Thread: Sessions Arms House Republicans Against Boehner Immigration Push

by Matthew Boyle 29 Jan 2014, 9:10 AM PDT
breitbart.com



In an unusually aggressive move, top immigration hawk Sen. Jeff Session (R-AL) is moving to preemptively arm House Republicans with anti-amnesty talking points and other materials ahead of a major planning session at the House GOP's Maryland retreat tomorrow.

Sessions' office hand-delivered a four-piece packet to House members that includes a “Myth vs. Fact” document on immigration talking points to prepare them to fight back against immigration proposals Speaker John Boehner is expected to push in a closed-door meeting.

The 14-page Myth vs. Fact document, provided exclusively to Breitbart News by Sessions' staff, breaks down 10 of the major talking points commonly used by amnesty proponents and offers detailed rebuttals.

For example, the first "myth" reads, “There should be no special path to citizenship for those who have broken our immigration laws."

In response, Sessions writes, “Any path that leads to a green card for someone who is currently ineligible for a green card because they violated U.S. immigration laws, such as the Senate bill, is a special path to citizenship.”

The packet is unusual because members of the Senate generally do not involve themselves heavily in the internal affairs of the House as a matter of protocol. Sessions has recently shown a new willingness to challenge Boehner in this regard, creating an interesting political dynamic beyond the explosive immigration debate.

Sessions cites a Wall Street Journal report detailing the House GOP leadership’s draft “principles” on citizenship and legalization — and outlines how millions of illegal aliens could obtain citizenship shortly after obtaining green cards. “In addition, even a ‘legalization-only’ plan rewards those who have disobeyed our laws by allowing them to remain in the country, work, obtain driver’s licenses, and qualify for public benefits, and creates the same incentive for others to enter the country illegally,” Sessions adds.

Top House Republicans have recently discussed proposals in which illegal immigrants would be provided "legal status" but not citizenship. “We think a legal status in the United States, but not a special pathway to citizenship, might be appropriate,” Goodlatte said a recent town hall event, according to the Associated Press. Sessions criticisms strike at the core of that arrangement, arguing what seems to be a middle ground could be easily bypassed.

The second myth Sessions targets is “This is not amnesty because illegal immigrants will have to pay fines, back taxes, learn English and civics, and pass background checks."

Sessions claims such arguments are fundamentally untrue. “Like the Senate plan, the House plan provides legal status and work authorization first – the fundamental grant of amnesty,” he writes. “Any plan that provides such special privileges to those who are in the country illegally today, but does not extend the same privileges to those who enter the country illegally tomorrow, is amnesty.”

Regarding fees and fines, Sessions’ staff wrote that there are several loopholes and waivers that could be utilized by or granted to illegal aliens by the Obama administration to let them get them get out of paying. “The claim that illegal immigrants will be required to pay ‘back taxes’ is a paper tiger,” Sessions says. “Even if back taxes were somehow paid – a dubious claim at best – the amount collected would pale in comparison to the amount of tax dollars paid to illegal immigrants, such as the billions in free tax credits claimed each and every year.”

Sessions also raises questions about the legislative process under which immigration reform would be considered. “Just as in the Senate, where the sponsor of the bill negotiated in secret for months with lobbyists and special interests, it has been reported that the House ‘deal’ is already being negotiated behind the scenes,” Sessions writes.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...talking-points

Jeff Sessions is a great champion of our cause to defeat amnesty for illegal aliens. More than any other conservative leader he has been a rock impervious to the relentless pounding by the billionaire/Marxist alliance for amnesty. And yet this hero is rarely mentioned by conservatives as a leader and denied the accolades he deserves.

Rand Paul is the darling of the libertarians who positively drool over him, even though he is searching for some kind of "good amnesty" (a.k.a. legal status). His "Trust buy Verify" amnesty proposal is incredibly utopian. Therefore, although he has done the right thing in the past, there are no assurances he will not desert the anti amnesty battle at some critical time in the future. Paul has made it clear that he does not like proposals that would make illegal aliens go home, even though current law requires the deportation of illegal aliens. I am tired of libertarians tying to shove this guy on the rest of us. He vacillates on illegal immigration and that is totally unacceptable to thinking patriots. ILLEGAL ALIENS MUST GO HOME, and Mr. Paul needs to come out and publically say that.

Jeff Sessions is a strong Conservative, what the hell is the matter with proposing him to head the ticket in 2016? And let's see his name appearing on conservative blog sites.

11:18 AM, Jan 29, 2014 • By DANIEL HALPER
The Weekly Standard



Yesterday afternoon, before President Obama's State of the Union Address, Senator Jeff Sessions' staff hand-delivered to each Republican member of the House an important memo on the so-called immigration reform bill being debated on Capital Hill. The 3-page document, written by Sessions, argues that pushing the current immigration legislation forward is bad politics, bad policy, and that there's a better way for Republicans.
Jeff Sessions

Sessions believes House Republicans are at risk of falling into President Obama's trap. "[A]ccording to news reports, House Republican leaders are instead turning 2014 into a headlong rush towards Gang-of-Eight style 'immigration reform,'" writes Sessions. "They are reportedly drafting an immigration plan that is uncomfortably similar to a 'piecemeal' repackaging of the disastrous Senate plan—and even privately negotiating a final package with Democrat activists before consulting with their own members."

It's bad politics, Sessions writes. "In the rush to pass an immigration bill, there has been a near absence of any serious thought about the conditions facing American workers. The last 40 years has been a period of record immigration to the U.S., with the last 10 years seeing more new arrivals than any prior 10- year period in history. This trend has coincided with wage stagnation, enormous growth in welfare programs, and a shrinking workforce participation rate. A sensible, conservative approach would focus on lifting those living here today, both immigrant and native-born, out of poverty and into the middle class—before doubling or tripling the level of immigration into the U.S.

A sensible immigration policy would also listen to the opinion of the American people. Not the opinions of the paid-for consultants trotted out with their agenda-driven polls to GOP member meetings—but the actual, honest opinion of the people who sent us here. There is a reason why none of the corporate-funded ads for amnesty breathe a word about doubling immigration levels. According to Rasmussen Reports, working and middle class Americans strongly oppose large expansions of our already generous immigration system. Those earning under $30,000 prefer a reduction to an increase by an overwhelming 3-1 margin.

And bad policy, the senator from Alabama details. "Coordinating with a small group of the nation’s most powerful special interests, last year President Obama and Senate Democrats forced through an immigration bill which can only be described as a hammer blow to the American middle class. Not only would it grant work permits to millions of illegal immigrants at a time of record joblessness, it would also double the annual flow of new immigrant workers and provide green cards to more than 30 million permanent residents over the next decade. These new workers, mostly lesser-skilled, will compete for jobs in every sector, industry, and occupation in the U.S. economy."

He adds, "House Republicans, in crafting immigration principles, should reply to the President’s immigration campaign with a simple message: our focus is to help unemployed Americans get back to work—not to grant amnesty or to answer the whims of immigration activists and CEOs. In turn, that message could be joined with a detailed and unifying policy agenda for accomplishing that moral and social objective."

As for Sessions' "Better Agenda," he lays it out very precisely:

The GOP’s 2014 agenda should not be to assist the President in passing his immigration plan. Rather, it should be a consuming focus on restoring hope and opportunity to millions of discouraged workers. The GOP’s 2014 agenda should be a national effort—announced proudly and boldly—to reduce the welfare rolls and get America back to work, including:

 More American energy that creates good-paying jobs right here in the U.S.

 A more competitive tax and regulatory code that allows U.S. businesses and workers to

compete on a level global playing field

 A trade policy that increases U.S. exports and expands domestic manufacturing

 An immigration policy that serves the interests of the American people

 Converting the welfare office into a job training center

 Making government leaner and more accountable to U.S. taxpayers

 Restoring economic confidence by continuing our effort to balance the federal budget

An all-out immigration push is inimical to these goals.

The entire memo is here and worth a read:

(Please click on the link to view, was unable to post here but perhaps someone else knows how)

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/...cy_775906.html