Candidate Positions

Original source: http://www.tommy2008.com/On_The_Issues.aspx

Immigration – Governor Thompson opposes amnesty and believes that America must enforce its immigration policies to the fullest extent of the law. People who are found to be in the country illegally should be returned to their home countries and should have to wait at the end of the line, behind people who are seeking to enter the country or become citizens legally.

Original source: http://www.teamtancredo.com/issues1.asp

Immigration
There is no doubt that America is facing an illegal immigration crisis. Currently, there are at least 12 million illegal aliens living in America. I am absolutely opposed to amnesty. In addition to rewarding those who broke our laws, amnesties simply do not solve the problem of illegal immigration. The only realistic solution to the problem of illegal immigration is a strategy of attrition, which seeks to reduce the flow of the illegal alien population over time by cutting off the incentives for coming to and staying in America - most importantly by eliminating the jobs magnet. America must also reexamine its legal immigration policies. Since 1990, that number has been roughly one million yearly - and that doesn’t count illegal aliens. America should reduce legal immigration to 250,000 people a year, which will allow the newcomers to assimilate.

“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American…There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag… We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language… And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”

Original source: http://brownback.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=253170

Brownback Comments on Immigration Bill Passage
Four Brownback amendments included for doctors, nurses, and orphans

Monday, March 27, 2006

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today commented on the Judiciary Committee passage of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill, which has now been referred to the full Senate.

“I am pleased that we were able to report out a bill that makes positive strides toward a guest-worker program and strong enforcement at the border and on the employer,” Brownback stated. “Committee passage is a big step, but not the final step. Workable immigration reform is one of the biggest issues facing the country today and in the future, and we struck a good balance. We need to continue to work on this bill from the floor of the Senate to ensure that we don’t make the mistakes of the 1986 amnesty bill or the 1996 enforcement-only bill, which together led to an explosion of the illegal immigrant population.”

The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill combines border and employer enforcement provisions with a guest-worker program for future immigrants and provides undocumented immigrants currently in the United States with a path toward citizenship.

Brownback continued, “We have to be a nation of laws. We have to get to a system that is less complex and can be enforced not only at the border but across the whole nation. We must increase border security, and we must have workplace enforcement. We must also have a guest-worker program that will keep our farms working and our economy growing. We must do our part to protect the ‘huddled masses yearning to be free’ and at the same time keep the American dream attainable for those who work hard and obey the law.”

Original source: http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul269.html

Immigration and the Welfare State

by Rep. Ron Paul, MD

More and more of my constituents are asking me when Congress will address the problem of illegal immigration. The public correctly perceives that neither political party has the courage to do what is necessary to prevent further erosion of both our border security and our national identity. As a result, immigration may be the sleeper issue that decides the 2008 presidential election.

The problem of illegal immigration will not be solved easily, but we can start by recognizing that the overwhelming majority of Americans – including immigrants – want immigration reduced, not expanded.

Amnesty for illegal immigrants is not the answer. Millions of people who broke the law by entering, staying, and working in our country illegally should not be rewarded with a visa. Why should lawbreakers obtain a free pass, while those seeking to immigrate legally face years of paperwork and long waits for a visa?

We must end welfare state subsidies for illegal immigrants. Some illegal immigrants – certainly not all – receive housing subsidies, food stamps, free medical care, and other forms of welfare. This alienates taxpayers and breeds suspicion of immigrants, even though the majority of them work very hard. Without a welfare state, we would know that everyone coming to America wanted to work hard and support himself.

Our current welfare system also encourages illegal immigration by discouraging American citizens from taking low-wage jobs. This creates greater demand for illegal foreign labor. Welfare programs and minimum wage laws create an artificial market for labor to do the jobs Americans supposedly won’t do.

Original source: http://www.nyc.gov/html/records/rwg/html/98a/lulac.html

Archives of Rudolph W. Giuliani
Immigration:
The Progress We’ve Made and the Road Ahead
Tuesday, March 31, 1998
Hyatt Regency, Washington, D.C.
Check Against Delivery

Introduction

Today, as we gather to talk about the state of immigration in this country, my thoughts immediately turn to a letter that I wrote in February to Attorney General Janet Reno.

Last July 18th, New York City made a shocking discovery. We found over 40 deaf Mexican immigrants held in cramped apartments, forced to sell trinkets on the subways and routinely tortured, starved, and sexually assaulted by their bosses. The Mexican immigrants, including 10 minors, were brought to the United States under false pretenses or threat, forced into servitude in New York and Chicago, and subjected to extraordinary exploitation. Twenty men and women were indicted on charges ranging from slavery to alien smuggling. Eighteen of these have already pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

It’s hard to believe that such horrible abuse could happen in a country as advanced as ours. It seems like something that is not of this time and place, but as this reminds us, there will always be people looking to prey on those who are most vulnerable.

At the time, the City responded to this emergency in the way any humane city would respond. We gave these immigrants basic humanitarian aid, put them in safe quarters, and acted as swiftly as possible to prosecute the offenders. Since then, we’ve done our best to care for and protect these immigrants, working closely with the U.S. Attorney’s office, the FBI, and the INS detention staff. We’ve provided clothing, nutritious meals, technical advice on effective communication and deaf culture, and assistance with educational placement. But we should still be concerned about their current conditions.

Original source:

An enthusiastic supporter of legal immigration, Mr. Romney not only opposes illegal immigration, but he told National Review that he is also “against an amnesty and against anything that provides an incentive for people to come here illegally.”

Original source:

Governor Mike Huckabee is against illegal immigration and supports the deportation of illegal immigrants captured in the U.S.

Back on May 24, 2005 we talked about Governor Mike Huckabee’s stance on illegal immigration in a blog titled “Mike Huckabee On Illegal Immigration: The Kids Matter.” This post was prompted by a huge amount of criticism the Governor received for advocating prenatal care for the unborn children of immigrants and in-state tuition eligibility for Latino children who graduate from Arkansas high schools.

In a nutshell, Huckabee’s stance on illegal immigration is that illegals who are caught should be deported. Period. But if they are not caught, and instead remain here to raise their families, Huckabee’s pro-life sentiment drives him to support providing prenatal care for all unborn children–no questions asked. And because the Arkansas constitution dictates that all children, regardless of legal status, be provided with public education K-12, Huckabee believes those who graduate and are academically eligible deserve to be eligible for in-state tuition rates.

In other words, the children of illegal immigrants should not be punished for the crimes of their parents. The kids matter.

Original source: http://www.gravel2008.us/?q=node/516

Senator Gravel favors protecting our borders and stemming the flow of illegal immigrants into our country. He also favors a guest worker program and naturalizing those workers presently living in the US.

We cannot begin to discuss Mexican immigration without discussing NAFTA and the concept of “free trade.” NAFTA has been a disaster for the working class of both the US and Mexico and has been a godsend for corporations. A study by the Economic Policy Institute found that through 2004 over 1,000,000 US jobs were lost as a result of NAFTA, a third of them manufacturing jobs. In Mexico, 1.3 million farm workers lost their jobs in the same period. This has led to a wave of immigrant workers looking for work in the US job market.

Major structural changes must be made to NAFTA in order to restore lost jobs. Reforming unfair trade policies will stimulate job growth on both sides of the border and allow Mexican workers to remain in their motherland. We must make fair trade a priority if we are to rebuild the American middle class.

Original source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15932967/
Biden, who favors tightening the U.S.-Mexico border with fences, said immigration is driven by money in low-wage Mexico.

“Mexico is a country that is an erstwhile democracy where they have the greatest disparity of wealth,” Biden said. “It is one of the wealthiest countries in the hemisphere and because of a corrupt system that exists in Mexico, there is the 1 percent of the population at the top, a very small middle class and the rest is abject poverty.”

Unless the political dynamics change in Mexico and U.S. employers who hire illegal immigrants are punished, illegal immigration won’t stop. “All the rest is window dressing,” he said.

Original source: http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/02/mccain200702

McCain had been asked how debate over the immigration bill was playing politically. “In the short term, it probably galvanizes our base,” he said. “In the long term, if you alienate the Hispanics, you’ll pay a heavy price.” Then he added, unable to help himself, “By the way, I think the fence is least effective. But I’ll build the goddamned fence if they want it.”

“I’m willing to negotiate anything,” McCain tells the breakfast crowd in Sioux City, explaining that there is no way the millions of illegal aliens now here can be sent back to their countries of origin. But he acknowledges that anything seen as amnesty for illegals is “totally unacceptable, particularly to our Republican base.” Later, McCain tells me that Congressman King “really knows this issue,” but he sounds as if he is trying to persuade himself as much as me.