Don’t Be Fooled, Elise Stefanik is No America First Patriot
Jose Nino
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Is Elise Stefanik America First or is she just posing?
At VDARE, poster Washington Watcher II wrote an interesting take on the new star within the GOP.
Washington Watcher II notes that “Her aggressive questioning of witnesses during last month’s impeachment hearings made her a national figure and a prominent White House ally.” However, he points out that immigration patriots should be skeptical of Stefanik based on her track record. Ultimately, he believes that “apparent loyalty to the president matters far more than America First.”
What this mean is that representatives like Stefanik will try to co-opt Trumpism to advance “their own corrupt ends.”
The poster argued that “Stefanik’s star power relies on the 35-year-old’s youth and sex. Few young women are in the GOP caucus and the party is desperate (foolishly, ask Ann Coulter) to have its own Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.”
However, her voting record tells a different story. Stefanik has a putrid D career rating from NumbersUSA (one of the premier immigration patriot groups) since he she was elected in 2014. In this term, she has a mediocre C rating.
Washington Watcher II highlighted Stefanik’s suspect votes on immigration issues:
- This year, Stefanik co-sponsored the “Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act,” the deceptively-named green card giveaway to India. The bill would scrap country caps and allow the tech industry to hire more foreign workers. Indians would get at least 75 percent of all employment-based visas.
- She voted against Trump’s national emergency declaration that provided essential funding for border security [ICYMI: Putting the Nation First: Stefanik Votes To Block Trump’s National Emergency Declaration, March 4, 2019, Stefanik.House.Gov]. She claimed the vote put “the nation first.”
- In 2018, she campaigned on amnesty for illegal aliens who arrived as minors (DREAMers) and ending family separation, opposed reductions in refugee resettlement and wants Congress to have authority over the matter [Stefanik balked on border bills, by Abraham Kenmore, NNY360, October 4, 2018].
- She co-sponsored an Amnesty bill that would have given a pittance for border security in exchange for a DREAMer amnesty and restrictions on immigration enforcement [Stefanik announces support for compromise immigration bill, June 20, 2018, Stefanik.House.Gov]. Trump’s detention policies, she said, were “appalling.”
- She also backed a Democratic “discharge petition” that would’ve forced the House to vote for Amnesty [Stefanik Signs DACA Discharge Petition, May 9, 2018].
- She wants an expanded guest worker visa program that allows the agriculture industry to employ more foreign labor for a longer period of time [Stefanik backs bill on guest worker visas, Abraham Kenmore, Watertown Daily Times, July 23, 2018].
- She co-sponsored a bill to increase the number of green cards for Afghan refugees.
- She wants to make it easier to cross the U.S-Canada border [Bill to simplify border crossing passes U.S. Congress, by Alexander Panetta, The Canadian Press, December, 10, 2016]. This is a problem because illegal immigration via Canada is increasing.
- She voted against the Republicans’ best compromise on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The plan, proposed by then-Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte, would have given legal status to a limited number of DREAMers in exchange for full funding for the wall, elimination of chain migration, mandatory e-verify, and other patriotic immigration reforms. Stefanik preferred a more liberal compromise.
- She criticized Trump’s heroic comments about immigrants from “s***hole” countries as “wrong and contrary to our American ideals” [New York Republicans divided on Trump’s ‘sh*thole’ comments, by Grace Segers, City&State New York, January 12, 2018].
- In 2017, she opposed the travel ban and criticized the border wall as “not realistic.”
Interestingly, Stefanik’s Northeastern New York State district is dominated by agricultural interests. According to her website, agriculture is the district’s “backbone”. Additionally, she wants to increase the scope of the H-2A visa program in order to increase benefits for the dairy industry.
On other issues, Stefanik is anti-America First. According to Washington Watcher II, Stefanik ” strongly supported Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia collusion and indicated Trump was too pro-Russia.”
Indeed, the Republican Party at large is still suspect when it comes to its embrace of America First immigration policies.
Mass migration is a high stakes issue given its demographic impact and the potential disruption it could cause in America.
For that reason, Trump needs allies in Congress who actually offer substantive policies that advance America First interests.
Stefanik is clearly not one of them based on her voting record.
If immigration patriots want to see their policies through, they will have to thoroughly analyze elected official’s voting records and hold their feet to the fire when they deviate from the America First line.
Action, not fancy rhetoric, is what ultimately matters.
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