In a sharp memo sent this morning to fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill, Senator Jeff Sessions argues that the GOP elite view on immigration–shared by President Barack Obama and Senator Chuck Schumer–is “nonsense.” Instead, Sessions, the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, advises his fellow Republicans to adopt a “humble and honest populism.”

The Sessions memo begins, “The GOP needs to flip the immigration debate on its head. The same set of GOP strategists, lobbyists, and donors who have always favored a proposal like the Gang of Eight immigration bill argue that the great lesson of the 2012 election is that the GOP needs to push for immediate amnesty and a drastic surge in low-skill immigration. This is nonsense.”