Next Up, Immigration?

Just when you thought the news from Washington couldn’t get any worse, a reader who is well connected on the Hill writes:

We have it on good authority that Congressmen Cantor and Ryan are determined to pivot to immigration just as soon as a budget agreement is reached. It will be a short-term budget agreement, so if Republicans and conservatives are smart, they can achieve a double-whammy by avoiding default yet keeping the focus on Obamacare and the budget (where we can win) while simultaneously preventing action on immigration that could lead to disastrous policy changes.

Well, that’s the optimistic way of looking at it. The other possibility is that the GOP, emerging bruised and bloody from the shutdown fiasco, will immediately be plunged into another divisive battle over immigration, with Paul Ryan leading the charge for amnesty and, worse, a massive infusion of unskilled labor that will drive down Americans’ wages. Ryan and Cantor have both been squishy on immigration (to put it mildly) for a long time. Our source writes:

Paul Ryan is one of the most liberal Republicans in the House on immigration. On this issue, leadership is using his connection with conservatives in essentially the same way Rubio was used in the Senate.

Great. Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse for Republicans.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses