Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

McCain Is the Amnesty Candidate
Human Events ^ | January 10, 2008 | James R. Edwards, Jr.

Posted on 01/12/2008 3:58:09 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

It’s amazing how soon people forgot that John McCain is as bad as Teddy Kennedy on immigration.

Sen. McCain took 37 percent of the New Hampshire Republican primary votes Tuesday, winning that state's contest. Mitt Romney finished six points back, at 31 percent, in second place. McCain had shown poorly in Iowa. He tied for third place with Fred Thompson, each with just 13 percent. Romney finished second in Iowa, with 25 percent, while Mike Huckabee won 34 percent.

Take a quick trip down memory lane. Less than a year ago, Sen. McCain was one of the leaders crafting a “comprehensive” mass amnesty bill behind closed doors. He, along with Kennedy, Obama and Clinton, blocked every attempt to amend the bill with any measures to decrease the damage it would have done.

His pro-amnesty stance nearly tanked his presidential candidacy last summer and dried up his fundraising. And despite his denials, Sen. McCain has spoken openly in favor of amnesty repeatedly. And his position -- even after last summer -- still favors mass amnesty for virtually every illegal alien who is already in this country, as many as a 12 -- 15 million of them.

McCain publicly embraced amnesty for years before it caused him to get his political head handed to him. “Amnesty has to be an important part because there are people who have lived in this country for 20, 30 or 40 years, who have raised children here and pay taxes here and are not citizens. That has to be a component of it,” he told a Tucson newspaper in 2003. “I think we can set up a program where amnesty is extended to a certain number of people who are eligible and at the same time make sure that we have some control over people who come in and out of this country...”

At the time of the 2006 debate of the Senate amnesty bill, McCain told a rally that illegal aliens have “grasped the lowest rung of our ladder. They want to rise, and we should let them. Let them come out of the shadows, pay a fine, stay employed, pay taxes, and earn their citizenship.”

Now, he says he’ll go along with some undefined border security measures, attempting to redefine words. But ultimately, he insists on radical legalization of most illegals.

He tried his “spin” at the YouTube debate: “ . . . [W]e never proposed amnesty.” He dissembled again in New Hampshire at Sunday’s debate: “I have never, ever supported amnesty and never will.”

McCain sets up a straw-man argument about either deport them all or legalize them all as the only two alternatives.

On May 30, McCain told FOX’s Bill O’Reilly, "You've got two choices here, Bill. You either round up and deport 12 million people and I know of no one who thinks that's a good idea or practicable. Or you make sure that you do everything possible to make sure that they pay a very heavy price for having acted illegally and breaking our laws."

In June, he told a Miami audience, “The most difficult problem is what to do about the twelve million or more undocumented workers who live and work here now. No critic of our bill has offered a serious proposal to round up all these millions, many of whom have children born in this country, and ship them back to their countries of origin. There is simply no practical way to do that, and most Americans understand that ...”

Now, scrambling back, McCain says, "There are about 2 million people here illegally who have committed crimes; those people should be deported immediately. We can't round up the other 10 million people and deport them all at once, so you are going to have to go step by step.” By “step by step,” he means legalize the vast majority of illegals, but start with some lame “enforcement” and kick out criminal aliens.

McCain remains coy on what enforcement measures he’d support. Judging by his bill, a few more border guards, some border fencing and a “virtual fence,” but little else. He told Vanity Fair, “I’ll build the goddamned fence if they want it.” Reuters quoted him at a recent New Hampshire meeting that he means by border security “walls in urban areas, through vehicle barriers, with cameras and sensors.”

All this is merely process -- stuff and personnel -- not results. Instead of building some fencing and hiring some agents, why not set goals of reducing illegal entry to a trickle? Or reducing the illegal population in four years by 75 percent through both removals and enforcement-driven attrition?

By any reasonable definition, McCain’s recipe constitutes amnesty. It allows nearly all illegal aliens to remain permanently in America. It lets them obtain a permanent resident visa and naturalize five years later. It rewards them with the job they came and stole, taxpayer-funded benefits and programs, tax credits, welfare and Social Security. It allows them to sponsor distant relatives and start their own migration chains.

The Senate bill, S. 1348, by McCain, Kennedy and Harry Reid included many loopholes and perpetually renewable Z visas for illegal aliens. The “background check” on an illegal had to be done in one business day, or else the government had to issue the amnesty visa. Flimsy “evidence” like a buddy’s “affidavit” would satisfy McCain in order to qualify someone for a Z visa. His bill gave illegals in-state tuition.

McCain’s bill allowed amnestees to renew a 4-year Z visa if they merely “attempt to gain an understanding of the English language.” That means “taking” (not passing) the naturalization test (whose standards of English acquisition are woefully inadequate). It also accepted getting “on a waiting list for English classes” (not taking or passing the course). Bottom line, amnestied aliens would remain deficient in English.

What about paying a “very heavy price?” McCain’s bill imposed just $1,000 as the penalty. There were up to $2,000 in various fees, but hardly enough to be regarded as much of a fine. Plus, the $1,000 didn’t have to be paid until after the meaningless “triggers” took effect. S. 1348 didn’t require payment of any back taxes; its last-ditch revision, S. 1639, added a tax requirement for getting a green card.

McCain rejects an attrition-through-enforcement strategy. He ultimately wants both mass legalization of illegal aliens and increases in legal immigration. He’d agree to deporting a couple million criminal aliens, but insists on letting the rest of the illegal population stay on.

In short, McCain has one of the worst grades of any Republican Senator concerning immigration. His overall career and recent Americans for Better Immigration grades are both Ds. On amnesty, he earns F. His congressional record on immigration ABI calls “abysmal.”

To build an immigration record that’s worse than Huckabee’s and even Giuliani’s takes some doing, but that’s what McCain has done. McCain’s record is more in line with Democrat candidates.

By contrast, Fred Thompson flat-out promises to veto any amnesty bill. At the YouTube debate, he said, “Yes. I will pledge that.” He then got specific on what enforcement means to him: "We've go to strengthen the border, we've got to enforce the border, we've got to punish the employers who will not obey the law, and we've go to eliminate sanctuary cities and say to sanctuary cities, 'If you continue this, we're going to cut off federal funding for you. You're not going to do it with federal money.'”

The Atlanta newspaper quoted Thompson’s reasonable enforcement approach: “They set up a false choice -- either we get giant busloads of people tomorrow, and round them all up, or we have to grant amnesty. Attrition by enforcement is what makes the most sense.”

Mitt Romney rejects amnesty, as well. His platform states, “Governor Romney opposes amnesty or any special path to citizenship for those here illegally. He opposed each version of the McCain-Kennedy legislation as the wrong approach and a form of amnesty. Amnesty did not work 20 years ago, and it will not work today.”

The Washington Post, as the Senate debated McCain’s amnesty bill last summer, reported: "Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney advocated a policy of attrition to deal with the more than 12 million immigrants who are in the United States illegally, insisting that they can be slowly repatriated simply by enforcing current law or changing provisions of a controversial bipartisan plan pending in the Senate.”

Any American who cares about immigration issues, who opposes amnesty, who favors common sense over appeasement of foreign lawbreakers should not consider McCain an ally.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. Edwards, coauthor of The Congressional Politics of Immigration Reform, is an adjunct fellow with the Hudson Institute.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections; US: Arizona
KEYWORDS: aliens; amnesty; borders; election; electionpresident; elections; gop; illegalaliens; illegalimmigrants; illegalimmigration; illegals; immigrantlist; immigration; johnmccain; primaries; republicans
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-35 next last
Good analysis of Senator McCain's immigration positions.
1 posted on 01/12/2008 3:58:10 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Well he’s the epitome of amnesty candidates.


2 posted on 01/12/2008 4:01:23 PM PST by cripplecreek (Only one consistent conservative in this race and his name is Hunter.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Great post!

Why don’t McCain, Huckster, And Sweet Goober Graham leave the GOP and for their own party... The Amnesty Party?


3 posted on 01/12/2008 4:02:30 PM PST by tennmountainman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

McCain = McCennedy


4 posted on 01/12/2008 4:04:01 PM PST by FrdmLvr
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

It is and if all you do is listen to soundbites; what can we expect?


5 posted on 01/12/2008 4:04:55 PM PST by freekitty ((May the eagles long fly our beautiful and free American sky.))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cripplecreek
Well he’s the epitome of amnesty candidates.

Maybe he and the Huckster could debate as to whom is the real "Amnesty Man."

6 posted on 01/12/2008 4:05:27 PM PST by Cobra64 (www.BulletBras.net)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: tennmountainman
The Amnesty Party

I like it. There's certainly a lot of contenders.

7 posted on 01/12/2008 4:06:55 PM PST by Cobra64 (www.BulletBras.net)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Cobra64

Too Many, Unfortunately


8 posted on 01/12/2008 4:07:52 PM PST by tennmountainman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

McCain is as bad as Ted Kennedy.


9 posted on 01/12/2008 4:08:47 PM PST by pallis
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
McCain Is the Amnesty Candidate

He's right there with every Democrat candidate.

10 posted on 01/12/2008 4:09:40 PM PST by okie01 (THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA: Ignorance on Parade)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

If the nominee, we will then have to run Conservative against him and the other Democrat in the General Election.


11 posted on 01/12/2008 4:11:49 PM PST by AmericanInTokyo (Why should RINOs ask for my vote in November when they & MSM screwed True Conservatives?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: AmericanInTokyo

Love your tagline.


12 posted on 01/12/2008 4:12:59 PM PST by mrsmel (Free Ramos and Compean! Duncan Hunter for President!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Jorge Bush established the Teddy Kennedy Wing of the Republican Party with supporting legislation predominantly written by Kennedy such as No Child Left Behind, prescription drugs, and of course Amnesty. McCain is obviously looking to gain the nomination through the support of the Teddy Kennedy wing of the Party. Some may say that McCain and Kennedy have different postions on the war. But Kennedy does not really burn much of his political capital on foreign policy. Kennedy is a specialist in writing legislation to empower the social welfare state. Kennedy fights his wars trying to redistribute wealth and destroy the middle class, a social class his family of bootleggers was able to rise above.


13 posted on 01/12/2008 4:26:26 PM PST by Biblebelter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

McCain should be defeated in all ways possible.

My suggestions are since Fred has pulled his people out of other states and into South Carolina, that SC Republicans honor Thompson by voting for him in South Carolina to give him a win.

McCain must be stopped immediately and since Fred can’t win in Michigan, but Huckabee or McCain can, we should vote tactically for Mitt Romney in Michigan.

The race is kept wide open and McCain is stopped.


14 posted on 01/12/2008 4:27:00 PM PST by Nextrush (NO WAY MCCAIN but I remain uncommitted.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

That is one of the reasons I will never vote for him, even in the general election.


15 posted on 01/12/2008 4:27:41 PM PST by dynachrome (Immigration without assimilation means the death of this nation~Captainpaintball)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dynachrome

McCain is not a leader. McCain is a member of the “let’s just get along croud” with no substance just sound-bites. The MSM darling...that in itself should be your first concern.

FRED THOMPSON is the only WE THE PEOPLE candidate in this contest. WE THE PEOPLE asked him to step up to our calls for a leader in our Conservative fight, and he stepped up, one more time, for his Country.

FRED THOMPSON is the REAL DEAL FOLKS. Soon they will be referencing the THOMPSON COALITION of Reagan Conservatives and Democrats that know a true leader when they see him.


16 posted on 01/12/2008 4:30:45 PM PST by Bobbisox (ALL AMERICAN FredHead FREEPER! [FRED ain't DEAD, ENOUGH SAID!])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Bobbisox

Ghouliani, McVain, and Huckster are the top 3 that the ‘pubs can “throw up”?

Gimme a break.

Gimme Fred!


17 posted on 01/12/2008 4:34:56 PM PST by dynachrome (Immigration without assimilation means the death of this nation~Captainpaintball)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: TigersEye

read this.


18 posted on 01/12/2008 4:39:26 PM PST by pandoraou812 (Don't taunt the animal's at the zoo or they may bite YOU!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Too many people seem to have forgotten not just the amnesty legislation itself, but the blatant attempt to sneak it through without having it properly discussed and debated.

The way it was attempted was reprehensible.


19 posted on 01/12/2008 4:42:52 PM PST by EEDUDE
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: tennmountainman

tenmountainman: “Why don’t McCain, Huckster, And Sweet Goober Graham leave the GOP and for their own party... The Amnesty Party?”

They prefer to steal our party. Oh, I notice “Sweet Goober Graham” is prominent in McCain’s campaign right now. The Amnesty Gang is back, and it’s up to us to stop them. I cannot believe anyone is seriously considering McCain for anything other than retirement! In his case, that’s LONG overdue.


20 posted on 01/12/2008 4:45:18 PM PST by CitizenUSA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-35 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson