Nope, read their website, I did. The grade is for Illegal and legal immigration...sorry...
The NumberUSA item that I posted on FR evaluated the GOP candidates based on their recorded votes on ILLEGAL immigration. sorry.
Yes, it is, and for good reason: both issues are very important. Illegal immigration must be stopped, but our legal immigration policy is insane. We're granting visas to far too many uneducated, unskilled third world peasants simply because they have relatives in the US.
Because they have few marketable skills and little education, most LEGAL immigrants have low incomes, which results in them consuming far more govenment services than they pay for in taxes. That also makes them natural democrats once they eventually become citizens.
NumbersUSA is absolutely correct in docking politicians who support the chain migration policies that perpetuate this madness.
That being said, Thompson, to his credit, has come out against chain migration recently and is supporting reducing legal immigration numbers, as well as keeping out the uneducated low-skill hoards.
His record on immigration as senator hasn't been very good, but as a Romney supporter, I am certainly in no position to fault a man for having a change of heart.
I'll be honest and say that so far, I prefer Thompson on the immigration issue, at least the one he's most recently endorsed. I still support Romney because I think he is better qualified, and he's good on illegal immigration, but I do wish he'd come up with a more specific plan on what he'd do to reform or insane legal immigration policies. So far he's been extremely vague.
My hope is that Thompson will gain some traction in his coming out against chain migration and Romney will follow suit.