The Irony of Rick Perry's "Immigration Problem"

Pundits have been falling over themselves to praise Texas Governor Rick Perry's principled stand on the DREAM Act. Many go so far as to note that this is creating an immigration problem within his own party. This is nonsense.

Governor Perry is a pragmatist and did what was best for his state by allowing the children of undocumented immigrants to apply for state subsidized tuition breaks for college. This was and remains a good thing for the state of Texas. Beyond that, to say that his current stance on the DREAM Act is anything other then smart politics, is a bit of a stretch.

When the Governor passed the state version of the DREAM Act way back in 2001, the DREAM Act was incredibly popular with the Republican base. People forget that the original version of the legislation was co-written by a Republican. Before that, in a Republican primary debate way back in the 1980's Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush fell over each other to praise immigrants who went to school in the United States despite not being citizens. Fast forward to today and ask Perry if he would pass a national DREAM Act and his answer is an emphatic, "no."

Let's be clear here, Perry may be taking heat on this issue from the right flank of his party now, but he is also doubling down on his maverick/stick to your guns image. Which in this Republican primary contrasts nicely with his main rival Governor Mitt Romney. If Perry survives to the general election (which is looking increasingly likely,) he will be the only GOP candidate to appear even remotely moderate on immigration issues.

This is a shame because Governor Perry's immigration stance is marred by his habit of lazily using the most intellectually dishonest immigration talking point in the GOP arsenal: we must secure the border before we can do anything on a national fix for our broken immigration system.

If fact, when Governor Perry is on the national stage and gets attacked about his stance on the DREAM Act, he always pivots to his strong stance on border security. Texas shares 1,200 miles with Mexico, and to Perry's credit he has rightly said that closing the U.S. Mexico border in his state is a bad idea. Yet this stance has not stopped him from repeatedly saying that the border is a dangerous war zone.

This is problematic when you realize that Texas exported $72 billion of goods to Mexico last year. That is a lot money and jobs for his state.Which begs the question: how could Texas do $72 billion dollars of business with Mexico through the border if it is a war zone? The answer is simple, the Texas-Mexico border is not a war zone. In fact, when Governor Perry is not in front of national cameras he is much better about acknowledging that Mexico is a great friend to Texas.

Despite his rhetoric, cities along the border in Texas are among the safest communities in the country -- border cities are much safer then Governor Perry's capital city of Austin.

I would wager that Governor Perry knows all of this. Which brings me to the great irony about Perry's perceived "immigration problem": if there is one, it is entirely of his own creation. By engaging in tough guy posturing, the governor and by extension the Republican party, have boxed themselves into a rigid ideology which has no basis in reality.

It is true that Governor Perry's view on the border and the DREAM act is much more evolved then those he is running against. Dare I say that at this point, they are also not that far from many moderate Democrats. But really at this point, who can take anything Governor Perry says seriously? The fact remains he is in the political fight of his life and like any other politician is just trying to get elected. The sad thing is, as he continually reminds us, he is a border governor, and as such should know better.

 

 

 

Follow Kristian Ramos on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kramos1841

Comments

[Bflobaz]

10:59 AM on 09/29/2011

Too many of them will say anything for a political or electoral advantage. That's why I say: "Watch what they do or have done (the past the best indicator of future behavior) -- not what they say." There's numerous examples documenting that they'll say one thing to get the nomination in the primaries and then, more to the center (and that's true of the GOP and Dems) after gaining the nomination.

So which person do we have standing before us for the general election - the rightie/lefty or center-right/left moderate? We still don't have a clue, because what they say isn't often what they'll do.

And finally, the "I didn't realize things were so bad" excuse doesn't cut it any more. If they didn't know how bad things were or didn't have the common sense to appreciate the last guy wasn't being any more candid with the voting public about the state of the nation's affairs than they are or will be, then they shouldn't have their finger on the nuclear button, either.

[Marnie1]

06:05 PM on 09/28/2011

What's unfortunate for him is the one thing that he has shown in the debates that would appeal to enough voters maybe elect him, he is being damned for by his own base.

Serves him right of course, but still that was the Tee Peers positive feed back moment from main stream America to start acting like members of a civilized society, and they have disemboweled, drawn and quartered it and eaten the bloody remains themselves.

[becky bradshaw]

09:57 PM on 09/28/2011

Immigration is a strange issue. Governor Perry, like his fellow Republican candidates, tries to talk tough, but without alienating the segment of the Republican party that is dependent on the illegal alien labor.

Both parties try to deflect, phrases like secure the border, and build better fences. These political diversions avoid the issue. As they learned in Berlin, tall walls and border guards will never be 100% effective. We have already made the border very secure. We can spend another $10 billion and the border will become less than 1% more secure.

Secure the jobs. E-Verify for 100% of jobs, no exceptions.

[becky bradshaw]

03:06 PM on 09/28/2011

It is important to note that the Governor Perry's immigration policies are linked to large donations from employers who have profited from cheap illegal alien labor.

Robert Rowling: Gold's Gym and Omni Hotels
Bob Perry: Houston Home Builder
Bo Pilgrim: Pilgrim's Pride Poultry
Charles Butt: HEB Grocery Stores
Harold Simmons: Garbage
James Dannenbaum (El Paso Highway Constructi­on)

More than ten different immigration proposals were introduced in Texas last year, but thanks to leadership from Rick Perry, and Speaker of the Texas House Joe Straus, not one of them ever made it to the floor for a vote. Count on this: if an immigration reform bill is ever approved in Texas, it will be a watered-down joke.

But this article was absolutely correct. Perry's diversion, talking about securing the border, is intellectually dishonest. An insecure border is not the problem. Secure the jobs and the border will take care of itself.

References:
1. http://www.texasmonthly.com/2010-11-01/feature3.php
2. http://www.tradereform.org/2011/09/7702/
3. http://therepublicanmother.blogspot.com/2011/06/rick-perry-loves-illegal-immigration.html
4. http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/08/rick-perrys-10-worst-crony-capitalists-0

[voyager48]

01:52 PM on 09/28/2011

Without a reliable means to enforce immigration ALL discussions surrounding illegal immigration are moot.

Securing the border is one aspect and synonymous with shutting down the enabling factors - so I am all for it as a necessary part of a real solution. Until we address the root cause, addressing any of the symptoms is only sticking band-aids all over the issue and the whole ugly mess will just perpetuate.

[Joel Wischkaemper]

12:38 PM on 09/28/2011

Governor Perry is a pragmatist and did what was best for his state by allowing the children of undocumented immigrants to apply for state subsidized tuition breaks for college.
==============================

Not even close. But if at all possible, I would support Governor Perry stealing YOUR money from you and giving it to the illegal aliens so their children could go to school for the brief period they will have until we get another President.

The polls have gotten worse, by the way, but I think this will set you on the right track.

Excellent, and independent public opinion polls.
http://www.fairus.org/site/PageNavigator/site/PageNavigator/facts/public_opinion.html

[bbailey123]

07:09 PM on 09/28/2011

what do you think is being "stolen"? residents of texas are all alowed to pay in state tuition, regardless of their immigration status. They are not going to college for free. And by the way, when I was at A&M foreign students, primarily from iran and saudi arabia also paid instate tuition rates.

[Skye8i8]

07:34 PM on 09/28/2011

But those foreign students were here *legally* weren't they, and went back home afterwards instead of staying in America *illegally*

[becky bradshaw]

11:33 PM on 09/28/2011

Iran?, that must have been prior to 1979.