Huntsman takes cue from McCain on immigration

[Jean]

Huntsman takes cue from McCain on immigration

by Dan Nowicki, columnist - Jun. 26, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Jon Huntsman, the former Utah governor who officially announced his presidential candidacy last week, is widely perceived as the most moderate of the 2012 Republican pack. But on immigration, Huntsman appears to have taken his cue from the tactical shift to the right made in 2007 by U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Like McCain, Huntsman is a longtime backer of comprehensive immigration reform, including a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country. Also like McCain, he now says the U.S.-Mexican border must be secured first. McCain's pivot in the run-up to the 2008 presidential primaries helped him stanch criticism from conservative activists who oppose anything resembling "amnesty" for illegal immigrants.

And just as McCain memorably demanded the completion of "the danged fence" on the border during his 2010 Senate re-election race, Huntsman also grudgingly has acknowledged the need for one, according to a Salt Lake Tribune report on remarks he made last month in New Hampshire.

"I hate the thought of a fence on the border," a conflicted Huntsman was quoted as telling the crowd at a town-hall meeting. "I mean, for me, as an American, the thought of a fence to some extent repulses me, because it is not consistent with . . . the image that we projected from the very beginning to the rest of the world."

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the early 2012 Republican front-runner, also once spoke favorably of comprehensive immigration reform, but he adopted a much harder stance during the 2008 primary campaign in which he lost the GOP nomination to McCain.

Scattershot questions during a June 13 debate in New Hampshire, which Huntsman did not attend, gave voters a few glimpses of where some of the other Republican White House hopefuls stand on various immigration-related topics.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty voiced support for Arizona and other states that have passed their own immigration-related legislation. Arizona's tough 2010 immigration law known as Senate Bill 1070 largely has been blocked in federal court. The U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld the state's earlier law that punishes employers who knowingly hire illegal workers.

"I'm a strong supporter of states' rights, but if the federal government won't do its job - in this case protecting and securing our border - then let the states do it and they will," Pawlenty said.

Herman Cain, the former chief executive of Godfather's Pizza, also said part of his solution to the illegal-immigration situation is to "empower the states to do what the federal government hasn't done, won't do and can't do."

Newt Gingrich, a former U.S. House speaker, predicted a comprehensive-immigration-reform bill will never clear Congress. President Barack Obama, who backs the approach, "proved" that, Gingrich said, by failing to pass such legislation in the first two years of his term, even though his Democratic allies controlled the House and Senate.

In other developments:

- U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., revealed a personal connection to Huntsman dating to when both lived in the Washington, D.C., area 20 years ago. Flake's wife, Cheryl, gave piano lessons to Huntsman's daughter, Mary Anne. "She went on to Juilliard, so Cheryl claims credit," Flake said.

- U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., is pleased with Obama's nominees for two U.S. district-judge vacancies. Obama tapped Jennifer Guerin Zipps, a U.S. magistrate judge, to replace the late U.S. District Judge John Roll, who was killed in the Jan. 8 mass shooting that also wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. Obama also forwarded to the Senate, which must confirm the picks, the name of Tucson attorney Rosemary Márquez to replace retired U.S. District Judge Frank Zapata.

"We bring diversity in terms of a Hispanic woman, and we have two women," said Pastor, who recommended both names to the White House. "They are two great candidates, and I just hope the Senate moves as quickly as it can."

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[ReggieMay]

"We bring diversity in terms of a Hispanic woman, and we have two women," said Pastor, who recommended both names to the White House. "They are two great candidates, and I just hope the Senate moves as quickly as it can."

This should read "we now have two judges who support amnesty and open borders."