Former Ally Goodlatte Morphs into Traitor Marco Rubio

As the old saying goes, “With friends like this, who needs enemies?” I’m referring to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) who, in what seems like ages ago, was an immigration enforcement ally. Once upon a time, the media might have labeled Goodlatte a “hardliner.”

These days Goodlatte sounds suspiciously like Gang of Eight lead chump, Marco Rubio (R-FL). In July, just three weeks after the Senate passed S.744, Goodlatte started to give off bad “I like amnesty” vibes. Goodlatte’s Judiciary Committee held a DREAM Act hearing that didn’t include any critics. The eight witnesses, all DREAM Act supporters, included the House’s most vocal advocate, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL).

Goodlatte also endorses the ominous “earned path to citizenship” for young adults who came to the U.S. illegally. About 450,000 of them have already benefited from deferred action for childhood arrivals that provided them with legal work authorization.

Since the fateful hearing day, it’s been all downhill with Goodlatte. In his recent statements, Goodlatte – taking a page out of the Gang’s playbook – said that behind the scenes the House is busily working on piecemeal legislation to resolve immigration issues including legalizing the status of 11 million aliens.

Speaking at an event celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and hosted by Hispanic leaders, Goodlatte said that although the House has “objections” to the Senate bill, he doesn’t want to “kill” it.

Americans know from our recent, disastrous Senate experiences what working behind the scenes means. We’re not invited, and our opinions are not welcome. On the other hand, the pro-amnesty lobby and White House advocates are diligently working side by side with Congress to write the bill. [“House Judiciary Chairman Pledges Action on Immigration, Says Work Happening Behind the Scenes,” Associated Press, September 19, 2013]

Goodlatte understands, even though he’s no longer willing to say it, that legalization equals amnesty. Whether amnesty is piecemeal, provisional or whatever other disingenuous euphemism Congress may invent to distract enforcement-minded Americans, comprehensive immigration reform’s first step will be to allow 11 million illegal aliens to work legally.

Congress should focus on amnesty’s basic math: adding 11 million workers to the bloated labor pool minimizes the chances for 20 million unemployed Americans to find a job and maximizes the difficult task for employed Americans to either keep their job or protect their current wages from being depressed by the abundant supply of cheap labor that amnesty would create.

Please FAX Goodlatte and other congressional amnesty advocates through CAPS Legislative Center here to tell them you oppose amnesty and immigration increases.