Jeff Sessions: GOP Must Stop Amnesty Because It Harms U.S. Workers, Not Because Obama 'Lawless'

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), anti-amnesty hawk, said in a Thursday afternoon statement that even if President Barack Obama stopped governing lawlessly, amnesty would still be bad for the country.

Sessions’ comments came in response to House Speaker John Boehner’s remarks that amnesty would need to go on hold because of a lack of trust in Obama’s law enforcement capabilities.

“The Administration’s aggressive defiance of congressionally enacted law is a profound obstacle in the way of any proposed immigration changes,” Sessions said. 

Moreover, the Administration’s actions undermine the constitutional system that provides all residents with a hopeful future. I warned about the problem addressed today by Speaker Boehner before the Gang of Eight introduced their proposal, saying then that: “No comprehensive plan can pass Congress as long as this administration continues to defy existing federal law.” President Obama must end the immigration lawlessness.

Sessions continued by noting that “trust” is only part of the problem.

“The problem, however, is not limited to one of trust,” Sessions said. “Even if the President could be trusted, the Senate Democrat plan he embraces would deliver a hammer blow to working Americans. The President’s plan doubles the flow of immigrant workers to compete against unemployed Americans and triples the number of mostly lesser-skilled permanent immigrants granted legal residency over the next decade.”

Sessions cited research from Harvard professor George Borjas, which he noted “shows current record levels of immigration have already contributed to reduced wages and employment opportunities.”

“We must transition struggling Americans from welfare and joblessness to work and rising wages,” Sessions said. “But the only plan the President and Senate Democrats appear interested in supporting would hollow out a shrinking American middle class. It is time to redefine ‘immigration reform’ to serve the legitimate interests of working Americans.”