A Republican-led House committee is currently pushing new legislation that would potentially open up millions of undocumented immigrants to deportation, enable local police departments to enact their own immigration laws, dismantle President Obama’s executive actions and lethally arm immigration officials and agents.
And how is the committee promoting the new legislation? With a listicle, made up almost entirely of GIFs featuring women making silly gestures and dopey facial expressions.
Pop singer Britney Spears makes an appearance on the star-studded 10-point listicle released from the House Judiciary Committee earlier this week, along with actresses Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone and even the Disney princess Ariel from “The Little Mermaid.”
RELATED: As immigration actions remain in ‘legal limbo,’ a community waits
“House Republicans have introduced a bill that prevents the President from unilaterally shutting down the enforcement of our immigration laws. It does so by allowing state and local governments to enforce federal immigration law,” the release reads, followed by a GIF of “Saturday Night Live” star Kristen Wiig saying “NO WAY.”
The news release comes after the Republican-led committee this week green-lit the Michael Davis, Jr. and Danny Oliver in Honor of State and Local Law Enforcement Act, named after a two law enforcement officials killed by undocumented immigrants. In a piecemeal approach to tightening U.S. immigration laws, the bill focuses almost entirely on enforcement measures, dramatically undercutting Obama’s new enforcement priorities that were designed to limit the types of immigrants open to deportation.
It is unclear whether Republican leadership plans to bring the legislation to the House floor, but this is just the latest immigration bill in the works with an emphasis on enforcement and expedited deportations. This week, the House Judiciary Committee also approved the Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act, which would sharply tighten existing protections granted to immigrants who enter the U.S. seeking asylum.
But this is not the first time that Republicans have used GIFs using pop culture references aimed at millennials. Earlier this year, House Speaker John Boehner took aim at Obama’s community college policy proposal with GIFs of pop star Taylor Swift. Boehner once used GIFs from the TV sitcom How I Met Your Mother to describe the budget process. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell meanwhile has leaned on memes during his last re-election campaign swing.
Amanda Sakuma