MIKE HUCKABEE: Well, I think the failure of the government has been they haven't sealed the border. It's harder for me to get on an airplane in my hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas, than it is for an illegal to cross the border. That's what makes Americans mad.
They're not mad at immigrants. They understand immigrants want to come here for the same reason their ancestors did. But here's where the failure is: You can't allow people to break the law and then have no consequence.
My reasons for supporting the idea that, if a student had been in our schools, had performed academically and behaved, and had done everything that we asked of one of the students in our school to qualify for a scholarship, then it's in our best interest to let the student apply for the scholarship because they would -- part of the provision was they'd have to apply for citizenship.
But here's the other part. You don't punish the child for the parents having broken the law. We don't do that. We don't say, "OK, your parents broke a law, so we're going to punish you for it." I just don't understand why anybody would think that that's a good thing to do.
MARGARET WARNER: That's not a popular position among a lot of Republicans.
MIKE HUCKABEE: No, it isn't. It's not very popular at all, and I took a lot of heat for it, and still do. I still get criticized.
But I'm a person who believes in strong border security. I don't believe in amnesty. But neither do I believe in, again, doing something that is ultimately harmful to a person who didn't break the law. You know, a kid who comes here who's 3 years old, I don't think he had a whole lot of choice about saying, "Hey, Dad, let's break the law. Let's cross the border." He didn't even know where he was going. So let's not punish him.
Source: Huckabee Gives His Take on Conservatism, Faith and Iraq
PBS Newshour | October 5, 2007 | Huckabee interview with Margaret Warner
That is just Huckabee talking out of both sides of his mouth and he is very good at it. The only thing I might agree with him is in the case of people who came here with their parents when they were children and are now adults. They could be given some consideration, since it is not their fault and they are so acclimated to this country that they know no other. However, if the children have not been here for many years, they should go back to their home country.
As far as giving a break to people who came as children and are now adults, I think we still have to be very careful because there would be lots of fraud, so I think that it would be necessary to find their records such as census and school records. Just accepting documents will not work because they can buy those in the fake documents market. Everything would have to be checked with original sources such as schools and city halls.
No. Let's reward him, right Mike?
And let the word spread to Mexico that Mike Huckabee wants to force the taxpayers in his state to flop open their wallets for illegal aliens and their children. Like the saying goes, "If you want MORE of something, subsidize it."
Get out of here, Mike. You're toast.
MIKE HUCKABEE: This week?