Brian Bilbray, IRC Chair
The House Immigration Reform Caucus (IRC) recently updated its website with a slick new interface. Along with the new website, the Caucus revealed its list of members following the 2010 midterm elections last November. The Caucus now boasts 65 members from a variety of states including Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Steve King of Iowa, two of the most outspokenly anti-immigrant members of the House.
Founded in May 1999 by former Rep. Tom Tancredo, IRC members have introduced punitive anti-immigration legislation and played a key role in scuttling recent immigration reforms by dragging worthy proposals through a cesspool of nativism and xenophobia. The Caucus’ current chair, Brian Bilbray of California, is a former lobbyist for the anti-immigrant group Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).
What is interesting about the Caucus today in comparison to the Caucus in 2009 is the significant decline in members. In 2009, the Caucus had 93 members. Today it lists only 65. That is a decrease of 28 members in two years, almost a 30% drop.
There are many factors that may have contributed to the decline, such as existing members losing their seats, retiring members, or those who voluntarily left the Caucus. The Caucus’ ties to anti-immigrant groups such as FAIR could be another reason for the decline in membership. The majority of the members have been with the Caucus for many years, but there are a few newly-elected Representatives who joined the Caucus in 2011, such as Sandy Adams of Florida and Chip Cravaack of Minnesota.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) – while claiming to represent the “mainstream” of the American anti-immigrant movement – is a carefully crafted entity whose mission is to achieve the goal of zero immigration to the U.S. by blaming immigrants as the cause of economic, population and environmental problems. As the pivotal player in the John Tanton Network, a web of controversial anti-immigrant organizations orchestrated by John Tanton, FAIR pulls the strings of today’s anti-immigrant movement.
The drastic decline in membership however, is not a clear indication of how much anti-immigrant legislation will be introduced at the Federal level. It is unwise to assume a decline in the Caucus, the promoter of the most draconian immigration legislation, signals a decline in the number of anti-immigrant bills.
Bills to mandate E-verify and to alter the 14th Amendment of the Constitution are on the table this session. At the state level, anti-immigrant bills similar to Arizona’s SB1070 are making their way through the Houses and Senates in dozens of states.
Even with its smaller membership, IRC will continue to work with anti-immigrant groups such as the Center for Immigration Studies and FAIR. When the current chair, Brian Bilbray, took over in 2007 he announced plans to work closely with groups like FAIR and Center for Immigration Studies, to “seek their input on the legislative proposals.”
The sharp decline in IRC members is certainly a positive sign, but immigrant rights supporters must not ignore the bills that are on the table today.