Karl Rove and big GOP donors are trying to persuade Republicans to fix our ‘broken’ immigration system and grant legal status for the 1l million illegals in the country. They claim they are just trying to get their voices heard because they know when Republicans return to their districts, they will get an earful. But you know as well as I do that money talks and Republicans need money to run their campaigns..
NY TIMES – More than 100 Republican donors — many of them prominent names in their party’s establishment — sent a letter to Republican members of Congress on Tuesday urging them to support an overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws.
The letter, which calls for “legal status” for the 11 million immigrants here illegally, begins with a simple appeal: “We write to urge you to take action to fix our broken immigration system.”
The effort was organized by Carlos Gutierrez, who was secretary of commerce under President George W. Bush and was a founder of a “super PAC,” Republicans for Immigration Reform. The letter is the beginning of a campaign to lobby Republican lawmakers in favor of a broad immigration bill as they return to their districts for the August break.
“What tends to happen during the month of August is that members go home and they go to town hall meetings and they check up on their offices in terms of phone calls and letters, and that’s where they get bombarded,” Mr. Gutierrez said in a phone interview. “So Republicans who are for immigration reform — and I believe there are many — we need to make our voice known in August.”
A cross-section of Republican donors and fund-raisers signed the letter. They include Karl Rove, a deputy chief of staff in Mr. Bush’s White House; former Vice President Dan Quayle; Tom Stemberg, a founder of Staples; and Frank VanderSloot, the founder of Melaleuca Inc.
An overhaul of the immigration laws passed the Senate in June, but members of the Republican majority in the House are uneasy about any bill that would provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already here — as the Senate plan does — and some Republicans have balked at doing much beyond strengthening security at the border.
The letter argues that a refusal to change the immigration system amounts to “de facto amnesty,” and the signers outline three steps that they say are integral to any overhaul.
“To fix our immigration system we need meaningful reforms that will (1) secure our borders, (2) provide a legal way for U.S.-based companies to hire the workers they need while making it impossible to hire workers here illegally, and (3) take control of our undocumented immigration problem by providing a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants who pay penalties and back taxes, pass criminal background checks, and go to the back of the line,” the letter says.
It’s not like we’re against immigration reform, but it’ll never happen under this president. And Republicans are deluding themselves if they think this will help them get elected next year.