Over 150 conservative leaders, groups sign letter opposing Gang of 8 bill
Over 150 conservative leaders, groups and grassroots activists have signed an open letter opposing the Senate immigration reform bill. (Read the complete letter.)
“We write to express our serious concerns regarding the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill, S. 744. We oppose this bill and urge you to vote against it when it comes to the Senate floor,” the letter to be released Tuesday and obtained by The Daily Caller reads. ”No matter how well intentioned, the Schumer-Rubio bill suffers from fundamental design flaws that make it unsalvageable. Many of us support various parts of the legislation, but the overall package is so unsatisfactory that the Senate would do better to start over from scratch.”
Signed by conservatives leaders and group representatives including radio host Laura Ingraham, Fox News personality Monica Crowley, Red State’s Erick Erickson, radio host Mark Levin, Hoover Institution’s Victor Davis Hanson, and The Daily Caller’s Mickey Kaus, the letter highlights a number of issues the signers have with the legislation including their concerns that the bill:
- Is bloated and unwieldy along the lines of Obamacare or Dodd-Frank;
- Cedes excessive control over immigration law to an administration that has repeatedly proven itself to be untrustworthy, even duplicitous;
- Legalizes millions of illegal immigrants before securing the borders, thus ensuring future illegal immigration;
- Rewards law breakers and punishes law enforcement, undermining the rule of law;
- Hurts American job-seekers, especially those with less education;
- Threatens to bankrupt our already strained entitlement system;
- Expands government by creating new bureaucracies, authorizing new spending, and calling for endless regulations;
- Contains dangerous loopholes that threaten national security;
- Is shot through with earmarks for politically connected interest groups;
- Overwhelms our immigration bureaucracy, guaranteeing widespread fraud.
The letter also argues that while immigration reform is important, the Senate’s immigration reform bill will only make matters worse.
Laura Ingraham, one of the letter’s signers, elaborated on her decision to sign the letter in an email to TheDC:
Reforming our immigration system is an important priority. But S.744 is such a defective measure that it would do more harm than good. We urge you to vote against it and against any cloture vote to bring up the bill. Only then can a constructive, measured debate take place on how to improve America’s immigration policy,” the letter reads.
The Republicans who parrot the mindless ‘we must do something’ mantra might wish to review how the Democrats responded to Obamacare criticism in 2010. I recall the liberal cries of ‘We must do something…the health care system is broken….’” Ingraham continued in her email to TheDC. “What is broken is our system of government whereby the elites in both parties consistently ignore the will of the people on an issue as important as border enforcement. This bill will make life more difficult for middle class Americans and legal immigrants who are already struggling to find decent-paying jobs that cover the bills. Some Republicans are desperate to agree to anything in hopes of winning the Latino vote. They are on a fools errand, will infuriate their grass roots supporters, and will compromise their remaining credibility as a ‘law and order’ party.”
National Conservative Leaders
Barbara Anderson, Citizens for Limited Taxation
Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families
Rev. C.L. Bryant, One Nation Back to God
Howie Carr, New England Talk Radio Host
Ann Corcoran, Refugee Resettlement Watch
Monica Crowley, Ph.D., Nationally Syndicated Radio Host
Glynn Custred, Professor Emeritus CSU East Bay
Jim Eagan, Sumner United for Responsible Government (Tennessee)
Elaine Donnelly, Founder and President, Center for Military Readiness
John Eastman, former Dean Chapman University Law School
Ken Eldred, CEO, Living Stones Foundation
Erick Erickson, Editor of RedState
Maria Espinoza, Houston Eagle Forum, The Remembrance Project
T. Willard Fair, President & CEO, Urban League of Greater Miami, Inc.
John Fonte, Hudson Institute
David Frum, Frum Forum
Brigitte Gabriel, President and Founder, Act for America
Frank Gaffney, President Center for Security Policy
Victor Davis Hanson, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Donna Hearne, Constitutional Coalition, St. Louis, Missouri
Roger Hedgecock, Nationally Syndicated Radio Host
John Hinderaker, Powerline.com
David Horowitz, David Horowitz Freedom Center
Laura Ingraham, Nationally Syndicated Radio Host
Mickey Kaus, Columnist, Daily Caller, author The End of Equality
Roger Kimball, Encounter Books and The New Criterion
Cliff Kincaid, President, America’s Survival
Mark Krikorian, Center for Immigration Studies
Stanley Kurtz, Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center
Kelly Monroe Kullberg, Christians for a Sustainable Economy
Lars Larson, Radio Host, Compass Media Networks
Mark Levin, Author and Radio Host
David Limbaugh, Lawyer and Author
Herb London, President, London Center for Policy Research
Dr. Gina Loudon, Nationally Syndicated Radio Talk Show host and Author
Rich Lowry, Editor, National Review
Michelle Malkin, author of Invasion and syndicated columnist
Ed Martin, Chairman, Missouri Republican Party
Jenny Beth Martin, Co-Founder and National Coordinator, Tea Party Patriots
Ken Masugi, Senior Fellow, The Claremont Institute
Andy McCarthy, Executive Director, Philadelphia Freedom Center
Eric Metaxas, Author and Speaker
Paul Mirengoff, Powerline.com
Frank L. Morris, Sr., Ph. D.
Mike Needham, CEO, Heritage Action
C. Preston Noell, President Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
Peter K. Núñez, Former U. S Attorney, Southern District of California; Former Assistant Secretary for Enforcement, Department of the Treasury
Rev. Rick Scarborough, President, Vision America Action
John O’Sullivan, Editor-at-Large, National Review
Daniel Pipes, President, Middle East Forum
Judson Phillips, Founder Tea Party Nation
Andy Ramirez, Law Enforcement Advocate and Journalist
Sandy Rios, Vice-President, Family PAC Federal and Morning Host for AFR Talk
Phyllis Schlafly, President and Founder, Eagle Forum
Dimitri K. Simes, President & CEO, Center for the National Interest
Smart Girl Politics Action
Carol Swain, Professor of Political Science and of Law, Vanderbilt University
Tea Party Nation
Peter Thomas, The Conservative Caucus
Virginia Thomas, Liberty Consulting
Brad Thor, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author
Phil Valentine, Nationally Syndicated Conservative Radio Host
Richard Viguerie
Former Congressman Allen West
Tom West, Professor, Hillsdale College
Tim Wildmon, President of the American Family Association and American Family Radio
Activist Leaders throughout the Country
Cathie Adams, President, Texas Eagle Forum; Former Chairman, Republican Party of Texas
Alabama Federation of Republican Women
American Grizzlies United (Wisconsin)
Will Anderson, Conservative Radio Host, WBHP-AM, Huntsville, Alabama
Angela Bean, Coordinator South Atlanta Tea Party Patriots (Georgia)
Michael Berry, Conservative Radio Host, KTRH-AM, Houston, Texas (Syndicated)
Blanchard Tea Party (Idaho)
Jack and Joan Billman, Greencastle Defenders of Liberty, Greencastle, Indiana
Michael Brown, Conservative Radio Host, Denver, Colorado
Martha Brewer, Lamar County Tea Party Patriots (Alabama)
Melody Burns, Conservative Radio Host, WGDJ-AM, Albany, New York
Canton T.E.A. Party (Georgia)
Sam Clovis, President Serious Civics for America, Inc. (Iowa)
Common Sense Campaign of South Alabama
Carroll County Tea Party Association (Georgia)
Darin Danielski, Lake County Area Defenders of Liberty, Oconomowoc, Wisconsin
Dyersville Tea Party (Iowa)
Dave Elswick, Conservative Radio Host, KARN-FM, Little Rock, Arkansas
Kay Edmonds, Precinct Delegate, Clinton, MI, l9.12 Forum Steering Committee Member, Lenawee GOP Executive Committee Member, Veteran (Post Korea)
Empower Indiana (Indiana)
Bill & Prudence Fields, Eagle Forum, Virginia
Friends of Idaho
Greg Garrison, Conservative Radio Host, WIBC-FM, Indianapolis, Indiana
Georgia Conservatives in Action
Helen Glover, Conservative Radio Host, WHJJ-AM, Providence, Rhode Island
Kay Godwin and Pat Tippett, Co-Chairs, Georgia Conservatives in Action
Becky Gerritson, President Wetumpka TEA Party, Wetumpka, Alabama
Donna Goeddaeus, Northwoods Patriots Tea Party, Conover, Wisconsin
Green Bay (Brown County) Wisconsin TEA Party
Greencastle Defenders of Liberty (Indiana)
Ron Hei, Tea Party Patriots of Covington County
Wally Hauck, Ph.D., President of Optimum Leadership, Member of Milford, CT Republican Town Committee
Hamilton County Patriots (Indiana)
Mark Herr, The Midsouth Tea Party (Tennessee)
Marcia Hora, Iowa Grassroots Coalition
Dustin Inmman Society, Georgia
Illinois Tea Party
Danny B. Joyner, Commander, Alabama Patriots, Brewton, Alabama
Joyce Kaufman, Conservative Radio Host, WFTL-AM, Palm Beach, Florida
Dave Kramer, Dyersville Tea Party (Iowa)
Las Vegas Valley Tea Party (Nevada)
Janna Loar, State Leader Ohio Counts
Bill McLain, Conservative Radio Host, WORD, Greenville, South Carolina
Michigan Eagle Forum
Montgomery Tea Party (Alabama)
Matt Murphy, Conservative Radio Host, WAPI, Birminigham, Alabama
Reid Mullins, Conservative Radio Host, KTOK, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Lisa Nancollas, Pennsylvania State Coordinator, Tea Party Patriots and Mifflin County Tea Party Patriots
Sara Jo Odom, Eagle Forum of Oklahoma
Patriots of Liberty TEA Party, Auburn, Alabama
Bobbie Patray, President, Eagle Forum of Tennessee
Carol Payne, Eagle Forum, Lubbock, Texas
Pennsylvania Coalition for Responsible Government
Bill Post, Conservative Radio Host, KYKN, Salem, Oregon
John Putnam, Chairman, Jasper County Republican Central Committee (Missouri)
Merre Putnam, State Committeewoman, 32nd Senatorial District
Steve Ramey and David Hancock, Gwinnett Tea Party (Atlanta)
Russell Ramland Park Cities/Preston Hollow Leadership Forum, Dallas, Texas
Jennifer Schubert-Akin, Activist, Steamboat Springs, Colorado
Janet Smith, Local Coordinator, Greenfield Area Tea Party, Greenfield, Indiana
Standpoint Tea Party Patriots (Idaho)
Rainy Day Patriots (Alabama)
Rob Schilling, WINA-AM, Charlottesville, Virginia
Jeff Schwilk, San Diegans for Secure Borders Coalition
Kim Simac and Shirley Kufeldt, Northwood Patriots, Eagle River, Wisconsin
Todd Isaac “Ike” Skelton, Lebanon Tea Party (Missouri)
Janet Smith, Greenfield Area Tea Party (Indiana)
Loretta and Ricky Short, Wetumpka TEA Party (Alabama)
Eunie Smith, President, Eagle Forum of Alabama
South West Pennsylvania Eagle Forum
Pam Stout, Idaho State Coordinator, Tea Party Patriots
Barbara Susco, Florida Eagle Forum
Taxed Enough Already Party, Barbour County, Alabama
Taxed Enough Already Party, Quitman County, Georgia Tea Party North (Indiana)
Brian Tilton, Conservative Radio Host, WTPL-FM, Concord, New Hampshire
Joe Thomas, Conservative Radio Host, WCHV-AM, Charlottesville, Virginia
Vanderburgh County Tea Party Patriots (Indiana)
Dawn Wildman SoCal Tax Revolt Coalition, Inc.
Lynn Woolley, Lynn Woolley Show, Syndicated, Texas
Don and Skeet Workman, Eagle Forum, Lubbock, Texas
Sally Zelikovsky, Founder of Bay Area Patriots and Coordinator of San Francisco Tea Party
Dennis Zellaha, Tea Party Patriots and Iowa Grassroots Coalition (Iowa)