Click the link and you can post your comment at the bottom of this article.

Immigration ally: Shame on Huckabee
by Frank James

Gov. Mike Huckabee's increasingly hawkish view on immigration is drawing the ire of immigration advocates who criticize the Republican presidential candidate for going from a relatively humane position on dealing with illegal immigrants to a get-tough approach that would give the undocumented four months to exit the U.S., period.

Huckabee recently introduced his "Secure America" plan which includes a proposal that, if enacted, would require the estimated 12 million to 20 million illegal immigrants in the country to immediately register with the Customs and Immigration Enforcement agency, then give them 120 days to voluntarily leave the country. His plan suggests this approach is the only way to prevent an amnesty.

Those who failed to leave would be face deportation if arrested and would be barred from re-entering the U.S. for 10 years. The dislocation the sudden "voluntary' exit of 12 million to 20 million people would cause to communities across the U.S. isn't dealt with in Huckabee's proposal.

The position is clearly an attempt by Huckabee to accomplish two things. The mood is such in much of the nation, particularly among many Republicans who will vote in the Iowa caucuses and early primaries, to crack down on illegal immigration, and Huckabee is trying to synchronize his view with those voters.

But Huckabee is also trying to neutralize his past. As Arkansas's governor, Huckabee supported in-state college tuition for young illegal immigrants. This has left him vulnerable to attacks from his Republican opponents, particularly former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to whom Huckabee poses the largest threat in Iowa.

So Huckabee is attempting to beat back the Romney and others competing for the GOP nomination. To do so, he is now taking a hard line. But as Clarissa Martinez, the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform campaign manager points out in a statement, that is causing some cognitive dissonance with some of Huckabee's earlier statements. Here's a statement Martinez issued:

Just a couple of weeks ago Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee had what appeared to be a shining moment of strength and leadership on the issue of immigration when he refused to take Mitt Romney’s bait, instead declaring: "In all due respect, we are a better country than to punish children for what their parents did."
Well, we admit it, we were fooled. It certainly seemed as though Governor Huckabee was going to do the right thing focusing on solutions and refraining from the immigration pile-on being waged by his competitors. Boy, were we wrong!

What a Difference a Week Makes

In a stunning reversal from the compassion and leadership he showed just two weeks ago, Governor Huckabee has now released his 9-point Immigration Strategy, which among other things, calls for the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the country to leave within 120 days. This week Huckabee also announced he will begin airing a new TV spot focused on immigration and intended to echo the hard line rhetoric of his rivals.

His new plan makes no mention of those children or being a “better countryâ€