Despite saying she opposed amnesty when she was running for Senate in 2008, Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) has the lowest grade of any lawmaker in the North Carolina delegation from Numbers USA this Congress.
This Congress, Hagan has an “F” from Numbers USA an anti-amnesty, limited immigration group. She has a career score of “D-“.
Hagan’s poor grades from Numbers USA are largely due to her vote for the Senate immigration bill and votes against legislation to increase border security.
The low rating comes despite saying in 2008, when she was elected to the Senate, that she opposed amnesty and favored border security, as Breitbart News highlighted earlier in the cycle.
“I oppose amnesty. We have got to secure the border. This too is one of the biggest domestic issues facing our country today and we’re very late to the plate to do something about it,” she said during a debate against then-Sen. Elizabeth Dole.
“We’ve got to have more border security patrol officers. We’ve got to do what’s necessary to secure it, whether it’s a fence in certain places, whether it’s technology, whether we use aerial drones and sensors, secure the border. Then we also have to have enforcement, we need to be sure we are also fair to the taxpayers. We’ve got to enforce the laws that are currently on the books,” Hagan added, highlighting the need for E-Verify.”
Last year when announcing her support for the bill, which would have provided a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants, Hagan explained that she believed the legislation was in the best interest of the state
“Throughout this process, I have talked with North Carolinians about their priorities and concerns,” Hagan said in a statement on July 26, 2013, a day before the bill passed the Senate. “I’ve met with business owners, farmers, faith leaders, representatives of our high-tech sector, and a variety of other stakeholders, and after all of these discussions, I support the bill because it will secure our borders, boost our economy and reduce our deficit, ensure our continued global competitiveness, and fix the system so that everyone plays by the same rules.”
Rosemary Jenks, Director of Government Relations at Numbers USA, told Breitbart News that Hagan’s vote amounted to support for amnesty.
“Sen. Hagen absolutely violated her campaign promise by voting for the Gang of Eight amnesty,” Jenks wrote in an email to Breitbart News. “She also violated her constituents trust and best interests by voting for the doubling of legal immigration and guest workers. North Carolinians deserve an opportunity for good jobs and rising wages, not higher taxes and more competition with cheap foreign labor.”
Hagan is in a tight race to keep her senate seat, facing statehouse Speaker Thom Tillis who has attacked Hagan from the right on immigration including for her vote for the Senate immigration bill, votes against border security bills and vote to block a vote to prevent Obama from enacting unilateral amnesty.