He's the one that's going around saying one thing to one person then another to another person.
This immigration stuff is making him behave like a typical politician. 
Posted on 03/19/2013 1:24:28 PM PDT by wesagain
WASHINGTON – Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the winner of the Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll for 2016 only days ago, is denying an Associated Press report that he supports a path to citizenship for illegal aliens.
The AP’s Erica Werner reported Paul told a Hispanic business group that illegal aliens should be allowed to become U.S. taxpayers and ultimately get a shot at citizenship.
However, Paul told the Washington Post, which carried the original story, the reporting was inaccurate.
“I didn’t use the word citizenship at all this morning,” he said. “Basically what I want to do is to expand the worker visa program, have border security and then as far as how people become citizens, there already is a process for how people become citizens.”
Paul said the “main difference is I wouldn’t have people be forced to go home.”
“You’d just get in line. But you get in the same line everyone is in,” he said.
At RedState.com, Erick Erickson backed Paul.
“I have read the entirely of Rand Paul’s speech. I have spoken directly to the senator,” he said. “Nowhere in his speech does he use the word ‘citizenship.’ In fact, the word citizen is only used once, in reference to Rand Paul himself saying, ‘As a teenager, I was not always the model citizen that I am today.’”
The RedState report said Paul was talking about fixing the guest worker program, not giving citizenship.
On social media, the senator said: “In the 1986 immigration plan, border security was promised in exchange for ...........
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
Border security first.
It seems as though Paul is backtracking. Is he proposing a lifetime guest worker program?
Let's not focus on voting as the central issue. It should be legalizing their status. And let's get real about legal immigration. Every ten years we have what amounts to an amnesty. With 1.2 million LEGAL IMMIGRANTS ENTERING ANNUALLY, they will be able to vote eventually and two thirds of them will vote Dem. Illegal immigration is the shiny little bauble that distracts us from the real game changer--legal immigration. The status quo will make the Dems the permanent majority party. Amnesty just hastens the process.
It’s always good to see the msm get called on their lying and/or half-truths.
40% of the 12 to 20 million illegal aliens is this country came here legally and overstayed their visa. Border security must also include a program to track and deport visa overstays.
While he did not specify it in his speech, on his way out of the venue Paul said he did not oppose offering illegal immigrants the option of earning citizenship after a probationary period. That proposal is similar to a plan being developed by a bipartisan group of eight senators, of which Paul is not a member.Roll Call: Paul Says He's Open to Voting for Path to Citizenship“You have an option to get in the line, and you get a work visa if you want to work,” Paul said when asked if he supports a path to citizenship.
Paul rejected the idea of deporting undocumented immigrants or immediately giving them citizenship. Instead, he argued for a probationary status.
“The solution doesn’t have to be amnesty or deportation — a middle ground might be called probation where those who came illegally become legal through a probationary period,” Paul said.
“Border security first.”
Bingo!
Rand Paul’s immigration plan: Border security before probationary legal status
It is still amnesty no matter what spin Rand Paul puts on it.
There is already a path. Clarifying that process does not condone a blanket amnesty...
Keep stretching.
How do you enforce "probationary legal status" for 12 to 20 million lawbreakers?
1) It's not news -- we've known this for a long time.
2) It's not news -- they are in the propaganda business, not the news business.
You are just carrying water for the MSM. They don’t know his position on immigration better than he does. The headline of that article is pure speculation.
He’s talking to Hannity about it on today’s radio show.
Sounds good to me. Better than anything else we’ve heard of since before Reagan.
That’s my opinion also.
They also need to quit using Asspress’ focus group generated phrases like “path to citizenship.”
“Let’s not focus on voting as the central issue.”
That’s fine, but let’s not overlook the number of aliens in America illegally that have already voted and will continue to vote. No, I don’t know that number, and likely no one does because no one has undertaken a comprehensive study, or even offered an approximation based on a rational analysis. The RNC must address this issue.
Rand Paul thinks we are all as stupid as libertarian loons.
It’s not amnesty if they don’t become citizens.
The illegals will have a probationary legal status that will ensure that they pay taxes and stop freeloading.
And they can still be deported a few years down the road if there’s enough political support to do it.
I would. Sorry, Rand, you're still allowing them to break the law, grab our tax dollars, vote in our elections, murder and harm our citizens, spit on America, clog up our medical facilities, force us to build more infrastructures to accomodate them and take our jobs. You, Rand, are breaking the law and as such are a criminal yourself. Be gone!
True now..true yesterday! No one can argue with that unless they have an agenda that includes breaking the law!
Yep. He is plying with us.
He's the one that's going around saying one thing to one person then another to another person.
This immigration stuff is making him behave like a typical politician.
There are no direct quotes where he says that he is open to voting on a path to citizenship. The title of that article is a lie.
Oh, PLEASE!!
Paul said the “main difference is I wouldn’t have people be forced to go home.”
“You’d just get in line. But you get in the same line everyone is in,” he said.
What are they in “line” for? Citizenship? THAT’S AMNESTY!!
Of course it is. Any legislation that legalizes the status of those who broke our laws by entering our country illegally and allows them to stay and work here is amnesty. We must not only prevent the Democrats and some moderate Republicans from hijacking the meaning of the word amnesty, but the public must be made aware about the true impact of an amnesty.
The Heritage Foundation concluded that the cost of amnesty would be $2.6 trillion just for increased entitlement program costs. And the number of additional LEGAL immigrants who would join those who were the recipients of amnesty through chain migration, i.e., family reunification, would approach 70 million over a 20-year period, assuming there are only 12 million illegal aliens.
Paul calls them undocumented workers in his speech. Words have meanings. The Democrats and the mainstream media have hijacked the language surrounding the immigration issue to the point that we had Michael Chertoff, the Secretary of Homeland Security and our nation’s top immigration official at the time, testifying before Congress using the term “undocumented workers” to describe illegal aliens. John McCain and Barack Obama studiously avoided the term “amnesty” to describe their comprehensive immigration reform plans and despite the evidence, baldly declared that it was not an amnesty. Instead, they used such euphemisms as “getting to the back of the line,” “an earned path to citizenship,” and “coming out of the shadows.” The Democrats and pro-amnesty crowd know full well that the American people are against amnesty, hence the avoidance of the “A” word.
The illegals will have a probationary legal status that will ensure that they pay taxes and stop freeloading.
Most of them are at the bottom of the economic ladder. They will pay little or no income taxes. In fact, they will receive money from the government in the form of EITC. Once they start paying payroll taxes, they will be entitled to Medicare, SS, and Medicaid. No doubt other benefits like food stamps will be provided. And what about Obamacare? Immigrants, legal and illegal, are disproportionately on the welfare rolls.
Will Rand Paul allow them to be reunited with their families? The Heritage Foundation concluded that the cost of amnesty would be $2.6 trillion just for increased entitlement program costs. And the number of additional LEGAL immigrants who would join those who were the recipients of amnesty through chain migration, i.e., family reunification, would approach 70 million over a 20-year period, assuming there are only 12 million illegal aliens.
And they can still be deported a few years down the road if there’s enough political support to do it.
There isn't the support now for the mass deportation of 12 to 20 million illegal aliens. And what do you think will happen if it is announced that we are going to have this amnesty? We will, like the last time in 1986, be flooded with illegal aliens coming in to take advantage of the amnesty.
What's the urgency about legalizing the status of those already here? We have 23 million Americans looking for full-time employment. We will just add to the competition for jobs reducing wages even further. Add to this the 1.2 million legal immigrants we bring in annually.
Best answer I've ever heard on this topic. I have no problem getting people here to a legal status on a valid worker visa. I see absolutely no reason why this reform has to involve any sort of new line to citizenship. Unless current law completely forbids anyone who was here without documentation from pursuing citizenship the old fashioned way, any individual who becomes legalized can pursue citizenship once they are legal. If we currently disqualify people who entered or remain here illegally at any time, I frankly don't mind waiving that for a limited time during eligibility to get a workers visa.
We need to address the massive problem we have, and getting people from illegal to worker status is fine with me, as long as we are modernizing our system, truly addressing the border and pursuing those who are working illegally or making off scott-free milking the system with free stuff.
” Any legislation that legalizes the status of those who broke our laws by entering our country illegally and allows them to stay and work here is amnesty”
Right. But Rand Paul’s plan will not give the illegals amnesty. They will be put on a probationary status. They will have to pay taxes and will not receive any new government assistance.
They will be allowed to stay and work here, the object of their crime. Green card holders are on probationary status. So will they have to get health insurance or be able to use the ERs as free medical clinics? What are the terms of their probationary status? Will all 12 to 20 million have to register their names and be issued ID cards? Will they receive work permits? Will their future children born in the US still be citizens? Will they be entitled to SS and Medicare since they are contributing to the system? What is the cut off date for their probationary status?
And when the probation is up???
C’mon. RP said it himself: “legalization”.
And it might be just a way for the elites to introduce classes of citizenship. They envy the old Hindu caste system.
Yes. But most everyone here still believes them when the story comes out. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth over this one.
The trouble with your comment “they will have to pay taxes” is that they usually don’t MAKE enough to pay those taxes. However, they WILL qualify for a rebate, AKA EIC, so in essence we pay them for filing a tax return.
We also give them jobs, provide them with free healthcare, assist with their food and energy needs, and educate their children. It’s a great deal for them, but for us....not so much.
He didn’t use “amnesty” because that polls badly. So instead, he said he’d let every illegal immigrant stay in this country, and let them sign up for citizenship.
I guess if I held up Rand Paul, and stole all his money and his car, he’d let me keep the money, and the car, but I’d have to stay in the same line to get it titled in my name as all the other people at the DMV. And it wouldn’t be “amnesty”.
It’s amnesty if we don’t throw them out of the country and BAN THEM from ever coming back or getting jobs or applying for citizenship. Because that is what the law says happens if you are caught here illegally.
And it’s a “path to citizenship” if you let them stay AND let them “get in line”.
This is like if there is a line for lunch, but someone cuts to the front and grabs a lunch, and sits down. But instead of taking the lunch from them and throwing them out, we give them their check, and let them finish eating, while they “wait in line” to pay their check when their number is finally called.
That’s like saying we won’t give shoplifters amnesty. Instead, if we catch them, we’ll just let them keep their stuff, and we won’t even make them come back to the store to pay for it, we’ll just come to their house and collect the money.
But it’s not amnesty. They are “waiting in line for thier stuff”. It’s just they aren’t actually IN the line, nor did they get in the line until they got caught.
EXACTLY!
His position is still a parsing of words on this.The whole reason for immigration laws are to protect sovereignty & security.If he is willing to force American citizens to compete for jobs with Third World invaders he is not loyal to this nation. A nation IS ITS PEOPLE!
This country should’ve dealt with this out-of-hand problem years ago, when deporting the wetbacks was possible.
As usual, the MSM is trying to cause a rift in our ranks. Divide and conquer.
I believe that is called a split infinitive
Great analogy and so true. Enough of this "path to citizenship" nonsense. The path ALREADY EXISTS!
Correct; there should be no rewards for proximity to the US. India has ten times more people then Mexico and there should be approximately ten times as many Indians coming here as Mexicans. Also, if they don’t speak English, don’t come.
Observe what is actually going on right now as I type...illegals are coming in non-stop, there is no effective fence on the southern border, illegals are receiving welfare by the millions, illegals are holding jobs by the millions, illegals are committing crime.
So what is your solution...just ignore and do nothing? Do not proclaim we should round up all illegals and deport them. We can’t even find the 10 most wanted! The country already has Trillion dollar deficits. There is no money to round up 12 million people even if the government wanted to.
I am sick of people spouting against immigration reform when they have no PRACTICAL solutions to propose.
Rand Paul’s proposal does NOT accelerate path to citizenship to illegals. His proposal requires closing borders as first priority. When that is done, illegals with no criminal record can apply for work permits and register. Now we will know who is here and where they live. At that point they become legal and eligible to apply for the Green card just like millions of people world wide. They go at the end of line of people who have already applied for Green card. When their turn comes, they get the Green card (permanent resident visa). After that they have a waiting period of 5 years same as every one else.
Do you know we award 1 Million+ immigrants US citizenship every year? So Rand sends the illegals at the end of that line. So the only thing Rand gives up is deporting them, for which we have no money to do anyway. What we gain is whereabouts of every illegal immigrant. They will be required to register their current addres exactly same as legal Green card holders are required.
how many times have we been assured the border would be closed FIRST and we are still waiting?
Here is my plan:
Advocate a pro-immigrant policy of low immigration. Republicans need to provide the American people with their own comprehensive immigration reform plan, i.e., give people a reason to vote FOR something rather than just attack the other side’s proposals. Such a plan should contain the following elements:
Formulate a merit based immigration system that brings in the skills and talents to keep us competitive in the global economy;
Reduce immigration levels based on need more closely approximating 300,000 a year;
Eliminate extended chain migration, i.e., family reunification, limiting it to the nuclear family,
Secure the border;
Enforce existing immigration laws to reduce the current illegal alien population and limit future illegal immigration, i.e., attrition thru enforcement. Enforcement would include: (1) ending the job magnet; (2) increasing coordination at the federal level by eliminating barriers to information sharing among agencies; (3) leveraging state and local enforcement resources; (4) fully implementing the US-VISIT Program to track and deport visa overstays; and (5) make mandatory and improve such programs as E-Verify and 287 [g] authority to assist employers and law enforcement in identifying illegal aliens;
Eliminate birthright citizenship and the visa lottery program;
Ensure that anyone who enters this nation illegally is not rewarded by being permitted to stay and work here; i.e., no amnesty;
Streamline the processing and adjudication of immigration cases;
Promote pro-immigrant measures that help newcomers assimilate and embrace the values and principles of our Founders and the Constitution.
There is no money to round up 12 million people even if the government wanted to.
The proponents of amnesty are wont to create the false choice between a blanket amnesty and mass deportation of 12 to 20 million illegal aliens. In reality, we have other choices and alternatives that don’t reward people who have broken our laws with the right to stay and work here and an eventual path to citizenship. The 12 to 20 million illegal aliens did not enter this country overnight and they will not leave overnight. Attrition through enforcement works. We have empirical data from Georgia, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Arizona proving that it does. During the 2006 amnesty debate, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) commissioned a Zogby poll offering respondents not the false choice between mass deportation or amnesty (a word CIS did not use in the survey), but rather a three-way choice between mass deportation, earned legalization, and attrition — and attrition was preferred two-to-one over legalization.
Rand Paul’s proposal does NOT accelerate path to citizenship to illegals. His proposal requires closing borders as first priority. When that is done, illegals with no criminal record can apply for work permits and register. Now we will know who is here and where they live. At that point they become legal and eligible to apply for the Green card just like millions of people world wide. They go at the end of line of people who have already applied for Green card. When their turn comes, they get the Green card (permanent resident visa). After that they have a waiting period of 5 years same as every one else.
Conferring rights and privileges upon illegal aliens has a corrosive effect on the Rule of Law, the very foundation of our Republic. It is also a slap in the face to legal immigrants who have followed the rules and obeyed the laws. There are over 4 million intending immigrants waiting their turn overseas to enter the U.S. legally. They have completed the paperwork, had the various background checks, physicals, and paid the required fees. The illegal aliens are put at the head of the line under Paul's scheme. They get amnesty, the object of their crime, i.e., they get to stay and work here. Where is the fairness in that?
These lawbreakers have committed more crimes than just entering this country illegally flaunting our sovereignty and laws. They are working illegally, they are guilty of ID theft, tax evasion, driving without a license, lying on employment forms, etc. These are the people you want to reward with the right to stay here and eventual citizenship? Many of them are already receiving government benefits.
About half of the lawbreakers lack even a high school degree. They will receive more in government benefits than they contribute in taxes. The Heritage Foundation concluded that the cost of amnesty would be $2.6 trillion just for increased entitlement program costs. And the number of additional LEGAL immigrants who would join those who were the recipients of amnesty through chain migration, i.e., family reunification, would approach 70 million over a 20-year period, assuming there are only 12 million illegal aliens. We cannot assimilate such numbers.
Any legislation that allows the lawbreakers to stay and work here, the object of their crime, is amnesty. A path to citizenship is a bonus. Giving them green cards entitles them to all the benefits of citizenship except voting. They can receive welfare and entitlement benefits, SSNs, driver's licenses, work permits etc.
Do you know we award 1 Million+ immigrants US citizenship every year? So Rand sends the illegals at the end of that line. So the only thing Rand gives up is deporting them, for which we have no money to do anyway. What we gain is whereabouts of every illegal immigrant. They will be required to register their current addres exactly same as legal Green card holders are required.
The line begins in their home country. Why do we have to legalize their status? Let's just secure our borders including a system to track and deport visa overstays, which account for 40% of the illegals here, and enforce our existing laws. The illegals will either go home or die off.
And do you really expect the Obama administration to deal with this problem the way the laws are written. Obama has already given a backdoor amnesty to 1.8 million Dreamers. He should be impeached.
And let's get real about legal immigration. Every ten years we have what amounts to an amnesty. With 1.2 million LEGAL IMMIGRANTS ENTERING ANNUALLY, they will be able to vote eventually and two thirds of them will vote Dem. Illegal immigration is the shiny little bauble that distracts us from the real game changer--legal immigration. The status quo will make the Dems the permanent majority party. Amnesty just hastens the process.
I see absolutely nothing wrong with your plan for FUTURE LEGAL IMMIGRANTS. But you have not addressed what to do with the 12 million plus already here illegally, who are either collecting welfare benefits, holding jobs (most work hard at low paid jobs) or committing crimes.
Like I said we are broke. We do not have the resources to track down 12 million illegals who are all underground. We do not know who and where. When I received my Green Card I had to register my address EVERY YEAR to keep my visa legal.
“Two thirds of them will vote Democrat”
Incorrect....
The Pew Hispanic Center reports that 80% of first generation Hispanics vote Democrat.
Fourth generation Hispanics vote 60% Democrat.
Rand Paul cannot be serious.
By Election Day, 2014, every Democrat and every major news organization in America will be comparing probationary status to “Jim Crow” laws in the old Confederacy.
the plan is to turn off the welfare, and stop giving them benefits like in-state tuition, turn off the jobs and make them go home on their own accord.
(1) Mandatory E-Verify for all job applicants.
(2) Civil liability and criminal penalties for any employer who hires non-Verified labor.
(3) E-Verify or mandatory proof of legal residence for any welfare application.
To my knowledge, Rand Paul has not publicly supported ANY of these three “Practical Solutions.”
we’re too broke to enforce the border but we can afford to provide freebies to tens of millions of foreign criminal aliens??
we even have a food stamp program in MEXICO!!
good lord
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