Campaign Statements — Immigration
Thursday January 19, 2012
“And if you want to be an American, the first thing you should do is respect our laws and obey our laws. And the idea that someone, whether it’s either of these two gentlemen, whether the idea that someone who came here and lived here 25 years has only broken one law, if they’ve worked for 25 years they’ve been breaking the law for 25 years. If they’ve been working they have probably stolen someone’s Social Security number and they’ve committed Social Security fraud. This is not just a single occurrence. It’s an ongoing issue. And if we treat people like that differently than we do with a mother who out of a desperate situation goes out and shoplifts or does something and gets thrown in jail, what are we saying—that we’re going to treat people in this country who do things for their family differently than those who are here illegally? I don’t think so.”
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CATEGORIES: Immigration | Rick Santorum |
Thursday January 19, 2012
“This one is not tough: You build a fence, you have enough Border Patrol agents to secure the fence, and you also have a system of giving to people who come here legally an identification card, and you expect employers and insist that employers check that card before they hire someone.
If they don’t check the card, if they don’t run it through the U.S. database and get an instant response from the government or from Mastercard, Visa, American Express or whomever, then those—those employers are going to get severely sanctioned. If you do that, we solve the problem of illegal immigration.”
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CATEGORIES: Immigration | Mitt Romney |
Thursday January 19, 2012
“I don’t think we’re going to deport grandmothers and grandfathers who have 25 years of networking and relationships in a community. So I’ve suggested a World War II-style draft board where local citizens would review the applications, you could only apply if you proved that you were financially responsible, you proved you had genuine family ties, and you had an American family sponsor you. You still wouldn’t get amnesty; you wouldn’t get citizenship. You would get a residency permit. In order to apply for citizenship, you would have to go back to your own country and get in line behind everybody else and be processed as a person from that country.
But I think it would—I think this is a doable, solvable, practical solution. And I think trying to deport grandmothers and grandfathers will never pass the Congress and would never be accepted by the American people.”
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CATEGORIES: Immigration | Newt Gingrich |
Thursday January 19, 2012
“I favor English as the official language of government, and I think that creates a continuity.”
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CATEGORIES: Immigration | Newt Gingrich |
Thursday January 19, 2012
“I don’t think you can pass a comprehensive bill, because nobody trusts the government. So first, you control the border. We have a bill that would have it controlled by January 1, 2014. And—and I’m prepared both to waive all federal regulations to get it built and controlled by 2014, and I’m prepared to move up to half the people who work for Homeland Security, about 20—they have 23,000 employees in Washington. I’d be prepared to move half of them to Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, if that’s what it took to control the border.”
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CATEGORIES: Immigration | Newt Gingrich |
Monday January 16, 2012
“We are going to secure the border with Mexico, that means strategic fencing, that means thousands of national guard troops on the border until we can train up those border patrol to be there. And it means predator drones and other aviation assets to that we have the real-time information to flow down to those individuals that are in law enforcement so that they can immediately respond to any activities that they see on the border that is either weapons related or drug related or illegal immigration that’s occurring on that border.
Americans want that border secure. The issue isn’t about how much is it going to cost, the issue is when are you going to get it done? And when I’m the president of the United States that border will be locked down and it will be secure by one year from the time I take my hand off the Bible.”
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CATEGORIES: Immigration | Rick Perry |
Monday January 16, 2012
“I have indicated I would veto the DREAM Act if provisions included in that act to say that people who are here illegally, if they go to school here long enough, get a degree here that they can become permanent residents.I think that’s a mistake. I think we have to follow the law and insist those who come here illegally, ultimately return home, apply, and get in line with everyone else.
Look, I want people to know I love legal immigration. Almost all of us in this room are descendants of immigrants or are immigrants ourselves. Our nation is stronger and more vibrant by virtue of a strong legal immigration system.But to protect our legal immigration system we have got to protect our borders and stop the flood of illegal immigration and I will not do anything that opens up another wave of illegal immigration.”
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CATEGORIES: Civil Liberties | Immigration | Mitt Romney |
Thursday December 15, 2011
“But in terms of immigration, and illegal immigration, this president has so screwed up this economy, nobody is coming anymore. There is nothing to come for. I mean, there’s not a problem today. Just take a look at the numbers coming across.
I mean, the numbers, it was posted the other day, lowest in four decades. So I say, you know, we have got to secure the border, of course. We have got to deal with the 11, 12 million people who are here. But let’s not lose sight of the fact that legal immigration is an engine of growth for this country. Half of the Fortune 500 companies in this country today were founded by immigrants.”
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CATEGORIES: Immigration | Jon Huntsman |
Thursday December 15, 2011
“But let me say on this whole issue of immigration. On day one, I would drop all the lawsuits against Arizona, South Carolina, and Alabama. It is wrong for the government. I would propose—I would propose cutting off all federal aid to any sanctuary city that deliberately violated federal law.”
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CATEGORIES: Immigration | Newt Gingrich |
Thursday December 15, 2011
“So you say to people who are here illegally today, you are not going to be able to work here unless you register, unless—and we will give you transition period of time, and then ultimately you have got to go home, apply for permanent residency here or citizenship, if you want to try and do that, but get in line behind everyone else.
My view is, people who have come here illegally, we welcome you to apply but you must get at the back of the line, because there are millions of people who are in line right now that want to come here legally. I want those to come here legally. Those that are here illegally have to get in line with everybody else.”
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CATEGORIES: Immigration | Mitt Romney |
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