On Monday, Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies (Crossroads GPS), a group with ties to Republican super-PAC American Crossroads, unveiled a major advertising campaign to support immigration reform in Congress which features prominent Florida Republicans.
Former Gov. Jeb Bush, who is a possible presidential candidate in 2016, is featured in Crossroads GPS ads. So are three Republicans who have generated buzz as candidates for higher office down the road -- state CFO Jeff Atwater, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, and House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel.
Crossroads GPS is sinking around $100,000 into advertising in key publications to pass the immigration reform legislation currently in Congress.
The Senate immigration bill needs an extreme makeover before we can say it really protects our borders and our workers, but its important that Congress move forward on it and not just throw up its hands, said Steven Law, the veteran Republican operative who is now the CEO of Crossroads GPS, on Monday. This isnt just about politics; its about taking responsibility for solving a critical national problem. If we lose this opportunity to pass meaningful immigration reform, we will give President Obama an opening to shift immigration policy further to the left by executive fiat.
Bush, Atwater, Putnam and Weatherford join 49 other business and political leaders -- including Republican strategist Karl Rove -- in signing a statement run Monday in the Wall Street Journal, Roll Call and other publications.
Immigration reform presents an historic opportunity to strengthen our nations security and prosperity for the future," the signatories wrote. The immigration reform bill moving through the Senate is an important starting point toward rebuilding Americas dysfunctional, porous immigration system.
The signers of the Crossroads GPS ad demanded Congress include tough and transparent border security and interior enforcement benchmarks first, before any immigrant can seek permanent legal status and placing undocumented immigrants at the back of the line, where they will have to pay a fine, prove employment and meet other requirements. They also looked to prohibit eligibility for welfare and Obamacare benefits while establishing a new guest worker program that truly protects U.S. workers while meeting our countrys workforce needs.
Good-faith amendments and debate will help achieve the critical improvements that reform requires, the signers continued. But failure to enact meaningful immigration reform will only perpetuate an unacceptable status quo of porous borders, inconsistent law enforcement, a byzantine worker visa system, and an America that lags behind in the global race for talent.If we act boldly, America can build the worlds best immigration system -- one that protects our security and our workers, contributes to our economy, draws on the worlds top talent, and effectively assimilates new immigrants into the unifying culture and prosperity of America.
The road ahead wont be easy, they wrote in conclusion. But if we truly want America to remain a great nation, its leaders need to step up and accomplish great things.
While Bush, Atwater, Putnam and Weatherford went to bat for immigration reform, another Florida Republican who is much more closely associated with the issue continues to make national appearances on the bill. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio continues to insist that if more border security is not added as part of the immigration reform bill, he would be open to voting against the measure he has publicly championed. Rubio is one of the chief pointmen on the bill and has been hitting the national airwaves to support it.
Appearing on Univision on Sunday, Rubio offered his thoughts on the bill. I am 100 percent committed to the immigration issue, immigration reform, Rubio said. Quite the opposite, I will continue to work to make sure that it doesnt come to that. My point is that if we dont have those -- if we cannot secure the border, if we cannot take the necessary steps to earn our colleagues trust, this will never become law. Were wasting our time. But I dont think it will come to that. I simply think that if we can arrive at a reasonable measure -- of course, it has to be something reasonable -- to secure the border and prevent any sort of wave of illegal immigration in the future, that were going to have more than enough votes to be able to accomplish it.
Asked about border security measures, Rubio said they were needed to win over senators from both parties.
There are four, five Democrats who are also asking for it in the Senate, Rubio insisted. And the point is the following: What they want are details on exactly where those resources are going to be used because, yes, there are sectors of the border that are much more secure, but there are others that arent. For example, the area of Tucson, Ariz. So what theyre asking is that it not be left to the discretion of the administration or agencies, but that the law specifically says where and how those resources will be used so that there is no waste and that the ... the errors of the past are not repeated.
Rubio did an interview with Catholic network EWTN on Friday on the same topic. As a policymaker, I have an obligation to the United States of America as well to ensure that its safe and secure, Rubio said in the interview. And so what Im saying is, lets do both. Lets provide certainty for these folks so they can get legalized and begin to work and lets not condition that on anything but them having to pass a background check we all agree we dont want dangerous criminals here. They have to pay a fine because there has to be consequences for wrongdoing, and they have to get in line behind the people who have done it the right way because we dont want to punish those who have done it the right way. But they will get their legal status. Theyre going to get to work, theyre going to get to travel, they will no longer be illegally here, and theyre going to have certainty.
On the border side, however, we have a national security obligation to this country to ensure that we secure our borders for our own sovereignty, for our own security, and to ensure that there isnt another wave of illegal immigration in the future, Rubio continued, insisting the Catholic hierarchy, generally supportive of immigrants, could support the final bill. And I think we can balance and achieve both of these things, and I think that the final product is something that the bishops will be able to support.
Tallassee freelance political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this piece exclusively for Sunshine State News.
