International Business Times:
By Laura Matthews
April 3, 2014
In
2007, a coordinated campaign of outrage by conservative talk radio
hosts over then-President George W. Bush’s push to enact comprehensive
immigration reform helped
topple the bill. A study by the Pew Research Center shows that people
like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity made immigration the biggest topic
on their programs, and succeeded in killing reform. Now they plan to do
the same with the current effort at reform.
Fifty
conservative radio hosts will gather next week for a two-day event
April 9 to April 10, to mount another fight against immigration reform,
but they aren't going
to fight the Democrats who support immigration reform. Their target is
House Republicans.
The
organizer, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, is
tight-lipped about the names of hosts who will broadcast their show live
from the Phoenix Park
Hotel in Washington, D.C., mere steps from Capitol Hill, However, past
participants in the annual “Hold Their Feet to the Fire” radio meeting
included Sean Hannity, Joyce Kaufman, and Lars Larson. The have millions
of listeners.
FAIR
says the event will underscore the Republican divide on the issue. Of
particular concern for the group is House Speaker John Boehner’s
perceived malleability on immigration
rreform. The Ohio Republican has come out in support of immigration
reform. However, earlier this year, under pressure from immigration
reform advocates, Boehner released a set of principles for reform he
thought could help negotiate with Democrats on a reform
bill that passed the Senate but stalled in the House. But less than a
week after the principles’ unveiling, Boehner took them off the table,
saying Republicans could not trust President Obama to enforce current
immigration laws.
“Our
goal, and the goal of the hosts participating in Hold Their Feet to the
Fire 2014, is to make sure that the House leadership continues to hear
the voices of the American
people,” Stein said, “and is reminded that it is their interests that
our immigration laws are supposed to serve,” said FAIR president Dan
Stein.
“The
focus of our talk [radio] hosts will be on stopping speaker Boehner
from enacting legislation that hurts U.S. workers,” said Kristen
Williamson, spokeswoman for FAIR.
Conservative
groups have been critical of Boehner ever since Congressional
Republicans cut what they deemed a bad budget deal with Democrats in
December. Boehner has himself
been critical of those groups, dismissing them as having “lost all
credibility” for forcing Republican members of Congress to adopt
positions they don't want to, and for “misleading their followers.”
While
the conservative movement keeps trying to stall any effort in Congress
for immigration reform, Democrats are keeping up the fight too. One of
the most prominent
congressional voices for immigration reform is giving Republicans a
deadline: Get serious on reform by the summer, or face the consequences
of antagonizing Latino voters.
“After
almost a year with no serious movement forward on immigration reform in
the House, I am beginning to wonder whether the Republicans will get
serious about immigration
before they run out of time,” said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., an
advocate for reform. “If Republicans have not gotten an immigration
reform bill seriously rolling down the tracks by the time we break for
Independence Day… Republicans might as well just fold
up the big tent they always talk about. One thing is for sure:
Republicans will not be pitching that tent at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
anytime soon.”
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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