Likely House Judiciary Chairman Is an Anti-Immigration Extremist and Birther
After losing the presidential election, with 70% of the Latino vote going to Obama, Republicans are suddenly making noises about the need to be less anti-immigrant.
Or to be more precise, the need to appear to be less anti-immigrant.
Of course, if they’re serious about this, they should probably start by shunning people like Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), instead of putting him in charge of the House Judiciary Committee with primary jurisdiction on immigration matters: Likely House Judiciary Panel Chairman Is Strong Opponent of DREAM Act.
Hard-line immigration reform lawmaker Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) is expected to take the gavel of term-limited Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas). The panel has primary jurisdiction on immigration matters.
Goodlatte opposes efforts to create guest-worker programs, or grant amnesty to illegal aliens. He spoke out against the DREAM Act when the House voted on the measure in December of 2010, calling it “unfair” and “ripe for fraud.”
Goodlatte said that “the DREAM Act could mean mass amnesty for 2.1 million illegal immigrants…same thing occurred after the 1986 amnesty bill, the Immigration and Control Act, was enacted. Everyone said that was going to end illegal immigration. It opened the doors to more. This is going to do exactly the same thing.”
The Republican Party has been soul searching after Tuesday’s election, with 70 percent of the Latino vote going to President Obama. The DREAM Act is strongly supported by Obama and most congressional Democrats.
Boehner said as much at a press conference on Friday morning: “It’s clear that as a political party we’ve got some work to do…clearly conversations are underway and will continue.”
Given Goodlatte’s stances on immigration, it is difficult to envision how the Virginia Republican would compromise with Democrats.
This article at The Hill is actually soft-pedaling Goodlatte’s rabid right wing anti-immigrant extremism. He’s not simply opposed to the DREAM Act, he’s a full blown xenophobe.
Rep. Goodlatte is a supporter of the Minutemen, got a 100% rating from white nationalist anti-immigrant group FAIR, wants to pass a bill requiring hospitals to report undocumented immigrants, wants to declare English the official language of the US, and wants to end the birthright citizenship guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.
Good luck with that Latino outreach, Republicans.
In addition to being a hard core anti-Latino xenophobe, Rep. Goodlatte is also a Birther.
