{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://rohrabacher.house.gov/rep-rohrabacher-california-model-whole-country-if-amnesty-passes", "Rep. Rohrabacher: California is the model for the whole country, if amnesty passes", "2013-11-06", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "CA", "Dana Rohrabacher", "R000409", "rohrabacher.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON\u2014\u201cIf we have amnesty, the breakdown that has happened in California will be the model of what happens to the whole country,\u201d said Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, in an exclusive interview with SFPPR News & Analysis.\nShould Congress grant amnesty, Rohrabacher, who represents Southern California\u2019s 48th congressional district, projects that America will move in a more collectivist direction that will \u201cerase our individualist and free enterprise system,\u201d making the \u201cnation much more Leftist and socialist.\u201d\nAt the heart of the matter, Congressman Rohrabacher believes \u201cthe Left is very interested in changing our society and changing the fundamentals of our society,\u201d where it \u201csees illegal immigration and \u2018immigration reform\u2019 as a means to transform our nation.\u201d Barack Obama\u2019s own words spoken on October 30, 2008 at a campaign rally in Columbia, Missouri come to mind, and they are instructive. The would-be president proclaimed, \u201cWe are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.\u201d\nTaken together, Obamacare and amnesty for illegal immigrants, indeed, would do just that and our Founders would find America unrecognizable.\nNow that the government shutdown has been resolved, President Obama and Republican leaders are looking to bring so-called \u201cimmigration reform\u201d back into the national discussion, much to the chagrin of conservative members of Congress, who view the establishment proposals as amnesty.\nRohrabacher said America has \u201chad a culture that has been very open\u201d to people of various backgrounds but the nature of American society cannot be sustained \u201cwith the mass injection of millions of people into our society.\u201d\nHe attacked the Democrat Party\u2019s mantra that amnesty is all about helping the poor and downtrodden, saying \u201cthis is not a plan to help poor people who are struggling for a better life; they see these people as political pawns and big business sees them as cheap labor.\u201d\nIn Rohrabacher\u2019s view, the goal of the Left is the accumulation of power.\nHe says \u201cthe Left wants to use illegal immigrants and an amnesty program to gain political seats, whether it\u2019s in the state legislatures or the U.S. Congress to give them such a solid majority, as well with the presidential election, that will give them the ability to dramatically change the nature of our society.\u201d\nThe Congressman places special emphasis on saying, \u201cObama and his cohorts want to change the basic nature of our society and this is part of their game-plan.\u201d Rohrabacher described how the Left increases its power through expanding \u201cmulticulturalism and polygloting our society.\u201d\nRohrabacher\u2019s statements present a similar bleak projection by conservative commentator Ann Coulter at the 2013 CPAC who said, \u201cif amnesty goes through, America becomes California and no Republican will ever win another election.\u201d\nA similar warning was echoed by Phyllis Schlafly of Eagle Forum, who said in a recent Townhall Op-ed that \u201camnesty\u201d will mean \u201csuicide for the Republican Party\u201d and with the \u201cinflux of these new voters will reduce or eliminate Republicans\u2019 ability to offer an alternative to big government, increased government spending, and favorite liberal policies such as Obamacare and gun control.\u201d\nAs far as pro-amnesty fellow Republicans are concerned, Rohrabacher\u2019s description of their agenda was much simpler saying they\u2019re \u201ckowtowing to the interests of big business who wants cheap labor.\u201d\nPutting the numerical affects of a prospective amnesty in perspective, Rohrabacher, who represents Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa, disputed the traditional figure of 11 million illegal aliens, which he says \u201cis based on very old numbers that are about 10 years old.\u201d The Congressman indicates that the actual number of illegal aliens in the United States \u201cis closer to 20 million.\u201d However, he says that \u201cif you include family reunification, as happened with the last amnesty, it will be closer to 30 or 40 million.\u201d\nFurthermore, he projects that once amnesty passes and is announced, there will be approximately another \u201c10 to 20 million that could start to come in.\u201d Therefore, he concludes, we are looking \u201cat a situation where approximately 50 million people could be granted amnesty\u201d in the United States, truly transforming America as we\u2019ve known it.\nBy then injecting these additional millions of people into the U.S. economy, Rohrabacher says it will \u201cdrive down the wages of anybody trying to get a start in life,\u201d and most \u201cdramatically hit on America\u2019s poor standard of living.\u201d\nThis will occur, because, according to Rohrabacher, illegal aliens are basically \u201cpoor and uneducated\u201d and they will be \u201cinjected into the economy\u201d causing a much more \u201ccompetitive economic environment,\u201d resulting in tremendous societal dislocations.\nIn using California as the model again, Rohrabacher points out that \u201cthe cascade of economic troubles in California can be traced back to Ronald Reagan\u2019s amnesty in 1986.\u201d This was then felt politically, when the Republican Party of California \u201clost 50% of the [Republican] members of our legislature.\u201d The Congressman says that \u201cit took about 10 years for the full impact to be felt\u201d but in the end it transformed California into a one-party, socialist state.\nAs this is applied to the so-called Affordable Care Act, Congressman Rohrabacher believes that \u201cif Obamacare is made available to people who came here illegally, then that will certainly attract large numbers of people, along with their families to come here\u201d to the United States. Consequently, Rohrabacher concludes, \u201cwe may end up with just as many uninsured people in the system and it would lead to a chaotic situation in providing health care for people who are immigrants, legal or illegal.\u201d\nEdwin Meese III, who served as President Reagan\u2019s attorney general knows and understands, perhaps better than anyone else today, both how similar the Senate proposal is to the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which ultimately granted amnesty to nearly three million illegal aliens. The un-kept promises for this amnesty included border security, immigration enforcement and sanctions against employers who violate the law.\nAccording to recent polling, as reported by The Hill newspaper, 60 percent of likely voters oppose the Senate\u2019s Gang of Eight amnesty plan, while \u201c44 percent of likely voters want the government to reduce the number of permanent work visas issued.\u201d\nIf this amnesty model is then applied to the country at large, Rohrabacher, a staunch defender of American borders and national sovereignty, is afraid \u201cour economic system could collapse\u201d under \u201cthe weight of the socialist system.\u201d\nClick HERE for Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://rohrabacher.house.gov/rep-rohrabacher-california-model-whole-country-if-amnesty-passes"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6132369637489319, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}