Thread: AFTER BACKING AMNESTY, TEA PARTY EXPRESS CHAIR CLAIMS HE STANDS WITH SEN. SESSIONS, A

AFTER BACKING AMNESTY, TEA PARTY EXPRESS CHAIR CLAIMS HE STANDS WITH SEN. SESSIONS, AMERICAN WORKERS



by TONY LEE
15 May 2014

A day after writing an op-ed in favor of amnesty legislation that the Congressional Budget Office determined would lower the wages of American workers, Sal Russo, the co-founder and chief strategist of the Tea Party Express group, claimed on Thursday that he stood with American workers and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL).

In an appearance on Laura Ingraham's talk radio show on Thursday, Russo said that President Ronald Reagan believed that importing more foreign workers would depress wages and make it more difficult for Americans at the bottom of the economic ladder to find opportunities. That is a point Sessions has been relentlessly making while championing American workers of all races, emphasizing that amnesty legislation would hurt black and Latino workers disproportionately.

"I totally agree with Senator Sessions," Russo asserted. Ingraham immediately countered, telling Russo that if she were to call Sessions and ask if Russo was with him on the issue, Sessions would say, "Uh, no. No. And No."

Numerous reports have refuted the notion that there is a shortage of American high-tech workers, but that did not stop Russo from claiming exactly that in his Wednesday op-ed.

"Our economy has long outgrown the visa programs we have now. In high-skilled industries such as engineering and medicine, we do not have the talent we need to fill the jobs," Russo claimed in Roll Call. "These industries are the fastest growing in the country, and we depend on them for job creation and economic growth."

Ingraham noted Russo cited Michael Bloomberg's Partnership for a New American Economy in his op-ed and mentioned that Bloomberg favors "an unending supply of foreign workers coming into this country to take jobs in this country" and is "in favor of an all-out amnesty.”Citing Bloomberg's pro-amnesty group, Russo claimed in his op-ed that there will be a "shortage of 235,000 jobs in science, technology, engineering and math [STEM] fields by 2018," even though the idea of the STEM shortage has also been questioned by a report in the the Atlantic,while there are more American STEM graduates than there are job openings for them.

Ingraham noted in the interview that pro-amnesty advocates who are spending millions on the issue, like Bloomberg and Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, want an "unending flow of cheap labor that keeps the rich rich and the Chamber of Commerce happy." Russo struggled to articulate whether amnesty legislation would help American workers and said he could not answer whether he was for a pathway to citizenship for all of the country's illegal immigrants.

Russo also joined amnesty advocates like Grover Norquist and American Conservative Union head Al Cardenas on Wednesday in what was billed as the first of a monthly series of pro-amnesty meetings and calls that they hope will "keep up the drumbeat for reform in the face of continued resistance from conservatives in the House," according to The Hill.

Jenny Beth Martin, the co-founder and national coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots, said the position of her Tea Party was different from Russo's on Monday: "We must first fully secure our borders. Immigration reform cannot happen without this necessary first step."

“We support legal immigration and the rule of law, according to the Constitution. There is already a legal path to citizenship for those wishing to come to the United States," Martin continued. "Anyone who decides to get off that path and enter the United States illegally should not be given any sort of amnesty because doing so is neither fair nor equal treatment under the law."

Martin also emphasized that Americans must "demand the Obama administration enforce our current immigration laws" and that conservatives will watch Congress "like a hawk and will do everything to make sure immigration reform is done in a manner that respects the law and those who abide by it.”

"Those who are determined to have entered the country illegally and are on-track for deportation should be deported," she said. "Those who have been convicted of crimes and are serving sentences for their crimes should remain incarcerated until their sentences have been served."

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...erican-Workers

He sounds confused about where he stands or he is just lying.

New Poll Shows Tea Party Voters Want Immigration Reform In 2014

6:59 PM 05/16/2014
Giuseppe Macri

A new poll released this week by a partnership of old to new conservative advocacy groups on Capitol Hill show a surprising number of tea-party aligned conservative voters – more than 70 percent – want Congress to pass immigration reform this year.
Partnership for a New American Economy, Americans for Tax Reform, and Tea Party Express launched a new monthly campaign this week in which interest groups across the conservative and business spectrums come together to create an ongoing information hub of conservative efforts and analysis on the immigration front.

“Our economy, our security, and our citizens deserve a system that works,” Tea Party Express co-founder Sal Russo said in a group email, according to the Washington Post. “Tea Party voters want solutions to the real problems facing America and immigration is no exception. We encourage Congress to take action this year and provide conservative, free-market, common sense solutions to the problems in our immigration system.”

“The majority of Americans know that fixing immigration reform is essential to America’s future,” American Conservative Union Chairman Al Cardenas said in the same email. ”Congress has a great opportunity to bring conservative ideals to the immigration debate and remake our immigration system into one that respects our laws and our borders, accommodates those that want to come to America to contribute, and recognizes the needs of the U.S. economy.”

The partnership isn’t starting off slow either – in the their first joint memo, the group included a new poll of 400 self-identified Republican tea-party voters which revealed 71 percent believe it’s important for Congress to take action on immigration in 2014.

Seventy-six percent support legislation with improved border security measures and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, provided they pay back taxes, penalties, pass criminal background checks and go through standard naturalization education, like basic English and American civics — all of which are measures supported by House Speaker John Boehner, and present in the comprehensive immigration reform bill passed in the Senate last year.

Another 69 percent said they would vote for a candidate in favor of broad immigration reform overall before voting for one supportive of greater enforcement measures only.

Pro-immigration Republicans have been the big winners across multiple state primary elections over the last two weeks according to Washington Post conservative Jennifer Rubin. The results of such elections and polls could serve to ease the concerns of risk-averse Republicans in fear of upsetting their political base by taking on a controversial issue amidst a closely contested election cycle.
If immigration support is equally broad across a large national cross-section of diverse Republican voters, as the new partnership asserts it is and is determined to prove over the next few months, coming out in support of immediate reform will be a boon to tea-party aligned ballot boxes across the country, and to securing the necessary seats in Congress to pass reform under conservative, economically conscious purview.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/05/16/ne...#ixzz320QY7Ht6

Fom the Washington Post.

Tea party group backs immigration reform (!)

• BY JENNIFER RUBIN
• May 15 at 8:45 am

Putting one more nail in the coffin of the game labeling conservatives ”tea party” and “establishment,” a cross-section of GOP groups came out in favor of passing immigration reform this year. In a memo entitled “Partnership for a New American Economy, Americans for Tax Reform, and Tea Party Express Release New Poll Showing Tea Party Voters Want Immigration Reform This Year,” the three groups kicked off a monthly push in which diverse conservative groups will press the case for immigration reform. The e-mail reads in part:

“Our economy, our security, and our citizens deserve a system that works,” said Sal Russo, Co-founder of the Tea Party Express. “Tea Party voters want solutions to the real problems facing America and immigration is no exception. We encourage Congress to take action this year and provide conservative, free-market, common sense solutions to the problems in our immigration system.”

“The majority of Americans know that fixing immigration reform is essential to America’s future,” said Al Cardenas, Chairman of the American Conservatives Union. ”Congress has a great opportunity to bring conservative ideals to the immigration debate and remake our immigration system into one that respects our laws and our borders, accommodates those that want to come to America to contribute, and recognizes the needs of the U.S. economy.”

I have no doubt that this was in the works for a while, but the timing is particularly good. In two weeks of primary voting immigration reform candidates do well. Even Ben Sasse, who was backed by groups including the Senate Conservatives Fund, refused to sign an immigration reform pledge.

This latest coalition gives further encouragement to House Republicans that they can move ahead on a critical issue with the support of some old and new uber-conservative groups.

The poll released along with the memo is striking. The memo lists the poll’s key results:

• Voters want Congress to act on immigration reform this year: 71 percent said it is important that Congress act on immigration reform this year.
• Voters support a plan in line with Speaker Boehner’s standards:76 percent support a plan that includes both improved border security and enforcement as well as a way for undocumented immigrants who are already in this country to stay if they pay penalties, pay back taxes, pass a criminal background check, and learn English and American civics.
• Voters support a way for undocumented immigrants to attain legal status or U.S. citizenship: 70 percent support a plan that provides legal status or U.S. citizenship for undocumented immigrants who pay penalties, pay back taxes, pass a criminal background check, and learn English and American civics.
• Voters would elect a candidate who supports broad reform: 69 percent would vote for a candidate who supports broad reform over one who supports border security and enforcement only.

And these are 400 GOP self-identified tea party voters. We’ve argued beforethat many polls peddled by anti-immigration groups or MSM pollsters (convinced Republicans are anti-immigration reform) are useless because either they use terms like “amnesty” or give no specifics about the sort of plans at issue. Once again we see how misleading these surveys can be.

Plainly the speaker of the House wants to move forward with a bill that is pro-growth, enhances border security, reforms legal immigration and deals with some segment of those here illegally. With primary results, new support (joining pro-immigration reform evangelicals, high-tech employers and many conservative lawmakers) one sees how it might be possible to move a bill or bills of some type in the next few months. If the Senate really is going to flip to a GOP majority, then Senate Democrats will be in a mood to bargain now, before they lose the majority.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...ration-reform/

Originally Posted by Newmexican

He sounds confused about where he stands or he is just lying.

New Poll Shows Tea Party Voters Want Immigration Reform In 2014

I vote for the latter.

I don't know what Tea Party voters they're talking to, but it's not anyone I know!