By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
On Monday, America’s Voice Education Fund attacked Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) from Alabama as well as fellow Republican Senators Chuck Grassley from Iowa, David Vitter from Louisiana, John Cornyn from Texas, Ted Cruz from Texas.
The group attacked Sen. Sessions saying, “Senator Sessions has an ugly history with race relations and civil rights.” They also attacked Sessions for supporting Alabama’s anti-illegal immigration law HB56 and for having an anti-immigrant voting record. They also accused Sen. Sessions of having a close relationship with the anti-illegal immigration group Numbers USA.
America’s Voice wrote of Sessions: “ These days Senator Sessions is trying to kill immigration reform by stalling it—first by writing a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT) asking him to slow down the legislative process, and then by repeatedly claiming that the bill is incomprehensible and makes no sense.” The groups presented similar attacks against the other Senators who have been critical of the “Gang of Eights” immigration reform proposals.
The Director of Research at the Center for New Community Aaron Patrick Flanagan, “who played an instrumental role in compiling research for the profiles” said, “What the research behind the ‘Gang of Hate’ profiles reflects is that, for years, these Senators have been content to represent a small cadre of anti-immigrant special interest groups—the Federation for American Immigration Reform, Numbers-USA, and the Center for Immigration Studies—in Washington, DC, but not the best-interests of their constituents. The ‘Gang of Hate’ is willing to conduct private business with anti-immigrant special interest groups by entertaining their lobbyists, adopting their messages, and utilizing their factually inaccurate research.”
Pro-Immigration groups, many of them closely allied with the Barack H. Obama (D) administration are pushing a radical overhaul of America’s immigration law including amnesty for as many as eleven million illegal immigrants. The latest incarnation of the controversial plan was prepared by a bipartisan group of eight pro-Immigration Senators, the so-called “gang of eight”.
Senator Sessions said in a written statement of the gang of eight plan: “The bill provides a five-year pathway to citizenship for 2–3 million illegal immigrants—of any age, including those previously deported—who claim DREAM eligibility. These illegal immigrants will be eligible for all federal assistance—and will be able to bring in an unlimited number of parents, spouses, and children in just five years. Illegal ag workers will get green cards in five years and will be able to apply for citizenship in 10. The families of illegal immigrants (including elderly parents) now living outside the country will be eligible for federal benefits as soon as 10 years from the passage of the bill.”
Sen. Sessions continued, “Additionally, the ‘triggers’ aren’t triggers at all. The mass legalization occurs immediately in exchange for even weaker promises of future enforcement than those rejected in 2007. The Secretary decides to build as much or as little fencing as she wants. She decides whether undefined border effectiveness has been achieved. And she decides whether a commission—which has no enforcement authority—is created. And if any of these are tied up in court after 10 years the Secretary is required to allow illegal immigrants to apply for green cards regardless.” “No language in the bill requires the Secretary to construct any fence at all. Given that Sec. Napolitano has said multiple times that no further fencing is necessary, Americans can be certain that very little fencing will ever be built.” “The bill also repeals the proven E-Verify workplace enforcement system. That system is then replaced with a new, untested system from which day laborers appear to be exempt—and which does not even have to be fully in place for five years, leaving a huge gap for new illegal workers to enter the workforce.” “Eligibility for state and local benefits could be immediate in the many states where public aid and assistance programs are provided to ‘lawfully present’ aliens. Meanwhile, the long-term costs, particularly for Social Security and Medicare, would be enormous, with millions of lower-income illegal immigrants receiving more in net benefits then they contribute. These are only some of the many flaws in the legislation—and why the rush to pass it before people know what’s in it is so dangerous.”
Sen. Jeff Sessions is Alabama’s junior Senator and is the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee.
