Tea Party leaders stand with Rand Paul on amnesty for illegal aliens (Jenny Beth Martin, Sal Russo, Matt Kibbe, Freedomworks)

Three Tea Party leaders have now indicated that they support or won't oppose Rand Paul's plan to legalize almost all illegal aliens in the U.S. That plan would fail miserably and it isn't in any way conservative.

The three leaders are:

* Jenny Beth Martin of the Tea Party "Patriots" (@JennyBethM)
* Sal Russo of the Tea Party Express (@SalRusso1, @TeaPartyExpress)
* Matt Kibbe of FreedomWorks (@MKibbe, @FreedomWorks)

If you're a Teapartier who opposes amnesty, it's time for you to turn on those leaders: seek replacements for them, join a Tea Parties group that's led by actual patriots, or at the least work to change their minds and get them to strongly oppose amnesty.

Quotes from this (bolding added):

...Sal Russo, founder of the Tea Party Express, called Paul a "favorite of the group," and despite the movement's focus on the national debt, spending and economic issues he praised Paul's "willingness to stand up and take a principled stand" on immigration... "A lot of people voted for Reagan that didn't agree with him on everything, but he spoke boldly... ...That's what we are sort of applauding with Rand Paul…It's refreshing to have someone raise an issue in a clear and unambiguous way. We think it needs to happen on the fiscal issues... ...I think the immigration issue is an important issue and Republicans have looked like they have their head in the sand and are not being serious about addressing a problem... ...People are in this country a long time and they are not legal. We have to get them legal in some way in a process that gets people legal that are here... We should do it because it's the right thing. We need to reform immigration because we need a system that works."

...[Matt Kibbe of Freedomworks] said immigration is not an issue FreedomWorks champions and said proposing citizenship for undocumented aliens is a "calculated risk," and would be "risky water for anyone," but said Paul's proposal is in the "framework of our principals... ...We believe in the rule of law... ...Treat everyone just like everybody else, but we believe if you want to come to this country and work the government has a responsibility to make the process as efficient as possible." He agreed, however, with Paul's position against a national ID card. "It's a basic civil liberties issue you really don't want that government to have that kind of power and control over American citizens."

...Jenny Beth Martin, the head of the Tea Party Patriots, also noted that immigration is outside of their wheelhouse, but said they were "aligned" with Paul on the issue of border security, which is the first step in his own proposal he laid out Tuesday. "The way we've approached immigration is the borders need to be secure... ...Real action needs to be taken to secure the border and then once that happens we will talk about other immigration policies." Martin added that Paul has "championed our values and principals, for constitutionally limited government and for that he has gained the Tea Party's respect."

Rand Paul's amnesty - or any other form of comprehensive immigration reform or mass legalization - would give the Democratic Party and the far-left a great deal of power. And, they'd use that to push policies that are completely contrary to Tea Party goals: the Democrats would use their increased power to push for more spending, to include more people in Obamacare, and on and on.

Yet, those three Tea Party leaders aren't willing to oppose such a huge and costly program. Please drop your support for them, and contact their supporters and suggest they do the same.