for at least 2 million illegals — but would not reform chain-migration rules to prevent those illegals from later getting citizenship for more of their relatives, including their elderly, non-working parents.
The Gardner proposal would authorize $25 billion for a wall, but the promised money could be used for other purposes. Moreover, the proposal would not include legal reforms sought by Trump to ensure that migrants cannot use existing legal loopholes to bypass the concrete-and-rebar wall. Those loopholes have allowed hundreds of thousands of Central American migrants to move easily through the border fences since 2011.
Gardner’s released a statement February 14:
“Our immigration system is broken and we need to fix it,” said Senator Gardner. “There are many children who came to this country without documentation and we need to allow them the opportunity to remain here lawfully. Coloradans expect Senator Bennet and I to work together and that’s exactly what we have done. This legislation addresses DACA and border security, and we are urging members on both sides of the aisle that want a solution to support our bipartisan approach to addressing our flawed immigration system.”
Gardner’s staff did not respond to questions from Breitbart News.
The Senator’s push for amnesty makes him a puppet of the Democrats’ Senate leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer, said Mark Krikorian, the director of the Center for Immigration Studies.
Many polls show that Trump’s 2016 immigration policies are very popular in the polling booth. His proposed amnesty for 1.8 million illegals gets high scores in business-funded polls but is unlikely to shift any votes into the GOP column in November.
Immigration polls which ask people to pick a priority or to decide which options are fair show that voters in the polling booth put a high priority on helping their families and fellow nationals get decent jobs in a high-tech, high-immigration, low-wage economy. Those results are very different from the “Nation of Immigrants” polls which are funded by CEOs and progressives, and which pressure Americans to say they welcome migrants.
The pro-American polling date was showcased February 14 by the White House:
- CBS: More than 7 in 10 voters (72%) favored the President’s Immigration Reform and Border Security Framework, which he detailed in his State of the Union address. (January 2018)
- Harvard Harris: 65% of voters favor (as opposed to only 35% who oppose) a congressional deal that gives undocumented immigrants brought here by their parents work permits and a path to citizenship in exchange for increasing merit preference over preference for relatives, eliminating the visa lottery, and funding barrier security on the United States-Mexico border. This includes 68% of Hispanic voters, 64% of African-American voters, 64% of Democratic voters, 67% of Independent voters, 63% of liberal voters, and 68% of Clinton voters. (January 2018)
- 60% of voters believe that children who were brought into this country illegally by their parents, many of whom are now in their 20s and 30s, should not be given preference for their parents or relatives to move to this country.
- 79% of voters think priority for those coming to the United States should be based on ability to contribute to America, as measured by education and skills—and not based on having relatives in the country. This includes 85% of African-American voters and 72% of Democrats and Clinton voters.
- 68% of voters oppose the visa lottery, which randomly picks 50,000 applicants from countries with low numbers of immigrants in the previous five years to enter the United States each year. This includes 62% of Democratic voters, 61% of Hispanic voters, and 57% of African-American voters.
- Pulse Opinion Research: 55% of voters support allowing immigrants to bring in only their spouse and minor children and not their extended family. Nearly 6 in 10 voters support eliminating the visa lottery. (August, 2017)
- America First Policies: 76% of voters support increasing the number of ICE officers to protect public safety and national security. 73% of voters support requiring incoming immigrants to be financially self-sufficient. 64% of voters support creating a point system of entry based on factors such as English-speaking ability, education level, and job skills. (August, 2017)
Four million Americans turn 18 each year and begin looking for good jobs in the free market, as federal immigration policy invites 1 million new immigrants.