Tea Party Leader Sal Russo Pens Op-Ed Calling For Conservatives To Act On Immigration Reform

Sal Russo, the co-founder of the Tea Party Express political action group, published an op-ed on Roll Call on Wednesday calling for conservatives to take up immigration reform with a path to legal status -- if not necessarily citizenship -- for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. “Conservatives should be at the forefront of reform so the law reflects the just interests of the United States, not misty-eyed ideals of some of the liberal do-gooder reformers,” Russo writes.

The endorsement of Russo, a former strategist with Ronald Reagan and George Bush senior and owner of political lobbying firm Russo Marsh & Rogers, may come as a surprise, as House Republicans associated with the Tea Party movement have been among the staunchest opponents of reforms dealing with more than just increased surveillance, walls, and patrols along the US-Mexico border. Russo calls that “an essential element of any immigration reform,” but indicated that the establishment of a “rational visa policy” which cut away at incentives for illegal immigration could serve an even more important role.

“That means fixing the broken system we have that relies on quotas and diversity, instead of a system based on what America needs,” he said. “Because we have no visa for entrepreneurs, the most innovative people around the world are starting companies and creating jobs elsewhere.” The op-ed goes on to advocate for legal status “but not unbridled amnesty” for the undocumented, echoing other House GOP leaders’ calls for a plan which grants them no “special pathway to citizenship” -- as would a comprehensive Senate bill -- but adds them to the existing backlog of green-card and citizenship applications.