Immigration central to battle between Labrador and Minnick

By Brad Iverson-Long
November 1st, 2010

The race for a seat in Congress has included accusations of amnesty and flip flopsHow to solve illegal immigration is one of the most contested issues in Idaho’s 1st Congressional District. Both of the major party candidates, incumbent Democratic Rep. Walt Minnick and Republican state Rep. Raul Labrador, have spent campaign time and money talking about their proposed fixes and slamming their opponent’s stance on the issue.

Minnick has run three different TV ads on illegal immigration critical of Labrador’s comments and work as an immigration lawyer. Labrador has defended his work, while airing commercials calling Minnick’s proposals on illegal immigration amnesty, one of several loaded words in the illegal immigration debate.

Labrador’s line of work adds attention to the issue. He has said that his background in immigration law makes him better suited to go to Congress and craft a solution for what he calls his number one issue. Minnick, through his negative commercials, has tried to raise questions about the consistency of Labrador’s views on the topic.

Both Minnick and Labrador say they oppose amnesty, but defining amnesty can be difficult. Both promised in a survey by NumbersUSA, a group that wants to lower immigration levels, that they oppose a blanket amnesty offering a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. Both have also called for an improved guest worker system and more security on the Mexican border, with Labrador suggesting the National Guard could keep watch.

Still, the candidates have different ideas on what to do about illegal immigrants already in the U.S. Labrador, whose campaign site has had a prominent link to his immigration policy for months, wants people in the U.S. to return to their home country before applying for a guest worker program or other legal status.

“It’s illegal to be in the United States illegally,â€