Conservative 'fly-in' aims to sell House GOP on immigration

Alan Gomez | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — During a rally on the National Mall last week, thousands of immigrants, union workers, civil rights activists and Democratic leaders called on the Republican-controlled House to pass a bill to revamp the nation's immigration system.

But a much smaller group heading to Capitol Hill later this month may be more influential over Republicans who are skeptical that an overhaul is a good idea.

About 300 conservatives from around the country and with varying backgrounds — pastors, farmers, police chiefs, business owners — will arrive in Washington on Oct. 28 to meet with Republican lawmakers and make a conservative pitch for a new immigration law.

Participants in the "fly-in" say they can better speak to the conservative members of the U.S. House since they share many ideals on government.

"I'm not an advocate of open borders. I'm not an advocate of blanket amnesty. I just see (undocumented immigrants) who are hurting and want to contribute to their family ... and the system is not working for them," said Jeremy Hudson, a pastor whose Fellowship Christian Church operates in House Speaker John Boehner's Ohio district.

The fly-in is being organized not by conservative groups, but organizations that have focused on legalizing millions of people who are in the U.S. illegally and changing the legal immigration system to bring in more foreign workers.

Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, a group that has advocated for changes in immigration law to help legal and undocumented immigrants for three decades, said the broad collection coming to Washington represents "the conservative base of the Republican Party."

Among those involved in the fly-in are the pro-business U.S. Chamber of Commerce; the Partnership for a New American Economy, which was founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; and FWD.us, co-founded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other tech-industry leaders who have been bankrolling campaigns that support immigration overhauls.

The coalition organized another fly-in earlier in the year to push the Senate to pass its version of an immigration bill, which it did in June. That bill allows the USA's undocumented immigrants to apply for U.S. citizenship within 13 years, adds 20,000 Border Patrol agents to secure the Southwest border and increases the number of high-tech and lower-skilled foreign workers allowed into the country.

In the House of Representatives, however, Republicans are concerned that granting "amnesty" to the nation's 12 million undocumented immigrants should be done only after the border is truly secured to prevent future waves of illegal immigration.

One anti-illegal immigration group says some of the individuals being brought to Washington to pressure conservatives are "establishment" leaders whose opinions do not reflect those of their members.

Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, a group that opposes the Senate bill and advocates for lower levels of legal and illegal immigration, said evangelical church members do not embrace an immigration overhaul even though some pastors are coming to Capitol Hill to advocate for it.

"They really don't represent the rank and file," Beck said.

Lanae Erickson Hatalsky of the Third Way, a think tank that supports an immigration overhaul that includes citizenship for undocumented immigrants, says the fly-in differs from the usual gatherings of like-minded folks in Washington.

"The kinds of rallies that get the progressive community together are really aimed at just keeping this conversation in the limelight and giving people something to do," Hatalsky said. "Those more conservative people and their unusual suspects are aimed at a different goal — actually persuading conservative members of Congress that this is something they need to do and providing them the political cover they need."

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah,is one of the conservative lawmakers the group will be speaking with. Chaffetz came to Congress in 2008 after beating out six-term incumbent Chris Cannon, a supporter of immigration reform.

Chaffetz has come to embrace many aspects of immigration overhaul, sponsoring a bill that was passed by the House in 2011 to expand visas for high-tech workers and, more recently, expressing his support for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

"Having more pastors, more business people, more farmers come and talk about their problems — I'm going to applaud that," Chaffetz said.

However, Chaffetz said the group will find that progress on their issue is stuck on Capitol Hill because of strong differences of opinion on how to improve the situation.

Many of his House colleagues oppose granting legal status to undocumented immigrants before other aspects of immigration reform, such as border security and worksite enforcement, are settled, Chaffetz said. Until then, he said, no amount of conservative lobbying will persuade the House to support a pathway to citizenship.

"The numbers are not here in the House," he said. 'It's not even close."

That won't stop 70-year-old rancher Terry Jones from making the trip from Emmett, Idaho.

Jones, who describes himself as "a Tea Party person," said the nation's immigration system has made it impossible for him to find enough legal workers to staff his Rim Fire Ranch. He got tired of looking for legal workers so he sold his 700 dairy cows and leased his land to an outside company that does the work.

"I was getting too old to fuss with finding the labor," Jones said. "We're not here wanting to break the laws. Heavens to Betsy, we've got stewardship of the land and our animals, employees we want to treat right and pay a fair wage to. But the government is just interested in ... who's going to get the credit, who's going to get the votes."

Ujjwal Gupta hopes to persuade Republicans by showing how changes in immigration policy can help improve the American economy. The native of India got a doctorate degree in chemistry from Pennsylvania State University and co-founded BenchPrep, a system that allows students to prepare for tests on their computers and mobile devices.

Gupta said he and countless others are struggling to enter or remain in the United States legally

Some, like Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., view the proposed increase in high-tech visas as an idea being pushed by U.S. employers to get cheaper workers. But Gupta says he wants to prove to members of Congress that their districts would benefit from more high-tech foreigners.

"Now that you don't need a lot of money to start a technology company, there are going to be a lot more entrepreneurial hubs opening up," said Gupta, whose company operates out of Chicago. "Silicon Valley is going to be replicated in Austin, in the Midwest, in Boston, in New York. This immigration reform is going to have more impact outside (Silicon) Valley than inside it."

Beck, of NumbersUSA, does not see the pressure campaign working.

"If (a member of Congress) has an evangelical group come in and say 'We want you to pass comprehensive immigration reform,' back home, they are not getting that feeling from the evangelical congregations. So I think we have been, and continue to win, the credibility fight among Republicans in the House."