Republican policymakers wrote a joint letter last week opposing President Bush’s immigration proposal that warns him of negative repercussions this election-year from Republican voters.

The letter expressed the Congressmen’s disdain with the intentions of Bush’s proposal, as they have had to handle floods of angry letters, e-mails and phone calls from Republican constituents that have threatened to not support the president’s campaign for reelection.  In signing the letter, these 23 Republicans stated that they are taking this action in response to the concerns of constituents.  The letter said that if they don’t respond to these concerns, they could ultimately jeopardize their own influence and effectiveness in Congress.

The Congressmen said in the letter that they have saved all the e-mails they have received regarding Bush’s immigration proposal, and that most of them say that they won’t vote for Bush if Congress accepts his plan.  Republicans are now worried that the immigration issue could prove to be a political failure for the party this year. 

The Republican lawmakers’ sentiments regarding the feelings of the citizens they represent were echoed in reports of surveys done by WorldNetDaily (which generally is regarded as an anti-immigrant publication) and ABC news.  WND’s study found that many of the Americans that responded are feeling symptoms of physical anxiety due to Bush’s plan, and many are considering leaving the country due to feelings of betrayal.  Over 30 percent of the respondents said that they agree with most of what Bush says, with the large exception being his plan to legalize illegal aliens. 

An ABC news poll found that 57% oppose an amnesty program for illegal immigrants from other countries and 52% oppose a program for immigrants from Mexico.

Many of President Bush’s critics have alluded that they believe his intentions for the guest worker program are to make his reelection campaign more appealing to the Hispanic population of potential voters.  Representative Tom Tancredo (R-CO), an extremely vocal immigration opponent, told the press that the President is mistaken to sacrifice his support from current US citizens for approval by those who have had blatant disrespect for US laws.