Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA) told Breitbart News in an interview on Friday that “E-Verify is the one thing that will stop the magnet” of illegal immigration.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday that he put the President Donald Trump-endorsed Goodlatte immigration bill as well as an amnesty-based bill on the House floor for a vote next week.
Trump said on Friday he would “certainly” not sign the “more moderate” Republican immigration bill that Speaker Ryan continues to push through Congress.
Congressman Brat, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, told Breitbart News that Congress needs to pass a bill that fulfills Trump’s immigration priorities. He also emphasized the need to pass an immigration bill with E-Verify, which would bar illegal immigrants from working in the United States. Brat said E-Verify would “stop the magnet” of illegal immigration.
“I think we ought to do what we promised the American people we would do,” Brat told Breitbart News. “The bill that most closely approximates that is the Goodlatte bill, and I’m even getting nervous that they may strip the E-Verify part of the original bill as it was originally introduced, and that would be a big, big, problem. And the reason why is that the E-Verify is one piece that will keep us from going back to exactly where we are right now. Without E-Verify, you’re going to get another surge at the border. We’re going to end up right where we are right now and put the Republican right back on their heels with millions of more folks up on the country, and we don’t have anything to stop that. E-Verify is the one thing that will stop the magnet and the green light, and that’s the most important piece, and I can compromise around the details but not around that piece.”
“Over half the problem [of illegal immigration] is visa overstays,” Brat added.
The Virginia Republican then chastised the amnesty immigration bill for failing to address sanctuary cities, E-Verify, as well as providing amnesty to at least 1.8 million illegal immigrants.
Brat continued, “The new bill does not even deal with sanctuary cities, which is hard to believe. I don’t have enough time to go through all the details. The compromise bill does not have E-Verify. It does not address chain migration. It doesn’t have sanctuary cities. It’s 1.8 million–minimum–DACA eligible. Every amnesty in the past always blows up way past the numbers originally announced, and this is just the House version; it has to go through the Senate, and you know what will happen in the Senate, right?”
“It’ll be a new bill that’s probably closer to Democrat policy by the time it’s done,” Rep. Brat said.
Brat said President Trump “ran for the forgotten man and wage rates. He ran against cheap labor. He ran against the Chamber of Commerce crowd. The Goodlatte bill represents his original vision of what we all promised the American people we would do. Once you get in the [D.C.] bubble … you start making deals, and you end up with bills nowhere near the initial vision.”
Brat then suggested that counter to the leftist narrative that America needs millions of immigrants to fill in a labor shortage, America should focus on helping Americans without jobs obtain gainful employment.
The Virginia conservative explained, “They think the natural implication is that we need ten million new people with a full amnesty, and they could not be more wrong because we still have ten million American people that are not even in the labor market; they’re not even counted as unemployed because they’ve given up hope. We need to give them a shot with some training, to bring them back in the labor force and get them out of the poverty trap they’re stuck in, and that’s what Trump is trying to do. The economic engine is ramped up, and the Atlanta Fed has us growing 4.8 percent the next quarter. It’s just remarkable news, and now, it’s time to get focused on getting everyone a job. Trump is the guy to make this happen. If he does this, the election will be a blowout.”
“When people have hope, anything is possible,” Brat added.
Brat then noted that “the reason we have a moderate bill” is that “25 Republicans … went over the president, over Paul Ryan, and worked with Steny Hoyer, and it was that leverage that brought us to the weaker bill.” He added, “I don’t know why in the world Republicans bought into that logic.”
Brat continued, “Obama ran on E-Verify in ’05 when Democrats still cared about the common man.”
Calling it the “perfect contrast,” Congressman Brat pointed out that “Obama was for E-Verify,” then asked rhetorically, “And now, Republicans are going to pass a bill without that?”
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