Arkansas Blog: Getting tough on immigrants

Funny thing. In recent days, both Sen. Mark Pryor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee (his nine-point plan on the jump) have plans to crack down on unauthorized immigrants. Though Pryor doesn't yet have a Republican opponent in 2008, some rumors have linked Rogers Mayor Steve Womack with a potential Republican race. You couldn't get to the right of Womack on immigration (nor, we hope, would even Mark Pryor want to). But no harm in looking tough.

Huckabee has a more pressing need to polish his immigration record. As Ernie Dumas noted in detail this week, Huckabee has been admirably tolerant on the immigrant question. Tolerance, however, is not considered a virtue in Republican primaries, particularly in places such as Iowa, where evangelicals predominate in the tiny (4 percent of Iowa residents) caucus participant pool. UPDATE: Here, Kos rips Huck.

On the Pryor-Huckabee topic: Huckabee's strong performance as a presidential candidate (now second in many polls) is good for Pryor. Republican moneybags badly want Huckabee to oppose Pryor and shore up what is shaping up as a weak Republican effort for congressional seats across the country. With the filing deadline in March and Huckabee likely very much alive as a presidential candidate at that time, he wouldn't be able to commit then to a race for Senate. (He's said he's not interested, but he will need work if he doesn't make the presidential ticket.)

UPDATE: I'm now told that Womack rumor is old news. He was courted and declined. Not going to happen. Here's a theory, too. Is it smart presidential politics for the Republican Party to move mountains and raise tons of money to come up with sacrificial candidates for races against Pryor, Berry, Ross, etc.? Would this not only put the Democratic GOTV campaign in high gear in pursuit of voter blocs that tend to vote overwhelmingly Democratic? Not helpful to a Republican presidential candidate. Whoever it is would have a presumptive good shot at carrying Arkansas.

MIKE HUCKABEE NEWS RELEASE

Former Arkansas Governor and Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee is releasing "The Secure America Plan: A Nine-Point Strategy for Immigration Enforcement and Border Security," it was announced today.
Huckabee said he believes in adopting the best policy ideas to provide a "tough, equitable and comprehensive approach" to dealing with the current immigration crisis.
The text of the plan is provided below:
The Secure America Plan: A Nine-Point Strategy for Immigration Enforcement and Border Security
Overview: Implement a broad-based strategy that commits the resources of the federal government to the enforcement of our immigration laws and results in the attrition of the illegal immigrant population.
1. Build the Fence

·         Ensure that an interlocking surveillance camera system is installed along the border by July 1, 2010.
·         Ensure that the border fence construction is completed by July 1, 2010.
2.      Increase Border Patrol

·         Increase the number of border patrol agents.
·         Fully support all law enforcement personnel tasked with enforcing immigration law.
3.      Prevent Amnesty

·         Policies that promote or tolerate amnesty will be rejected.
·         Propose to provide all illegal immigrants a 120-day window to register with the Citizenship and Immigration Services and leave the country. Those who register and return to their home country will face no penalty if they later apply to immigrate or visit; those who do not return home will be, when caught, barred from future reentry for a period of 10 years.
4.      Enforce the Law on Employers
·         Employment is the chief draw for most illegal immigrants and denying them jobs is the centerpiece of an attrition strategy.
·         Impose steep fines and penalties on employers that violate the law.
·         Institute a universal, mandatory citizenship verification system as part of the normal hiring process.
·         Prevent the IRS and the Social Security Administration from accepting fraudulent Social Security numbers or numbers that don't match the employees' names.*
      5. Establish an Economic Border

· Move toward passage of the FairTax.
· The FairTax provides an extra layer of security by creating an economic disincentive to immigrate to the U.S. illegally.

      6. Empower Local Authorities
·         Promote better cooperation on enforcement by supporting legislative measures such as the CLEAR Act, which aims to systematize the relationship between local law and federal immigration officials.
·         Encourage immigration-law training for police. Local authorities must be provided the tools, training, and funding they need so local police can turn illegal immigrants over to the federal authorities.
7. Ensure Document Security
·         End exemptions for Mexicans and Canadians to the US-VISIT program, which tracks the arrival and departure of foreign visitors. Since these countries account for the vast majority of foreigners coming here (85 percent), such a policy clearly violates Congress' intent in mandating this check-in/check-out system.
·         Reject Mexico's "matricula consular" card, which functions as an illegal-immigrant identification card.

8. Discourage Dual Citizenship
·         Inform foreign governments when their former citizens become naturalized U.S. citizens.
·         Impose civil and/or criminal penalties on American citizens who illegitimately use their dual status (e.g., using a foreign passport, voting in elections in both a foreign country and the U.S.).
9. Modernize the Process of Legal Immigration
·         Eliminate the visa lottery system and the admission category for adult brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens.
·         Increase visas for highly-skilled and highly-educated applicants.
·         Expedite processing for those who serve honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces.
·        Improve our immigration process so that those patiently and responsibly seeking to come here legally will not have to wait decades to share in the American dream. Governor Huckabee has always been grateful to live in a country that people are trying to break into, rather than break out of.
*This policy will be drafted to comply with the final federal court decisions on this issue.

Comments

FK me! A man who promotes and votes for the torture of Middle Eastern people vs a man who promotes the torture of Mexicans here at home.....is this really what we've lived for all these years? All polls show that immigration is 6th or lower on the priority list of America's problems. America is tanking in so many ways and Pryor spends his time on immigration while Boss Womack personally has a War on Mexicans in The Town Without Pity.

Add in the MSN's fascination with Mormon Mitt's "Everyone in America Must Be Christian" speech yesterday and I think we have plenty of reasons to commit mass suicide. What's happen to us? The Neo-Nazis have taken over and while at the moment those with dark skin are the least safe....you can bet free thinking whiteys will be next on the extermination list. The hopes of Arkansas and the nation continue to rest on the young shoulders of Rebekah Kennedy. Eat your Wheaties, Bek...2008 is going to be a nightmare.

Posted by: Deathbyinches | December 7, 2007 09:56 AM

What! No mention of how Howard Dean threw Mr. Pryor, as well as Messrs. Ross and Berry, under the bus for their stance on enforcing immigration law?

"Even as Mr. Dean criticizes Republicans, many Democrats in Congress have adopted the same enforcement-only approach Republicans advocate.

Rep. Heath Shuler, North Carolina Democrat, and Sen. Mark Pryor, Arkansas Democrat, have introduced enforcement-only bills that have gained bipartisan support this year, and 36 Democrats voted for House Republicans' enforcement-only bill in 2005.

Asked repeatedly by reporters about the split in his party, Mr. Dean sought to marginalize the enforcement-supporting Democrats, calling them "very, very few" and saying they aren't representative of his party.

"All the Democratic presidential candidates are clear" in supporting a path to citizenship for illegal aliens, he said, adding that the presidential nominee will set the party's position. "

Ross and Berry are co-sponsors of the Shuler bill. Last I checked, the three gentlemen also support Mrs. Rodham Clinton. I wonder if their support of the Shuler bill squares them with the Mrs.?

Click the blue name.

Posted by: Arkansas Red | December 7, 2007 10:06 AM

"...You couldn't get to the right of Womack on immigration (nor, we hope, would even Mark Pryor want to)..."

You have more faith in Mark than I do. The last few years have demonstrated to me that Mark is one of three things: A one-man Republican sleeper cell; a weak man who's been out maneuvered by smarter/stronger adversaries; or a simple fool who's so enamored of/deceived by his delusions that he, like Monkeyboy, believes EVERYONE else is wrong, he is right...regardless of facts/reality. And, at this point, I think Mark is capable of out doing the likes of Womack. Mark's just slicker and less hate driven than he is foolish/ambitious...but the end result is the same. In fact, I prefer a straight up politician like Womack to a forked-tongued, weaselly traitor like Pryor.

Posted by: zelda | December 7, 2007 10:17 AM

I just read Huck's release...no doubt, he's going all out for the nuts. Typical though, all grandiose show, no specific details about such piddly stuff as funding...or the environmental realities of that stupid fence...or that there's WIDESPREAD consensus among most economists that the Fairtax crap is LOL funny...'economic border' hahahahahahahaha (our government, which is Huck's gang, won't even stop China from sending us lead toys/poison food). But it's good that Huck's getting all this down in writing!

Posted by: zelda | December 7, 2007 10:29 AM

The Save Act is the Abu Ghraib GITMO approach to immigration policy. The article above fails to mention the House version of the bill is sponsored by both Shuler and TANCREDO. Hello? What should we expect from a Senator such as Pryor who has already spread torure around the world as only the Womacks can dream about doing while playing simulated bloody video games.

I swear I can no longer picture Mark Pryor in my head without seeing a white hood over his face and a handful of black hoods in his hand.. I must say he has managed to become the Jeffrey Dalmer of Senators in record time. At this point in time we need to just get him to swear to Arkansas citizens he will never advocate burning people alive in public. Though I wouldn't be surprised to find out his votes for torture have already insured live human burning around the world.

The Save Act: Sponsored by Pryor and Tancredo.. that alone should be all one needs to know. But make no mistake, Rahm Emmanuel and the DLC New Dems are actively behind much of this just as much as the far right wing fascists in the GOP.

A very quick summary of the Act (at my name) ends with the following:

snip

This bill embodies what the anti-immigrant right has been trying to do all along. They want the solution to be cruelty with the idea that making people miserable enough they will just go away.

It is time to start now pointing out the cost-- that is the legal cost, business cost and the human cost-- of a short-sighted plan, based on anti-immigrant hysteria, that relies on cruelty to make people disappear.

Posted by: Eureka Springs, AR | December 7, 2007 10:54 AM

Funny thing ?

Actually It's no surprise at all........

At the link.

Posted by: The Citizens Journal | December 7, 2007 11:01 AM

Though Pryor doesn't yet have an opponent in 2008<<

Correction: Rebekkah Kennedy, Green Party, is running for U.S. Senate in Arkansas.
.
ARK. BLOG: I should have specified "Republican."

Posted by: eLwood | December 7, 2007 02:18 PM

This one has to be the HOWLER OF THE WEEK:

"Move toward passage of the FairTax.
· The FairTax provides an extra layer of security by creating an economic disincentive to immigrate to the U.S. illegally."

Whew! He put it in writing !
.

Posted by: eLwood | December 7, 2007 02:26 PM

Arkansas Blog

Getting tough on immigrants

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