Senate Republicans are lining up to oppose President Joe Biden’s massive amnesty plan that would legalize between 11 to 22 million illegal aliens and increase legal immigration levels, all while more than 17 million Americans remain jobless.
On Thursday, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) introduced Biden’s amnesty plan to Congress, seeking to hugely inflate the United States labor market at a time when the nation faces a mass unemployment crisis.
The plan, among other things, would:
- Put nearly all illegal aliens in the U.S. on an eight-year path to citizenship
- Provide $4 billion in foreign aid to Central America
- Expedite green cards for foreign relatives, otherwise known as “chain migration”
- Potentially add 52 million foreign-born residents to the U.S. population
- Eliminate per-country caps, ensuring India monopolizes employment green cards
- Increase the Diversity Visa Lottery program where visas are given out randomly
- Provide green cards to foreign students who graduate in advanced STEM fields
- Bring already deported illegal aliens back to the U.S. to provide them amnesty
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) called the plan “a disaster.”
“It would devastate our economy by flooding our workforce with millions of new workers during a pandemic,” Cotton said. “And it does nothing to secure our borders, yet grants mass amnesty, welfare benefits — even voting rights — to over 11 million people who came here illegally. It’s a nonstarter.”
Likewise, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) said the plan “will encourage more illegal immigration and reduce opportunities for American workers during a pandemic-induced recession when so many are already struggling to find jobs.”
“Why are we placing the interests of non-citizens over the interests of Americans?” Hagerty asked in a statement.
Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) said he is “disappointed” with Biden’s executive orders “to undo the ‘America First’ immigration agenda” that sought to boost U.S. wages by reducing overall immigration:
Between halting construction of the wall on our southern border and a partisan immigration proposal that offers American citizenship to illegal immigrants, it’s clear Joe Biden is not serious about fixing our broken immigration system that rewards illegal behavior.
Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) spokesperson pointed to the lawmaker’s previous statement on Biden’s plan, where he said Congress should prioritize the Chinese coronavirus crisis, reaching full employment for Americans, and taking on China’s global dominance before negotiating an immigration deal. Rubio said weeks ago:
America should always welcome immigrants who want to become Americans. But we need laws that decide who and how many people can come here, and those laws must be followed and enforced. There are many issues I think we can work cooperatively with President-elect Biden, but a blanket amnesty for people who are here unlawfully isn’t going to be one of them.
In the House, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) said “the economic result of granting amnesty and citizenship to illegal aliens is horrific for American citizens.”
“American workers will be pummeled as they suffer from lost jobs and suppressed wages,” Brooks said:
American taxpayers will be further burdened, inasmuch as households with illegal aliens in them are far more likely to be on welfare than are households without illegal aliens in them. American workers are already suffering the effects of tsunamis of cheap foreign labor who suppress American worker wages and take American jobs.
To pass the Senate, Biden’s amnesty plan would need the support of at least 10 Senate Republicans, as well as every Senate Democrat and those who caucus with the Democrats. While a number of Senate Democrats remain silent on the plan, many have indicated in recent votes where they may stand on the issue.
In the first week of February, eight Senate Democrats — including Krysten Sinema (D-AZ), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Gary Peters (D-MI), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Jon Tester (D-MT), and Joe Manchin (D-WV) — voted with Senate Republicans to block giving stimulus checks to illegal aliens.
The White House, though, has downplayed the plan’s potential lack of support among swing state Democrats who face tough re-elections in 2022 and 2024. About 28 vulnerable House Democrats, for instance, have stayed mostly quiet on whether they would support or oppose the plan.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.