Gingrich says Senate's immigration bill would allow 30-36 million illegals to stay in U.S.

May 13, 2006

Newt Gingrich, former House Speaker, is warning that the immigration bill nearing approval by Senate Republicans will drive Republicans toward “disaster.” Gingrich says the bill would allow 30 to 36 million illegal aliens to remain in the U.S., despite the 11 or 12 million predicted by the bill’s supporters.

Gingrich said that the average American will be ‘furious’ with the GOP over the bill, and that it will wind up hurting the GOP.

"I am very worried that the Republican leadership in the Senate and potentially the White House are just going to end up very alienated from the vast majority of Americans on this issue," Gingrich said.

Gingrich called the Senate bill “an absolute disaster. He also criticized the Senate makeup of the conference committee, saying the agreement made between Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R.-Tenn.) and Minority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) "guarantees a bad bill."

He added, "The bill they're looking at is a bad bill. It violates, in almost every case, what the American people want." He cited a recent poll released by Zogby and the Center for Immigration Studies showing overwhelming support – 65% to 30% – for the House bill, a measure that emphasizes enforcement.

Nine out of 10 respondents favored making English proficiency a requirement to earn citizenship and 85% endorsed a voter-identity card to guarantee that only American citizens were casting ballots.

"The Senate bill expands substantially who can be brought in as a member of the family," Gingrich noted. "So you take 11 million and add the other people, and we believe the real number is between 30 million and 36 million."

Gingrich said that President Bush had “a great opportunity” with his Monday night speech, “to re-bond with the overwhelming majority of the American people. And the overwhelming majority of the American people say, ‘Put border security first.'"