by ConservativeHQ.com Staff

 

President Trump has just set up a defining moment in American politics by putting the responsibility for resolving the constitutional issues created by Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program squarely where it belongs – with the Republican Congress.

The problem is that the leaders of the Republican majority – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan – are so out of touch with grassroots Republican voters that their idea of solving the problem is to simply pass legislation that mirrors Obama’s executive amnesty for children brought to the United States illegally.

Some well-meaning conservatives may see the opportunity for some grand conservative sounding deal on immigration reform that would include legislating DACA and coupling it with the RAISE Act.

The RAISE Act, co-sponsored by Republican senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue, would reduce levels of legal immigration to the United States by 50% by halving the number of green cards issued. The bill would also impose a cap of 50,000 refugee admissions a year and would end the visa diversity lottery.

Others have suggested some combination of the RAISE Act, DACA legislation and funding for the southern border wall would be the correct formula for a grand deal on immigration reform.

The problem with all of these pie-in-the-sky ideas is that they assume there are two honest parties to the “deal” and that both are motivated by the goal of doing right by the current DACA beneficiaries.

But nothing could be further from the truth.

Establishment Republicans have no interest in honestly pursuing the wishes of the conservative grassroots of the Republican Party who are adamantly opposed to any form of amnesty for any universe of illegal aliens.

The establishment Republican leadership is only interested in paying-off the cheap labor wing of the business community and the globalist Silicon Valley oligarchs who have poured millions into keeping low-cost labor pouring into the United States.

Democrats likewise have no interest in doing a deal to restrict immigration. They see immigrants from poor countries, especially those who owe their legal status to special treatment from politicians, as a rich source of votes for Big Government Democrats and their liberal welfare dependency programs.

And there’s a good bit of evidence they are right in that assessment.

Back in 2015 the late First Lady of the Conservative Movement Phyllis Schlafly wrote an incisive article on Townhall explaining why conservatives – and establishment Republicans – should oppose amnesty for illegal aliens.

Mrs. Schlafly presented an enormous body of survey research that showed that large majorities of recent immigrants, who are mostly Hispanic and Asian, hold liberal views on most policy issues and therefore vote Democratic two-to-one. Their motivation is not our immigration policy; it is economic issues.

“The 2008 National Annenberg Election Survey found that 62 percent of immigrants prefer a single government-run health care system. The 2010 Cooperative Congressional Election Study found that 69 percent of immigrants support Obamacare, and the Pew Research Center found that 75 percent of Hispanic and 55 percent of Asian immigrants support bigger government.”

It is also worth noting a Harris poll Mrs. Schlafly cited that “found that 81 percent of native-born Americans believe the schools should teach students to be proud of being American, compared to only 50 percent of immigrants who had become naturalized U.S. citizens. Only 37 percent of naturalized citizens (compared to 67 percent of native-born citizens) think our Constitution has a higher legal authority than international law.

The Pew Research Center reported in 2011 that, of all groups surveyed, Hispanics have the most negative view of capitalism in America — 55 percent. This is even higher than the supporters of Occupy Wall Street.”

What’s the bottom line in Mrs. Schafly’s article?

The data do not support the notion that immigrants are social, economic or constitutional conservatives.

As Mrs. Schlafly noted in quoting Heather MacDonald of the Manhattan Institute, “It is not immigration policy that creates the strong bond between Hispanics and the Democratic Party, but the core Democratic principles of a more generous safety net, strong government intervention in the economy, and progressive taxation.”

Republicans on Capitol Hill must finally get smart and understand that the current level of immigration, even without amnesty, will add nearly 15 million new potential voters by 2036, a large share of whom will favor the left. Add to that amnesty for 800,000 mostly Mexican and Central American DACA beneficiaries and you have a formula that will make Republicans a permanent minority party and limited government constitutional conservatism a soon-to-be extinct philosophy of government.

 

Published with permisson of ConservativeHQ.com.