Thompson Proposes Immigration Crackdown - Political Forum

Sebelius for VP, not Hillary · 10-24-2007, 01:45 PM

Thompson Proposes Immigration Crackdown | World Latest | Guardian Unlimited

Quote:

Thompson Proposes Immigration Crackdown
Wednesday October 24, 2007 12:16 AM
By BRENDAN FARRINGTON and LIBBY QUAID
Associated Press Writers

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) - Republican Fred Thompson said Tuesday the government should yank federal dollars from cities and states that don't report illegal immigrants.

In his first major policy proposal, Thompson challenged presidential rivals Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney by criticizing ``sanctuary cities'' where city workers are barred from reporting suspected illegal immigrants who enroll their children in school or seek hospital treatment. ``Taxpayer money should not be provided to illegal immigrants,'' Thompson said at a round-table discussion that included Collier County, Fla., sheriff Don Hunter.

Thompson has argued his rivals are soft on illegal immigration because Giuliani, as New York mayor, sued the federal government to keep his city's sanctuary policy and because Romney tolerated sanctuary cities as Massachusetts' governor. In turn, Giuliani's campaign accused Thompson of being weak on the issue. At a news conference Tuesday in Boston, Giuliani said: ``I'm the one who can bring about immigration reform.''

The immigration issue is important to many conservatives who influence Republican primaries. Some argue that illegal immigrants are straining schools and hospitals and taking jobs from U.S. citizens. Thompson chose to announce his plan in Collier County, which has vast tomato farms that hire thousands of immigrants and last year was part of a two-county sweep that saw 163 illegal immigrants arrested in one weekend.

Thompson's campaign said 22 percent of the county's crime is committed by illegal immigrants. To the sheriff, Thompson said: ``You've clearly been swamped with a particular kind of problem because the federal government, in large part, has let you down and has not done their part.''

``There's not a lot of new legislation that needs to be passed,'' the candidate said. ``We need to enforce the laws that are on the books. There are laws against illegal immigration, there are laws to secure the border, there are laws against sanctuary cities, there are laws against publicly funding illegals, and that law is being disregarded.'' Under Thompson's plan, sanctuary cities would lose discretionary federal grants, as would colleges and universities that allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition.

The former Tennessee senator also called for stronger laws forcing employers to verify that workers aren't illegal immigrants, for a more rigorous system to track who is coming in and out of the country and for increased prosecution of ``coyotes,'' smugglers who bring illegal immigrants across the Mexican border. Calling for stronger border security, he said: ``A small amount of nuclear material could do a lot of damage in the wrong hands. It makes you wonder why a terrorist would bother going through an airport or a port ... when we have an open border.''

``In 1996 we passed a bill, I was in the Senate, that outlawed sanctuary city cities. Mayor Giuliani went to court to defeat that law,'' Thompson said. Giuliani spokeswoman Katie Levinson said Thompson didn't try to fix the problem of illegal immigration when he was in the Senate.

``He was voting against $1 billion to combat illegal immigration at the borders, against stricter employment verification and for giving illegal immigrants more benefits than we give legal immigrants. That's not consistent or conservative,'' Levinson said. Romney spokesman Kevin Madden called Thompson a latecomer to the issue of sanctuary cities. ``Governor Romney has been the strongest candidate when it comes to demanding that our existing immigration laws are enforced,'' Madden said.

Romney has spent several weeks criticizing Giuliani for New York's sanctuary policy; Giuliani responds that he cracked down on all lawlessness and that Romney tolerated sanctuary cities in Massachusetts. Romney says he tried to curtail the problem by deputizing state police to enforce federal immigration laws.

Romney and Giuliani both are calling for tougher border security and enforcement of immigration laws, although in the past they spoke favorably of measures, sponsored by Arizona Sen. John McCain, another rival, that would provide a path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million immigrants here illegally. As Thompson traveled through Florida, his campaign suffered another staff departure and lost a key supporter in New Hampshire to rival John McCain.

Aides confirmed that Nelson Warfield, a political media strategist, has left the campaign while New Hampshire Republican Dan Hughes said he had joined McCain's campaign leadership team. Hughes, a developer who helped Ronald Reagan's campaign in 1980 and later Reagan's White House transition team, publicly split from the Thompson campaign last week, citing Thompson's lack of interest in the early voting state.

Thompson is telling the base exactly what it wants to hear. Thompson is too conservative to win the general election IMO. He can energize the base, but he will fail to build the coalition that won Bush the election in 2000 and 2004, which included significant amounts of Latinos.

Sebelius for VP, not Hillary · 10-24-2007, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rodog

And even then Bush failed to get the popular vote the first time. But I don't think Thompson's race for presidency is beyond reach although now that I think about it without the latino vote it may very well be very difficult.

However do to attempts by Republicans in California (jerrymandering or whatever you call it) parts of California's electoral college could come into play. It is up to the Californian people to vote on the proposition though, but I don't know how informed they are about it.

Even then though I think the Republicans have put themselves in a sinkhole in the long run.

I heard something about the attempt to gerrymander California, but wouldn't that require amending the state constitution, and thus a vote by the entirety of California? If they want to do it that way, then so be it. Other states in the Union, notably the South (

) should be allowed to to do the same. Then the black vote would actually start to count.

Independent147 · 10-26-2007, 09:03 AM

I think it's about time that I offer my current opinions on this issue.
I think we should set up registry for all illegal immigrants and give them Visas. We should charge the price that it would be to buy one on the way into the US. Visas are temporary, correct? Then, we allow them to either
A. leave the country
B. apply for citizenship
If they do get a Visa, but do not leave the country or get citizenship, then it will be all that much easier to find them. There will still be some that do not register, but we could hope for, say, 6-10 million illegals to purchase a visa?

Please, kick the shit outta my opinions

emptypepsi · 10-26-2007, 09:14 AM

Independent,

You have an okay idea, but remember that large numbers of illegals actually came legally first and simply overstayed their visas. Under your system, you would also have to have some way of keeping track to make sure people followed through on these easily given visas. Otherwise, nice idea.

I think any plan that includes allowing more legals per year (which I do support) should go hand in hand with funding for increased law enforcement measures on employers and overstayers of visas.

LessGovMrPrez · 10-26-2007, 09:38 AM

Well I agree with Thompson. Why are police and others not turning these people in? They are breaking the law that they swore to enforce! I have seen this happen.

We tracked down a woman selling food to the public and had her escorted back to our office so we could destroy her food. A city cop followed us as well. When we got back to the office he checked her license, which she did not have, and then her visa, which she did not have. Cop gave her back her purse and left. Nothing. Had no proof of anything other then what she was telling people by word of mouth. For all I know she is still here.

Why wasn't she taken away?

The problem with kicking them out is that they make up a small portion of our overall economy. The government created this problem on their own and they need to fix it. It has to start somewhere.

Independent147 · 10-27-2007, 09:01 PM

Thanks EP. So how the hell do we find those who have overstayed their welcome? And that's another flaw in my plan, I guess- it runs partially on the honor system. Those who have already got a visa and outstayed it will just do the same, rather than going straight...
What's Thompsons plan for illegal immigration? To enforce current laws, but be stricter? Or more rigorous?
We need a fresh look on this, I think. A win- win situation.
How many American jobs do illegals take in the US each year anyway?
And I don't want no damn statistics. As a great man once said (Mark Twain) "There are three kinds of lies. Lies, damn lies, and statistics."

Is it really THAT bad for our economy? Or do they help our economy? I NEED SOME DAMN ANSWERS!!!

Gotta lay off that coffee...

misalign · 10-29-2007, 09:06 PM

There is one small problem with getting heavy handed with latin immigration. At the moment there are alot of friendly governments in these latin countries.
Governments that bend over backward to accommodate american interests in the region. A hostile tone by this country could very well get these governments overthrown and replaced with hostile regimes ready to do business with america's enemies.

sue · 01-09-2008, 12:07 AM

It drives me crazy that the press, the politicians, and even some average Joes call the illegal alien problem an immigration problem. We don't have an immigration problem! Fine companies and/or individuals three times the amount they 'saved' by hiring illegal employees and we'll cut down on the illegal alien problem. Stop all government services to non-citizens and we'll cut down even more on the illegal alien problem. Don't allow drivers licenses or real estate rental/purchases to illegal aliens and we won't have an illegal alien problem. Immigrants are great for this country. We usually have some adjusting problems when large amounts of a particular race or culture pours in at one time, but after a generation or two, things mellow out and we enjoy the benefits of diversity. We should never stop immigration, it is necessary; but we should not allow our country to have unknown amounts of people of unknown character flowing into it. We need to know who's here.

Sebelius for VP, not Hillary · 01-09-2008, 10:27 AM

Welcome to the forum, sue. Which pub do you think has the best chance for addressing the illegal immigration problem?

sue · 01-10-2008, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by W.E.B. Du Bois

Welcome to the forum, sue. Which pub do you think has the best chance for addressing the illegal immigration problem?

Any place with Sierra Nevada on draft would do.