The Obama administration has been attacking us on so many fronts that it is hard to keep up. One of the most threatening is immigration “reform,” which, as enacted by the Senate, would authorize tens of millions of new, low-skill immigrants, devastate America’s working class, and remake the electorate in a manner that would ensure Democratic Party dominance for decades to come. One might think that such destructive legislation has no chance in the Republican House, but the House had its own “Gang of Seven” and some pundits predicted that immigration “reform” had enough momentum, and special interest support, to clear the House.
The latest word from Washington, however, is that the Gang of Seven is falling apart, and a comprehensive immigration no longer has a chance of passage:
Hopes that a House bipartisan working group could help chart a path forward on an immigration overhaul may have been dashed Friday with the announcement that two more House Republicans were walking away from the table.
Texas GOP Reps. Sam Johnson and John Carter said in a joint statement that they decided to leave the “gang of seven” because of “a lack of faith in President [Barack] Obama to enforce the current and new laws necessary to solve the immigration problem.”
… Instead of doing what’s right for America, President Obama time and again has unilaterally disregarded the U.S. Constitution, the letter of the law and bypassed the Congress … in order to advance his political agenda. We will not tolerate it.”
They continue: “If past actions are the best indicators of future behavior; we know that any measure depending on the president’s enforcement will not be faithfully executed. It would be gravely irresponsible to further empower this administration by granting them additional authority or discretion with a new immigration system.”
The bottom line, I think, is that pressure from principled conservatives is outweighing special pleading by business interests that want to open the immigration floodgates in order to drive wages down. It looks now as though specific immigration measures might get through the House, but the Senate’s comprehensive disaster, or anything like it, is dead.
PAUL ADDS: I agree with John that the defection of two more Republican members from the one-time House Gang of Eight represents another blow to the hopes of those seeking to enact amnesty-style immigration reform. Only one Republican remains in that Gang. That’s quite a contrast to the Senate, where all of the Republican Gang members, including Marco Rubio, refused to budge.
I also share John’s general assessment that the prospects for enacting such reform aren’t good. More importantly, Rep. Luis Gutierrez — Mr. Amnesty in the House — shares it. He tells the Washington Post, “The process is stalled. I don’t believe we’re going to produce a bill anytime soon.”
Nonetheless, I’m not ready to declare victory. Powerful sources are still pushing for amnesty; plenty of Republican representatives, notably Paul Ryan, still favor it; and other Republicans seem inclined to pass non-amnesty reform that might morph into amnesty during conference.
Thus, a House Republican aide tells NRO’s Andrew Stiles that the break up of the House gang “doesn’t mean this thing is dead.” The aide cited the behind-the-scenes efforts of powerful interests groups such as Big Labor and the Chamber of Commerce, as well as the continued efforts of Rep. Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, to bring immigration-reform legislation to the floor
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