Rick Perry and the Republican Bind on Immigration
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Texas governor and presidential hopeful Rick Perry, speaks to supporters during a town hall meeting at Horry-Georgetown Technical College Sept. 5, 2011 in Conway, S.C.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been a battletested advocate for immigration enforcement for more than a decade in one of America’s most conservative states. Now, in what would have seemed implausible just a few years ago, the rising Republican star is in a fight to convince his own party that he’s tough enough.
The emerging divide between Perry and GOP primary voters on immigration policy is a high-stakes challenge for the presidential front-runner. But it could be most significant for the trend within the Republican Party it underscores: a rightward shift on an issue with implications for Hispanic support in 2012.
By many measures, Perry’s approach to immigration ought to please the party faithful. In his decade-long term as governor, he cracked down on so-called sanctuary cities, imposed tough restrictions on drivers’ licenses for immigrants, and sent armed Texas Rangers to the border while demanding more federal boots on the ground. He opposes a federal DREAM Act and a swift path to legalization for illegal immigrants.
“Of all the Republican candidates he’s the one who stands out the most on wanting to deal with this issue and put it to bed and resolve the problems,” said Jim Gilchrist, co-founder of the Minutemen Project, a Tea Party-aligned activist group that monitors activity along the U.S.-Mexico border.
His strong-arm approach in Texas has drawn criticism from Hispanic and immigrant groups who say he’s a far cry from the “moderate” some in his party now make him out to be.
“Perry has pushed the most anti-Hispanic agenda in a generation in Texas,” said San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro. “He would have a very difficult time appealing to the Hispanic community in 2012 because his policies and actions demonstrate such a lack of care and concern.”
Still, Perry has supported in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrant students and opposed construction of a full fence across the entire southern U.S. border. They’re positions he says reflect “heart,” but which his opponents say miss the mark.
“I don’t believe that for those people who came here illegally, we should be subsidizing with taxpayer money, through in-state tuition their education,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Tuesday night. “That is not a heartless position that is a commonsense position.”
“They are not residents of the United States,” Eric Fehrnstrom, communications director for Mitt Romney, said on MSNBC. “They have illegally entered this country and one of the reasons they come is because of magnets like in-state tuition where they can get a $100,000 benefit over four years of their education.”
The hard-line rhetoric and attempt to paint Perry as a paragon of liberalism is a sharp break with a Republican vision for immigration policy – tough enforcement with a dose of practicality – that was endorsed by each of the last three Republican presidents and majorities of voters in the party’s mainstream.
Texas is one of 13 states to support in-state tuition rates for immigrant residents, a policy backed nearly unanimously by the state’s Republicans. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a rising GOP star, says he thinks it’s a “fair policy.”
Moreover, a recent Pew Center poll found many Republican voters are more supportive of a pragmatic response to the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants, favoring a conditional path to citizenship by 58 percent to 39 percent, even though all leading GOP presidential contenders stand opposed.
“It’s a telling sign of how much the Republican electorate’s expectation has evolved from Reagan – who would have been viewed as a leftist in this environment – but even former President Bush,” said former political strategist for George W. Bush and ABC News political consultant Matthew Dowd.
“You can’t have a thoughtful conversation about it in the Republican Party right now. You’re either [former U.S. Rep. and anti-immigration advocate] Tom Tancredo, or you’re for sanctuary cities,” he said.
Anxiety over the weak economy and high unemployment, security concerns post-9/11, and cultural unease surrounding sweeping demographic changes in American cities over the past two decades have encouraged a tougher line on immigration among Republican ideologues, who now stress border security alone.
Many in the current field of GOP presidential contenders oppose any effort to address the legal status of the country’s illegal immigrant population, some favoring the logistically impractical and potentially costly approach of deporting them all.
The leading candidates have courted immigration hard-liners Rep. Steve King of Iowa, Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, and the man known as “America’s toughest sheriff,” Joe Arpaio, of Arizona – all seeking their endorsement for the coming campaign.
“The reason all the candidates are seeking his endorsement is because he’s a national figure among the conservative movement and a known commodity on ‘tough on crime’ and standing up for the rule of law,” said Chad Willems, political strategist for Arpaio.
Immigrant advocates, however, say association with figures like Arpaio and Gilchrist, who are viewed as extremists in immigrant circles, will hurt a Republican candidate’s appeal among Hispanic voters next fall. They point out Arpaio has been investigated for civil rights violations and racial profiling, while offshoots of the Minutemen movement Gilchrist founded have been labeled “nativist extremist” groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Moreover, several Republican candidates’ endorsement of Arizona’s controversial SB 1070 and similar measures in other states have further soured opinion in many immigrant communities towards a party they might otherwise consider supporting given disillusionment with President Obama.
“The party has become caught up in this spasm of anti-immigrant hysteria. It’s quite remarkable,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of Americas Voice, an immigrant advocacy group.
“You have Latinos and Latino immigrants now feeling unwelcome in this country, a state of siege in immigrant communities, a sense that the knock on the door or the slur or the firing or getting picked up while getting your kids at school,” he said. “That stuff haunts immigrants who are here legally and not every single day.”
Political analysts say the overarching tone and tenor of the debate may particularly jeopardize the appeal of a Republican presidential candidate among crucial Hispanic communities – the largest and fastest growing voting bloc – in key swing states such as Florida, Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico.
Dowd, who helped Bush win reelection in 2004 with historic Hispanic support, said the consensus is that a GOP nominee would need to win 40 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2012 to capture the White House.
“I don’t think the rightward shift on immigration shuts the door” to widespread Hispanic support for a Republican candidate, said Dowd, “but it just makes the conversation slightly more difficult.”
“I think ultimately the general election for all voter groups will fall on the economy and jobs, and Obama will be judged on that. The rhetoric on immigration doesn’t make it easier, but I don’t think it’s a fundamental flaw for Republicans. But it is very telling for the primary process.”
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Those Republicans supporting the idiotic premise of deporting ALL Hispanics who are illegal, regardless to the time and expense, not to mention government resources that just aren’t there, show their true racist tendencies. They are willing to turn their backs on their “small government” beliefs and expend enormous amounts of tax dollars to get rid of good people that they have deemed “undesirable.” Some of these immigrants came here on work visas that expired. They brought their children who have grown up here. A great many have gone to school and are professional. With our dumbed-down society, we need all the educated people we can hold on to. Find a fair path and let them stay. INS — concentrate on CRIMINAL illegals, as the President has stated. Alabama is introducing the most anti-immigration laws on Hispanics in the nation. Alabama is also the toilet of the U.S. With its economy in the tank, AL should be happy to have working Hispanics (legal and illegal) in their state, contributing to its economy.
Posted by: MsT-mac | September 28, 2011, 3:26 pm 3:26 pm
The next President of the United States needs to enforce the law. The problems we have will illegal immigration is the lack of law enforcement the past 25 years.
Posted by: Galactus888 | September 28, 2011, 3:26 pm 3:26 pm
MST-MAC…I gotta hand it to you. You never waver from your hard left, political orientation. There’s a little problem. Some states are KNOWN to be safe havens, even for criminal illegals. Defiant governors publicly stating they will disobey their obligation to process criminal illegals for deportation through the federal system. Obama and the other criminals in the White House simply turn a blind eye to this knowing how important the Hispanic vote will be for him in 2012. Pathetic and disturbing.
Posted by: s | September 28, 2011, 3:40 pm 3:40 pm
You’d think the Latin Americans in this country would want to live in a country laws. Vote for Obama…he won’t enforce our laws. I don’t think that’s a good message. But then again, I love my country.
Posted by: s | September 28, 2011, 3:42 pm 3:42 pm
S | September 28, 2011, 3:40 PM:
“MST-MAC…I gotta hand it to you. You never waver from your hard left, political orientation. There’s a little problem. Some states are KNOWN to be safe havens, even for criminal illegals. Defiant governors publicly stating they will disobey their obligation to process criminal illegals for deportation through the federal system.”
===============================================
LOL! ……. you act as if this illegal immigrant problem started only under Obama. I agree with what Ms. T-Mac said, i.e., “not to mention government resources that just aren’t there”. Right-whiners talk in a very confusing manner, demonstrating how little they understand about the problem. They want “smaller government / less taxes, etc.”, yet they whine and complain about the “millions” of illegal immigrants in the country (that became over a million populace more than a decade ago). …… Do you numb-ruts realize how much it cost the federal government to process “millions” of illegal immigrants for deportation and send them back to their home countries? LOL!…. Billions of dollars …. and how do we pay for that process? Certainly not by “Bush tax cuts”… LOL!
Then again, we can always implement the Arizona Republican (Neo-Nazi) alternative fix to the problem:
If you ain’t white anglo-saxon in appearance, you better be carrying “proof” of U.S. citizenship… LOL! ….. “Show me your papers!”
Posted by: Forrest Gump is a Republican | September 28, 2011, 4:10 pm 4:10 pm
Frank plays the propaganda and sways the defense that any change in immigration laws would victimize legal immigrants, but that’s totally opposite the truth. Securing borders and enforcing immigration laws protects legal immigrants’ rights more. When I was in the US NAVY, and today, as I visit military bases, my ID card is required not only to get on base, but to shop in the grocery store. But, I appreciate the need for ID as it protects my rights and privileges from abuse. Also, when I see “immigrants” marching in our streets, as they carry foreign flags, while marching with Communists, demanding “their rights”, I cannot feel like laying out a welcome mat and throwing my taxes at them. I see the signs of invasion, infiltration and colonization, and I oppose it, while drawing attention to it. Rise up you lazy Americans and come to the defense of this nation, or sit back and await your eviction.
Posted by: borderraven | September 28, 2011, 4:11 pm 4:11 pm
The GOP attacked Perry for nothing, on this issue. He is absolutely for reducing illegal immigration, and closing the border.
Just shows that other parts of the country, have no knowledge of what makes TX different from the other states. They have forgotten, that half of the state’s population, was Mexican, before it even became a state.
There are a number of things, the GOP is ridiculous about, and most of them are social issues.
Posted by: Rick McDaniel | September 28, 2011, 4:12 pm 4:12 pm
S- is S for stupid? Sounds like you don’t like Obama. My advice to you is stay away from Fox News & Rush Limbaugh. All they do is export lies & distortion all to give the GOP an edge. Wow propaganda that you eat up like a kid in a candy store. & then you get on here & say our president doesn’t enforce laws & that he & his admin are criminals. Stop drinking the GOP kool aid. It’s getting really thick with lies. I trust Obama’s character way more than : Bush, Rove, Limbaugh, Perry, Palin, Bachman…uh I know there is a lot more of these hair brained characters that represent the GOP. The problem with you is that you are gullible & a not good at choosing people for their character & strenths. You’d rather be led on by Fox News spin & come on ABC & regurgitate it like it’s all common knowledge. Well the common knowledge is FOX & Limbaugh distort the truth so much & have not an inkling of an idea of what is right for this country. I mean look at the gridlock we’ve had lately. I suppose you thing it’s the dems. Like I say, you are a bad choice of character. You like spin, not reality. So go on & blow your bugle for the side that got us in this turmoil. It’s quite disturbing to see so many follow your path of Fox knows best cause I can’t wrap my mind around reality. Cause you’re too old. You want the future to be like the past. It ain’t going to happen. We have to progress & move forward WITHOUT the GOP standing in the way.
Posted by: hhh | September 28, 2011, 4:25 pm 4:25 pm
Hey “S” — what do you think of the Poles and other Europeans who are here illegally working for their family businesses? What of the Africans who are here on expired work visas? Those groups DON’T get profiled like Hispanics because they fit in . They are just too easy of a target for me to think this witch hunt is fair. Call me whatever you want — just don’t call me a Teapublican.
Posted by: MsT-mac | September 28, 2011, 4:31 pm 4:31 pm
@Rick McDanial – what bites GOP on the butt is that it is a high way or my way type attitude that even conflicts with each other in the party. Who is the most fiscal conservative…it’s like a game they try to play , but of course you can’t be totally fiscal conservative & be progressive at the same time. It’s 2012 , are you saying we need to go backwards like Bush. He didn’t kick this millinium off very well. It sure seems like we went backwards. Now instead of seeing a futuristic vision in front of us , we just have two parties that have shaped into unmallable molds that don’t fit together. I know that Obama is willing to work with both side even to the point of making his own party mad. Does the GOP do that…no. they are mules, mules that don’t budge. That’s is not taking us anywhere. I say let’s get rid of these mules. We need to be practical & work together, otherwise we are really doomed & China will be checking our houses to see where they want to live.
Posted by: hhh | September 28, 2011, 4:32 pm 4:32 pm
YOU SHOULD SEE HIS STATE THAT IS OVER-FLOWING WITH ILLEGAL-IMMAGRANTS. YOU CANNOT GET A JOB IN TEXAS… LIAR
Posted by: momore | September 28, 2011, 4:58 pm 4:58 pm
This article tends to tends to confirm and extend the validity of Alexander Pope’s observation (c 1734) about the insidious consequences of less than immediate rejection of vice:
Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.
How apt a description for the insidious process through which long endured illegal immigration and its disruptive and dysfunctional consequences have come to be perceived as embraceable by so many in this nation today.
Living in hope, always, it is possible that after January 2013, a new Potus will be on the scene
with a GOP crew (House and Senate, too) to treat breaking and entering nationally as harshly as breaking and entering locally in a break with the past–clean.,
Posted by: SpecialKinNJ | September 28, 2011, 5:14 pm 5:14 pm
Perry who?………Everyone i know in Pittsburgh is voting for Ron Paul…our media needs to wake the hell up! who are they polling anyways?….I’ve never been polled on anything….how about any of you….anyone…no one?…didn’t think so…the big companies that own these media outlets are manipulative jerks bent on there own personal interests.. Leading Media sources are full of money and crap. THEY tell our politicians what to say, and when to say it…..well i say….. bite me media. Ignore them. I’m only here to spread that message.
Think for yourselves… i do recommend fact check and democracy now.
Go Ron Paul!
Posted by: Herne | September 28, 2011, 5:17 pm 5:17 pm
P.S. The Onion is more believable than our major news networks.
Posted by: Herne | September 28, 2011, 5:19 pm 5:19 pm
Economy and jobs are not mutually exclusive of the illegal immigrant issue. Illegal immigration has a whole lot to do with high unemployment, stagnant wages, high cost of public services and many other economic issues. To say or think that illegal immigration has little to do with the jobs or economic issues plaguing voters shows how disconnected one is. P.S., Reading all the republican vs democrat messages in every political story anywhere is like watching the cheerleaders of two football teams fighting each other.
Posted by: Robert | September 28, 2011, 5:19 pm 5:19 pm
Can’t rightly take this opinion ditty as fact, noticed the author never mentioned any of the many American-Mexican’s against rewarding any illegal alien foreign national invader. Liberals have had it with Obama on many issues and see Texas is overrun with illegal aliens and minimum wage employment. Governor Perry wanted super highways throughout Texas and wanted to contract out the work to Foreign Companies with huge Legal Migration. Think what he would do to the whole Country. He is as bad as Fast Eddy Rendell was as Pa. governor.
Posted by: patpacer | September 28, 2011, 5:26 pm 5:26 pm
For those that say this problem will be solved by the 2012 election including congress, why is that? It was not solved after 9/11 when the Republican party held the White House and both houses of congress. What has changed that the conservative Texas business men will be willing to shed their below minimum wage labor, that the police will do dragnets to sweep up illegals? Most talk a good story but don’t run a good game.
Posted by: John | September 28, 2011, 5:58 pm 5:58 pm
The Republicans don’t deserve and won’t get Hispanic support. Their myopia will thankfully keep them out of the White House, and should eliminate their control of the House in 2012. And I think all you posters who think that Hispanic immigrants keep wages low and cost Anglos jobs have never lived in a community with high levels of Hispanics. I lived in San Diego for 40 years and never observed anything to support your contention. I think you’re parroting anti-immigrant misanthropy from really respected Republican spokesmen like the big Rush, who is nationally known for the high caliber of his study and evaluation of complex problems. LOL.
Posted by: excfo | September 28, 2011, 7:10 pm 7:10 pm
lets face it Democracy is dying if not already dead. Capitalism is ruling and because of the Greed of big business repugs will never get rid of the illegals, they will talk but not walk the walk. They have to many working for below minimum wage. Capitalism is the other end of the spectrum from Communism. When money became god and real Christianity was shoved under the bus. Sinclair Lewis said When Fascism comes to America it will be carrying a bible wrapped in the American flag. The tea baggers are fascist. They spread the fear and lies and repeat it over and over on fox that weak minded people believe it. God help us!
Posted by: William | September 28, 2011, 7:24 pm 7:24 pm
I don’t understand Perry’s logic in placing illegal immigrants in front of nonresidents from other states when it comes to college tuition in Texas. I guess Texas is more a part of Mexico than part of the rest of the United States!
Posted by: Ted | September 28, 2011, 10:50 pm 10:50 pm
Hello, is anyone out there? Hello…..
What do we need immigration for, anyway?
We have 300 million residents, of all races and from all the world’s countries.
The childern are in school, and the adults are grossly unemployed or under-employed, and therer is no unemployment compensation, because the states all over spend and must fund it from a, presently, unwilling Federal government.
At least 30% are under-employed or unemployed. 20% are “retired.” Why would we want more people to come to America? We have plenty of people already here to serve any purpose imaginable.
American resources are over-consumed, and seclusion does not exist. Inflation is ludicrious.
At least come up with a reason for immigration, if you think we should have it. i canNOT find immigration to be a worthy issue, now, unless it involves sending people back to their countries of origin to improve Americans’ quality of life.
Let’s move on to an important issue, and simply not admit any more people into the US until the more important problems are solved.
Posted by: Lorenzo del Pue | September 29, 2011, 1:15 am 1:15 am
“Many in the current field of GOP presidential contenders oppose any effort to address the legal status of the country’s illegal immigrant population,” — What legal status? MOre leftist reporting? They are here illegally therefore they have no legal status. If involved in an auto accident or any conflict, it’s automatically their fault. They weren’t suppose to be there.
“You have Latinos and Latino immigrants now feeling unwelcome in this country,’ — Latino Americans are by definition, Americans. Aliens here legally are here legally. Most Americans do not oppose legal immigration. Illegal aliens should feel unwelcome, they are unwelcome.
Legal alien residents and Lations citizens are often unjustifiably harrased. That is unfotunate and inexcusable. There is no excuse but there is a reason. Americans are so fed up with the illegal alien situation that they anger at the sound of the Spanish language. I anger at the sight of the Mexican flag or any foreign flag for that matter, Mexican is just the most common. If you want to fly the flag of your country, go home to do it.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been investigated several times. In this country a citizen is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Sheriff Arpaio never has been found guilty of anything and never lost a civil suit concerning how he does his job.
“Gilchrist’s group is labeled as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. ” —- And? Every group not associated with the left wing of the Democratic party is labeled as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Hate groups such as the Black Panthers and La Raza are labeled as heros by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Why don’t liberal reporters just admit their obvious agenda? They’re worse than Fox.
Posted by: oonogil | September 29, 2011, 9:47 am 9:47 am