Congressman Lamar Smith Gets It On Immigration
By CHQ Staff | 1/30/13
Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX-21) said the immigration-reform principles floated by a bipartisan group of senators would reward lawbreakers, increase unemployment and push enormous new costs onto U.S. taxpayers.
"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.”
Other than that, the Gang of Eight immigration plan is a great idea.
Smith, Chairman of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, is a former Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and the House Ethics Committee and currently serves on the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committee, and clearly gets it.
As The Hill noted, although the Senate immigration principles have been endorsed by a number of influential Republicans — including Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) — Smith’s remarks are a warning that opposition to such a move is still alive and well, particularly in the Republican-led House.[More]