La Raza Demands Amnesty Vote from New Maj. Leader Kevin McCarthy

Moments after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was elected the new majority leader, La Raza and other Hispanic and Asian ethnic groups demanded a vote on amnesty. 

“The new Majority Leader can either schedule a House floor vote on workable immigration reform or he can kill the best chance in decades to fix the immigration system and miss a big opportunity to work with Latino, AAPI, and immigrant communities,” they said in a Wednesday statement. “Our communities and our country need a response now.”

The Hispanic and Asian groups — such as the Hispanic Federation, Labor Council of Latin American Citizens,  Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, Voto Latino, and the National Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance — noted that “McCarthy represents a largely farmworker district that is 35 percent Latino and 5 percent Asian American and Pacific Islander” and his election comes on the eve of the passage of the Senate’s comprehensive amnesty bill that the Congressional Budget Office determined would lower the wages of American workers.

“With his ascension up the House GOP leadership ladder, McCarthy now has an opportunity to lead his party’s conference toward a broad, pragmatic solution favored by a majority of voters across the U.S. and in his district,” they wrote.

McCarthy became the GOP’s new majority leader after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) was ousted in a June 10 primary because of his support for amnesty legislation, which a post-election poll proved.