Last night, Brandon Powers blogged on a resolution that has been submitted by FR friend and long-time GOP strategist and consultant Phil Paul to the State GOP. The gist of the resolution: the CRP should only hire citizens (the wording of it is that all employes must be, "legally registed to vote in California as members of the Republican Party").
I have known Phil for longer than I care to admit, and would serve in a foxhole with him any day. A more loyal friend you will not find. That said, as a member of the CRP, I would be voting against Phil’s resolution as it is currently written.
Phil’s resolution is clearly in response to the fact that the former COO of the party was an Austrailian citizen, and that another member of the CRP staff is a citizen of Canada.
America was built by immigrants — with the exception of those of native American Indian ancestry, everyone in this country is either an immigrant, or their parents, grandparents or ancesters were from another country. I believe strongly in immigration, and our party has a strong tradition of the same.
I have trouble understanding why we would limit employment in the GOP to citizens only. I believe in a system that says you have to be in America for some period of time before you can become a citizen, but I don’t believe that we should restrict where someone should be employed during that waiting period.
It probably goes without saying, but I think we are all talking about LEGAL immigrants as a part of this debate. I do not think the State GOP, or any other employer in California, should hire criminal aliens.
That said, if immigrants are in America legally, and believe in the principles of our party, they should be able to work for our great party in any capacity. When I was Executive Director of the State GOP, I didn’t have the opportunity to go to a swearing-in ceremony to have a CRP employee take the oath of citizenship. But as an elected party officer now, I relish the opportunity if it comes along.
I was very annoyed during the recent debate over President Bush’s lame/stupid/ill-advised amnesty bill when I watched Dan Henninger over at the Wall Street Journal basically say that opposition was primarily coming from nativist, anti-immigration (of any kind) Americans. Henninger’s premise was that many GOPers aren’t anti-illegal immigration, but rather just anti-immigration period. I reject that notion. We are anti-welfare state, and thanks to the actions of our politicians in Washington, D.C., everyone in this country is entitled to hand-outs which means we need to factor that in as we consider sensible immigration policy.
