On Monday, a broad cross-section of the conservative movement released a joint letter opposing the Gang of 8 Amnesty bill in the Senate. Signers included well-known talk radio hosts, prominent individual activists, tea party and family organizations from across the country. The breadth of the growing opposition to the Senate bill is evidenced by one signature, David Frum of Frum Forum.
Frum has a long history criticizing the tea party. He has called it the “GOP’s own worst enemy.” That he would set aside his view and join with numerous tea party organizations and activists in opposition to the amnesty bill is a sign the Schumer-Rubio bill does not stand up to thoughtful scrutiny.
The letter signers note that, “many of us support various parts of the legislation, but the overall package is so unsatisfactory that the Senate would do better to start over from scratch.” They state that the legislation is “bloated and unwieldy along the lines of Obamacare or Dodd-Frank.” The signers worry that it “cedes excessive control over immigration law to an administration that has repeatedly proven itself to be untrustworthy, even duplicitous.”
When the amnesty bill was first unveiled this Spring, many conservative organizations and activists gave Sen. Marco Rubio and his fellow GOP negotiators some benefit of doubt that the legislation would contain provisions that would tighten and strengthen border security.
Many were even open to a process to legalize the 11 million immigrants already here illegally. The key, however, was to secure the border so that another wave of illegal immigrants didn’t enter the country in the future. That assurance is not in the Senate bill.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is trying to rush through the mark-up of the bill by the end of the week. Senate sponsors hope to push the legislation to the Senate floor in early June, after the Memorial Day break. As opposition to the legislation grows, though, their clock may be running out.