An amnesty for nearly a million illegal aliens could spell major losses for the Republican Party in November, while driving a surge of migration to the United States, grassroots conservatives tell Breitbart News.
On Tuesday, President Trump reiterated in the Rose Garden his intention to craft some form of an amnesty for the roughly 800,000 illegal aliens enrolled in former President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
“We’re going to work on DACA because we want to make people happy,” Trump said. “And I’ll tell you, even conservative Republicans want to see something happen with DACA.”
In interviews with Breitbart News, a number of grassroots conservatives and immigration reformers took a different tone. They said Trump’s comments left them “stunned,” “appalled,” and “worried.”
William Gheen, who heads the anti-illegal immigration grassroots group Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC), said he surveyed his members on Trump’s promise for a “road to citizenship” for DACA illegal aliens.
Of the thousands of ALIPAC activists contacted, Gheen said he received thus far about 300 to 400 responses. On DACA amnesty, more than 90 percent of respondents said they opposed the plan.
More importantly, Gheen said, his survey revealed no uptick in support for Trump should he sign a DACA amnesty, while 90 percent of respondents said they would be more reluctant to vote for him again in November. Gheen said:
There is substantial, strong opposition to this that damages Trump’s credibility even further because he campaigned on ending DACA and told us they had to go home in 2016. I believe if Trump signs anything like this for Obama’s DACA illegal aliens, it will kill his campaign.
Angel Mom Mary Ann Mendoza, the director of Angel Families, lost her 32-year-old police officer son Brandon Mendoza in 2014 when he was killed by an illegal alien. Mendoza told Breitbart News she was taken aback by Trump’s comments considering the White House intends to rescind the DACA program again.
Her biggest concern is House and Senate Republicans working alongside Democrat lawmakers to pass a DACA amnesty plan, with Trump’s approval, without any consideration for or input from Angel Families.
“Angel Families know we are the true victims of illegal alien crime,” Mendoza said. “I don’t care who it is in Washington, D.C. who is talking about DACA reform — you need to talk to the people who have been directly impacted by this.”
The chain migration impact, alone, from a DACA amnesty would ensure a flow of millions to the U.S. — primarily from Central America and Mexico — who would eventually be eligible to vote, Mendoza noted.
RJ Hauman, a spokesperson for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), said the White House’s attempts to broker a deal with Democrats on the issue have repeatedly failed, and Trump should not expect any different this time around.
“Why would that suddenly change in an election year? The only option for the Trump administration is to re-rescind the program in a manner that adheres to administrative law,” Hauman said. “The clock is ticking.”
Electorally, grassroots anti-illegal immigration activist D.A. King pointed to the 1988 presidential election of George H.W. Bush which came just two years after former President Ronald Reagan’s amnesty for at least 2.7 million illegal aliens.
“We respectfully advise the president to remember the proven results of legalization [for illegal aliens] on elections,” King told Breitbart News. “The president, and Jared Kushner, should note that after the ‘one time’ Reagan amnesty of 1986, Hispanics rewarded Republican George H.W. Bush with 30 percent of their vote.”
Bush’s 30 percent represented a drop in support for a Republican presidential candidate compared to Reagan’s 34 percent of support among Hispanics in the 1984 presidential election.
In contrast, King said, Trump won 28 percent of Hispanics — just two points less than what Bush got after Reagan’s amnesty — by campaigning on deporting illegal aliens and reducing legal immigration.
“The Dems have promised to do amnesty again on Day One. Is the President trying to out-amnesty the Dems? All my conservative Hispanic friends are already planning to vote for Trump,” King told Breitbart News.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/07/15/grassroots-conservatives-view-daca-amnesty-as-end-of-the-road-for-gop/?mc_cid=3f47d1aa1d&mc_eid=74904c4d20