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Mike Huckabee on Immigration
Signed the following pledge: "I pledge to oppose amnesty or any other special path to citizenship for the millions of foreign nationals unlawfully present in the United States. As President, I will fully implement enforcement measures that, over time, will lead to the attrition of our illegal immigrant population."
Q: But, this, this is important, because your plan says send them [illegal immigrants] all home. HUCKABEE: No, I did not send them home. They will go home within 120-day window, and then they have the process of starting to return. Q: But that's 15 million people. You're saying to do that would collapse the American economy, and now that's exactly what you're proposing. HUCKABEE: No, I don't think it would collapse the American economy if people went back and did their process of becoming legal. And all of them aren't going to go back on the same day. There's going to be a window of time. How long it's going to take for them to come back, I don't know. But part of the process, the first process, if you read my entire plan, is seal the border. Seal the border. If you don't do that, then you don't have any control of who's here, why they're here and what they're doing. This process has to be modernized. It's our government that's been dysfunctional.
"I propose that such individuals [illegal immigrants] be required to register with state and local authorities, pay financial penalties, and be given the choice of deportation or undertaking the process of legal citizenship."
What does make sense is a revision of our laws, one giving those here illegally a process through which they pay a reasonable fine in admission of their guilt for the past infraction of violating our border laws and agree to adhere to a pathway toward legal status and citizenship. In exchange, our government gains the capacity to know who is here, why they are here, where they are, and whether they carry a communicable disease. But much of the debate has become mired more in definitions than in a real solution.
From Hope to Higher Ground, by Mike Huckabee, p.117-118 Jan 4, 2007
"I tend to think that the rational approach is to find a way to give people a pathway to citizenship. You shouldn't ignore the law or ignore those who break it. But by the same token, I think it's a little disingenuous when I hear people say they should experience the full weight of the law in every respect with no pathway, because that's not something we practice in any other area of criminal justice in this country...What should happen, however, is exactly what I think the president has proposed, and that is that we create a process where people make restitution for the fact they have broken the law. It's not an amnesty, and I know that there are some who think that anything less than essentially grabbing them by the nape of the neck and tossing them over a fence, real or imaginary, is amnesty. But I think that's ridiculous."
"There must be consequences for illegal actions for violation of our rule of law. I propose that such individuals should be required to register with state and federal authorities, receive guest worker permits, pay financial penalties and be given the choice of deportation or undertaking the process of lawful citizenship that does not allow them to cut in front of the line."
Q: Let's take an issue that has been splitting the Republican Party, immigration. Now, when you were governor, you actually advocated making the children of illegal immigrants eligible for state tuition and state scholarships, yet you didn't support the Bush administration bill creating guest-worker programs and so on. MIKE HUCKABEE: Right.
There must be consequences for illegal actions for violation of our rule of law. I propose that such individuals should be required to register with state and federal authorities, receive guest worker permits, pay financial penalties and be given the choice of deportation or undertaking the process of lawful citizenship that does not allow them to cut in front of the line.
"We should have a secure and sealed boarder, with a real fence that is just like the fence you have to go through to get on a plane."
We have to know who is coming into our country, where they are going, and why they are here. We need a fence along our border with Mexico, electronic in some places, and more highly-trained border agents.
Creating a pathway where people can have a form of restitution to make things right, to understand that laws have to be obeyed or some consequences have to be applied. That makes more sense than trying to deport 12 million people or build a 700 million, ehr...700 billion dollar fence.
"I oppose and will not tolerate sanctuaries for illegals. The federal government must crack down on rogue cities that willfully undermine our economy and national security."
"A few weeks ago we launched forth a comprehensive immigration reform plan that eliminates amnesty and sanctuary cities."
Huckabee views the recent comprehensive immigration bill introduced by Bush as "amnesty" and therefore does not support this legislation. He does back the more limited $3 billion border security amendment to the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill. That bill calls for imprisonment for those who re-enter the country illegally, building a 700-mile fence and banning municipalities from establishing themselves as sanctuary cities.
"I oppose and will not tolerate employers who hire illegals. They must be punished with fines and penalties so large that they will see it is not worth the risk."
As part of his 'Secure America Plan:" Institute a universal, mandatory citizenship verification system as part of the normal hiring process.
"If employers would continue to hire people they knew were illegal there would be a heavy serious penalty for doing it."
We need to create a process to allow people to come here to do the jobs -- plucking chickens, tarring roofs, picking fruits -- that are going unfilled by our citizens, he said, according to The Des Moines Register. "They must have a tamper-proof, scannable ID with a finger or retinal scan so that their employers know they belong here."
MR. BLITZER: I see people raising their hands. But the question was, I'd only like those to speak up who believe that English should not necessarily be the official language of the United States. Is there anyone else who stands with Senator McCain specifically on that question? (Huckabee does not respond)