Things might have just gotten a little tougher for immigrants in the United States. South Carolina Republican Trey Gowdy, a hard nut to crack when it comes to immigration, has been selected as the chairman of the House immigration subcommittee.
"As Chairman of the Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee, Rep. Gowdy will play a leading role on immigration reform which is a top priority of the House Judiciary Committee in the new Congress," Chairman-elect Bob Goodlatte told ABC/Univision News. "I think Rep. Gowdy will do an excellent job in this new leadership position and I look forward to working with him in the 113th Congress."
The House immigration subcommittee tackles issues such as citizenship right, border security, and even treaties.
Rep. Gowdy is already on the immigration subcommittee and is known for his touch stance on immigration. He has outwardly opposed the President's proposal to help young, productive illegal immigrants and has co-sponsored a bill barring the Department of Justice from suing states who pass Arizona-level anti-immigration policies.
"Trey Gowdy is unlikely to be the kind of loudmouth wing nut that Steve King would have been, but his policy positions are eerily similar," Executive Director of America's Voice Education Fund Frank Sharry said.
"He supports unconstitutional power grabs by states that pass Arizona-style anti-immigrant laws and opposes the President's policy to offer relief to young people who are American in all but paperwork. If the Republican Party wants to get right on immigration reform that puts 11 million immigrants on the road to citizenship, I suspect they'll have to go around him or over him."
Trey Gowdy beat out Democrat Deb Morrow in 2012 to become the U.S. Representative for the 4th congressional district in South Carolina.