The Tea Party Movement on Immigration Reform

At first glance, the link between members of the Tea Party, whose name is meant to evoke the spirit of the original Boston Tea Party, and concerned American citizens with very explicit views on the theme of

Noting the similarities between the Tea Party movement and conservative groups, and the predominance of the two-party system, it would not be inconceivable to think these protesters might take stances on how immigration manifests itself in the country today. Indeed, Tea Party conservatives have had a great deal to say about the current state of immigration to the United States.

Of course, as with any movement, it can't be expected that the views within it will be completely homogeneous. Besides, seeing as Tea Party initiatives were not initially formed with respect to the immigration process, it would be naturally difficult for disparate views on immigration to coalesce under one banner.

Even so, the Tea Party's position on reform of the immigration process has gained a general sense of momentum in such a short time. One view that has a tendency to loosely bind the Tea Party protesters looking to mobilize on a grander political scale is the strong resistance to illegal immigration to the United States and the naturalization of these aliens without prior valid status. While the immigration process may have conditions for waiving deportation, it does not expressly grant "amnesty" or otherwise pardon immigrants who entered the country illegitimately.

Maintaining that immigration to the United States should be reserved for people who play by the rules, members of the Tea Party movement insist that anything close to amnesty runs contrary to enforcing law. At the same time, though, the Tea Party movement borders on being altogether anti-immigration with their call for more rigidly officiating language standards: a sizable contingent calls for English to be the official language of the United States.

NEXT: How Republicans React to Immigration Reform