Why Immigration Restriction is DOA in Congress
Nearly two dozen Republicans already back amnesty legislation.
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) announced on May 14, 2026 the introduction of his 83 page ASSIMILATION Act, legislation he claims would “GUT the Hart-Celler Act of 1965” and “scrap provisions of the Immigration Act of the 1990s.”
“The goal of this bill is simple: end replacement migration and ensure American cultural cohesion,” Ogles tweeted. “This bill will end the H-1B scam, ensure migrants NEVER become a public charge, and make America look like America again. FYI, net immigration immediately decreases by 85% under this bill.”
The congressman detailed additional provisions including a “National Interest Standard,” “Stringent Character Tests,” “Mandatory E-Verify,” ending chain migration and the diversity lottery, gutting birthright citizenship, tougher asylum standards, stronger public charge rules, a ten year citizenship requirement, and “English & American Civics PROFICIENCY.”
On paper, this represents exactly the kind of legislation immigration restrictionists have demanded for decades. In practice, anyone holding their breath for its passage should prepare for disappointment. The Republican Party’s demonstrated allegiance to corporate interests that profit from mass immigration ensures this bill will never become law.
Offering a sobering reality check, Breitbart News reported that over a dozen House Republicans have now endorsed Rep. Maria Salazar’s (R-FL) “Dignity Act,” legislation that would grant amnesty to most of the nation’s 11 to 22 million illegal aliens while expanding legal immigration levels by channeling more foreign workers into American jobs.
Salazar first introduced this amnesty plan in 2022 during the largest wave of illegal immigration to the United States in recorded history under President Joe Biden. The legislation would initially provide amnesty to approximately 10.5 million illegal aliens who resided in the United States before 2021, provided they satisfy certain requirements, while more than doubling employment based legal immigration and dramatically expanding foreign student programs to ensure special corporate interests receive a steady supply of foreign labor.
The list of Republican co-sponsors for the Dignity Act reveals the depth of pro-amnesty sentiment within the GOP leadership class. Rep. Michael Lawler (R-NY), David Valadao (R-CA), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Gabe Evans (R-CO), Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), Don Bacon (R-NE), Young Kim (R-CA), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), James Baird (R-IN), Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), Kimberlyn King-Hinds (R-MP), James Moylan (R-GU), Monica De La Cruz (R-TX), Nick LaLota (R-NY), Neal Dunn (R-FL), Jennifer Kiggans (R-VA), and Zachary Nunn (R-IA) have all signed onto this amnesty legislation.
We should also not forget that Cuban Republicans can never be trusted on immigration restriction matters and will invariably play a role in scuttling such legislation. María Elvira Salazar, Mario Díaz-Balart, and Carlos Giménez each represent South Florida districts with strong Cuban exile connections. Each has devoted years to constructing legislative frameworks that could become the vehicle for the largest immigration overhaul since the Simpson-Mazzoli Act legalized nearly three million illegal aliens in 1986.
Díaz-Balart has championed the pro-amnesty cause longer than nearly anyone in the Republican caucus. In March 2021, he was among only nine Republicans in the House to vote for the American Dream and Promise Act, which included a citizenship pathway for DREAMers. He co-sponsors the Dignity Act, and his decades of work provide him with cross-aisle relationships few Republicans can rival.
Giménez holds a middle position. On his congressional website, he states he supports allowing illegal aliens to “come out of the shadows and be placed on a path to legal status,” while drawing a firm line against blanket citizenship. His willingness to defend Venezuelans facing deportation indicates he is no hardliner.
These three did not appear from nowhere. They represent the latest chapter in a Cuban Republican tradition of promoting immigration expansion that extends back to former representatives Lincoln Díaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in addition to current Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was a prominent amnesty advocate during his time in the U.S. Senate.
Lincoln Díaz-Balart, Mario’s brother, authored NACARA in 1997, granting legal residency to hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Nicaragua, Cuba, Guatemala, El Salvador, and former Eastern Bloc countries. On the House floor he stated, “I think it is our moral obligation and a requirement of elemental fairness that at the very least these refugees be considered under the rules in existence when they filed their applications.”
Ros-Lehtinen, the first Cuban American elected to Congress, became the second Republican to co-sponsor a Democrat-led comprehensive immigration reform bill in 2013 and consistently defended DREAMers throughout her career. Rubio, now Secretary of State, played the most dramatic role. He helped craft the Gang of Eight bill in 2013, which passed the Senate 68 to 32 with a thirteen year citizenship pathway for 11 million illegal immigrants. He argued, “Leaving things the way they are, that’s the real amnesty.” He later retreated during his 2016 presidential run, but the bill remains the most ambitious immigration reform to clear either chamber since 1986.
The same impulse that animated Rubio in 2013 has found new champions in the current Congress. Rep. Mike Lawler’s role in pushing the Dignity Act cannot be overstated. Lawler defends this by pointing to his wife, Doina, a naturalized citizen from Moldova, and arguing that “our immigration system should be based on the economic needs of the country.”
The New York congressman maintains an extensive record of promoting immigration expansion. In February 2026, Lawler co-led a bipartisan letter alongside Rep. Yvette Clarke (R-NY) signed by 100 members of Congress urging DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to exempt the healthcare sector from a $100,000 H-1B visa fee. He subsequently introduced the H-1Bs for Physicians and the Healthcare Workforce Act to eliminate the fee entirely for medical professionals. He has also championed Haitian nationals, introducing H.R. 1689 to mandate Temporary Protected Status and collaborated with Sen. Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) office to release a Haitian student from ICE detention.
Conservative backlash has been intense. The Daily Caller described Lawler as “attempting to resurrect an amnesty plan that was shut down before it could even take off.” Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) noted that “Dignity for Americans—the people whose interests we represent—should come first, not illegal aliens.” Despite this, Lawler enjoys the support of over 85 organizations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, and FWD.us, many of which benefit from expanded immigration.
As of May 2026, in the 119th Congress, Republicans hold 217 seats and Democrats hold 212 seats, with 5 vacancies and 1 independent caucusing with Republicans. That gives Republicans a 5 seat margin over Democrats, though the majority threshold is 218 seats when all seats are filled.
With nearly two dozen Republicans already supporting the Dignity Act, Andy Ogles’s ASSIMILATION Act is dead on arrival. The math simply does not work. Even if every other Republican voted for genuine immigration restriction, the pro-amnesty bloc within the party possesses sufficient numbers to kill any serious legislation. They need only join with Democrats to form a majority that favors immigration expansion over restriction.
Republicans remain beholden to Big Capital and financial interests that want never-ending streams of immigration to prop up home asset values while allowing corporate oligarchs to feast off low wages. The party’s donor class has made its preferences clear, and elected Republicans have responded accordingly.
Ultimately, the reason for this systematic failure stems from the Republican Party’s total capitulation to corporate interests that consider mass immigration vital for preserving cheap labor supplies. The financial ties between pro-immigration corporate lobbies and Republican politicians expose a party that has betrayed its electoral base for corporate money and immediate profits.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest business lobbying organization and a known booster of mass migration, shows overwhelming Republican preference. The Chamber has consistently donated 70 to 95 percent of its contributions to Republicans since 1990, spending $76.4 million on lobbying in 2024 with substantial portions devoted to immigration expansion.
Likewise, the National Association of Manufacturers contributed $297,500 to Republicans (70.4%) versus $125,000 to Democrats (29.6%) during the 2021 to 2022 election cycle. NAM explicitly advocates for increased employment based immigration quotas, reform of temporary worker programs, and legal status for illegal alien workers.
The agriculture industry has also contributed a record $41.3 million to Republicans (69.1%) versus $18.5 million to Democrats (30.9%) in the 2024 election cycle. Tyson Foods affiliates alone contributed $886,000 in the 2024 cycle, with approximately 80 percent directed to Republicans. This is particularly egregious given that Tyson employs 42,000 foreign-born workers, 35 percent of its U.S. workforce, and has stated it “would like to employ another 42,000 immigrants if we could find them.”
Anything less than fundamental systemic change amounts to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. The era of working within a captured Republican Party has ended. The demographic transformation of America’s two largest Republican states—Florida and Texas—under total GOP control already stands as the most devastating indictment possible of the party’s commitment to its stated principles. At the federal level, where such oligarchical power is even more pronounced, immigration restriction is a fantastical proposition given the constellation of forces that favor Mass Migration Inc. Republicans cannot be trusted because they have already demonstrated, through their governing record in Florida and Texas, that they will sacrifice America’s demographic future for corporate donor contributions.
Andy Ogles deserves credit for introducing legislation that nominally addresses the scale of America’s immigration crisis. But anyone who believes the ASSIMILATION Act represents the beginning of genuine reform misunderstands the forces arrayed against it. The Republican Party has chosen its side, and that side belongs to the corporate donors who profit from cheap labor, not the American workers who suffer from it.
Smart money points to this bill dying in the House. That’s the cold, hard truth.
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