Hundreds of protesters gathered on Capitol Hill on Monday to tell Congress that the Gang of Eight bill just doesn’t cut it, and argued that solving the problem of illegal immigration requires border security, not amnesty.
Protestors from across the political spectrum gathered to rally against Senate Bill 744 in an event organized by the Black American Leadership Alliance. The “D.C. March for Jobs” began at Freedom Plaza and ended with a rally at Upper Senate Park, where politicians and activists spoke against the proposed legislation. Some in the crowd even called for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to be fired for his role in crafting the legislation.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) came out in strong opposition to the Senate bill in his speech at the rally.
“I think there is widespread bipartisan agreement that we need to improve and streamline our legal immigration system,” Cruz said before the protestors. “That we need to remain a nation that not just welcomes, but celebrates legal immigrants. But the unfortunate news is this Gang of Eight bill that just passed the Senate doesn’t do either one of those.”
Cruz reminded demonstrators of the amnesty granted to 3 million illegal immigrants by Congress in 1986. He said this bill would do the same thing for a much greater number of people, with no promise of border security.
“Congress is saying, we want to grant legalization first and then sometime maybe in the future, we’ll kinda sorta secure the border,” Cruz added. “You know the attitude of Congress reminds me of the old character from Popeye, Wimpy, who says, ‘I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.’ You know we might have been foolish enough to fall for that once in 1986, but we’re not foolish enough to fall for it again.”
Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) agreed with Cruz, saying in his speech that enforcement was the key component of a successful legal immigration system.
“The problem is not with our laws, the problem is with our last four presidents have not enforced the law,” Brooks told rally participants.
Some people in the crowd agreed with Brooks and Cruz, adding that the system was broken mainly because laws aren’t enforced.
“For me personally, as an American of Mexican descent, I don’t think that we need reform because I don’t see that the system is broken — it’s never been enforced,” Brandy Baron, an immigration activist from Arizona, told Red Alert Politics before adding, “I want enforcement, and I want security on the border. That’s all I want, and that’s all we need.”
Cruz also pointed out that in combination with Obamacare, the Gang of Eight’s bill will actually penalize employers for hiring American workers.
“If this bill is passed, it will increase unemployment,” Cruz said. “If this bill is passed, it will increase African-American unemployment. If this bill is passed, it will increase youth unemployment. If this bill is passed, it will increase Hispanic unemployment.”
