Few Republicans have openly campaigned on their support for various forms of amnesty legislation, but Vice President Joe Biden urged Republicans on Tuesday to go against their constituents and pass amnesty now that most have cleared their primaries.
“They’ve got their chance now,” Biden said of Republicans, according to the Associated Press. “Most of the primaries are over.”
Biden, who once said that he believed illegal immigrants were already American citizens, declared, “Now is the time to act.
This week, President Barack Obama reportedly asked Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to delay the administration’s deportation review until the end of summer to give Congress a chance to pass amnesty legislation.
And last week, Senate Democrats said Obama would have no choice but to act unilaterally on immigration if Congress does not pass amnesty. House Republican leaders have said they are working on getting legislation to the floor by July or August but have been met with resistance from conservatives and Americans concerned about the impact amnesty legislation would have on American workers and border security. The Congressional Budget Office determined the Senate’s amnesty legislation would lower the wages of American workers.
“We have eleven million good people who need a good shot,” Biden said. “I believe in immigration reform with all I have.”
Last year, as Breitbart News reported, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) revealed that amnesty advocates may make a final push to get legislation passed after Republicans were clear of their primaries.
“I think conventional wisdom is that time is not on our side,” McCain said last October when even some conservatives were prematurely gleeful about immigration reform being stalled. “But there are a number of members of Congress who have primaries and when those primaries are done, they may be more inclined to address the issue of comprehensive immigration reform.”
Most Republicans ran away from immigration reform legislation during their primaries. Even those that embraced amnesty, like Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC), had hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of commercials run on her behalf by Mark Zuckerberg’s FWD.us that falsely portrayed her as being against amnesty.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has taken a page from that playbook. This week, his campaign sent mailers portraying Cantor as an anti-amnesty advocate days before his primary against Dave Brat even though Cantor has pushed for various forms of amnesty behind the scenes, including legislation to give more illegal immigrant children amnesty, which immigration officials fear could lead to perpetual amnesty for children.
Biden reportedly made his remarks at a Denver coffee shop with Hispanic leaders and also attended a fundraiser for Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO). Biden will speak at the Air Force Academy’s graduation on Wednesday.
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