WASHINGTON — He’s now a private citizen, but that isn’t keeping Mike Bloomberg from giving lawmakers in DC a piece of his mind on immigration reform.
“If you are against the fastest-growing voting blocs in this country, you and your party don’t have a future. And the public overwhelmingly wants some of these common-sense things,” the ex-mayor said at the National Press Club Friday.
It was a message aimed squarely at Republicans — at a pro-immigration-reform event that also included Michigan GOP Gov. Rick Snyder and a top Chamber of Commerce official.
House Republicans are preparing to release a set of immigration “principles” next week, while the Senate has already passed a bill with a “path to citizenship” — a deeply controversial issue among Republicans.
“Why are we in a situation where they’ve been afraid to vote for something that 80 to 90 percent of the public wants? And it’s because a handful of people are so extreme,” Bloomberg vented.
“We need fresh blood coming into every economy, every family, every business, every government, every party. And if you don’t have it, just naturally you will go down to zero.”
Snyder, who is embracing a Bloomberg-linked idea to bring immigrants to struggling Detroit, called reform a “doable thing” that states can act on now.