Immigration Debate Alive And Well In Presidential Campaign

If people thought immigration would not be a major issue once non-stop political campaigning begins, the events of the last few days have shown otherwise.

All the controversy surrounding immigration reform, from a call to a new amnesty for undocumented immigrants to an outright support for immediate deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants are as loaded with emotions as they were over the last few years.

This was a lesson that the latest star GOP candidate, Texas Governor Rick Perry, had to learn the hard way, after he was attacked for implementing the Texas version of the DREAM Act during the GOP's recent presidential debate .

Perry was criticized on that issue by former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who during the 2007-2008 campaign described in detail how under his presidency he was going to deport undocumented immigrants in 90 days.

Michelle Bachmann also went after Perry in her campaign appearances during the week, causing a dent in support for the front runner.

If the first signs that Perry's star is beginning to dim for the conservative wings of the GOP multiply and bring to his demise as a viable presidential candidate, it can be said that the decline took form with an immigration question.

Perry, still considered a strong possibility, kept arguing that those who don't share his views on the state's DREAM Act "don't have a heart."

A Latino that is not running but has appeared in the campaign is Florida's junior Senator Marco Rubio, who was the favorite vice presidential candidate, to take the number 2 spot on any presidential ticket as candidate for Vice President in a straw poll in Massachusetts.

Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, a Cuban American, was the choice for the vice presidential nominee with 23 percent of the vote.

Rubio, by the way, supported Perry's action to assist undocumented students.

As the immigration debate again returned to many front pages, the latest numbers on illegal crossings of the U.S.-Mexico border have fallen 50% since 2008 and 80% since 2000, according to a Washington Post editorial, which should prompt the GOP to declare victory.

Captures of immigrants illegally crossing will fall to about 325,000 for fiscal 2011, says the Post.

At the same time, the Obama administration has broken the record in the annual number of deportations of undocumented immigrants, surpassing more than $1 million since taking office. As published in MSNBC, Obama is "on pace to deport more in one term than George W. Bush did in two."

That trend generated protests by Latino community leaders across the country and a dip in the support by Hispanic voters for the re-election of Obama, according to some polls, as immigration, according to latest polls, continues to be the most important topic for Latinos in this campaign.

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Comments

[osmith1039]

08:14 PM on 10/10/2011

Face it , everybody cannot live here. It is already getting overcrowded. I predict that USA will be a third world country within the next five years. We are already broke, and the citizens here are loosing their jobs and homes. Why let more people in if you cannot feed and house the ones here. It is ashame the government allowed this to happen.

This problem can be fixed in a few months.
#1 Cut off all financial assistance
#2 Fine all those who hire illegals and make sale their business, and put it in the Medicaid fund.
#3 All communication will be in English

[Hacim Obmed]

12:50 AM on 10/05/2011

This article is a total lie and a misleading fabrication. It is a known fact that not a single one of the republican candidates has any problem with immigration. The only differences between candidates involves their various positions on treatment of illegal aliens. These last are not any sort of immigrant. They are dishonest people who sneak across our borders without permission and then use fraudulent documents to violate our labor laws. You must really think people are stupid to not understand the difference between these two things. An immigrant is to an illegal alien as a house guest is to a burglar.

[Mr Bobo]

06:23 PM on 09/28/2011

Does anyone else see the irony in the choice of photo for this piece? The photo shows a room full of LEGAL immigrants taking the oath (not the immigrants being discussed in presidential debates), as opposed to those who surreptitiosly sneak across our borders without permission (the ILLEGAL immigrants who are the true topic of discussion).

Why the attempt to blur the lines?

[Consequence]

12:51 PM on 09/28/2011

Please notice the picture at the start of the article.

It is of LEGAL immigrants who have gone through the immigration process and are now actual American Citizens.


Dems and several Hispanic groups would have you believe that is not the way to go and that breaking the law by entering and breaking the law with fake SSNs, etc. is the way to achieve the American Dream.

[geekmom]

11:28 PM on 09/27/2011

We can tolerate illegal immigration or we can build a social safety net. It will become increasingly impossible to keep doing both those things.

[magyart]

11:14 PM on 09/27/2011

Perry and Obama support the Dream Act and policies that protect illegal residents. They both oppose a border fence and AZ' s SB1020. I say they're BOTH Democrats.

[Buzzm1]

09:32 PM on 09/27/2011

Before the recent addition, in 2005-2010, of:
10,000 Border Patrol agents,
313.9 miles of Pedestrian Fence,
only 36.3 miles of the legislated 700 miles of double-layered fence,
and 298.5 miles of Vehicle Barriers,
it was estimated, by the border patrol agents,
that less than 1, out of 7, illegals, were apprehended at the border.
Some agents even said less than 1, out of 10, were apprehended.

In the 24 years, since the 1986 Reagan, one-time amnesty,
http://n.pr/9IMtLO
over 28 million illegals have been apprehended
after they crossed our border.
http://bit.ly/bylG5z DHS has removed their stats
Over 100 million illegals weren't apprehended

30 million illegals, in our United States, is much more likely

30 million illegals undermining our economy
http://bit.ly/cOm3d4
http://bit.ly/a7WcAk

2007 CAPS Study on the number of illegals in our U.S.:
at least 20 million, but perhaps as many as 38 million or more
http://www.capsweb.org/content.php?id=57

[Dan Vasquez]

12:58 AM on 09/28/2011

You tricky little rascal. You put up the first link to an NPR article that you probably didn't even read, then you post 3 links from a message board followed by link to a conservative web site. FYI anyone can buy a .org, it's not an official domain extension like .gov or .edu.

As far as the numbers go, you're trying to state that 10% of all Americans are unauthorized immigrants (300 million in US) and that's just asinine. There are 45 million Latinos in this country most of them are citizens.

http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-ds_name=ACS_2009_5YR_G00_&-mt_name=ACS_2009_5YR_G2000_B03001

[Buzzm1]

09:28 PM on 09/27/2011

step #1 http://bit.ly/oBuTUd Border Issues

STOP THIS INVASION

The Latin American Invasion of the United States
http://bit.ly/lHActz

QUESTION OF THE MONTH:
How many illegals are in our United States?
DISCUSSION FORUM: http://bit.ly/ndV7sd

UNITED STATES BORDER APPREHENSIONS
Fiscal Year (Source DHS/CBP)
1987--1,190,488----1997--1,412,953----2007---876,704
1988--1,008,145----1998--1,555,776----2008---723,825
1989----954,243----1999--1,579,010----2009---556,041
1990--1,169,939----2000--1,676,438----2010---463,382
1991--1,197,875----2001--1,266,213----2011---
1992--1,258,482----2002----955,310----2012---
1993--1,327,259----2003----931,557----2013---
1994--1,094,717----2004--1,160,395----2014---
1995--1,394,554----2005--1,189,075----2015---
1996--1,649,986----2006--1,089,902----2016---

Now, the Border Patrol thinks they apprehend
somewhere around 1, out of 4.

U. S. BORDER BORDER PATROL AGENTS
Fiscal Year (Source DHS/CBP)
1987---3,181---1997---6,817---2007---
1988---3,766---1998---7,890---2008--17,248
1989---3,783---1999---8,259---2009---
1990---3,715---2000---9,078---2010---
1991---3,635---2001---9,651---2011--20,745
1992---4,026---2002---9,902---2012--21,370
1993---3,965---2003--10,541---2013---
1994---4,217---2004--10,886---2014---
1995---4,876---2005--11,106---2015---
1996---5,863---2006--------------2016---

[Buzzm1]

09:26 PM on 09/27/2011

become a part of FOCUS: AMERICA!!
http://on.fb.me/oRc7FK http://bit.ly/fVo2Tz

[PatrickforO]

08:49 PM on 09/27/2011

Funny how all the crazies get rabid about illegal aliens, and even funnier how all the politicians seem to pander to them. We have strong immigration laws, and if we'd actually enforce them, illegal immigrants wouldn't be a problem. We don't, though. Can you guess why? Money! Businesses hire these people so they can exploit labor at less than minimum wage. People come illegally because they can still earn more than they can at home. A whole cottage industry has grown up to exploit these poor people who are just seeking a better life. Human trafficking, sex slavery, sweatship conditions, dangerous crossings and xenophobia. Maybe we need to get rid of the emotion and put these laws on the table, then decide what we're actually gonna do.

[chaart]

09:35 PM on 09/27/2011

Yes, it's the money. Exploiting law-abiding U.S. taxpayers is a very lucrative enterprise, which is why foreigners are able to send billions of U.S. dollars obtained illegally to their own country every year. (They evade taxes by working for cash, steal our jobs, have twice as many kids as citizens and line up for all the government handouts they can get and drive without insurance.) And it's also foreigner criminals who exploit their own. The smugglers and sex slavery rings are all foreigners.

[papapj]

01:33 PM on 09/28/2011

You quite clearly haven't a clue what you're talking about. Undocumented workers pay taxes, and every State Governor knows this, and has to balance the needs of the Treasury to the demands of a rabid xenophobic populace, stoked up into a lather by politicians using them for their vote, and relying on their ignorance...

"All undocumented immigrants pay sales and property taxes, and—contrary to popular belief—most pay federal and state income taxes as well, even though they're not eligible for Social Security, Medicare, or the many other programs their tax dollars help fund. Undocumented immigrants also spend billions of dollars each year, which supports our economy and helps create new jobs.'

http://tinyurl.com/27wb4n4

You are being used...you are but a pawn reacting as you are told to, and feeding off the hate of directed to those who can do little to oppose you....get wise...QUICK!

[NelsonJackson]

06:39 PM on 09/27/2011

Let's get Immigration Reform on the front pages of the presidential debate where it belongs. It won't take long to find out who is truly xenophobic. If you shoot into a pack of dogs, one of them is bound to yelp. Of course, Obama may be howling at the moon as well.

[Taxed]

06:03 PM on 09/27/2011

If Latinos are supporting breaking the law, then they missed something important about this country. It is supposed to be a nation of laws, not a nation of ignoring the laws you find inconvenient.

[NelsonJackson]

06:42 PM on 09/27/2011

Only Caucasians have the right to break the law without repercussions.

[chaart]

09:41 PM on 09/27/2011

Not so. Obama has publicly announced his policy of only holding illegal immigrants accountable for violent criminal convictions, looking the other way when illegal aliens commit tax evasion and identity theft. Only prosecuting U.S. citizens for those crimes.

[rubbercow]

09:53 PM on 09/27/2011

yawn

[Dan Vasquez]

01:07 AM on 09/28/2011

This country was built on Slavery, killing Native Americans and stealing from Mexicans. These laws that you speak so highly of, are unjust and justice should trump any draconian laws that are on the books.

[rubbercow]

10:44 AM on 09/28/2011

Oh, you are one who believes that the US has no right to exist. Feel free to leave any time. Your view of what this country was built on is willfully childish. Why don't you read some real and unbiased history books about how the European presence in this hemisphere played out?

[spytheweb]

05:52 PM on 09/27/2011

There is no immigration debate, there is a illegal alien debate of which there should be none. If you are illegal you must be deported.

[chaart]

04:53 PM on 09/27/2011

I used to be sympathetic to foreigners, until my friends started losing their jobs because they can't compete with foreigners who evade taxes by working for cash, drive without insurance and get free health care in our emergency rooms, and until I realized they were having twice as many children as citizens and lining up for all the U.S. governments they could get while sending $billions to their own country every year. Much of this I learned firsthand.

[rubbercow]

09:47 PM on 09/27/2011

I live in a neighborhood that is about 86% "immigrant" and have had the same experience that you have. I see the majority of people in the grocery paying with the Lone Star Card (buying $4/12 oz organic juice drinks, etc.) as if it were the norm. I was raised to feel a sense of shame for taking without contributing, but I see everyone act like it is routine to supplement their income by taking food stamps. I know that there are some who will argue that this is some kind of myth, but I see it every single day and have for the last 5 years.

I don't harbor any ill will towards anyone based on their ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or any other thing. The only thing I take offense to is people who cheat and manipulate.

[Dan Vasquez]

01:19 AM on 09/28/2011

'about 86% immigrant'???
Very interesting that your estimate is exactly 86%, my BS radar went off at this point.

Then you state you see all these 'immigrants' buying $4 cans of juice, hmm... Do you think that there are any white people who waist their public assistance on expensive soft drinks? Or do you think there are white people that waist their public assistance on something worse like Meth?

I think you need to stop posting and start reading.

[Hacim Obmed]

03:36 PM on 09/27/2011

I cannot believe how clueless our political leaders are in regard to illegal immigration. What does it take to wake these people up and get them outside their beltway bubble? In a republican primary, immigration is far more important than the economy, spending, taxes, health care and social security reform. All republicans are totally united in regard to these issues so the important distinguishing factor between them is illegal immigration. And believe me illegal immigration is very important to people. It touches on the fact that people feel the country is in decline and has lost its identity and its sense of values. It is also a jobs issue a spending issue and a partisan political issue. Most of the people coming in illegally are unskilled peasants who end up sucking social welfare benefits and voting democrat. They make no positive contribution to society. In addition to being freeloaders, they not culturally attuned to other Americans and they don't know how to adapt. They simply don't belong here, it is illegal for them to be here and nobody with any common sense would help them stay or encourage more of them to sneak in. Perry is therefore finished as far as I am concerned which is too bad because I wanted to believe he would be better that that two faced democrat-lite Romney. I now am totally undecided.