Jorge Ramos Takes Aim At Republicans, John Boehner In Column Urging House To Pass Immigration Reform

Jorge Ramos Takes Aim At Top Republican

Jorge Ramos has a message for Republicans: pass immigration reform, or else.

“If Republicans in the House of Representatives vote against the immigration reform legislation that was recently approved by the Senate — or if they prevent it from coming to a vote at all — they will lose the presidential election in 2016,” Ramos wrote. “It will not even matter who their candidate is.”

Ramos singled Speaker of the House John Boehner, who has voiced doubts about bringing the Senate bill for a vote.

“Perhaps Boehner wants to be the Hispanic community’s new villain -- to replace the loathed Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz.,” Ramos writes. “But does he really want to join the ranks of infamous anti-immigration legislators like former California Gov. Pete Wilson, former Rep. Tom Tancredo, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and Sen. Ted Cruz? We’ll see.”

The comprehensive immigration reform bill passed in June by the Senate hasn’t just raised objections from House Republicans. Some Latino politicians oppose the amendment known as the “border surge,” which pours more than $40 billion into security along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Critics of the border surge point out that most that crime on the U.S. side of the border is among the lowest in the nation, illegal entries are at their lowest point in decades, and demographic and economic changes in Mexico make it unlikely that a wave of mass migration would occur in the near future.

Rep. Filemon Vela resigned from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus earlier this month over his opposition to the group’s support of the immigration bill and the accompanying amendment that he said “militarizes” the border.

“Erecting more border fence drives a wedge between border communities which are historically united,” Vela said on the floor of the House last month. “The current border fence has come to symbolize divisiveness and serves as a daily reminder of a flawed immigration system. For this reason, residents on both sides of the border oppose the border fence.”

Before You Go

Illegal crossings are way down

Why Militarizing The Border Is A Bad Idea

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