On Friday, Joe Carr, the conservative state representative who is challenging Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) in an August 7th primary, called on Alexander to support Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) bill that would prevent grants of temporary amnesty to future illegal immigrants.
Cruz’s bill also would make it easier to deport illegal immigrants from countries other than Mexico and Canada and calls for the federal government to reimburse states for utilizing the National Guard to combat the border crisis.
Carr, who has been endorsed by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and conservative talk radio host Laura Ingraham, has been blasting Alexander for voting for the Senate’s comprehensive amnesty bill last year, even after law enforcement officials warned Alexander that it would exacerbate the border crisis. Carr said Alexander should at least “take responsibility for his role in creating this crisis and start taking a leadership role in fixing it.”
“The humanitarian crisis on our southern border is a direct consequence of reckless policies championed by President Barack Obama and Lamar Alexander,” Carr said in a statement. “The only viable solution is to begin enforcing the law, end the Obama-Alexander amnesty policy, and empower Governors to take action.”
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), who has endorsed Cruz’s bill, called on all Senators on Friday to support it to prevent future acts of lawlessness by Obama. Sessions has also called on Senators to prevent Obama from using federal funds to implement any future grants of temporary work permits to illegal immigrants.
There have been nearly 60,000 illegal immigrants who have been apprehended since October of last year, and federal officials expect at least 150,000 more next year. The spike in the number of illegal immigrants from Central America occurred after Obama unilaterally enacted his temporary amnesty program for certain DREAMers in 2012.