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One thing was missed in Newt Gingrich's victory in the South Carolina primary: Conservatives embraced a pro-amnesty candidate without batting an eyelash. This should come as a wake-up call to those who've been pushing a hard-line anti-illegal immigrant position in the Republican Party.
Granted, Gingrich didn't spend a lot of time discussing his position, which favors amnesty for those illegal immigrants who have been here for a long time, have deep family and community ties, and have paid taxes and avoided breaking other laws. But that's the point. He didn't have to spend a lot of time defending his position because so few conservatives cared.
Now Gingrich seems poised to win another Southern primary: Florida. The latest polls show him within a few percentage points of beating Mitt Romney again (and at least one poll shows him up by 5 points). Whether or not a Gingrich win is a good thing for Republican prospects in the fall, it could help lay the groundwork for future Republican victories by defusing an issue that is guaranteed to alienate the fastest-growing segment of the voting population.
Like other voters, most Hispanics care a lot more about jobs than they do about immigration. Still, they are turned off by candidates who portray illegal immigrants as criminal invaders who want a handout from U.S. taxpayers. Republicans have damaged their ability to woo an important constituency by insisting on a punitive approach to illegal immigration. In this election alone, it could cost Republicans key states critical to winning the presidency: Florida, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico.
Worse, in future elections, the perceived anti-Hispanic bias in the GOP could deprive the party of its edge in presidential elections in Texas and Arizona, where Hispanics already account for about a third of the population. Gringrich might keep that from happening.
Unlike Gov. Rick Perry, who was unable to articulate his own pro-immigrant stance, Gingrich is ideally suited to move the GOP toward a more politically viable -- not to mention humane -- immigration policy. Polls show that most Americans are opposed to deporting the 11 million illegal immigrants who already reside in the U.S. And Mitt Romney's position -- which is indistinguishable from the radical anti-illegal immigrant groups' -- that if we make life difficult enough on these people they will "self-deport" is patently wrong.
No matter how tough life in the U.S. is for an illegal immigrant, it is still better than returning home. Gingrich has called Romney's position an "Obama-level fantasy." He's right; and the sooner Republicans wake up to the reality, the better for the party and the country.
Gingrich is not simply pandering to the Hispanic vote on this issue. He understands that immigrants -- even those who've come here illegally -- are an important part of America's economic success. They don't take Americans' jobs; they create more jobs by keeping otherwise unviable industries in the U.S. Without immigrant labor, we'd have no agricultural or meat industry. Without an immigrant work ethic, our service industry would be a lot less productive and would cost customers a great deal more. And every immigrant worker spends money in his or her community that redounds to the benefit of native-born Americans in those same communities. And Gringrich understands that immigrants do much more than help the economy; they reaffirm American exceptionalism.
If he wanted to, Gingrich could help educate Republican voters on these facts. Better yet, he could talk about something that politicians in both parties often ignore: namely, the need to assimilate newcomers.
Unlike Gov. Rick Perry, who was unable to articulate his own pro-immigrant stance, Gingrich is ideally suited to move the GOP toward a more politically viable -- not to mention humane -- immigration policy. Polls show that most Americans are opposed to deporting the 11 million illegal immigrants who already reside in the U.S. And Mitt Romney's position, which is indistinguishable from the radical anti-immigrant groups', is patently wrong; Romney believes that if we make life difficult enough on these people they will "self-deport." Nothing could further from the truth.
Every immigrant backlash in our nation's history -- and there have been many, including movements against Germans, Eastern and Southern Europeans, even the Irish -- has been driven by a fear that those coming to our shores would never become fully American. Newt Gingrich's amnesty proposal acknowledges that some illegal immigrants have already become Americans in every sense but a legal one -- and his proposal to embrace them offers the best hope to the GOP to turn around its image as the anti-immigrant party.
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Linda Chavez is the author of "An Unlikely Conservative: The Transformation of an Ex-Liberal."
COPYRIGHT 2012 CREATORS.COM
January 27, 2012 @ 7:30 am
Here we go again with the justification of illegal immigration. We had the trial balloon a few months ago about how it’s not really an issue and this is another trial balloon. Look to see this slant put forward by more “conservative” pundits.
Illegal immigration and even excessive legal immigration will destroy this country. That is not a radical statement, but the simple truth.
Ms. Chavez is simply wrong. When employers have been forced to get rid of their illegal labor, there have been American citizens lined up to take those jobs. If we stopped paying so many people to not work there would be even more demand for those jobs.
Look , the uncomfortable truth is that excessive legal and illegal immigration is part of the strategy to make this a socialist country. They are sure democrat voters and excessive abusers of social aid. They are also already used to socialist rule, so it’s no problem for them, plus the benefits are much greater here.
Illegal immigration is an invasion of our nation by colonization. Make no mistake about that. Ms Chavez and Newt Gingrich are abettors of that invasion. I will not vote for Newty If he gets the nomination. I will be forced to go third party as I cannot vote for the alternate destruction of the country I love. Obama is already doing his level best to bring us to our knees. Newty will just take the slower and less obvious road. No matter what other good things he might do, amnesty would negate all of it. No thanks!
January 28, 2012 @ 11:14 am
http://www.numbersusa.com is a free group with a single issue – immigration.
teapartyproud, going third party will almost certainly ensure Obama’s re-election. Those who love this country must do all we can to prevent that, even if it means voting for the despicable Gingrich. Not voting for McCain got us Obama in the first place. Third party Perot got us Clinton. I hope you reconsider.
Only a hyppocrite could support Gingrich while decrying the moral decay of our society.
January 28, 2012 @ 11:41 am
I voted for McCain last time (really against Obama), as I detest McCain and his America-destroying amnesty fetish. I absolutely hated doing it and after Obama won anyway, I regretted it even more. If enough people had said NO to the Republican establishment and refused to vote for McCain, they finally would have gotten the message and we would have more truly conservative candidates this time around, instead of the panderers we are stuck with again. I’m done with the “lesser of two evils” that keeps giving us no real choice. If the Republicans refuse to come up with the true conservative that everyone with a brain knows that we are dying for out here, they will not get my vote. They are counting on us to hold our noses again and vote for their latest faux conservative. Again, no thanks. I choose to be a true independent and vote what God and my conscience tells me to vote.
If Obama is re-elected he can only get away with what we let him do. We all need to be activists against him to save our country. We do not exist to serve the Republican party. If they will not serve us, then they need to go away and make room for a party who will.
By the way, I have been an active member and contributor of NumbersUSA for many years.
January 27, 2012 @ 10:02 am
Why would a punitive approach to immigration hurt Republicans chances for winning elections in ANY state,,,,,,,,that steps up to vet legal voters with proper identifications? Do illegal aliens actually vote? Probably yes which continues to corrupt the American political process and accelerating the political pain.,,,,Illegal alien workers only serve to drive down the wages of those who came into America Legally. Turning your back on Grandma’s, granting them legal status to come into America and breed more Democrat voters just adds to the accelerated decline of the American public debate. Governments job is dispense Justice, not mercy and as far as I am concerned Granny can go home and not return until such time as she can prove she has no criminal record, Has taken no money from Legal American citizens social Security funds via false ponied up social security cards, and has not taken one dime of the taxpayers’s money, Tax payer’s medical benefits to sustain herself or educate her illegal children while dwelling here in illegal status.
If her family members are legal and can pass a background check and wish to pay her fines she can apply to return, but it is WE the legal American Public who follow and enforce our laws who will make the decision, not her. It is US who determine if an alien is a benefit or a detraction from America’s best interest, not some Drug dealing criminal who uses her as a mule to smuggle illegal contraband into our borders. Our agriculture and meat processing industries did just fine before the invasion, of course that was before the Liberals took over and paid people to stay home and get paid to do nothing.
For the writer To make statements like “Gingrich understands that immigrants do much more than help the economy; they reaffirm American exceptionalism.” Is Clintonian at best and adds no palliative to the problem but just more of the same “I FELL YOUR PAIN’ non-problem solving pabulum that got us into this mess in the first place. This column bodes more of Hugo Chavez than Linda Chavez.
January 27, 2012 @ 10:14 am
What I find interesting here is that Gingrich is fully embraced by a pro-amnesty advocate.
In another article Gingrich himself is calling Romney anti-immigrant because Romney does not support amnesty.
So, what do conservatives stand for these days? The rule of law or amnesty for illegal aliens?
January 27, 2012 @ 10:37 am
I am not a big fan of Romney by any means, but this immigration issue is important. Legal and illegal immigrants are not just taking jobs that “Americans won’t do.” I think there are a lot of unemployed Americans right now who would do just about any job. The ones that would rather collect money from the government would also be willing to take these jobs if the government money dried up and they faced the prospect of going hungry and living on the street. I strongly disagree with Newt Gingrich on this issue even as I agree with him on others. There are so many things wrong with Newt and Romney that it is difficult to decide which one is the least objectionable.
Reagan granted amnesty to millions. He thought it would solve the problem. To me it was his biggest mistake.
January 27, 2012 @ 7:01 pm
Reagan himself, admitted that granting that amnesty was his biggest mistake, He deeply regretted it and vowed to never be taken in like that again by the democrats.
January 27, 2012 @ 10:47 am
Ahhh, the smiling face of, Recoquesta, Linda Chavez. Kind of like seeing, DEATH, smiling at your pale face, after you have fallen off your horse. Always refreshing, always reminding you to stay awake and alert.
Watched the debates again. Three candidates, the normal, accepted by the Establishment ones, genuflected to the Hispanic double standards, twisting around, praising immigration and saying which Hispanic they like… . Gee, Ms Chavez, which Gringo do you like? Would that be racist, in your double set of books?
Well of course you like Newt, he favors the internationalist no borders agenda, amnesty, green cards…, the very replacement of, The Greatest Generation, that spawned him, with aliens. Mind you, he will not have to deal directly with them. Security will shield him & Callista whilst shopping at Tiffanie’s and hanging out at their various swinging domiciles.
I am curious about this continuing, ZOMBIE like enchantment, about “immigration” when the nation has staggering unemployment and soul crushing underemployment. When we have shifted our manufacturing base, good jobs and pay, to RED CHINA, we need more Green Cards to displace Americans here and more immigration? Insanity or treachery, I cannot make up my mind.
If the US was a company, well, it would be a sick, bankrupt Chapter 13, company. That, what passes as management, would want to take in more workers, is insane. That, MOON BASE NEWT, would want the company to issue rewards with phony money, IOU’s, for some bizarre, ill thought out project, when said company is beyond BROKE, is amazing. Oh wait, make sure that the new workers, are Linda (HUGO) Chavez approved. ; ) That makes it, preeety good.
Thanks Illumintuo, teapartyproud, Leonidas, txgoatlady for being here, it would be lonely looking at Linda gazing down on me.
January 27, 2012 @ 10:54 am
Linda Chavez is another reformed liberal. Unfortunately, she is not as reformed as Star Parker. Anytime this subject comes up, I find myself at odds with Ms. Chavez. The pandering to the Hispanics doesn’t even make sense. The legal immigrants and citizens of Hispanic origin don’t want to have to compete with illegal aliens for jobs anymore than the rest of us do. Illegal immigration drives down wages for everyone.
January 27, 2012 @ 11:20 am
She says something about being “reformed” Liberal but her positions on immigration, amnesty, our laws… simply adds weight to the Liberal transformation, of what this Nation, that my Father fought for, used to be. She reminds me all too much of a friend that I, once, had.
On one level, this friend would NEVER hobknob with the multitudes of illegals or legals that have swept across, our so called border. At his birthday parties, there were never any Hispanics. Yes, he hails from Hispanic origins. He never hired Hispanics. He married someone, as Irish/English as Irish/English can be. On and on. BUT, in a heartbeat he became Mister Muy Fantastica Hispanic, if certain buttons were pushed and flashed proudly, a kind of “DOUBLE STANDARDS Passport”, in such el rapido fashion that you thought he was Poncho Villa, on steroids. (scary image)
Per his family. Very very wealthy. His college grad party, was a who’s, who, assortment of eye popping, wealthy Hispanics, with collections of autos, that would make an Arab Sheik, lust after.
I know many despise Paul, but his comment that he would hire that which was good for The Republic, is exactly what is needed. If Linda was on this page…
January 27, 2012 @ 11:41 am
The sad reality is the we are vomiting in immigration the poison fruit we ingested when we listened to the Liberal devils that it was OK to abort the 50 million babes of legal American Citizens who would be walking the earth today to sustain their other Social Security Boodoggle failed social experiment that we must now import tens of millions of foreigners to sustain, or face economic collapse and civil war. With the liberals it is always the promise of the immediate gratification of their Socialist Utopia, followed by the long term never ending screw of the taxpayers in the price to be paid as we ignore the laws of the land to cover the mistakes of listening to their Socialist pandering. All immigration is, is more smoke and mirrors to cover the forest fire of secular socialism that is burning away the American house from within.
January 27, 2012 @ 11:05 am
“No matter how tough life in the U.S. is for an illegal immigrant, it is still better than returning home.”
I would like to make a few points regarding this popular misconception.
First, Mexico is NOT a poor country. On a list of the world’s richest countries, Mexico is #13. Canada is #11. When are we going to start doing something for the poor Canadians! To put things in perspective, there are hundreds of countries in this world and all but 13 of them are poorer than Mexico.
Mexico’s unemployment rate is lower than ours. That’s right LOWER! There are millions of American jobs that Americans would love to have that are filled by illegals. Do you think we just might shed a tear for these unemployed Americans? The richest man in the world is not Bill Gates, it’s MEXICAN Carlos Slim. Many of the illegals plan to make enough money in the US so they can RETURN to Mexico to retire. The author must have overlooked this.
January 27, 2012 @ 11:08 am
That and they send their money home to Mexico since we set them up with free food, housing and healthcare while they are here. Those dollars go a lot further in Mexico.
January 27, 2012 @ 11:27 am
Hours after he laughed off Romney’s support for “self-deportation,” we found out that Gingrich also supports this very simple idea that already is reducing the illegal alien population.
As for the “jobs Americans won’t do,” e.g., construction, transportation, manufacturing, and service and hospitality, well, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says more than 70 percent of these jobs already are being done by Americans.
Dave Gorak
Executive director
Midwest Coalition to Reduce Immigration.
January 27, 2012 @ 12:38 pm
We all know that Obama is catering to the Hispanic population, the national unions, all of those receiving checks from the government or on food stamps. The African American population, by and large, cannot rise above their race to not vote for a Black man. The liberal left in this country (entertainment industry, media, environmentalists, etc) will vote for Obama, and we know that his poor job performance usually gets swept under the table by the liberal pundits and media who always give the Democrats their support. ETC. So, anyone running against him is climbing a steep hill in the election this year.
The Hispanic population in Nevade re-elected Harry Reid who is one of the worst politicians in history, but who was able to “buy” the Hispanic vote and get re-elected, and don’t you think Obama is on that same track?
The Republican Presidents have been tricked twice into amnesty programs (under Reagan and Bush) that were based on closing the borders and managing the crossings with more scrutiny. The logic being that once the borders were shutdown and controlled, then those already here could be given a chance to become a citizen with some specific steps that were well defined. But, as always happens, the Democrats then regain control of Congress and the Whitehouse, and all of that logic goes out the window and we continue to allow milions more illegals into the country, and the immigration problem is never solved.
My question to the Hispanic voters in this country is why cannot you see how this agenda is negatively affecting this country? Why cannot you see what has to be done and which party will actually do it? The Republican Presidents give you amnesty, and then you continue to take more…and continue to come into this country illegally…and take advantage of the generousity of the taxpayers in this country to the level of over 400 Billion dollars a year. But, you are not winning friends of the taxpayers in the process, don’t you get this? Hispanic immigrants who have come here legally are doing well and assimilating into our culture…own businesses…put their kids through college…they appreciate the opportunities this country offers. And, most of these successful Hispanics are conservative and vote Republican. There is a rift developing in the Hispanic community between those supporting legal immigration versus those that continue to support open borders and illegal immigration.
For the best interests of his country, the Hispanic voters, who are an important voting segment have to grow up and acknowledge to themselves how the liberals in this country are using you just to get your votes so they can stay in power. California is a prime example of this strategy which has been working for decades now and has led to the massive decline of California which has been run by the liberals for the last 40 years.
You have a chance in the national elections this year to demonstrate your support of our country and help save it from becoming another loser socialist country by voting out Obama and as many of his liberal friends running for office.
January 27, 2012 @ 12:47 pm
“Polls show that most Americans are opposed to deporting the 11 million illegal immigrants who already reside in the U.S.”
That’s utter Nonsense – Ms. Chavez! What poll was this? Sponsored by La Raza and asked of former illegal aliens who are now naturalized citizens?
As for the rest of your commentary? Blah-blah-blah. Any marginal benefit to America and/or our economy wrought by this illegal immigrant population is much more than offset by the unseen cost to taxpayers of supporting them with: FREE EVERYTHING (schools, day care, health care, housing, food stamps, welfare, etc., etc., etc., ad nauseam)!
Furthermore, I don’t sense that these illegal immigrants want to become – Americans – or any real part of the American fabric and way of life. They’re here to wave their Mexican flags, spit on and burn Old Glory – take – what they can get away with and giving . . . nothing . . . in return. (Well, unless you include attitude (bad) in Spanish, declining property values wherever they infest, increased crime, increased prison population, decreased tax revenues (because they don’t pay any), decreased competition throughout every facet of the entire construction and service trades (underbidding is easy with low paid or completely off the books immigrants).
Oh, and you can forget their ‘spending multiple’ benefits to local communities because they export such huge sums of their income straight to Mexico.
Enough already.
January 27, 2012 @ 6:24 pm
Newt Gingrich has no right to offer any amnesty or path to citizenship to any person, as he is not paying for the unfunded mandates for their children’s education, or family health care, food stamps, federal housing or other welfare or even a stint in America’s prison system. Nobody in this country should be financially supported by taxpayers, who entered this country illegally or should they get any kind of amnesty? Although President Obama by his special orders has already accomplished this, by deporting criminal aliens and other aliens are allowed to remain here. Problem is to get any job, you have to show your stolen ID and therefore that person has already committed a felony. They are already have stolen millions of jobs with forged or stolen Social Security numbers, birth records–now they want New Mexico provide or re-issue Drivers License?
What next allowed voting in state and federal elections, just like United States citizens? Isn’t anything sacred anymore? Mind–illegal aliens have been voting in our elections, using fraudulent Absentee ballots and procured picture ID of a legal citizen in the same family? Fight back and join the TEA PARTY. Go to http://www.numbersUSA.com, http://www.judicialwatch.org and http://www.heritagefoundation.org for stomach churning details of where your taxes are going, for any person who slips past the border or flies in from foreign counties. Hopefully citizen’s voters recall or throw out of office every pro-illegal alien, anti-sovereignty Governor, Judge, Police Chief and city administrator, who is an advocate for wide open borders. If you read the Liberal press, you will never learn the truth or facts. The potentates of each party are to blame for the encouragement of the illegal alien occupation.