FILE - In this Oct. 5, 2011 file photo, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., speaks at the Newseum in Washington. In an opinion piece published Sunday Jan. 27, 2013 in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Rubio wrote that the existing system amounts to "de facto amnesty," and he called for "commonsense reform." (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)
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FILE - In this Oct. 5, 2011 file photo, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., speaks at the Newseum in Washington. In an opinion piece published Sunday Jan. 27, 2013 in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Rubio wrote that the existing system amounts to "de facto amnesty," and he called for "commonsense reform." (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)
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Press Secretary Jay Carney briefs reporters at the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
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Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., center, takes a reporter's question as a bipartisan group of leading senators announce that they have reached agreement on the principles of sweeping legislation to rewrite the nation's immigration laws, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. From left are Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. The deal covers border security, guest workers and employer verification, as well as a path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants already in this country. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., right, confer as they and other leading senators announce that they have reached agreement on the principles of sweeping legislation to rewrite the nation's immigration laws, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. The deal covers border security, guest workers and employer verification, as well as a path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants already in this country. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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Rep. Joe Garcia, D-Fla, states his support for immigrants and pledges to work in favor of immigration reform to reporters as immigration reform activists protest in front of Freedom Tower in downtown Miami, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. The Florida Immigrant Coalition, together with other immigrant families and community organizations, have initiated the "Di Que Si!" campaign, which translates into English "Say yes!," demanding immigration reform that creates a system that keeps families united. Activists and immigrants also asked for the suspension of deportations as lawmakers work on immigration reform, and announced they will join a national mobilization in favor of immigration reform in Washington D.C. on April 10. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
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A bipartisan group of leading senators announce that they have reached agreement on the principles of sweeping legislation to rewrite the nation's immigration laws, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. From left are Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. The deal covers border security, guest workers and employer verification, as well as a path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants already in this country. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2013, photo, Vice President Joe Biden reacts with his wife, Jill, as they walk down Pennsylvania Avenue en route to the White House, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013, in Washington, during the Inaugural Parade during the 57th Presidential Inauguration parade after the ceremonial swearing-in of President Barack Obama. Biden in 2016? The inauguration is barely over but the vice president already is dropping plenty of hints that he might have another political act. Biden packed his schedule with events and receptions attended by party stalwarts throughout the long weekend of inauguration festivities, stoking speculation he may be laying the groundwork to carry the torch from Obama. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. passes the gavel to House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, who was re-elected as House Speaker of the 113th Congress, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. gets a kiss from House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio after he was re-elected as House Speaker as the 113th Congress began, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio bangs the gavel after being re-elected as House Speaker of the 113th Congress, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Border Activist Wary of Immigration Reform
SHOTLIST:
AP Television - AP Clients Only
Los Angeles - Jan. 29, 2013
1. SOUNDBITE: Jim Gilchrist / Co-Founder and President of the Minuteman Project
I'm very skeptical at what the president wants to do will actually happen. I'm also very suspect that President Obama really wants to recruit about 15 million new voters to the Democratic Party.
2 SOUNDBITE: Jim Gilchrist / Co-Founder of the Minuteman Project
I think we're going to see more of the same....lawlessness, good intentions, but no serious intention to enforce our immigration laws.
3. SOUNDBITE: Jim Gilchrist / Co-Founder of the Minuteman Project
I have to criticize the senator and Senator Rubio, and Lindsey Graham and all those other, so called Republicans who are trying to be complicit with the Democratic Party's attempt to pretend that we are no longer a nation of laws, that we are a nation of mob rule, and that mob being 11, 15, 20, who knows, 30 million illegal aliens.
4. SOUNDBITE: Jim Gilchrist / Co-Founder of the Minuteman Project
Illegal aliens look upon the Democratic Party as their savior, the party that will provide a nanny state that they need to live a dignified life....that life being funded essentially by U.S. Taxpayers.
5. SOUNDBITE: Jim Gilchrist / Co-Founder of the Minuteman Project
This is going to create more of the same problem. If we are going to bring amnesty to 15 to 30 million people who are here illegally now, we're going to be granting amnesty to 300 million people who will be following them over the next several decades.
STORYLINE:
President Barack Obama declared Tuesday that "now is the time" to fix the broken U.S. immigration system, diving into the politically explosive issue with broad proposals for putting millions of illegal immigrants on a clear path to citizenship while cracking down on businesses that employ people illegally and tightening security at the borders.
Obama, speaking at a campaign-style rally in Las Vegas, sought to win public support for changes that would give an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants a chance to become citizens. The president hailed a bipartisan Senate group working on a similar track but left unresolved key details that could derail the complex and emotional effort.
In Los Angeles, Jim Gilchrist, the co-founder of the Minuteman Project said, "I'm very skeptical at what the president wants to do will actually happen. I'm also very suspect that President Obama really wants to recruit about 15 million new voters to the Democratic Party."
Gilchrist was also critical of Republican lawmakers, saying " I have to criticize the senator and Senator Rubio, and Lindsey Graham and all those other, so called Republicans who are trying to be complicit with the Democratic Party's attempt to pretend that we are no longer a nation of laws, that we are a nation of mob rule, and that mob being 11, 15, 20, who knows, 30 million illegal aliens."
Immigration has quickly and surprisingly emerged as a rare issue with at least some kind of bipartisan support in a deeply divided Congress, where gun control and tackling the massive deficit face far bigger fights ahead.
The dueling immigration campaigns have emerged as a consequence of the November presidential election, which gave Obama more than 70 percent of the Hispanic vote in a defeat of Republican rival Mitt Romney, who famously urged illegal immigrants to "self-deport." Republican lawmakers who had previously opposed immigration reform have been forced to reconsider it and rebuild the party's reputation among Hispanics, an increasingly powerful political force.
(****END****)
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