Republican Party

Haley Barbour Denies Supporting “Amnesty,” But Not His Lobbying Work For Mexico On Immigration

By Michael Scherer | @michaelscherer | February 15, 2011 | +

Image from a Nov. 30, 2002 Justice Department filing by Barbour Griffith & Rogers

 

In statements Tuesday morning, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour denied supporting “amnesty” for undocumented immigrants, and his former lobbying firm, Barbour Griffith & Rogers, declared that it had “never advocated amnesty for illegal aliens.”

But neither Barbour nor his firm denied the fact that they worked for Mexico on extending Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act in 2001, a provision that was called “amnesty” by critics at the time because it would provide a path to citizenship for certain undocumented workers living in the United States, if they paid a small fine that acknowledged they had broken the law. Barbour’s contract with Mexico had been disclosed at the time in documents filed with the Justice Department.

Since the late 1990s, the term “amnesty” has had no fixed definition in American political discourse. Many on the right consider “amnesty” to be any immigration solution that allows undocumented immigrants to escape established punishments for their crimes, including a mandated return to their country of origin. By contrast, supporters of immigration reform have argued that the term “amnesty” does not apply if there is some acknowledgment of misdeeds, like a fine, as was proposed in the Section 245(i) extension.

If anything, the current debate over the definition of “amnesty” adds sharp relief to just how much has changed within the Republican Party over the last decade. Back in 2001, when Barbour’s firm was hired by Mexico for $35,000 a month to work on the Section 245(i) issue, among other issues, the provision was supported by some self-identified conservatives inside the Republican Party, including President George W. Bush. In a roll call vote on March 12, 2002, 92 Republicans and 182 Democrats voted to extend Section 245(i). Texas Rep. Dick Armey, who now runs the FreedomWorks, an early backer of the Tea Party movement, hailed the passage of the provision at the time. “The House vote,” he said, “sends a message to the world that our country will continue to be a beacon to all who love freedom and the opportunity to live, work and raise a family.”  Other conservatives voting for the extension of Section 245(i) in 2002 included Rep. John Boehner, who has since become Speaker of the House; Rep. Tom DeLay, who was then majority whip; and Rep. David Dreier, who is now the chairman of the Rules Committee.

But at the same time, there was significant opposition within the Republican ranks to the 245(i) provision, and the word “amnesty” was regularly used to criticize it. Though the extension passed the House, the Republican caucus opposed the measure by 123 to 92.

See the whole roll call vote here. After the jump, I have posted Barbour’s statement in response to my post on Sunday.

One reason I’ve been successful as Governor is that I’m plain-spoken and use common sense.  I tell people what I think, not what I think they want to hear. Before there can be immigration reform, we must secure our borders.  Only after that can any reforms be achieved, and those can’t include amnesty. Everybody knows we are not going to put ten or twelve million people in jail and deport them.  Once the border is secure, we should develop a responsible guest-worker program and it can’t include amnesty.

Related Topics: 2012, amnesty, haley barbour, immigration reform, 2012 Election, Republican Party

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    MORE IMMIGRATION BILLS ON THE WAY

    Sen. Hatch’s (R-UT) this week will be introducing major legislation that will Strengthening Our Commitment to Legal Immigration and America’s Security Act, abolishing the Visa Lottery, strengthen interior enforcement, and require the implementation of an exit procedure for foreign visitors (of paramount importance to enforce) to the United States. By means this is not a perfect bill, but it face the major problems associated with the illegal alien invasion. The commitment comes in these forms: 1. Restrict the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security from issuing a mass amnesty to illegal immigrants through the use of delayed action. Deportation cases could only be deferred after being measured on a case-by-case basis. 2. Requires State, county and municipal police to participate in Secure Communities or 287(g) to fully conform to federal immigration enforcement agents.

    3. Requires the Department of Homeland Security to create a mandatory exit formula for all foreign visitors to the United States. 4. Eliminates the Visa Lottery that issues 50,000 green-cards despite of the individual’s educational or economic attainment. 5. Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to draft a directive every year detailing the dollar amount of federal welfare benefits received by foreign national households in each state and in Washington DC. 6. Allows states to maintain receiving federal matching dollars for covering legal immigrant children and legal immigrant pregnant women, but only after the state has provided the federal government with evidence that at least 90% of its eligible U.S. citizen children and expectant women have been covered by either CHIP or Medicaid. 7. Allows authorities to charge individuals who have used stolen identities, who are also being charged with another felony, to be charged with aggravated identity theft.

    However Senator Hatch doesn’t cover the massive expenditures endured by hard working taxpayers, whose money is extracted by the IRS to pay for the annual projection of 300.000 pregnant mothers who enter America via the airports, ships or across the poorly fenced border regions. Now relating to this issue of birthright citizenship for any female who can slip across our borders, the Republican Party has introduced a bill to close this loophole, by an amendment or revision of the 14th Amendment. Of course this controversial Amendment is causing consternation through both political parties, specifically the Liberal progressives, all though their rants have not halted over the 63 co-sponsors of H.R.140. http://tinyurl.com/4loovmq

    Titled the Birthright citizenship act has become a multiple billion dollar entitlement that must be reduced. The Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011 would add to the existing federal code, a rider that requires at least one parent of a new born to be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident in order for the new born to receive instant citizenship. The Fourteenth Amendment extends citizenship to all persons born in the U.S. and “subject to the jurisdiction”; but it also grants Congress the empowerment to enforce and define the provisions of the amendment. Since the Civil Rights Act of 1866, Congress has defined Birthright Citizenship through appropriate legislation, which for decades has granted citizenship to newborns with both parents’ illegal aliens, foreign tourists or temporary foreign job seekers and students.

    The Fourteenth Amendment gives Congress the right to define birthright citizenship differently. As an addition to stopping undisclosed clandestine amnesties Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) has introduced H.R. 692 that would purge the extended family visa categories (e.g., married sons and daughters of citizens, etc.), thus ending “chain migration” as suggested by the bi-partisan Barbara Jordan Commission in 1997. Current immigration law allows U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents to sponsor non-nuclear, adult family members, creating an endless chain of mass legal immigration, which has snowballed. Rep. Gingrey’s bill would end this practice by disallowing all adult family members from receiving legal permanent residency. America has always been sympathetic to the refugees and asylum seekers, but the unfettered movement of economic illegal immigrants is out of control and diluting in large dollars to the GDP.

    The original Ronald Reagan 1986 amnesty was truly a travesty of our laws, which were intentionally neglected by the US Government and the employers. You can do your part as a voter and as pro-sovereignty American to stop this behemoth drain on the federal and municipalities that are straining to offer entitlements to seniors, veterans and other poverty stricken categories. We can no longer accept illegal aliens to our table as free meals, health care, education. Call your local Representative and more so you’re Congressional House or Senate member through the Washington Switchboard 202-224-3121. Join your own local Tea Party to fight these years of indifference to the American taxpayer. Explore the Pdf file “Illegal Aliens and American Medicine.” http://tinyurl.com/o6r27

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