Yeah, the intimidation on anti-immigration beliefs is so strong that only one of the potential Republican presidential candidates, Jeb Bush, is openly in favor of current (much less expanded) levels of immigration. And note that when Sessions (like a lot of restrictionists) talks about “uncontrolled immigration,” he’s not even talking about illegal immigration. He’s talking about the “million mostly low-wage permanent legal immigrants who can work, draw benefits and become voting citizens.”
Sessions’ views on immigration are not only factually incorrect, they are influential in the GOP. Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin has said that he changed his mind on the topic after listening to Sessions’ arguments about restricting newcomers. Walker used to be a lot like Jeb Bush. Not no more.
Elsewhere, Sessions has railed against Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) for multiple reasons, not least of which is that any sort of agreement “could facilitate immigration increases above current law.” Like a good populist, Sessions keeps pushing the idea that TPA, which has been used in such situations since 1974, will somehow lead to Congress voting on a deal it isn’t allowed to read ahead of time. That’s simply not true. The negotiations between the American team and the other countries are confidential (which makes sense). The TPP will be submitted to Congress for an up-or-down vote. Not secret.
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