Thread: Richard Viguerie: Immigration Could Spark ‘Civil War’ Within GOP

by Sarah Rumpf
29 Apr 2015

Conservative activist Richard Viguerie says divisions over immigration could spark a “civil war” within the Republican Party, leading frustrated conservatives to abandon the party if the 2016 Presidential nominee is too liberal on this crucial issue.

Viguerie began the exclusive interview with Breitbart News by citing one of his main concerns — and pet peeves — regarding immigration. The “root cause of the problem,” he says, is the desperate situations immigrants face in the countries they are leaving.

“Has anyone looked beyond our border?” he asked. “At some point you have to do that, but no one seems to be talking about it…no one is looking at the root causes.” As long as people continue to be oppressed and unable to support their families in these “corrupt, socialist countries,” noted Viguerie, America will continue to face an illegal immigration problem.

For people to leave their home country, leave behind family members and friends, and face the incredibly dangerous journey, or send off their children alone as happened leading to the border surge last summer, is something no one would do except “out of desperation,” said Viguerie. “It doesn’t matter how high you build the fence…we’re going to have this problem.”

Viguerie also said that the current immigration debates focused too much on “amnesty,” at least within the conservative movement. “To me, the most important ‘A’ word is not amnesty; the most important ‘A’ word is assimilation,” he said, because immigrants have not been assimilating into American culture the way previous generations did.

People talk about America as the great “melting pot,” explained Viguerie, telling stories with pride about how their parents or grandparents came to this country. Indeed, this type of narrative is a common element for presidential candidates Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), and potential candidate Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA), all of whom tell stories about what the opportunities available in America meant for their families when their parents immigrated here.

The difference now, said Viguerie, is that past generations assimilated and were anxious and eager to do so. This meant that more immigrants did not pose as great a risk of changing American culture, because they were becoming a part of it, not remaining opposed to it. Recent immigrants, on the other hand, have shown a “new resistance…they’re not assimilating, that’s the real issue.”

“They don’t want to become Americans, they don’t learn our history and culture, our language,” said Viguerie. “This is the roots of opposition.” Viguerie expressed concern that “we’re going to lose our country,” if new immigrants elect leaders who reflect this opposition and disconnect from American culture, who have “radically different views” than most Americans.

America is facing a “civil war about to go nuclear” regarding immigration in the 2016 elections, warned Viguerie. The presence of Cruz and Jindal in the race will generally move the Republican field to the right on immigration, because of their positions on the issue and the support from conservative activists for their views.

Viguerie predicted that the entire Republican field would move to the right on immigration, even Senate, Congressional, and gubernatorial candidates. The only exceptions he expected were former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL) and Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), who are the most liberal among potential GOP presidential candidates on the issue.

The reason this is happening now, explained Viguerie, is that President Barack Obama’s extreme liberalism on the issue, from the administration’s inaction regarding the surge of border crossings last summer to the executive orders granting amnesty, has amplified conservatives’ frustration on the issue. “As Obama moves left, the Republican party will move right,” said Viguerie.

Another contributing factor as to why this is happening in the 2016 election cycle when it didn’t in 2012 or 2008, according to Viguerie, is that we “haven’t had a top tier constitutional conservative candidate like Cruz before…and Jindal is close behind him.” Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) has also “acknowledged he’s moved to the right on this.” As Breitbart News reported, Walker drew fire from liberals when he announced his proposals for reforms to the legal immigration system that would protect American workers.

“It’s almost inconceivable” for the grassroots to accept Bush or Christie, because of their positions on immigration, said Viguerie. “The grassroots are saying, ‘stop this madness,’ and wanting someone who will articulate this.”

If Bush or Christie win the Republican nomination, “it would probably bring into the open this whole civil war,” he continued, and “would probably split the GOP.”

These divisions have been “simmering for awhile,” said Viguerie, pointing to other establishment versus grassroots battles like contested primary elections and the re-election of John Boehner (R-OH) as Speaker of the House.

“As Abraham Lincoln said, a house divided against itself cannot stand,” concluded Viguerie. “There’s no issue that illustrates this like immigration.”

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...ar-within-gop/

Originally Posted by Jean

The “root cause of the problem,” he says, is the desperate situations immigrants face in the countries they are leaving.

Bulloney.

Most illegals sneak into our country to get better jobs or the same jobs at higher American wages. Then they sneak their extended families in, to get the social benefits which really should be reserved for Americans.

We've had surges of illegals in the past. President Dwight David Eisenhower put an end to one of them by instituting no-nonsense deportations, along with warnings to business owners - including growers, BTW.

We should of course help others. The mechanism for doing that is called "foreign aid."
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Americans first in this magnificent country

American jobs for American workers

Fair trade, not free trade

Ted Cruz isn't as far right as Richard Viguerie seems to think! To my knowledge Walker is the only candidate saying the illegals will have to go home and get in line. Not sure where Jindal stands on that.

http://www.alipac.us/f12/ted-cruz-ha...grants-319136/

“It’s almost inconceivable” for the grassroots to accept Bush or Christie, because of their positions on immigration, said Viguerie. “The grassroots are saying, ‘stop this madness,’ and wanting someone who will articulate this.”

That's right, that's what we're saying, and that's what we mean.

There's not a one of us who doesn't feel sorry for poor people in other countries, it's just not our problem to solve. With 70 million of our own people on Medicaid which means their total net worth as a family is 1/10th what these illegal aliens are paying coyotes to smuggle one of them into the country, and another 100 million citizens who are one small event away from being under the poverty line themselves, the other 80 million US citizens responsible for our own people do not have the resources, time or energy to worry about poor people in or from other countries. This is a very simple math equation. Our nation is already $18 trillion in debt because we already can't afford the cost of our own poverty let alone that of 50 million immigrants and 20 million or more illegal aliens.

American elections are not and should never be about the plight of poor people in or from other countries, that is for the people of those countries to solve. American elections are about the plight of our own people, jobs and businesses, because at the end of the day that is absolutely all that the United States can afford to be about. We can set an example to other countries of how to fix or improve their nations through freedom, civil rights and regulated free enterprise, but we can not fix those countries at our expense or at the expense of our own people by absorbing their populations into ours or handing over our manufacturing base to them through trade agreements.

We need at least a 10 Year Moratorium on Immigration and we need it now to stop this madness.

Without legal or illegal immigration, I see America's population reaching one billion within 60 years, using the pas t 60 years as a guide. By then we likely will be looking to place people somewhere, too, huh?

Assuming our natural growth could take us there. what can we do about that now to delay such a number? (The world needs to address population growth, also.) But, addressing the question, politicians need to admit that for 30 to 50 years that they have failed at law enforcement and population management. That requires party wide soul searching by both parties of substantial size. It requires substantial honesty, however being candid is something both parties seem incapable of doing, definitely and especially party wide totally incapable. Pretending ignorance of an impending and probable calamity is both party's forte.

Civil war in the republican party? Good idea and I hope that it bubbles into the democrats, too. Both parties in order to be successful on this issue, must experience common pressure and pain, or they will contend that the other is wrong. That surly will extend the life of the problem while decreasing the life of the United States of America!

Probably a more secure solution is to kill off both parties rather than kill off the United States of America. I cannot advocate for a party over the future of my nation!

Kevinsdad wrote:

Without legal or illegal immigration, I see America's population reaching one billion within 60 years, using the pas t 60 years as a guide. By then we likely will be looking to place people somewhere, too, huh?

Won't happen without immigration because we're currently below birth rate replacement levels. It is actually immigration that is currently driving our population expansion.

Originally Posted by MW

Kevinsdad wrote:



Won't happen without immigration because we're currently below birth rate replacement levels. It is actually immigration that is currently driving our population expansion.

Americans do the responsible thing and for the most have since the 1970's when it was known that overpopulation was such a threat to our lives, standard of living, resources, environment and survival. And then what does our treasonous government do? Starts sneaking around behind our backs and without informing the public that they are ramping up immigration levels from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands, Congress does just that, and then when that wasn't enough for these treasonous idiots in recent decades they ramped it up to over 1.3 million a year plus all those illegals they sneak around and give work permits to, which last year was 700,000 more so last year with 20 million unemployed Americans, 70 million people on Medicaid and almost 60% of all K-12 students in public schools qualifying for some version of the free school lunch program, they admitted another 2 million immigrants legally, while we have 20 million or more illegal aliens still roaming and ravaging the country.

This is Insanity. Pure Unadulterated Madness. These are "villains" of the worst kind, the "villains" that create suffering, death, homelessness, poverty and burden the entire country with an $18 trillion and growing national debt to pay for it. It is the worst kind of Wickedness, it is Theft and Murder Supreme, it is a Congress of Sociopaths, and we're in their grasp.

If we don't shake them loose and get them out of our government, from Congress to the White House to the Cabinet Departments, our country will not survive, it is already imploding and there is little time to stop it before all the damage and consequences are irreversible.

Originally Posted by kevinssdad

[P]oliticians need to admit that for 30 to 50 years that they have failed at law enforcement and population management. That requires party wide soul searching by both parties of substantial size. It requires substantial honesty....

'Bamacrats want more immigration, because most of the new arrivals will vote Democrat. The Republican leadership was more immigration, to give the leadership's big money donors the additional surplus labor that those donors covet. The result is that neither major party is protecting the interests of Americans.
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Americans first in this magnificent country

American jobs for American workers

Fair trade, not free trade