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Tea Party Favorite Senator Rand Paul (R-KY)
A possible immigration reform measure got a very important boost this morning when Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) endorsed the idea of a pathway to citizenship. To begin with, Paul is a senator and every senator who supports the idea gets the chamber one vote closer to passing a bill.
More importantly, this endorsement by Paul now means a significant number of the top tier possible 2016 Republican Presidential candidates support a pathway to citizenship. This should make it easier for regular rank and file members to get on board with it.
Gov. Chris Christie has supported the idea for years, Sen. Marco Rubio is currently working on the legislation which would contain one, and former Gov. Jeb Bush voiced his support for it earlier this month. According to a PPP poll last month, Rubio, Christie and Bush are among the top four choices of national Republicans. Similarly, in the recent CPAC straw poll Paul, Rubio and Christie took first, second and fourth place respectively.
Because of gerrymandering and natural sorting, the average Congressional Republican’s biggest election concern is a primary challenge. This makes regular Republicans reluctant to take any position that may end up placing them to the left of their party’s eventual standard bearer. If the next Republican Presidential nominee endorses a pathway to citizenship, then it should be easier for other Republicans to vote for such a bill.
Photo by Gage Skidmore released under Creative Commons License
9 Comments
I thought the GOP’s pathway meant the border state governors had to declare that their borders were secure first? If that condition is to be met first then Hispanics will never get citizenship.
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/03/19/rand-pauls-immigration-plan-border-security-before-probationary-legal-status/
I don’t expect any GOP Congess to say the borders are secure. Never mind that thanks to the economy illegal immigration is down.
The GOP loses the legal Latino vote because even us legal ones get hassled by GOPers who think we are illegal. We get hassled by police. We get insulted by Fox News. If GOP fatcat money men like Wallmart would just pay a fair wage they could afford to not hire illegals.
I do not see anyone bringing in CEO’s and charging them with knowing hiring illegals and until you do that you will always have illegals coming to America.
Do you really think the GOP will give up all that lobbying cash they get from every low wage business that hires illegals?
I thought Jeb Bush’s headlines earlier this month were because he changed his position from a pathway to citizenship, and endorsed a two-path structure where America would have undocumented aliens become “guest workers” in a permanent status?
You know, like indentured servitude.
Paul is saying that he did not endorse a pathway to citizenship, just that he doesn’t believe immigrants should have to return to their home country first.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/03/19/rand-paul-advisers-say-he-didnt-back-faster-path-to-citizenship/
OT— “Sen. Elizabeth Warren Takes Dig at Pro-Legalization Senate Candidate Dan Winslow” by Erik Altieri, NORML Communications Director, March 19, 2013.
and …
and …
“Maryland: Lawmakers To Debate Marijuana Legalization Bill Tomorrow” by Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, March 18, 2013.
And that is the important part of this story. This is not a path to citizenship, but a determined path to a permanent wage-slave immigrant population kept on perpetual non-citizen probationary standing, to further suppress labor unions and wages. It never ceases to amaze me how so many focus on the wool, and miss the teeth and claws.
I’m male.
I have more probability of becoming pregnant than the republicans ever providing a path to citizenship which requires less than unanimity of 300 Federal Senators.
Or the signatures of three living popes.
Whichever comes first.