Posted on 06/24/2014 3:58:19 PM PDT by Kaslin
The New York Times reports that House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy is considered "the best hope" to win passage of a comprehensive immigration reform bill in Congress after he becomes majority leader in July. It's sort of quaint how the Gray Lady wants to believe in miracles.
If a comprehensive bill -- such as the Senate bill that set a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants -- had a chance of passing, then it was in 2009 and 2010, when Democrats controlled the White House, Senate and House of Representatives. President Barack Obama had promised a bill in his first year in office. If Democrats wouldn't deliver when they owned Washington, Republicans have little reason to do their heavy lifting.
The timing for advocates could not be worse -- and not just because the current House majority leader, Eric Cantor of Virginia, lost his primary election bid after his GOP opponent hit him for supporting a comprehensive immigration bill.
This year, thousands of unaccompanied minors and mothers with young children have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border with the expectation that they will be allowed to stay. Some blame Obama's policy to not deport undocumented immigrants who came here illegally when they were children. The White House blames a "misinformation" campaign by opportunistic human smugglers. Either way, the situation is so dire that Democrats are calling the new influx a "humanitarian crisis" that requires a quick and dramatic response.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, told the Houston Chronicle last week that he believes that the administration has to allow more deportations -- and quickly. Also, Hillary Clinton told CNN last week, "They should be sent back." That's how ugly the border is.
McCarthy is a true son of Bakersfield, California. Rather than become a creature of Washington, he sleeps in his Capitol Hill office and flies home every weekend. He hears from the Republican base, which opposes amnesty. He was true to that base in 2008, when he was chairman for the Republican National Committee platform, which threatened financial penalties for sanctuary cities.
McCarthy also hears from employers who depend on immigrant labor and California Republicans eager to court Latino voters. Last year, he met with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles after these advocates occupied his Bakersfield office.
On "Fox News Sunday," Chris Wallace pressed McCarthy on whether he'll support a comprehensive immigration reform bill. McCarthy is on record for supporting a path to legalization, but he told Wallace: "I don't believe there should be citizenship. I believe in the rule of law." At the moment, he added, the border is not secure because the government is not enforcing the law.
The forces of idealism are experiencing the blunt trauma of reality. The promise of a path to legalization, coupled with lax law enforcement, has produced unintended, if inevitable, consequences. If there was any doubt that changing the law might result in waves of more illegal immigration, the answer should be clear.
Quoth McCarthy: Until the border is secure, "you can't have an immigration debate."
[Immigration Reform] == [Erase Southern Border]
Exactly.
Amnesty will effectively kill the Republican party and, thus, the nation. We’re already heading to 3rd world status as it is.
Good.
If Republicans pass amnesty I’ll drop them as my registered party.
If they pass amnesty it won’t matter.
I swear that nobody in the Republican Caucus has never played poker, and has never negotiated for a house, a car, a boat, a horse.
For pete’s sake they can pull together a tough, hard, thorough border control bill—lots of fence, heavy duty border patrol, deportation, meaningful job screening, and so on-—and call it Immigration Reform Step One.
If the Dems and Obama don’t like it, too bad. That means THEY are opposed to reform.
Instead the Republicans cringe and whimper about reform being impossible. What a punk-@$$ position that is.
What the rheumy bumbling boozehound Boehner can’t seem to grasp is that every pose, every slander, every attack by the Left is also an opportunity.
Pretend to agree with them and present your own bill!
I don’t believe McCarthy. He is a lying weasel. In this session of Congress, NumbersUSA gives McCarthy an F-.
They passed the Secure Fence Act in 2006. It was never implemented. The Reps want to double the size of the guest worker programs to satisfy their corporate paymasters. They are willing to use amnesty as a bargaining chip to get more guest workers. Neither party really wants to secure the border or to develop a system to track and deport visa overstays who comprise 40% of the illegal aliens.
It wouldn’t be reform either.
There will never be any reform unless the plan sends millions back. You don’t control immigration when you let every illegal stay because they are here already. If you don’t decide to get x number deported you can forget control or reform.
How can any country possibly control its border if it’s afraid to throw anyone from another country out?
What kind of employers “depend on” illegal immigrant labor? F them.
I’m aware of their weakness, lies and failure.
Are you saying the jig is up, the battle is over, that none of it matters?
If so why would we hang out here, except to give solace and assurance, sometimes to pee and moan, and perhaps better to prep ourselves for the coming collapse?
The battle just may be lost. But if it ain’t, it seems like a few of our side might at least learn to fight.
Is he just saying this to get elected OR does he really mean it?
Unfortunately, in the Bizarro-World we live in, the GOP-e sees it as their duty to give Dems what they can't get on their own!
If they pass amnesty it won’t matter.”
It may not matter anyway. Hillary’s phrase would seem most appropriate in this situation, “What difference does it make”? There are thousands and thousands of illegals pouring over the border right now and they will continue until everyone from Mexico and Central America is in the United States.
Nobody in Washington will do anything to stem the tide and I sure don’t see any Texas politicians doing anything definitive except write letters and give press conferences.
“I believe in the rule of law.”
Well that’s comforting Kev because the law says they are here illegally so get rid of them.
Well, he already got picked as House Majority Leader. But I reckon he sees this as the least offensive way to keep a few conservatives at bay while staying on the good side of the money men that Kabar is rightly talking about.
I'm just saying that even if you are cynical and duplicitious, as McCarthy wishes he was smart enough to be, there is a way to position yourself to make the leftists look bad rather than coming off as a punk and a whiner.
(by 'you' I mean him not you! lol)
The events on the ground are beyond the control of McCarthy, Boener, or any other House leaders.
The Cantor defeat has scared the living daylights out of Republicans that were supporting Amnesty or toying with the idea.
The border invasion just makes it that much worse.
McCarthy can bring up Amnesty for a vote now, if he REALLY WANTS TO, but he will not only lose that vote - he will also, FOR CERTAIN, lose his leadership position in November.
Amnesty is radioactive for Republicans (and maybe even some Democrats), it will not happen, at least this year, THANKFULLY.
Not that this will bother Obama he will work around the laws.. Than he will move on to something else to take up his time..
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