Today, President Obama told Members of Congress at the Democratic Issues Conference in Maryland that “when it comes to immigration reform, we have to remind ourselves that there are people behind the statistics, that there are lives that are being impacted.” The people behind the high unemployment numbers and impacted negatively by amnesty who lawmakers should be concerned about are the American workers. Sadly that’s not who the President and House Democrats at the conference are talking about.
Obama told House Democrats to pursue bills advancing an “immigration policy in this country that grows our economy, gets people out of the shadows, [and]makes sure that our businesses are thriving.” He mentions business interests and illegal aliens, but where are the American people he is supposed to serve?
House Democrats at this retreat are similarly focused on the needs of illegal aliens over those of unemployed Americans. Representatives Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) and Juan C. Vargas (D-Calif.) posed questions to the President about immigration, but these Members of Congress were also only concerned with the families of illegal aliens. Representative Sherman wanted to know what President Obama could do for parents of so-called “DREAMers,” illegal aliens brought to the country as children, if the House does not act on amnesty this year. Representative Vargas wanted to know what Obama was going to do about relatives of deported individuals. Yesterday’s Democrats’ retreat schedule shows that amnesty remains high on their agenda, including an immigration panel moderated by Representative Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), featuring the presidents of two pro-amnesty groups: National Council of La Raza and Center for American Progress.
To be fair, the way immigration reform was discussed at the Democrats’ retreat doesn’t sound all that different from the House GOP principles that Republican leaders proposed. (See House GOP Retreat on the American People.) Regardless of what political party advances it—whether Speaker John Boehner puts a bill on the floor or the House Democrats force one onto the floor— amnesty is still poor public policy because it further displaces unemployed Americans, will cost taxpayers trillions over the next generation, and rewards law-breaking.
Ultimately, President Obama’s message to the House Democrats at their retreat was: “Don’t take your foot off the pedal.” House Democrats are all too willing to heed his advice on immigration policy. Together, these lawmakers just let illegal aliens drive their agenda. They don’t care if they run down American workers to get there, as long as it is full steam amnesty ahead.