Senators Cruz and Toomey Push Legislation Ripped from Trump Immigration Playbook;
Mitch McConnell: Trump Not Yet “Credible” as POTUS, but Trump Immigration Agenda is Clearly Plenty Credible for Senate GOP
Yesterday, we noted that Republicans in the House and Senate had spent the week proving that Donald Trump’s divisive vision for America was not an outlier. Instead, Trump’s agenda matched the congressional Republicans’ inflammatory and unacceptable brand of policy and politics (as evidenced this week by the Republican witness at a Senate subcommittee hearing convened by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) who charged that American Muslim congressmen Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) were secret “Muslim Brotherhood” agents, as well as the joint House and Senate Republican legislative push to allow the Confederate flag to fly in federal cemeteries).
The news that Senate Republicans are gearing up to push anti-immigrant legislation ripped from the Trump playbook is a reminder that the shared vision uniting the presumptive GOP nominee and the congressional wing of the GOP is more than a one week phenomenon.
Next week, McConnell is planning to bring up anti-immigrant measures introduced by Senator Cruz and Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA), pulled directly from the Trump anti-immigration agenda. Heavy on fear-mongering, the bills echo a failed legislative push from Senator David Vitter (R-LA) last fall and seek to empower anti-immigrant figures such as Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
The legislative push is backed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who this week described Donald Trump as not yet a “credible” presidential candidate. Despite his assessment of Trump, Senate Majority Leader McConnell also reiterated that he will keep working to elect Trump to the presidency – and, by pushing forward the new anti-immigrant bills, McConnell is already working to advance Trump’s legislative agenda in the Senate.
According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice, “There they go again. Many Republicans want to pretend that they are operating in a separate realm from Donald Trump. But their façade crumbles upon actually examining what legislation they have been prioritizing. From vote after vote to block and overturn executive action programs for Dreamers and long-standing immigrants, to whipping up fear and falsehoods about refugees to seeking to eviscerate community policing measures, Republicans are already advancing the Trump legislative agenda and enabling his dangerous vision for America.”
