Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) attacked the blueprint for immigration reform being worked out in the Senate, saying the principles laid out by a bipartisan group of senators Monday amounted to “amnesty” for lawbreakers and would harm American workers, the Hill reports.
“When you legalize those who are in the country illegally, it costs taxpayers millions of dollars, costs American workers thousands of jobs and encourages more illegal immigration,” Smith said in a brief statement. “By granting amnesty, the Senate proposal actually compounds the problem by encouraging more illegal immigration.”
“No one should be surprised that individuals who have supported amnesty in the past still support amnesty,” Smith said of his Republican colleagues in the Senate who are backing the plan.
