Thread: Pin down your representative on his amnesty position, I'll go first

I corresponded with my representative Raul Labrador (R-ID1), who has historically taken a no-amnesty position, to clarify his current position on amnesty in any form. This took some back and forth but I told him that the President had scorched the voters on this and I wanted to clarify his position.

Response:

I will oppose legislation based on the philosophy of “legalization first, border security later.” No effort to legalize unauthorized immigrants should proceed unless measures to secure the border and guarantee future enforcement, including E-Verify and interior enforcement, are implemented.

(emphasis mine)

In other words, he'll support amnesty under certain conditions.

He also advocated for guest workers:

Finally, we must modernize our guest worker programs. Guest workers are vital to keep industries in America, and particularly in Idaho, competitive internationally. This guest worker program must not include a pathway to citizenship or amnesty for undocumented immigrants and it must not disadvantage American workers.

I pushed back on these points and told him that does not represent my positions. Guest workers are vital?! We naturalize about a million new citizens a year and millions of American citizens are out of work. Aren't Americans vital? Aren't free market intrusions the constraint on our competitiveness internationally?

Labrador is running for Governor of Idaho in 2018. Current governor Butch Otter, who had signed onto the DAPA And DACA lawsuits, is retiring. It seems like we're losing solid no votes.

Who here will contact their representative to get their current positions as I have done and report back?

Full Response:

Thank you for contacting me about immigration reform. I appreciate hearing your thoughts and concerns on this important issue.

In order for our country to have meaningful immigration reform, we must first secure our nation’s borders and start enforcing the immigration laws already enacted. To do so we must give our law enforcement officials the resources they need to enforce these laws. We must also allow local law enforcement to work together with our federal immigration officers in order to provide the interior enforcement needs of this nation.

I will oppose legislation based on the philosophy of “legalization first, border security later.” No effort to legalize unauthorized immigrants should proceed unless measures to secure the border and guarantee future enforcement, including E-Verify and interior enforcement, are implemented.

Finally, we must modernize our guest worker programs. Guest workers are vital to keep industries in America, and particularly in Idaho, competitive internationally. This guest worker program must not include a pathway to citizenship or amnesty for undocumented immigrants and it must not disadvantage American workers.

I should also add that he is pushing the Davis-Oliver Act (H.R. 2431), a bill he introduced, that would apparently deputize local law enforcement with immigration enforcement duties to decentralize and neutralize the ability of any single President from unilaterally choosing not to enforce immigration law. It's an interesting bill but only without amnesty in my opinion.

This was the first response from him when I asked for his position.

One of the most important aspects of immigration reform is bolstering enforcement of existing immigration law. We need to give law enforcement at all levels the tools and resources they need to keep America safe and secure. That is why on May 16, 2017, I introduced H.R. 2431, the Michael Davis, Jr. and Danny Oliver in Honor of State and Local Law Enforcement Act (Davis-Oliver Act).

The Davis-Oliver Act protects national security by improving our nation’s first line of defense, the visa issuance process. It provides thorough screening of foreign nationals seeking to enter the United States in order to prevent terrorists from entering the United States. The bill also ensures the rule of law and removes the ability of any President to unilaterally shut down immigration enforcement by granting states and localities the authority to enforce their own immigration laws consistent with federal practices. Additionally, this bill gives states and localities the authority to enforce federal immigration laws. We already entrust them with enforcing most categories of federal law, and immigration law should be no exception.

The Davis-Oliver Act is a first and necessary step to modernize a broken immigration system. While other reforms are needed, my bill is vital to a long-term fix. I look forward to working with my colleagues in getting it passed and signed into law.

Thank you for your efforts Synaptic but Raul Labrador (R-ID1) supports Amnesty for illegal aliens and is prominently displayed on ALIPAC's Cantor List we've been promoting for several years.

Cantor List
https://www.alipac.us/f8/cantor-list-321399/

Here is

Representative Raul Labrador's Amnesty Supporter profile page at ALIPAC. How exactly did you come to the incorrect conclusion that Labrador " historically taken a no-amnesty position"

???

Rep. Raul Labrador Amnesty Support Summary
https://www.alipac.us/f34/ra%FAl-r-l...aliens-311924/

https://www.numbersusa.com/content/e...rict-race.html

Davis-Oliver Act would make Trump's immigration agenda law of the land

https://www.alipac.us/f12/davis-oliv...w-land-350875/

Originally Posted by synaptic

https://www.numbersusa.com/content/e...rict-race.html

We support and appreciate our friends and allies at NumbersUSA but we no longer use their grades in our analysis since a large number of Amnesty supporters have A Grades there.

W

Fair enough, I cede the point that Labrador has been historically against amnesty.