Sign Our Coalition Letter Against the Senate Amnesty Bill

Friends, the Senate followed through on their promise to pass “comprehensive immigration reform,” but we aren’t fooled one bit. We know that this bill is Amnesty Now, Border Security never. This bill is filled with crony kickbacks, empty promises, and it rewards those who have broken then law and punishes those who have actually followed the rule of law. This new “immigration bill” actually does nothing to fix the immigration system for those who have been waiting in line and going through the proper process. Please sign our coalition letter to let members of the House of Representatives know that we do not support this legislation and urge them not to take up the Senate legislation.

Copy of the Letter is below

July 8, 2013

Dear Member of Congress:

We write to express our opposition to House consideration or passage of any legislation, amendment, resolution or conference report that bears any resemblance to S. 744, the Senate amnesty bill that passed the Senate on June 27, 2013.

We also oppose any effort by House Leadership to go to conference on the Senate bill, including any plan to pass a simple one-page bill that would allow the House to deceive the American public and pull a bait and switch to ultimately pass a conference report resembling the Senate bill.

At more than 1,100 pages, the Senate’s “comprehensive” approach (which was actually crafted by the White House, according to the New York Times) is severely flawed; so flawed, in fact, that it simply cannot be fixed.  Over the past several weeks, we have learned that the Senate bill:

1. Will cost American taxpayers trillions of dollars;
2. Will lower American workers’ wages over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office;
3. Fails to close the loopholes that allow legal immigrants (and their dependents) as well as illegal immigrants to access the myriad tax credits, welfare programs and other public assistance programs (despite requirements under the Welfare Reform Act of 1996);
4. Fails to secure the border and, in fact, will exacerbate existing weaknesses in our national security;
5. Will impose significant burdens on state and local governments that will bear the burden of delivering certain legally required benefits, including in our local schools;
6. Dramatically increases the future flow of illegal immigration;
7. Contains payouts and political favors for special interest groups, including Silicon Valley companies and other big business lobbying groups;
8. Provides total discretion to the Secretary of Homeland Security to enforce (or not enforce) the bill’s border security provisions (See Section 5(b)(5));
9. Reverses America’s “melting pot” tradition by funneling taxpayer dollars to community organizing groups that undermine the patriotic assimilation of new immigrants.
10. Decimates Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an important agency that is responsible for our nation’s interior immigration enforcement. As a result, the Senate amnesty bill is overwhelmingly opposed by ICE officers, who are the ones serving on the front lines to protect our country.

Obamacare should have taught us the dangers of passing sweeping “comprehensive” legislation. Congress should not pass legislation that is written by special interests and opposed by the American public. In addition, Congress should not pass legislation that is too large and complex for anyone to read and comprehend.  Finally, Congress should take its legislative responsibilities and Constitutional duties seriously and not hand over significant policy-making decision and discretion to unelected bureaucrats without any real oversight or accountability.

We are calling on each Member of the House of Representatives to take immediate action to halt the Senate’s ill-conceived amnesty bill.  We call on you and your colleagues to immediately and publicly do the following:

1. Talk to Leadership. Tell Speaker Boehner and House Leadership that you do not support the Senate approach.  Ask the Speaker to publically commit that he will not convene a conference on the Senate amnesty bill.  The Senate bill is severely flawed and should be thrown out.  It is not a “starting point” for immigration reform.

 2. Talk to Your Colleagues. Talk to your fellow colleagues and explain the serious shortcomings of the Senate’s bill, including the fact that S. 744 lacks any semblance of real border security and would be one of the greatest expansions of entitlement spending in America’s history.

 3. Talk to Your Constituents. Meet with your constituents during the August recess and hold town halls and other public forums where you can hear directly from your constituents about our ideas for real immigration reform.

Thank you in advance for helping America pass the right kind of immigration reform and rejecting the Senate approach.

Sincerely,