Conservatives Frame Immigration Overhaul As Next ObamaCare, As Bill Moves to Full Senate

May 22, 2013
By Ryan Kierman


Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), left, and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), both members of the Judiciary Committee, are on opposite sides of the immigration debate. (AP Photo)

(CNSNews.com) – The 800-plus-page Senate immigration bill (S. 744) is like Obamacare -- too big and "filled with broken promises and special interest giveaways," Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said on Tuesday.

Sessions is thanking the 149 conservatives who issued an open letter on Tuesday, expressing their "serious concerns" with the bill and urging senators to vote against it.

"No matter how well-intentioned, the Schumer-Rubio bill suffers from fundamental design flaws that make it unsalvageable," the conservatives wrote.

Conservative critics say the bill:

-- Is bloated and unwieldy along the lines of Obamacare or Dodd-Frank;
-- Cedes excessive control over immigration law to an administration that has repeatedly proven itself to be untrustworthy, even duplicitous;
-- Legalizes millions of illegal immigrants before securing the borders, thus ensuring future illegal immigration;
-- Rewards law breakers and punishes law enforcement, undermining the rule of law;
-- Hurts American job-seekers, especially those with less education;
-- Threatens to bankrupt our already strained entitlement system;
-- Expands government by creating new bureaucracies, authorizing new spending, and calling for endless regulations;
-- Contains dangerous loopholes that threaten national security;
-- Is shot through with earmarks for politically connected interest groups;
-- Overwhelms our immigration bureaucracy, guaranteeing widespread fraud.

"Reforming our immigration system is an important priority," the open letter said. "But S.744 is such a defective measure that it would do more harm than good."

Sen. Sessions, a leading opponent of the bill, called the open letter "a profound statement from patriotic Americans speaking out against the special interests."

"The letter makes crucial points about how the Gang of Eight legislation will pull down Americans’ wages, destroy American jobs and erode the constitutional rule of law as immigration officers have repeatedly warned. While the number of voices supporting the Gang of Eight legislation shrinks, the number of Americans speaking out against this proposal continues to grow," Sessions said in a news release.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-5 Tuesday night to send the immigration bill to the full Senate. Debate will begin after Congress' Memorial Day recess.

Sessions was among the five senators who voted against the bill in committee.

In his closing remarks to the committee, Sessions described the bill as "fatally flawed," and he predicted "It will not become law."

Amendments offered by Republicans to put enforcement and border security first were all rejected, he said. Other concerns include the cost to taxpayers (no estimates have been provided, Sessions noted).

"Finally, and most importantly, I would like to talk about the impact on American workers. Sponsors of this legislation have said it will not significantly increase total immigration levels. But we have conclusively demonstrated that this bill would legalize 30 million immigrants over 10 years and provide legal status to many millions more temporary workers. This will be a hammer blow to the wages and employment opportunities of American workers -- both immigrant and native born.

"This bill is bad for workers, bad for taxpayers and -- as immigration officers have pleaded for us to hear—a threat to public safety and the rule of law. It serves the special interests at the expense of the national interest. Therefore, I must oppose.”

Sessions is one of several Republicans to compare the immigration bill with the Affordable Care Act.

On May 7, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told fellow members of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that S. 744 was “like Obamacare” in its ambiguous and confusing language.

A week later, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said the immigration bill was “far worse” than ObamaCare: He described the bill as an attempt by Senate Democrats “to establish another monolithic voting bloc” among Hispanic Americans.

If passed, the brainchild of the so-called “Gang-of-eight” senators would grant permanent resident status to the estimated eleven million illegal immigrants currently residing in the United States.

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