Thread: Where the candidates stand on immigration

Where the candidates stand on immigration
Carolyn Lochhead

Immigration could turn into the wedge issue of the 2008 presidential campaign if Republicans nominate a hard-liner, and a recession magnifies fears of job losses.

But it won’t be easy.

Republicans in the past two years have made themselves the restrictionist party on immigration, bucking President Bush. Yet the leading GOP presidential candidates were not immigration hawks before they sought their party’s nomination.

One of them, Sen. John McCain, is squarely in the pro-legalization camp for the estimated 12 million people in the country illegally but now emphasizes border enforcement. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has toughened his stance but still supports a path to citizenship. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee became a born-again hard-liner and promptly lost the South Carolina primary, ostensibly fertile ground for railing against illegal immigrants.

Democrats, with notable exceptions in rural areas and some old-line union pockets, tend to be the party of legalization. They are now well positioned to recapture pivotal Latino voters who had swung to Bush in 2000 and 2004. But they also fear strong public antipathy toward increasing overall immigration levels, which legalization may provoke.

Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards have tried to inoculate themselves by pushing tougher border controls, including a fence and a new employer verification system, in tandem with a path to legalization. The Latino vote is a big prize in the 2008 election. Latinos are the nation’s largest and fastest-growing minority. Looking at population trends, political experts in both parties believe that if Latinos migrate firmly into the Democrats’ corner, they could capture the West for Democrats and keep Republicans out of the White House for decades.


HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

Would make it easier for legal immigrants to bring in extended family. Favors a guest worker program only for agriculture. Opposes worksite raids and wants a new employer verification system, saying the current one is prone to errors. Voted for a border fence. Opposes driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants.

JOHN EDWARDS

Supports some fencing. Opposes guest worker programs if they have no route to citizenship. Supports tougher worksite enforcement but says “database-drivenâ€

Ron Paul and Mitt Romney are the ONLY ones who seem to get it. ALL of the DEMOCRATS and the PRETEND REPUBLICANS McCain, Giuliani and Huckabee don't get it at all!

Ya there is a few truthfull facts in that article.