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Article published Oct 23, 2008
Candidates differ on immigration

Their stands on illegal residents are at odds with their own national party platforms.

By ED RONCO Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- When it comes to illegal immigration, both candidates for Indiana's 2nd District U.S. House seat stand on the opposite side of their own party's national platform.

Luke Puckett, the Republican candidate, favors suspending immigration raids in favor of spending more money on border enforcement.

The incumbent Democrat, U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly, says immigration enforcement must continue, otherwise the rules mean nothing.

Puckett said publicly last week that he'd call for a moratorium on raids by federal officials at area businesses. Michiana was the location of a high-profile immigration raid in March 2007 which resulted in the arrest of 36 employees at Janco Composites in Mishawaka.Such raids usually result in people being deported, only to return to the United States for a job elsewhere, Puckett said.

"I see it as a huge taxpayer expense that is not being beneficial to the taxpayers," he said.

Though lawbreakers should suffer consequences of their actions, maybe the consequences should be different, Puckett said.

"We do not hand out 'Here's your plate of American freedom. Dig in,' " he said.

But illegal immigrants in the United States should be punished with a fine, be made to learn English, and have to take a civics course with their own money before being put on the path to citizenship, Puckett says.That lines up almost precisely with the Democratic National Committee's 2008 platform, which says "millions living here illegally but otherwise playing by the rules" should "come out of the shadows and get right with the law" by paying fine, back taxes, learning English and going to the back of the line for citizenship opportunities.

Donnelly, on the other hand, says he took an oath of office to uphold the nation's laws.

"If we don't have workplace enforcement, then there is, in effect, no rules regarding employment in this country," Donnelly said.

And he challenged Puckett's notion that the raids should be suspended because they're counterproductive.

"And so does Luke then say that because they broke the law and then decided to come back and break it again, that it makes it OK?" he said.The Republican National Committee's 2008 platform calls for "smarter enforcement" at the workplace and "guaranteeing to law enforcement the tools and coordination to deport criminal aliens without delay."

Both candidates agree, though, that border security needs to be tighter.

Puckett says he favors systems that make it easier for employers to verify an applicant's immigration or citizenship status. Donnelly has backed legislation to establish such a system, called E-Verify, and to strengthen border enforcement.

www.southbendtribune.com