Cain: Don't change Constitution on 'anchor babies'

romenews-tribune.com
by SHANNON McCAFFREY
Associated Press
Friday, Oct 28 at 10:20 PM

HOMEWOOD, Ala. (AP) β€” Presidential hopeful Herman Cain said Friday he does not support tinkering with the U.S. Constitution to take away citizenship to babies born to illegal immigrants on American soil.

At a campaign stop in Alabama, Cain said he supports doing something to deal with so-called anchor babies. "But don't change the 14th Amendment," he said. "Leave it alone."

He did not detail what he would do to address the issue.

Cain made the comments as he barnstormed through Alabama as part of a two-day bus tour. He has generally laid out a hardline stance on immigration, even suggesting at a recent campaign stop in Tennessee that a fence along the southern border be electrified to kill Mexican immigrants trying to enter the United States. He later apologized if his remarks offended anyone.

Alabama has approved what is widely considered to be the toughest immigration law in the nation. Cain did not specifically endorse the law β€” portions of which have been blocked by judges β€” but said his own immigration plan would rely on states to do what the federal government has been unable to.

"Empower the states to deal with the illegal immigration issue and you will get the problem solved," he said.

He said a Cain administration would not sue states that implement tough immigration crackdowns.

Cain also assailed Republican rival Rick Perry's tax reform plan "flat tax light."

Cain said the Texas governor's optional flat tax plan still relies too heavily on income tax. Cain's own 9-9-9 tax relies on a blend of a 9 percent tax on income and corporate earnings as well as a 9 percent national sales tax.

Earlier in the day, the Georgia businessman came out swinging at President Barack Obama for announcing the U.S. would pull troops out of Iraq by the end of the year.

"You don't announce you are going to pull all of the troops out of Iraq and send the enemy an email saying you're going to pull all the troops out of Iraq," Cain told hundreds of supporters crowded into the Ritz Theater in Talladega. "That makes no sense."

Cain is set to make a foreign policy address Monday in Washington, aides said. He has faced criticism for his lack of foreign policy background. But Cain said Friday he has "foreign policy common sense."

And he routinely deflects the attacks with a jab at Obama's own lack of experience on the world stage when he entered the White House.

Cain was in Alabama as part of a two-day swing that began at a tea party breakfast at a golf course in Anniston. After Talladega, he headlined a rally in Birmingham, filed paperwork to appear on the Alabama presidential primary ballot at state headquarters in suburban Homewood and appeared later in Montgomery.

Cain's itinerary on Saturday will take him to Tuscaloosa and Huntsville.

http://www.romenews-tribune.com/pages/f ... d=16215683