Posted on 09/13/2015 2:40:21 PM PDT by conservativejoy
Ben Carson has been getting a lot more love from the Sunday shows with his now solidified second place status heading into the debates and he was invited to sit down on Face the Nation this morning. Much of the interview was fairly nondescript, but when the host offered him the chance to not only comment on The Donald’s immigration plan but offer one of his own, well… things got a bit interesting. (via Ian Tuttle at National Review)
But let’s say we get [the borders] sealed, because certainly in a Carson administration that would be done within the first year. You also turn off the spigot that dispenses the goodies, so that people don’t have any incentive to come here. Then those who are here, we have to recognize that we can’t just round them up, but we can give them an opportunity to register. I would give them a six-month period. If they register, and if they have a pristine record, they haven’t been causing problems, I would give them an opportunity to become guest workers — not citizens, not voting people, not people who get goodies. I think that would be a fair way to do it. In terms of them becoming citizens later on down the road if they’ve done things the right way, we the American people will decide what the criteria for that ought to be.
Let’s go to the video just to make sure that we’re not missing any subtle nuances in his delivery.
As Tuttle notes in his piece, there are some serious holes in Carson’s logic here, and even if there weren’t he should be aware that this just isn’t going to fly.
With respect to “cutting off the goodies,” there are a number of “goodies” that are all but impossible to cut off. As I’ve noted, many illegal immigrant households receive welfare benefits through American-born children. There is no realistic way to withhold those entitlements.
With respect to the illegal immigrant population residing in the U.S., Carson’s plan does seem far more practicable than Trump’s (which, it is worth noting, was not in the immigration plan released by his campaign). But it’s not clear whether Carson’s alternative will be amenable to conservative voters.
Saying this may not be amenable to conservative voters is probably being more than charitable. But even if you happen to be in favor of what the mainstream typically refers to as “comprehensive immigration reform” there are still massive problems with this approach. First of all, as Tuttle points out, you’re never going to cut off some of the goodies he’s talking about, at least for many illegal immigrants. As to giving everyone six months to “sign up” and essentially come out of the shadows, previous efforts along those lines have failed. Let’s say you get a million of them to sign up. What do you do with the other 11, 12 or 24 million? (Depending who you ask.) There is nothing of substance offered.
And for the people who “sign up” in whatever this unspecified new program is, you’ve essentially conveyed legitimate guest worker status on them. That’s not a temporary thing… they’re here forever. If you put an expiration date on this tolerant opportunity to work and it comes and goes, are we to assume they would just leave? You’re talking about giving it to people who were flouting the rules already when you came along. They’ll just go back undercover.
One hates to invoke the dreaded Mitt Romney concept of “self-deportation” but Carson makes no mention to the idea of making life here in the United States as an illegal alien less appealing. Where is the crackdown on employers who hire them? Where is the path to ending sanctuary cities and ramping up immediate deportations or severe criminal penalties for violent offenders in the illegal immigrant community? Where is the citizenship testing for every benefit that can possibly be withheld?
This just sounds like a barely less than 100% general amnesty plan for those who want to fall into some new classification of “dreamers” and no real plan for what to do with the rest. The “seal the borders” part always sounds good but you need to provide some details as to how you plan to do that. This was not Carson’s finest moment of the campaign and will cost him with the conservative base.
Bye, Ben. We hardly knew ye.
I can see this plan is well thought out. NOT!
Cutting off the goodies is just one step. I think punishing the people who hire them is better. Jail the business owner, and the landlord. Seize their property. Fine them $10,000 per day per illegal employed or housed.
Make a few very public examples...and the problem will take care of itself.
More and more, Carson seems like the establishment’s outsider candidate. He should have stuck to prayer breakfasts.
Jail time for employers would be effective. Enough with thumbing the nose at the law already.
Jailing the business owner isn’t enough.
I want any official providing sanctuary jailed and charged as an accessory to any crime committed by anyone they provided sanctuary to.
That includes federal officials.
I also want it put into law that anyone gaining access to this country illegally will never be allowed to vote in America in any election.
Uh, uh, Ben, most of us are not ready for another limp wrist man of color..
BTW - Dr. Herman Cain was the *FIRST* presidential candidate’s campaign of which I donated my own money.
BTW - You’re not *HALF* the man that is Dr. Cain..
Ben Carson is revealing himself to be a Yeb Bush “it’s an act of love” type of politician.
Yes...he is now a politician.
Carson has jumped on board The Cheap Labor Express.
If you want to keep your country, you MUST elect a President who WILL enforce the laws and REALLY secure the border.
Businesses who hire these should get a 6 grand per hired illegal fine with 80% of that fine going to the local law enforcement dept who makes the arrests.
Then, the business gets to pay for the deportation of all the illegal workers, their families, and friends who are here illegally. .
I don’t mind piling on Carson along with everyone else, and I agree that he has NO PLACE being considered a serious candidate, but I do see it from a somewhat different angle:
Carson is a classic “Low Information Republican” as ANYONE in his shoes would be. You don’t get to spend 6 hours a day on FreeRepublic if you’re doing groundbreaking surgery rewiring the brains of people - it’s one or the other, cannot be both. But it still takes HOURS PER DAY to get around the media - and get to the truth. We love doing it, so it seems easy to us - but we are in a very small group. The vast majority of people either don’t have the time (like Carson) or don’t have the interest (like Perry) or don’t have the brains (also like Perry).
So Carson appears to be a product of watching 15 minutes of Brian Williams every day and thinking about how to save and improve lives the other 23 hours, 45 minutes. And so the Illegals from the South coming in are poor women and children just trying to get around the bullets flying in Mexico, and the ‘migrants’ coming in from the Middle east are poor women and children just trying to get around the bullets flying in Syria and Iraq. Because that’s all he’s ever been told and shown.
We liked him because of his life’s story and because he was an outsider (and because he was black and could deliver a joke), but it is OUR RESPONSIBILITY to get to know a candidate a bit better before giving him our support. I don’t think the GOPe is pulling his strings...they don’t need to, the media already owns him.
My gut instincts told me this guy was not one to be trusted...two months ago
Yes. Trump/Cruz is probably the best ticket.
Good instincts. I’m just glad that he is beginning to expose his dangerous positions. In addition to some other troubling teachings in his church, SDA’a are pacifists. I already had real doubts about his being a strong leader, but this additional aspects of his views didn’t reassure me any.
I always enjoy your posts and find myself agreeing with you.
Good observations.
Ben Carson reminds me somewhat of Alan Keyes. One issue, but beyond that no conservative substance.
Riiiiight. Sort of like how well going after drug-pushers instead of drug-users has worked. And then there's that thing about punishing abortion-providers instead of abortion-seekers.
If you're convinced that a particular behavior is wrong, then punish the wrong-doer not the enabler.
Cool, thanks. I’m starting to feel a bit sorry for Carson - I doubt he had any idea what was coming.
Good write up. Pretty acute observations.
I’ve been saying form the day he announced Carson is a good guy, I like him, but he’s not the president we need. Smart as they get, well spoken, maybe OK in a cabinet position, but still has to listen to lobbyists, special interest groups and campaign donors.
So no matter how he goes about it, he gets controlled by the establishment. Not what we need. That’s my only reservation about Cruz, he’s good, very good, he’s been standing against the white house elite for a good while, but he wants to increase H1B visas, and has to pay attention to the same money men.
Soon as I saw Carson wanted to sign on to this “guest worker” idea, I knew it was a definite no go. Too many people in this country already can’t find jobs, why would anyone even think about keeping illegal immigrants here, under any conditions, when Americans can’t find jobs?
Employers who hire illegals are already supposed to be fined. Enforce existing laws. Obama says they are here taking jobs “Americans don’t want”. Right...all those out of work carpenters don’t want to be on the all illegal immigrant framing crews? Americans don’t want that job holding a SLOW sign at road construction sites? Meat packing plants? Machine shops?
The only Americans who don’t want jobs are the ones sitting on their lazy asses collecting welfare and food stamps and not even trying to find jobs. Those of us, myself included, who would actually like to find a decent job, would certainly grab many of those I’ve seen illegal immigrants doing. I was on a framing crew in the late 80’s. I was a machinist for 8 years. I’d be more than glad to stand there and hold a SLOW/STOP sign all day...or run a road work machine. Give me a couple of days and I can learn it. Give me a month or two and I’ll be the best operator you have. Yes, I’ve done it. I’m not just talking nonsense.
I got the shock of my life when I applied for a job in Houston driving a forklift on an apartment construction site. I Had driven forklifts for 2 years or so, no problem. I’m thinking small rear wheel steering warehouse type forklift...so when the guy hired me he pointed to a Lull Highlander...and said there’s your machine...
42 feet lift, 40 feet reach, forks tilt every direction you can think of, 4 wheel drive, 4 wheel steering, mine pivoted in the middle as well..it was about 15 years older than that one though, this was about 1978.
Ummmm....mind if I tool around the parking lot for a few minutes to get the feel of the machine? He thought that was a good idea...I was sweating bullets...what the hell did I get myself into this time...in a week I loved it, Cadillac of forklifts, 3 weeks and he had me hanging rafters, told me I was his best driver.
So I’m not just blowing smoke, I’ve done it. I could hop on any road machine and learn to operate it in a few days, learn to do it well in a month. And Obama thinks I don’t want that job...apparently Carson does too.
Bye Ben...
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