Capitol Hill Buzz: House Judiciary Committee turns to Buzzfeed-style listicle on immigration

WASHINGTON – The House Judiciary Committee includes some of President Barack Obama’s fiercest critics on immigration. That doesn’t mean they can’t have fun.

The panel took an unusually lighthearted approach to immigration policy this week, posting a Buzzfeed-style listicle comprised of animated GIFs to illustrate the GOP’s opposition to Obama’s executive actions deferring deportations for millions of people in the U.S. illegally.

Celebrities including Britney Spears, Jennifer Lawrence, Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig are featured exclaiming in horror and amazement at captions describing Obama’s moves, and promoting a GOP bill that allows state and local governments to enforce immigration laws.

“This is the best!” actress Emma Stone is shown exclaiming over a caption asserting that “By allowing hundreds of thousands of local law enforcement officers to enforce our immigration laws, we keep immigration enforcement up and operating, even when a president tries to unlawfully refuse to enforce our laws.”

It’s just the latest example of politicians trying to co-opt popular culture or Internet trends. Obama appeared in a Buzzfeed video recently wielding a “selfie stick” to photograph himself with a smart phone. House Speaker John Boehner used a listicle of Taylor Swift GIFs earlier this year to attack Obama’s proposal for free community college.

Judiciary Committee aides said the panel is always looking for more effective ways to communicate. As for any copyright concerns raised by the post, the committee argued GIFs are considered “fair use,” meaning they can be widely shared by the public without permission from their creators. The Judiciary Committee oversees copyright law.

The immigrant advocacy group National Council of La Raza was not amused, calling the post “a case study in how to ignore facts and turn a heartbreaking situation for millions of American families into a juvenile BuzzFeed rip-off.”

A link to the piece: http://judiciary.house.gov/index.cfm/2015/3/at-the-flick-of-a-switch

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