Santorum now rated A- by NumbersUSA
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Rick Santorum
Candidate Page
Updated: 01/15/12
South Carolina Primary:
Month
Jan
Day
21
Year
2012
Oppose Amnesty/Legalization
Long-term work permits and/or a path to citizenship should NOT be offered (whether through blanket amnesty or an “earned legalization” or other form) to millions of people who are illegally in the U.S.
Mandate E-Verify
Jobs held by illegal aliens SHOULD be opened up for unemployed Americans and legal immigrants already here by REQUIRING all businesses to use the Federal automated, rapid-response internet E-Verify system to screen out illegal foreign workers.
Reduce Overall Immigration
Overall immigration numbers each year SHOULD be reduced toward more traditional levels. Average annual immigration was around 250,000 from 1776 to 1976, including the most recent part of that period after World War II. But the current annual average of more than ONE MILLION since 1990 is too high. More than 38 million foreign workers and foreign-born dependents already live in the U.S. At current rates, immigration will crowd another 100 million people into the U.S. in 50 years. The government should stop forcing this rapid population expansion and its requirements of huge increases in energy, roads and other infrastructure and service.
End Chain Migration
Family-based immigration should be LIMITED to the nuclear family of spouse and minor children, as was the case during most of our history and as recommended by the bi-partisan, national Jordan Commission. Allowed would be unlimited adoptions and marriages overseas, and liberal visitor visas for extended family. But eliminated would be the “chain migration” categories of permanent greencards for extended family that are the key reason immigration has quadrupled since the 1960s.
End Visa Lottery
The governmnet should STOP using a lottery to raffle off permanent work permits to 50,000 randomly chosen foreign citizens each year (an elimination suggested by the Jordan Commission).
Limit Unfair Worker Competition
The government should institute SAFEGUARDS that will prevent importation of foreign workers any time they would threaten the jobs or depress the wages of American workers.
Secure Borders
The government should fully FUND & IMPLEMENT border security measures already signed into law while finding creative ways to further protect U.S. property owners along the borders from crime and protect all Americans from terrorist and organized crime operations.
End Birthright Citizenship
The United States should JOIN nearly all other advanced nations—and the majority of all nations—in ending the practice of granting citizenship to the births to illegal aliens, foreign students and tourists. Our antiquated policy entices further illegal immigration and retards the decision of illegal aliens to go back home.
Support Local Enforcement
The Administration should COOPERATE WITH & FACILITATE efforts by state and local governments to move unlawfully present foreign nationals from their communities in order to increase job opportunities for unemployed Americans and legal immigrants.
Punish Business Violators
The Administration SHOULD aggressively remove the economic incentives for employers to hire illegal foreign workers through means such as fines, tax policies and incarceration.
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https://www.numbersusa.com/content/f...k_santorum.pngRick
Santorum(GOP)
https://www.numbersusa.com/content/f...rating_yes.gifExcellent
https://www.numbersusa.com/content/f...eaning_yes.gifGood
https://www.numbersusa.com/content/f...eaning_yes.gifGood
https://www.numbersusa.com/content/f...eaning_yes.gifGood
https://www.numbersusa.com/content/f...rating_yes.gifExcellent
https://www.numbersusa.com/content/f...irst_steps.gifFirst Steps
https://www.numbersusa.com/content/f...rating_yes.gifExcellent
https://www.numbersusa.com/content/f...indecisive.gifUnhelpful
https://www.numbersusa.com/content/f...rating_yes.gifExcellent
https://www.numbersusa.com/content/f...eaning_yes.gifGood
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Rating Sources
Instructions
Click on individual ratings to view quotes and other source materials for that rating.
Oppose Amnesty/Legalization
- Sen. Santorum earned an A+ on stopping amnesties while in Congress. And he has challenged his own Catholic Church leaders as well as other candidates for supporting the legalization of millions of people who have broken immigration laws.
- On December 8, 2011, Sen. Santorum said, "You can't be here for 20 years and commit only one illegal act ... because everything you're doing while you're here is against the law.... I understand Congressman Gingrich saying, 'Well, you know, people have been here and they've been good citizens and paying taxes.' Yeah, under somebody else's Social Security number because you stole it."
Source:Spencer Daily Reporter: Local News: Gay rights, immigration dominate Santorum stop (12/08/11) - During his time in the United States Senate, Sen. Santorum consistently voted against amnesties for illegal aliens (despite voting for the small amnesty for Cubans and Nicaraguans in 1997), earning an A+ grade in that category.
Source: Report Card | NumbersUSA - For Lower Immigration Levels - In a December 13, 2011 interview with Iowa Public Television, Sen. Santorum made the following comments regarding the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' pro-amnesty statement: "If we develop the program like the Catholic bishops suggested we would be creating a huge magnet for people to come in and break the law some more.... We’d be inviting people to cross this border, come into this country and with the expectation that they will be able to stay here permanently.... We have to have rules and we have to keep those rules in America, or we would be a magnet for more people who want to break the law,” he said during his interview for Iowa Public Television. Santorum warned against any immigration policy that would slight "all the families who are doing it the right way" and those "who are separating from their families" and "making those sacrifices..... And then we say well, everybody who broke the law came here and we’re going to let you in – and those folks, well, sorry, you’re chumps, you played by the rules."
Source:Santorum questions US bishops' immigration policy :: Catholic News Agency (CNA) - At the Republican debate on September 7, 2011, Sen. Santorum said: "We are going to secure the border first, and that's the most important thing to do, then we'll have the [amnesty] discussion afterwards."
Source:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/us...pagewanted=all - In a January 24, 2011, interview, Sen Santorum said: "No, I wouldn't give amnesty, but I would look at securing the border, and I do think we need more people coming to this nation who want to be Americans to grow this economy. When you open up the spigot a little bit more, that gives people the opportunity to go back to Mexico and not have to wait 10 years to come back to this country, maybe wait a relatively short period of time, and come in the right way, and come in so they can stay and they can prosper..."
Source:Q&A:Rick Santorum Discusses Controlling the Debt, Entitlement Reform, Education, Abortion, Same-Sex Marriage, the War on Terror and Immigration | CNSnews.com - On his 2006 Senate reelection website, Sen. Santorum wrote: "Giving blanket amnesty, approving guest worker programs masked as amnesty, or charging nominal fines to become an American citizen mocks and demeans the sacrifices of legal immigrants. Illegally crossing our border and breaking our immigration laws must carry real and serious consequences."
Source:Santorum U.S. Senate
Mandate E-Verify
- In 1996, Sen. Santorum voted against creating the program that became E-Verify. But on the campaign trail 15 years later, he has promised to push mandatory verification. He misses an EXCELLENT rating because he continues to talk about there perhaps being a better system that the private sector could run.
- On January 13, 2011, Sen. Santorum said, "[Require] employers to use E-Verify or some other system that they can develop by the private sector, maybe as an alternative, probably a better alternative than E-Verify. But require businesses to do the proper background checks to determine whether these people that are coming to work for them are in fact legal and allowed to work in this country."
Source:Candidates in SC Try to Convince Local GOP Leaders | C-SPAN - On December 8, 2011, Sen. Santorum is quoted as saying, "a private contractor could create a better system than E-Verify."
Source:Spencer Daily Reporter: Local News: Gay rights, immigration dominate Santorum stop (12/08/11)
Reduce Overall Immigration
- Sen. Santorum gave mixed signals through 2011 but at the beginning of 2012 he stated directly that overall immigration numbers should come down. He misses an EXCELLENT rating because he at this time is advocating only about half the reductions recommended by the bi-partisan U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform.
- On January 13, 2011, Sen. Santorum said, "we need to shrink [immigration] a little bit in those two areas (referring to the visa lottery and chain migration)."
Source:Candidates in SC Try to Convince Local GOP Leaders | C-SPAN
End Chain Migration
- Sen. Santorum had a good chain migration voting record while in Congress and has improved, but not perfected, his stance on this issue. He has made it clear that immigrants should not be allowed to bring in their non-nuclear family, but he has not defined the terms or put forward a plan on how chain migration should be scaled back.
- On January 13, 2011, Sen. Santorum said, "[Immigrants] should come to this country based on a whole bunch of different criteria and one of them should not be chain immigration where relatives come into the country because somebody is here. Immediate family is one thing, but extended family is a very different thing."
Source:Candidates in SC Try to Convince Local GOP Leaders | C-SPAN
End Visa Lottery
- Although Sen. Santorum supported the visa lottery during his time in the Senate, he has since come out against the lottery, even calling it "silly." Santorum receives an Excellent in this category.
- On January 13, 2011, Sen. Santorum said, "the fact that we have a lottery system for people to come into this country is, in a word, silly. People should not be in a lottery to determine whether they come to this country."
Source:Candidates in SC Try to Convince Local GOP Leaders | C-SPAN - Sen. Santorum's thinking has improved from his time in the Senate in the 1990s when he twice voted in support of the visa lottery.
Limit Unfair Worker Competition
- While in Congress, Sen. Santorum worked to bring more foreign workers into the United States and he continued this message early in his campaign. However, he has moderated his stance on foreign workers and has even recognized that economic factors may necessitate reducing the number of foreign workers the United States imports.
- On January 13, 2011, Sen. Santorum said, "America needs to look for people who want to come here and be Americans and want to contribute to this country. And I'm not saying we bring over all the rocket scientists into this country, we need a variety of different people and skills, but we need to look at it from that perspective. Not just economically -- that's part of it."
Source:Candidates in SC Try to Convince Local GOP Leaders | C-SPAN - During the November 22, 2011 GOP presidential debate, Sen. Santorum was asked his opinion regarding high-skilled immigration. He replied with the following ambiguous response: "Well, as the son of a legal immigrant to this country, I strongly believe in legal immigration and believe we are that shining city on the hill, that our future -- if you look at all of the jobs that are being created in our economy today, a huge percentage of them come from the legal immigrants of this county -- country who have innovated, who created great products, who created great companies and employed lots of people."
Source:CNN.com - Transcripts - In a January 24, 2011 interview, Sen. Santorum said the United States needs more foreign workers: "I do think we need more people coming to this nation who want to be Americans to grow this economy. You want to fix the Social Security problem? Let's have more workers producing and helping out the situation.... For me, I'm willing to allow increased immigration to this country..."
Source:Q&A:Rick Santorum Discusses Controlling the Debt, Entitlement Reform, Education, Abortion, Same-Sex Marriage, the War on Terror and Immigration | CNSnews.com
Secure Border & Fence
- Sen. Santorum in 2011 debates has strongly supported building the fence, backing it with sufficient personnel, as well as mentioning the need to stop employers from creating the incentive with jobs.
- At the GOP Presidential debate on September 12, 2011, Sen. Santorum said: "I believe we need to build more fence. I need -- I believe that we need to secure the border using technology and more personnel. And until we build that border, we should neither have storm troopers come in and throw people out of the country nor should we provide amnesty. What we should do is enforce the laws in this country with respect to employers, and we should secure the border. And then after the border is secured, then we can deal with the problem that are in this country."
Source:CNN.com - Transcripts - In a January 24, 2011 interview, Sen. Santorum said he would take whatever steps necessary to secure our border, using whatever physical, technological, and human resources are necessary. He misses an EXCELLENT rating because he doesn't provide enough specifics on how he would secure the border.
Source:Q&A:Rick Santorum Discusses Controlling the Debt, Entitlement Reform, Education, Abortion, Same-Sex Marriage, the War on Terror and Immigration | CNSnews.com - At the Republican debate on September 7, 2011, Sen. Santorum said: "We are going to secure the border first, and that's the most important thing to do..."
Source:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/us...pagewanted=all
Implement Entry/Exit
- Sen. Santorum in 2002 voted in favor of an entry/exit system. However, he has not addressed this issue since leaving the Senate.
Support Local Enforcement
- Sen. Santorum has come out strong in support of state and local law enforcement agencies that want to help the federal government to enforce immigration laws. For this reason, he receives an Excellent grade.
- On January 13, 2011, Sen. Santorum said, "I was talking with a sheriff over in York County who is one of the sheriffs who can and has the funds from the federal government to be able to work with the federal government to help when they arrest people... who are illegals to be able to deport them. Most counties and the states cannot do that because they are not provided the resources to do it or the cooperation. We need to make sure that counties and states have the resources to be able to do something that the federal government obviously hasn't been doing and that is enforce the law."
Source:Candidates in SC Try to Convince Local GOP Leaders | C-SPAN
Punish Business Violators
- During his time in the United States Senate, Sen. Santorum was not forced to vote on legislation dealing with employers who hire illegal aliens. But during a debate on Sept. 12, 2011, Sen. Santorum said we should enforce existing laws with respect to employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens.
Tackle Refugee Fraud
- During his time in the United States Senate, Sen. Santorum was not forced to vote on legislation dealing with refugees. Since leaving the Senate, Sen. Santorum has not discussed refugee issues.
End Birthright Citizenship
- During his time in the United States Senate, Sen. Santorum did not take any action on birthright citizenship and has not discussed the issue since leaving the Senate.
- On December 8, 2011, Sen. Santorum is quoted as saying the following when asked about the anchor baby issue: "[I'm] torn on the issue, but it is a symptom of a porous border which must be addressed first."
Source:Spencer Daily Reporter: Local News: Gay rights, immigration dominate Santorum stop (12/08/11) - During the October 18, 2011 GOP presidential debate, Sen. Santorum was asked point blank about preventing the children of illegal aliens from receiving automatic citizenship at birth and he refused to answer the question.
Source:CNN.com - Transcripts
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