The defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in tonight’s Virginia Republican primary is a victory for America. Cantor lost for one reason: he was seen as weak on immigration. The entirety of the American Establishment is pushing for what it calls “immigration reform,” which actually means amnesty for illegal immigrants and a massive increase in legal immigration, the cumulative effect of which would be to drive down wages and further impoverish Americans, not to mention giving the Democratic Party millions of new voters.

The Senate has already passed a disastrous immigration bill and President Obama has vowed to sign it. The only thing standing in the way of “immigration reform” has been the House GOP majority, and some in the House leadership have clearly wanted to find a way to give Obama what he wants on immigration. Fortunately, we still hold these things called “elections” in America, and all House Republicans who want to win reelection have just been given a powerful reminder of why they can’t betray the party’s base on immigration, no matter how much the big business interests who fund the GOP want them to.