Immigration Issues in 2012 Election
Immigration Issues in 2012 Election (photo from MyFox Boston)
Immigration issues in 2012 election may make or break a presidential candidates chance of election.
Most recently, the Arizona recall election led to Republican legislator Russell Pearce’s defeat. This has given Democrats a renewed hope for next year’s Senate and presidential elections and has many of the presidential candidates unwilling to speak out on their opinions for immigration reform for fear of losing votes.
Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said when speaking of the subject, “Well, let me say, first of all, I think we would be better off to outsource E-Verify to American Express, MasterCard or Visa, because they actually know how to run a program like that without massive fraud. Second, the program should be as easy as swiping your credit card when you buy gasoline. And so I would ask of employers, what is it you would object to in helping the US in dealing with the problem involving illegal immigration?”
Presidential candidate Herman Cain said when speaking of the subject, “Illegal immigration also puts a tremendous strain on America’s entitlement and health care systems. Illegal immigrants are typically uninsured and cannot afford to pay for their medical care, driving up costs for all Americans, even those actually insured. In fact, several hospitals in the U.S. have declared bankruptcy as a result of the costs of caring for illegal immigrants.”
In an article on the Latina.com website reporting on the GOP candidates’ stance on immigration reports:
Newt Gingrich is up in the polls. Rick Perry is down. As the Republican field narrows before President Barack Obama’s challenger is chosen, we thought it was only fair to take to look at where these hopefuls stand on the key political issue of immigration, since we broke down the President’s stance last week. Decide for yourselves!
- Moats, Alligators, & Electrocution: Herman Cain said at an Iowa campaign stop that the U.S. should build a electrified, 20 foot “Great Wall” along the border that would electrocute illegal immigrants with an alligator-filled moat. Responding to criticism, the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO said he was joking and that American needs to get a sense of humor.
- DREAMer Liability: As governor of Texas, Rick Perry has gotten heat for supporting a local version of the DREAM Act which allows undocumented students to pay in-state tuition. But he has cracked down on “sanctuary cities” that protect illegal immigrants and imposed tough restrictions on driver’s licenses for immigrants.
- Flip Flopper?: Mitt Romney has taken a tough stance against illegal immigrants in the Republican debates. But reports surfaced that he employed gardeners without work permits while he was Governor of Massachusetts and that he made state-funded Medicaid available to illegal immigrants under his health care reform.
- Mass Deportation is Impractical: Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House who led the 1994 Republican Revolution, believes deporting the illegal immigrant population is unrealistic. He supports the DREAM Act, and favors building a border fence manned by Department of Homeland—as opposed to Border Patrol—agents.
- Double-Sided Fence: Claiming illegal immigrants cost the U.S. more than $100 billion dollars a year, Michele Bachmann signed a pledge advocating for the construction of a 2000-mile fence along the border with Mexico. She supports denying undocumented immigrants benefits and citizenship to their American born children benefits, saying, “We’ve got to end this anchor-baby program.”
- The Moderate: Former Governor of Utah Jon Huntsman threatened to veto a measure repealing in-state tuition to attend college for illegal immigrant students. He supports increasing immigration for high-skilled workers and rejects deporting en masse the estimated 12 million undocumented workers, favoring instead a “pathway to citizenship” after paying fines and learning English.
- Secure Borders Before Sending Troops to War: Against giving undocumented workers “amnesty,” Ron Paul also opposes citizenship for children of illegal immigrants born in this country. He voted against the DREAM Act and believes the federal government should secure our border before sending off troops to war.
- Enforce Current Laws: Rick Santorum opposed the 2006 immigration proposal when he was a Senate because he believes the U.S. should enforce the existing laws. The former Pennsylvania Senator supports more border security in the form of a fence and National Guard troops to guard it; denying undocumented immigrants benefits, and establishing English as the U.S.‘s national language.
Alabama recently passed what is believed to be our nation’s toughest immigration law and has many people pointing out the similarities between the new law and the civil rights movement in the ’60s. Many states are complaining of the hardships created by illegal immigration as well as those created by the new immigration laws.
In an article from Atlanta’s Examiner.com website, Patricia Walston reports:
Georgia (and particularly the Atlanta area) has one of the largest number of non-American workers in this country. Every job that they take at a cheaper rate, is a job taken away from those who are citizens. Non-legal workers (who do not have the cost of living expenses that legal residents have such as mortgage payments, taxes, and other cost), work at lower rates which prevents the hiring of those who are being undercut. And many of them send their money out of the country which is bad for our economy.
A business owner who can hire an illegal at one-half the price of a legal citizen puts a healthy profit in their pocket, while the rest of the state pays huge additional cost for them being here.
Illegal aliens in the Atlanta area are taking up a large portion of space in local jails and prisons which causes heavier tax burdens on the legal residents for their housing and upkeep. The emergency rooms have become their “personal physicians” while many others are unable to obtain medical care because of lack of employment and lack of insurance. Many illegals are driving on the streets of Atlanta without a valid driver’s license. Two things – they do not pay the license fees; and they have not passed a driving test like all others are required to take; and since many do not speak and read English, that is a hazard on our roads. (Continue reading the article here.)
How do you feel the immigration issues in the 2012 election will affect the presidential race?
Filed Under: Immigration News
