The American Conservative Union released a statement from a number of conservative leaders indicating their support for comprehensive immigration reform on Thursday, following a meeting with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) last week.
“It is an honor to bring together fellow conservatives who feel strongly that we need to act now to fix our broken immigration policies and our borders,” said ACU Chairman Al Cardenas. “I congratulate my friend Senator Marco Rubio for his leadership on this issue and believe that conservative support for his efforts is growing.”
Here’s the full statement:
“President Obama and the liberals in the Senate have planned for a long time to use executive power and push legislation that would legalize those immigrants here illegally quickly with no border security, no interior security, and no reform of our legal immigration process. Given President Obama’s history of executive action, simply opposing immigration reform should not be the conservative response to this problem. We believe conservatives should be leading the way on this issue by supporting legislation that upholds conservative principles.
Conservatives are ready to support immigration reform, so long as it is pro-economic growth, strengthens families, fosters assimilation and prevents another wave of illegal immigration from happening again. The immigration bill being taken up in the Senate is an important starting point in the effort to improve what even those opposed to the bill agree is a failed and broken system. The bill includes triggers to insure border security and interior security before any immigrant is given permanent legal status. It includes a guest worker program that moves us toward a merit-based system. Notably, these are all key features that President Obama has vociferously opposed and undermined during his four years in office and are provisions that conservatives have been advocating for decades.
This legislation is not perfect. We do not expect the bill without amendments to pass, and we encourage good-faith amendments to improve the legislation. We are encouraged by the starting point that Senator Rubio and his Republican colleagues have gotten leading liberals in the Senate to agree to. We believe they are working in good faith to improve the bill and we support a fair, open and transparent legislative process. We ask that conservatives in the Senate work to improve the legislation. America needs immigration reform. As the Democrats run the Senate, the ball is in their court. They can work with conservatives to improve the legislation to foster growth and security and help be a part of solving the problem. Or they can undermine it, by putting partisan politics over sound public policy.”
Note: Institutional Affiliations Listed Below for Identification Purposes Only
Al Cardenas
Chairman, American Conservative Union
Alfonso Aguilar
LatinoPartnerships.org
Lawson Bader
President, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Brad Bailey
Texas Immigration Solution
Jeff Bell
American Principles Project
David Bier
Immigration Policy Analyst, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Frank Cannon
Susan B. Anthony List
Linda Chavez
Chairman, Center for Equal Opportunity
Former Senator Norm Coleman
Hogan Lovells US LLP
Larry Cirignano
President, Faithful Catholic Citizens
Tom Donelson
Chairman, Americas PAC
Diana Furchtgott-Roth
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research
Carlos Gutierrez
Republicans for Immigration Reform
Colin Hanna
President, Let Freedom Ring
Doug Holtz-Eakin
President, American Action Forum
Deal Hudson
President, Pennsylvania Catholics Network
Tamar Jacoby
Immigration Works USA
Dr. Tim Kane, Ph.D.
Chief Economist, Hudson Institute
Jennifer S. Korn
Executive Director, Hispanic Leadership Network
Arthur B. Laffer
Laffer Associate
Dr. Richard Land
President, Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Mario H. Lopez
President, Hispanic Leadership Fund
Fred Malek
Chairman, American Action Forum
Grover Norquist
President, Americans for Tax Reform
Ralph Reed
Chairman, Faith & Freedom Coalition
Rev. Samuel Rodriguez
President, NHCLC Hispanic Evangelical Association
Mat Staver
President and Founder, Liberty Counsel
Paul Wolfowitz
Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
