22 SEP 2022

Days After GOP Used Venezuelan Migrants as Political Pawns, House Republicans Double Down on Extreme Immigration Agenda 

WASHINGTON, DC - As polls continue to paint a grimmer picture for Republicans this November, GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy and Elise Stefanik are unveiling a new plan full of failed “Trump-era border restrictions” and doubling down on their anti-immigrant agenda. With their new “Commitment to America” plan, they are setting the tone for GOP candidates on the ballot: terrorize immigrant communities, weaponize immigration to divide and scare voters and embrace inhumane Trump-era policies to score political points with the fringe right. 

Determined to march in lockstep with GOP Governors’ political stunts, all in an attempt to rally their MAGA base and distract voters from their highly unpopular position to criminalize a woman’s right to choose, the GOP is once again mistakenly using the same nativist and anti-immigrant playbook that cost them the House in 2018 and 2020.

“We have seen this movie before. Like clockwork, every election the GOP attempts to politicize immigration and the unveiling of their latest anti-immigrant agenda is no different,” said Sergio Gonzales, Executive Director of the Immigration Hub. “Republican’s desperate move to change the subjects from the issues driving this election such as abortion, gun violence, and health care only make inroads among the MAGA base, but fall flat with general electorate voters needed win key battleground states. The reality remains that the GOP is widely out of step with the majority of voters who support common sense policies like protecting Dreamers and don’t want a return to Donald Trump’s America where children are separated from their parents and money is wasted on an ineffective wall. It is clear that the GOP does not learn the lessons that were revealed in the 2018 and 2020 elections: nativism as a wedge issue has lost its edge. 

“This November, the contrast between how the two parties would lead Congress could not be clearer. While Republicans will continue to target immigrant families and embrace hateful rhetoric, Democrats must show their commitment to protect Dreamers, as well as farmworkers, TPS holders and other immigrant workers who are essential to our nation’s economy.”

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The Immigration Hub is a national organization dedicated to advancing fair and just immigration policies through strategic leadership, innovative communications strategies, legislative advocacy and collaborative partnerships.