Conservative Radio Hosts Fight Immigration Reform - And John Boehner

International Business Times: 

By Laura Matthews

April 3, 2014

http://www.ibtimes.com/conservative-radio-hosts-fight-immigration-reform-john-boehner-1567078

In 2007, a coordinated campaign of outrage by conservative talk radio hosts over then-President George W. Bush’s push to enact comprehensive immigration reform helped topple the bill. A study by the Pew Research Center shows that people like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity made immigration the biggest topic on their programs, and succeeded in killing reform. Now they plan to do the same with the current effort at reform. 

Fifty conservative radio hosts will gather next week for a two-day event April 9 to April 10, to mount another fight against immigration reform, but they aren't going to fight the Democrats who support immigration reform. Their target is House Republicans.

The organizer, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, is tight-lipped about the names of hosts who will broadcast their show live from the Phoenix Park Hotel in Washington, D.C., mere steps from Capitol Hill, However, past participants in the annual “Hold Their Feet to the Fire” radio meeting included Sean Hannity, Joyce Kaufman, and Lars Larson. The have millions of listeners.

FAIR says the event will underscore the Republican divide on the issue. Of particular concern for the group is House Speaker John Boehner’s perceived malleability on immigration rreform. The Ohio Republican has come out in support of immigration reform. However, earlier this year, under pressure from immigration reform advocates, Boehner released a set of principles for reform he thought could help negotiate with Democrats on a reform bill that passed the Senate but stalled in the House. But less than a week after the principles’ unveiling, Boehner took them off the table, saying Republicans could not trust President Obama to enforce current immigration laws.

“Our goal, and the goal of the hosts participating in Hold Their Feet to the Fire 2014, is to make sure that the House leadership continues to hear the voices of the American people,” Stein said, “and is reminded that it is their interests that our immigration laws are supposed to serve,” said FAIR president Dan Stein.

“The focus of our talk [radio] hosts will be on stopping speaker Boehner from enacting legislation that hurts U.S. workers,” said Kristen Williamson, spokeswoman for FAIR.

Conservative groups have been critical of Boehner ever since Congressional Republicans cut what they deemed a bad budget deal with Democrats in December. Boehner has himself been critical of those groups, dismissing them as having “lost all credibility” for forcing Republican members of Congress to adopt positions they don't want to, and for “misleading their followers.”

While the conservative movement keeps trying to stall any effort in Congress for immigration reform, Democrats are keeping up the fight too. One of the most prominent congressional voices for immigration reform is giving Republicans a deadline: Get serious on reform by the summer, or face the consequences of antagonizing Latino voters.

“After almost a year with no serious movement forward on immigration reform in the House, I am beginning to wonder whether the Republicans will get serious about immigration before they run out of time,” said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., an advocate for reform. “If Republicans have not gotten an immigration reform bill seriously rolling down the tracks by the time we break for Independence Day… Republicans might as well just fold up the big tent they always talk about. One thing is for sure: Republicans will not be pitching that tent at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue anytime soon.”

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com