Parker Griffith’s real position on illegal immigration

Parker Griffith is attempting to run for Congress as a Republican with a “D” beside his name.  He is making every effort to sound like a conservative, but his background, including his time in Alabama’s senate, suggests otherwise.

On the topic of illegal immigration Griffith boasts on his campaign website that he “co-sponsored the toughest illegal immigration bill this session.”

“In the State Senate I co-sponsored SB 426 as introduced by Senator Beason to address illegal immigration in Alabama. The goal of this legislation is to make Alabama a less attractive place for illegal immigrants to live, protect taxpayers who should not foot the bill for services for those here illegally, and preserve Alabama jobs for our citizens. It is my hope that this legislation can be used as a starting point to address this growing problem.”

There is a tiny little problem, though.  Griffith actually actively impeded Scott Beason’s bill despite being a co-sponsor.  He also opposed attempts to pass individual portions of Beason’s bill.

Griffith Skips Committee Hearing

The Beason bill, SB426, (read it here) is modeled after the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007.  It was one of a handful of bills in the Alabama legislature pertaining to illegal immigration and was the most comprehensive.  The first challenge that the bill faced in the Senate was getting through the Fiscal Responsibility and Accountability Committee (FRAC).

The FRAC is composed of eleven senators.  Six members are required to be present in order for the committee to vote.  On Wednesday, March 6th the Beason bill was on the committee’s agenda.  When the meeting started there were only five senators present, not enough for the group to vote.  The absences did not appear to be accidental and there were reports about pro-illegal immigrant lobbying interests warning certain senators before they entered the room.  At one point a senator left the meeting and another promptly entered – they weren’t there simultaneously, so there was not a quorum.  It was quite obvious that it was part of a conscious attempt to block the bill’s progress by not having enough members present to vote on it.  (Read my previous post about this sham of a meeting here.)

One of the six senators on the committee who failed to show up was none other than Parker Griffith.  He was in a meeting with business groups from Huntsville and said that he couldn’t leave to attend even a portion of the hour plus meeting.  But Rep. Sue Schmitz was at the same meeting with Huntsville business leaders and said that she stepped out to attend to her legislative duties.  If Griffith really supported Beason’s bill wouldn’t he have briefly left the glad handing session and gone to the FRAC meeting long enough for them to vote and move the bill along?

The next day a columnist from The Huntsville Times called Griffith to ask him about the situation.  Griffith told the Times that he had “no position on the bill yet.”  With co-sponsors like that who needs opponents?!  Of course, all this happened the first week of March, more than a week before Bud Cramer announced his retirement and Parker Griffith opportunistically decided to pretend to be a conservative Republican with a “D” beside his name.  After sharply negative feedback about the skipped meeting and Cramer’s retirement announcement Griffith abruptly decided he was going to support the bill and he voted to move it through the FRAC.

But the skipped FRAC meeting wasn’t Griffith’s only attempt to stand in the way of illegal immigration legislation.

Griffith Does Not Vote for the Beason Bill

On April 30th the senate was considering another illegal immigration bill, SB226.  This bill was sponsored by Arthur Orr and was much more narrow in its focus, only dealing with public benefits.  Scott Beason offered a substitute for Orr’s bill (with Orr’s hearty support).  The substitute he offered was word-for-word identical to his own bill, SB426.  It was an attempt by Beason and other Senate Republicans to circumvent the Democrat majority that was holding up his bill.  This occurred after Parker Griffith miraculously became a self-proclaimed conservative and supposed supporter of Beason’s bill, so you might expect him to enthusiastically support the substitution.  You would be wrong, though.

Griffith voted “Present” (Roll Call 357) during a vote to determine whether or not to table (i.e. kill) the substitution.  That is the equivalent of saying, “I don’t want to go on record supporting or opposing this bill.”  If Griffith really supported SB426, and didn’t just sign on as a co-sponsor so that the could brag about it in his campaign literature, then he would have voted “no” to tabling the substitution.

Griffith Votes Against Portions of the Beason Bill

Beason also offered amendments to Orr’s bill, again with Orr’s approval and support, that were word-for-word excerpts from his own bill – the bill Griffith now claims to be an avid supporter of:

• Amendment 102231-1 dealt with harboring or transporting illegal aliens.  Griffith voted to table the amendment (Roll Call 358).
• Amendment 102232-3 stipulated that when individuals are charged with a felony or DUI that a “reasonable effort” be made to determine their legal status.  The amendment passed 26-4 with Griffith voting yes (Roll Call 359).
• Amendment 102244-1 would have restricted illegal aliens from receiving “any postsecondary education benefit, including, but not limited to, scholarships or financial aid.”  In Roll Call 360 Griffith voted to table the amendment.
• Amendment 102247-1 would have dealt with the sale and distribution of fraudulent identification documents.  Griffith voted to table this amendment as well (Roll Call 361).
• Amendment 102249-3 required that authorities attempt to confirm the legality of persons in custody for a crime that required bail.  Griffith voted to kill the amendment (Roll Call 362), but the motion to table the bill failed by a vote of 12-11.  It then passed 21-4 (Roll Call 363), with Griffith changing his position and voting in favor along with other Democrats who supported tabling it just moments before.  (He voted against it before he voted for it!)
• Amendment 102254-2 required that motorists have a valid drivers license in their possession.  The amendment passed 25-4 with Griffith voting yes (Roll Call 364).
• Amendment 102240-1 would have required employers to verify the work eligibility status of all employees.  Griffith also voted to table this amendment (Roll Call 365).

Griffith voted to block five amendments that were direct excerpts from Beason’s bill.   If Griffith is such a big supporter of Beason’s bill then why did he prevent its substitution and why did he then vote against five amendments to another bill that were taken word-for-word from Beason’s bill?

That last question is somewhat rhetorical because the answer is obvious.  Parker Griffith does not really support Scott Beason’s illegal immigration bill.  He is a supporter in name only solely for political benefit.  He realizes that he is running for Congress in a conservative district and that his real position on such legislation, which is manifestly obvious based on his actions, would not be popular.  So he signed on as a cosponsor in order to boast about it on his website, while assuming you would never know the truth.  Don’t be fooled.