Who said the Republicans don't want to pass immigration legislation? Emboldened by their big win in FL-13 yesterday, every single Republican (+ 5 scummy Blue Dogs who really are Republicans in all but name) voted against the DREAMers… and against anything else Obama could try to do to solve the immigration problem. And if anyone thought some less cold-hearted Republicans would ever seriously consider signing the Democrats' discharge petition, the half dozen Republicans who occasionally make positive grunting sounds about immigration all voted for the toxic bill designed to keep Obama from using discretionary authority on a range of issues, particularly in regard to immigration policy:
• Jeff Denham (R-CA)The 5 scummy Blue Dogs who joined their bigoted Republican brethren yesterday were the regular suspects:
• David Valadao (R-CA)
• Mike Coffman (R-CO)
• Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
• Paul Ryan (R-WI)
• Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
• John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA)A word of warning: if you contribute any money to the DCCC, you can count on it going right into a fund to reelect this 5-- and conservative challengers just like them, from Jennifer Garrison (OH), Gwen Graham (FL), and Pete Aguilar (CA) to Jerry Cannon (MI) and Ann Callis (IL). If you want to elect actual values-driven Democrats, you can find them on this page and contribute to them directly. There are no anti-Hispanic candidates on that list.
• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
• Pete Gallego (Blue Dog-TX)
• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)
• Nick Rahall (Blue Dog-WV)
Just before the vote, Jay Carney responded to a question about the GOP proposal. The video is up top. Carney:
"So it is, in my view, in our view, pretty amazing that today House Republicans went in the opposite direction by passing legislation targeting the deferred action for childhood arrivals policy that removed the threat of deportation for young people brought to this country as children, known as DREAMers.Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice, moments before the vote: “It seems House Republicans want us all to know that they not only hate the President, they hate immigrants, too. Since actions speak louder than words, let’s review how they’ve done since Speaker Boehner announced the day after the 2012 elections that he intended to work with President Obama on immigration reform. In June of 2013 the House voted to gut the DACA program and subject DREAMers to deportation. Strike one. Just a few weeks ago, Speaker Boehner slammed the brakes on immigration reform, less than a week after he released the leadership’s immigration reform principles. Strike two. Now, House Republicans are trying to impose unconstitutional limits on the President’s ability to help immigrants who would be legalized under the pending legislation the House refuses to vote on. Strike three. So much for the GOP moving away from nativism and demagoguery and towards smart policy and politics. We’ll be watching closely to see how Republicans who say they are for immigration reform vote. They may want to think twice about being associated with colleagues who are on the verge of taking a tarnished reputation and turning into a permanent one.”
"The House Judiciary Committee made clear that both the ENFORCE Act, that you mentioned, and the Faithful Execution of the Law Act were promoted in part by that policy and opposition to it. Unfortunately, this is the second time House Republicans have targeted DREAMers during this Congress, following up on the amendment sponsored by Representative Steve King last year.
"And let’s think about that, this runs contrary to our most deeply held values as Americans, and asks law enforcement officials to treat these DREAMers the same way as they would treat those with criminal records, those with violent criminal records.
"We urge House Republicans to focus on actually fixing our broken immigration system to provide opportunity for all instead of legislation designed to deny opportunity to those who are Americans in every way, in their hearts, in their minds, in their experiences in every way but on paper."
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