In an unusually aggressive move, top immigration hawk Sen. Jeff Session (R-AL) is moving to preemptively arm House Republicans with anti-amnesty talking points and other materials ahead of a major planning session at the House GOP’s Maryland retreat tomorrow.
Sessions’ office hand-delivered a four-piece packet to House members that includes a “Myth vs. Fact” document on immigration talking points to prepare them to fight back against immigration proposals Speaker John Boehner is expected to push in a closed-door meeting.
The 14-page Myth vs. Fact document, provided exclusively to Breitbart News by Sessions’ staff, breaks down 10 of the major talking points commonly used by amnesty proponents and offers detailed rebuttals.
For example, the first “myth” reads, “There should be no special path to citizenship for those who have broken our immigration laws.”
In response, Sessions writes, “Any path that leads to a green card for someone who is currently ineligible for a green card because they violated U.S. immigration laws, such as the Senate bill, is a special path to citizenship.”
The packet is unusual because members of the Senate generally do not involve themselves heavily in the internal affairs of the House as a matter of protocol. Sessions has recently shown a new willingness to challenge Boehner in this regard, creating an interesting political dynamic beyond the explosive immigration debate.
Sessions cites a Wall Street Journal report detailing the House GOP leadership’s draft “principles” on citizenship and legalization — and outlines how millions of illegal aliens could obtain citizenship shortly after obtaining green cards. “In addition, even a ‘legalization-only’ plan rewards those who have disobeyed our laws by allowing them to remain in the country, work, obtain driver’s licenses, and qualify for public benefits, and creates the same incentive for others to enter the country illegally,” Sessions adds.
Top House Republicans have recently discussed proposals in which illegal immigrants would be provided “legal status” but not citizenship. “We think a legal status in the United States, but not a special pathway to citizenship, might be appropriate,” Goodlatte said a recent town hall event, according to the Associated Press. Sessions criticisms strike at the core of that arrangement, arguing what seems to be a middle ground could be easily bypassed.
The second myth Sessions targets is “This is not amnesty because illegal immigrants will have to pay fines, back taxes, learn English and civics, and pass background checks.”
Sessions claims such arguments are fundamentally untrue. “Like the Senate plan, the House plan provides legal status and work authorization first – the fundamental grant of amnesty,” he writes. “Any plan that provides such special privileges to those who are in the country illegally today, but does not extend the same privileges to those who enter the country illegally tomorrow, is amnesty.”
Regarding fees and fines, Sessions’ staff wrote that there are several loopholes and waivers that could be utilized by or granted to illegal aliens by the Obama administration to let them get them get out of paying. “The claim that illegal immigrants will be required to pay ‘back taxes’ is a paper tiger,” Sessions says. “Even if back taxes were somehow paid – a dubious claim at best – the amount collected would pale in comparison to the amount of tax dollars paid to illegal immigrants, such as the billions in free tax credits claimed each and every year.”
Sessions also raises questions about the legislative process under which immigration reform would be considered. “Just as in the Senate, where the sponsor of the bill negotiated in secret for months with lobbyists and special interests, it has been reported that the House ‘deal’ is already being negotiated behind the scenes,” Sessions writes.