AMAC Exclusive – By Andrew Abbott
Just weeks before relinquishing control of the House of Representatives, congressional Democrats are agitating for a last-ditch mass amnesty push in the lame duck session to allow millions of illegal aliens to legally remain in the country. As the border crisis continues to worsen and with the Biden administration making clear that it has no intention of enforcing immigration laws already on the books, conservative groups are mobilizing to ensure that congressional Republicans do everything within their power to stop such legislation from passing.
According to a report from Fox News late last week, a new group of fifteen conservative organizations and twelve former Trump administration officials have raised the alarm that Democrats are planning to ram through an illegal immigration amnesty bill potentially days before they lose power in January. The coalition urges Republican lawmakers to take all actions necessary to stop these efforts” and “show the American people that you stand with them by rejecting special interest legislation and instead take immediate steps to reverse this crisis and restore law and order to our immigration system.”
The letter explicitly cites national exit polling that shows 62% of the electorate believes Congress should secure the border and hold those who entered illegally accountable for violating the law. The letter further notes that only 8.8% of Americans believe amnesty should be a top concern for Congress.
Democrats have spent years pushing for amnesty for all illegal aliens. The legislation they are now pushing would focus primarily on the so-called “Dreamers,” referring to those covered under a 2012 policy imposed by President Barack Obama which created deportation protection for the children of illegal immigrants who were born in America. Initially, this policy covered just 600,000 illegal immigrants. According to one report, the program now reaches 3.3 million illegal immigrants who will likely be granted amnesty under the proposed legislation – more evidence that such mass amnesty programs only encourage more illegal immigration.
Left-wing immigration groups are warning Democrats that the program will likely be eliminated if they don’t pass the legislation before January due to pending court cases. Several versions of the bill have already passed the House, but will die once the new congress takes over. Therefore, Democrats must get the bill through the Senate before the new Congress takes over in January.
Although the dangers of passing such a bill likely seem clear to most conservatives, some Republicans have previously waffled on their opposition to mass amnesty. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has been a consistent co-sponsor and a strong advocate for Dreamer amnesty, working with far-left Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) on related legislation. Retiring Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina is also reportedly working on a deal with Democrat Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona outlining a “path to citizenship” for 2 million illegal immigrants.
But while some congressional Republicans seem to be under the impression that granting citizenship to childhood arrivals will placate the left, Democrats have made clear that the “Dreamers” bill is only the first step in full mass amnesty for every illegal alien in the country. During a recent press conference, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer stated that Democrats’ “ultimate goal is to help the Dreamers but get a path to citizenship for all 11 million or however many undocumented there are here.”
Should some Senate Republicans vote with Democrats to pass an amnesty bill, it would also be a huge slap in the face to voters who just voted for new leadership in large part to fix the border crisis, not make it worse. Polling from earlier this fall shows that a majority of voters characterize the situation at the border as an “invasion,” and large majorities of voters in key swing states this fall said they disapproved of Biden’s handling of the border. It is therefore baffling that any Republican would now consider rewarding that failure by voting with Democrats to incentivize more illegal immigration when voters rejected those same policies just a few weeks ago.
After two disappointing congressional cycles in 2018 and 2020, Republicans finally began to right the ship in 2022. But ending this Congress with a mass amnesty package could undermine public support for Republicans before the new GOP House majority even takes power in January, placing the party and the country at a significant disadvantage when it comes to addressing the border crisis and finally putting a stop to Democrats’ repeated failures.
Andrew Abbott is the pen name of a writer and public affairs consultant with over a decade of experience in DC at the intersection of politics and culture.