Open Borders Lobby on Jeff Flake Not Seeking Re-Election: ‘Senate Losing One of Its Guiding Stars’

As Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) announces that he will not seek re-election to the United States Senate, the open borders lobby is shedding tears as it loses one of its biggest pro-immigration allies in the Washington, D.C. establishment.

Flake’s announcement comes as he continues to push amnesty for illegal aliens and cheap, foreign labor programs, all while opposing Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Sen. David Perdue’s (R-GA) pro-American RAISE Act, which would help raise wages for U.S. workers by cutting legal immigration levels in half.

With Flake’s upcoming departure from the U.S. Senate, his allies in the open borders and cheap foreign labor lobby are eulogizing his political career, in which he failed to pass an unpopular amnesty plan for illegal aliens as a member of the “Gang of Eight” group of Senators.

Pro-immigration advocates at the National Immigration Forum were saddened by Flake’s announcement, saying the Senate would be losing a “guiding star” on their open borders agenda. The group’s executive director, Ali Noorani said:

On behalf of the National Immigration Forum, I want to thank Senator Flake for his service to the nation. While he will continue to lead and be our champion on issues of immigrants and immigration in the months to come, the U.S. Senate is losing one of its guiding stars on these issues. From his thoughtful engagement on broad immigration reform to his steadfast support of refugees to his compassionate outreach to Arizona’s Muslim community, few public servants have served America so well.

Similarly, analyst David Bier with the Charles and David Koch-linked CATO Institute — which regularly pushes a mass immigration and free trade agenda — called Flake the most “honest member” of the Senate in response to the news.

Meanwhile, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s pro-cheap foreign labor, pro-immigration organization, FWD.us, praised Flake’s “service” to the open borders lobby in a statement by President Todd Schulte.

“Senator Flake is a conservative Republican, and during his time in office – across many issues – time and time again he has chosen the path of working to find common ground to achieve policy solutions instead of merely resorting to partisan bickering,” Schulte said, going on:

We should all be thankful for his service, whether we as Americans agreed with all or few of his policy positions. Senator Flake’s decision not to run for re-election is a loss, not just for Arizonans but for the entire country. It is yet another consequence of the dangers of extreme partisanship and we hope members on both sides of the aisle will take notice and come together to find solutions for the American people.

It was only months ago that Flake argued that the flow of cheap, foreign labor must continue to the U.S., despite the downward pressure it puts on American workers. Flake slammed the idea of cutting legal immigration to help Americans, as Breitbart News reported.

“When President Trump embraced a proposal this month that would cut legal immigration by 50 percent, I spoke out against it, thinking of the immigrant workers I grew up with,” Flake wrote in the New York Times. “When re-evaluating immigration policy, it is right to give priority, through a point system or otherwise, to those who have skills and abilities unique to the new economy. We did this in 2013, in the bipartisan immigration bill that passed the Senate. But there must always be a place in America for those whose only initial credentials are a strong back and an eagerness to use it.”