Blog

Howdy, Trey Gowdy!

Howdy, Trey Gowdy!

220px-Trey_Gowdy,_Official_Portrait,_112th_Congress

 

Congressman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) was named the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, a committee that will presumably have a lead role in developing any new immigration law in the coming Congress.   Incoming House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) announced today that Rep Gowdy would be chair in the new Congress and stated “Rep. Gowdy will play a leading role on immigration reform which is a top priority of the House Judiciary Committee in the new Congress.”

Congressman Gowdy will take over for Congressman Elton Gallegly, who ran the Subcommittee in the last Congress.  Gallegly received an A- from the restrictionist NumbersUSA for support of anti-immigrant measures over the last three years, as did Gowdy.  Goodlatte, the Judiciary Chair, received an A+!  Congratulations, Bobby, now we know why you get the big chair!  Anyway, who is Mr. Gowdy and what does he have to say about immigration?  Unfortunately, it does not look good.

Let’s discuss the good stuff.  Trey Gowdy is married to a former Ms. Spartanburg and a second place runner-up to Ms. South Carolina.

Now, for the less pleasant stuff.  Trey Gowdy was elected in the Tea Party election of 2010.  A former prosecutor, Congressman Gowdy has no particular expertise in immigration law or policy.  Rep. Gowdy signed onto the “Prohibiting Backdoor Amnesty Act,” a rearguard action by immigration opponents to stop the President from implementing DACA.  The Congressman has been vocal in spreading the lie that the Obama administration has been lax in enforcing the nation’s immigration laws and aggressive in denouncing the Justice Department’s lawsuits against Arizona and other states that have enacted punitive anti-immigrant legislation.

If there is any good news, it is that many prominent anti-immigrant voices believe that the Speaker intends to bypass the Committee and Subcommittee in writing immigration legislation.  Mark Krikorian, of the reasonable-sounding-but-not-very-reasonable Center for Immigration Studies wrote in the National Review that conservatives have little confidence in Speaker Boehner to hold true to anti-immigrant principles, but are hopeful that the Speaker’s power will be diminished after the fiscal cliff negotiations: “But whoever writes the bill, it would seem that the bigger the crap sandwich Republican members have to swallow as the result of any fiscal-cliff deal, the less flexibility Boehner will likely have to force them to go along with his amnesty plans.”

Crap sandwiches, Ms. Spartanburg and Mr. Good Latte!  Merry Christmas from Washington DC.

PS- Nice tie.

Benach Collopy

Benach Collopy N/a
Address
4530 Wisconsin Ave NW
Suite 400

Washington,
DC 20016
Map & Directions
Email
suriarte@benachcollopy.com
Phone
202.644.8600