GOP Split on Immigration Deepens

In response to State of the Union, an opportunity was missed

U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) (2nd L) speaks as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas.) (L), and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) (R) at a news conference Sept. 9, 2014, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Sessions, a stalwart opponent of immigration reform, is expected to take over as chair of the Senate sub-committee on immigration. Alex Wong/Getty Images

After the president’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday, Republicans delivered a number of diffuse responses that put on display once again the division between the party leadership and tea partyers on the issue of immigration. 

In the offical GOP response, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) made no mention of immigration, whereas the tea party rebuttal by Rep. Curt Clawson (R-Fla.) addressed the issue head-on. He even punctuated his speech with a line in Spanish that underscored the sanctity of the nation’s immigration laws. 

“We all believe in God, the family, hard work, and liberty. The law must be followed. You are all welcome with us. We are all equal. Of course. Our house is your house,” Clawson said in Spanish. 

“As we respect our immigration laws–we’ve also got to be fair to the more than 10 million Americans currently struggling to find good jobs! We all know who they are. They are our friends, family, and neighbors,” Clawson continued in English. “To do this, we need to secure our borders first! This is important for fairness–and security–for all Americans.” 

We all believe in God, the family, hard work, and liberty. The law must be followed.

— Rep. Curt Clawson