Immigration Groups to Target House of Representatives GOP

With Congress headed into summer recess and GOP House members headed back to districts where they will pander to the racists and white supremacists in the GOP base - most of whom, of course, profess to be godly Christian despite the fact that they are filled with hate towards others - pro-immigration reform groups are planning to target these GOP Congress members and perhaps convince them that doing the right thing should trump pandering to horrible people.  A piece in Politico looks at the planned effort.  Here are excerpts:

Outside groups plan to target more than 100 House Republicans over the August recess with an aggressive ground game aimed at persuading lawmakers to embrace immigration reform.

Their goal: prove that it’s not just Washington insiders who want a comprehensive immigration overhaul, but that conservative voters in their districts support it as well.

The unusually coordinated effort to win the recess includes a major grass-tops initiative by pro-reform groups like American Action Network, the Partnership for a New American Economy, Republicans for Immigration Reform and others to connect local business leaders, mayors, pastors and activists with GOP lawmakers on their home turf.

“During the previous debate when President [George W.] Bush pushed for immigration reform, there was no grass-roots effort and a loud minority that opposes reform controlled the dialogue. This time, proponents of reform are not going to be caught off-guard.” 

Unions and other immigration activist groups like the SEIU, AFSCME, the National Council of La Raza and others are going to lay out their immigration reform summer plan Wednesday on Capitol Hill that includes holding hundreds of events in districts across the country in an effort to target key lawmakers while members are at home during August.

Of course, the reform groups won’t have the battlefield to themselves.  Groups like NumbersUSA and the Federation for American Immigration Reform, who oppose the Senate’s immigration bill, have plans to gin up activists across the country to attend town halls and vocally oppose reform.

But reform advocates believe they’ve got the infrastructure in place to beat back those appeals.  Pro-reform outside groups have been coordinating in recent weeks in a nearly unprecedented way. Senior strategists from numerous groups are engaging in daily conference calls to ensure that they are targeting districts in a comprehensive way.

It will be an interesting spectacle to watch.