Thread: How's Pawlenty?

I've done some searching... but can't really find any concrete opinions on Illegal Immigration / Amnesty.

Anyone know?

I did a little research on him a while back when I heard he may be a 2012 candidate. He's bad news. He believes all the illegal aliens should get to stay here with a path to citizenship. Just google "Pawlenty and illegal immigration."

Edstate, I just took a quick look and I'm sure seeing a different opinion from him now than when I researched him many months ago. He spouts a lot of tough talk about illegal aliens now, but I couldn't find anything about what he thinks we should do with the millions who are here illegally. We'll have to watch this guy.

Seems like the only time Pawlenty is concerned with illegal immigration is during an election year...the alipac Minnesota state campaign says alot about just how far Pawlenty will go with immigration...not much action in that state...check it out at the alipac link provided!
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-80602.html
Compare with how much the other states accomplished on illegal immigration in the alipac "ALIPAC Activism and FOCUS Campaigns" thread.....nil to none reform in Minn.!
http://www.alipac.us/forum-24.html

All the articles I could find on him was election year rhetoric!

Pawlenty targets illegal immigration
by Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio
January 7, 2008 election year!

Gov. Tim Pawlenty is renewing his call to crack down on illegal immigration in Minnesota. The governor's plan includes some initiatives that don't need legislative approval and some that do.

St. Paul, Minn. — The governor issued an order that takes several steps to deal with illegal immigration without legislative agreement.

It requires state law enforcement officers to work with federal agents to enforce immigration laws. It instructs the Department of Public Safety to review photos on the state's driver's license database for possible fraud. And it requires any new state employees and contractors who do business with the state to verify citizenship through an Internet-based system operated by the federal government.

Pawlenty said the steps are necessary to respond to illegal immigration.

"If you have a country that's based on the rule of law and the rule of law gets knowingly cast aside and we allow illegal behavior to continue then the rule of law is diminished and one of the cornerstones of our country gets eroded in a pretty pronounced way," he said.

The governor is also calling on the Legislature to pass a bill that strengthens the state's human trafficking laws, increases fines for businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants and increases penalties for identity theft.

Pawlenty also wants to prohibit cities, like Minneapolis and St. Paul, from forbidding their police officers from asking about a person's immigration status. Several cities say they passed the ordinances because they want immigrants to feel comfortable talking with the police.

"These are warmed-over proposals that could not pass the House of Representatives when his party controlled the house."
- Sen. Larry PogemillerIt's been nearly two years since the governor initially proposed many parts of this plan. He said he retooled the package with the hope that it will pass this time.

"These are the types of steps we believe that Republicans, Democrats and a broad cross section of Minnesotans can agree are reasonable steps towards better enforcement of illegal immigration and our country and our state need that," he said.

Pawlenty made those comments in front of his commissioners, a group of Republican lawmakers, several law enforcement officials and one known Republican businessman. After the news conference, Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis, said Pawlenty's plan has little chance of becoming law.

"These are warmed-over proposals that could not pass the House of Representatives when his party controlled the house," he said.

Other lawmakers said illegal immigration should be handled by federal officials. They say the state should focus on other issues like education, transportation and health care. Some questioned the timing of Pawlenty's announcement. It's an election year and Minnesota's precinct caucuses are less than a month away.


OpponentSusana De Leon, an immigration attorney from Minneapolis said Pawlenty's proposal is pure politics.

"Gov. Pawlenty is a rising star," she said. "He was a considered maybe to be a candidate for vice president. I don't know. But in any election time, immigrants, gay and lesbian rights and abortion are going to be key issues for the Republican Party to pull out their voters."

De Leon also said some of Pawlenty's proposals are already being followed. She said state and federal law enforcement officials are already working together to crack down on human trafficking, violent international gangs and sexual predators.

Lawmakers will consider whether to hold hearings on the governor's plan when they return for the 2008 legislative session on Feb. 12.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/displa ... migration/



Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty Tackles Illegal Immigration Issue
NewsMax.com Wires
Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2006 election year!

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ST. PAUL -- Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota is descended from Polish immigrants and has been known to throw around pretend-Polish words like "squatski." (As in: What has the Legislature accomplished?) But lately he has been talking a lot about the Mexican border, more than 1,500 miles from snowy St. Paul.

His administration issued a report in December estimating that as many as 85,000 illegal immigrants live in Minnesota, at a cost to taxpayers of up to $188 million a year.

Democrats and other critics questioned the Republican governor's numbers and his motives. But that hasn't stopped Pawlenty from making immigration a top issue as he seeks reelection.

Similarly, GOP gubernatorial candidates such as Jim Oberweis in Illinois, Bob Beauprez in Colorado, and Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey in Massachusetts have been staking out hard-line positions on illegal immigration. And Governor Janet Napolitano of Arizona, a Democrat facing criticism on immigration in her own reelection bid, is pushing a $100 million border security plan.

Campaign specialists say looking tough on illegal immigration can bring in both conservative and working-class votes.

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/art ... 2103.shtml

There are more out there but all pretty much the same...no accomplishments to add to the credit of Pawlenty...Looks like a wind bag, and the wind only blows in an election year!

Hopefully everyone in this forum has come to the conclusion that almost all politicians will say one thing to get into office and then do something entirely different when they have attained their position of power. Let's face it, they pander to the pro-IA hispanic community to get their vote and then play a shell game to keep them happy thereafter. Someday, someone with guts will step forward, say what they mean, and mean what they say. Sadly, when that happens, all the lies and deceit of years past will surface and we will see the ugly side of the problem we have created. IMO, we may start to see a degree of civil unrest and a tremendous backlash against the IA crowd. And we should put the blame squarely on the greedy politicians and business owners. They will have created a situation where American citizens had no choice but to react.

I will NOT vote for him. He is 100% for shamnesty.

The sad thing is most of these people think (or have been convinced) that they can "win" the Latino population by agreeing to some form of Amnesty.