Today, after trying to back-pedal on his slam against Romney, Reince Priebus went on to make the Republican position on Immigration, as clear as mud.
First the awkward correction from the RNC website itself:
Correcting the Record -- GOP Blog
Posted August 16, 2013
See below for RNC Chairman Reince Priebus’ remarks regarding “self deportation.”
Transcript:
Priebus: I don’t know about a mistake, but I would just say some of those issues are very candidate-focused. I would just say using the word “self deportation”…I mean, that’s a horrific comment to make. Its not something that has anything to do with our party. Someone who makes those comments, obviously it hurts us. [...]
Now, the RNC chairman resolving today at the RNC planning meeting, to make the GOP immigration position crystal clear to all Gophers in attendance:
Exclusive: RNC Ups Immigration Reform Pressure On Congressional GOP — But Rejects Path To Citizenship
by Zeke J Miller, Time, Swampland -- August 16, 2013
The Republican National Committee passed a resolution Friday calling on Congress to pass an immigration reform bill by the end of the year -- but it stopped well short of the bipartisan compromise passed by the Senate earlier this year, omitting a “path to citizenship” for any class of illegal immigrant.
The resolution calls on Congress to create a special legal status for illegal immigrants brought to America as minors -- or “DREAMers,” as immigration activists call them, for the eponymous bill to provide them legal status -- which would include a renewable five-year work permit. They would have to provide proof of employment or enrollment to retain the status.
For illegal immigrants who came to the United States above the age of 18, under the plan advocated by the RNC they would be eligible for two-year renewable work permits, but no path to citizenship.
It also calls for the completion of a border fence and increased law enforcement patrols.
[...]
Nothing "dream-deflating" about the Official GOP party position at all, is there?
Well at least, they've moved from the position of "self-deportation" to the new position of merely "self-defeating."
So Immigrants, as far as the GOP is concerned, "You're moving on up" their worthiness ladder.
Other pundits are even less sanguine on the RNC's new "See the Light" resolution:
RNC Message to Immigrants: “You Are Not Good Enough to Be American Citizens”
America's Voice -- 08/16/2013
[...]
The following is a statement from Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice, responding to the news:
The RNC has passed a resolution calling for immigration reform by the end of the year. Okay, good start. But then they went downhill -- fast. The RNC’s vision of reform would consign millions of immigrants -- including DREAMers -- to a permanent underclass. It says that you can graduate from our universities and serve in our armed forces, but you can’t be a citizen. It says you can scrub our floors, bus our tables, make our beds and care for our kids but you are not good enough to be one of us. It says you can get to the back of the bus, and never have a chance to earn the full rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
Yeah but there's always the Election of 2020 to look forward to -- maybe the GOP will have "dreamt up" their "See the Light II" underclass resolution, by then.
Not likely, but with the Republican Party, they always know how to keep the people hanging on their every, last discouraging word. Afterall the GOP is the place, where all our "dreams go to die."