Looking At Huckabee and Immigration

Well as I mentioned before I have been pretty out of it the last few days in my sick bed. When I am sick I rarely have the news on. It just makes me feel worse. Too much griping back and forth and breaking news that purports to be the most life changing as to issue X or person X or Political race X of the year. Of course this all changes the next day. Pretty much I sit back and watch old movies. This morning I watched Good Fellas for the 100 th time. Who can too much of that classic.

However I did pick up this morning that lots of things have been going on the political front especially as to my man Huckabee. Not all of them great. There also seems to have been the last big Republican debate yesterday before the election in Iowa which is three weeks off. What was odd about it was the timing. It occurred at 2 pm!!! Why have the last major debate when most people are working? I guess I don't understand these things. On to Huckabee!!

The Mormon Question-
Well it seems Huckabee sort of slipped up here. In some interview he talked about some facet of Mormon Theology. He has since apologized to Romney. I actually buy Huckabee's apology. Still it caused some damage that did not have to occur. The same media that has pestered him with a thousand questions on Mormon Theology and demand he answer them will turn on a vengeance on him because he had questions about one aspect of it. Still it was not smart and it is time to move on from it. I think Huckabee will recover from that. I thought the Anchoress who I think of as a average voter that tends to vote Republican had a important viewpoint that should be heard in her post The Huckabee/Romney Circus - UPDATED.

Now I expect Romney nor Huckabee supporters(which I am one) will not like to hear her post but you can't hide from it. She said
I have to be honest, I never much liked Mitt Romney, or Mike Huckabee. I have no intention of selecting a candidate and backing him this far out, particularly when - for the most part - so many of them seem either bland, unserious, pandering, not-forthcoming or just yeeech.... didn’t especially think that Romney’s speech was all that and if that moment - when he was supposedly defending his deepest beliefs - was a sample of his passion…I remain underwhelmed. If you care about polls, this one says Romney’s speech made no difference for him, and I think that’s probably about right.
National Review will likely convince some with their reasoned argument, but I think it is a too-early reaction against the “Huckabee spree” we’re being fed by I don’t-know-who-but which I’m not buying.
Huckabee leaves me cold - and this endorsement just leaves me further chilled. Aside from the fact that I am not sure I like the idea of a minister being POTUS, I cannot believe this most important of elections is involving candidates who are busily questioning the religious beliefs of other candidates in a way that I think will turn off many Americans....Look, the press is going to do as much as it can to keep voters focused on the “Jesus freaks and spooky Mormons” in the GOP, and without saying very much about them - just allowing the religious hype and in-fighting to play out before the nation’s eyes, they’ll manage to scare the country into the Dem column...I’m lately more and more convinced that I am not much of a “conservative” girl (heh, plenty of conservatives have written telling me as much), but I can’t call myself a “liberal” as “liberalism” is today-defined. Maybe what we classical liberals need is a candidate like Hubert Humphrey or JFK or Scoop Jackson.
I’m not ready to say who I’ll vote for in ‘08 - I frankly don’t know. I can only tell you it will not be Hillary Clinton, it will very likely not be Mike Huckabee, or Mitt Romney. Give me a candidate who will not continue or deepen the balkanization of this nation into political/feminist/religious/economic factions, one who can be counted on to seriously engage our enemies, both foreign and domestic, and who will take care of the nation’s infrastructure while getting out of the way of the citizenry, and I’ll start to get excited. More selections, please…and hurry.

GO read her post whole post. Well again that is a perception and one that must be battled by Huckabee Camp. Now I did leave a post asking her to keep a open mind on Huckabee. As someone that has watched Huckabee actually govern it appears to me that he is not one to "balkanize" the country. But for Huckabee supporters as well as other GOPer supporting their guy I think the Anchoress is a good showing of how many are reacting to what they see in the media. Now I am overly concerned by this? Not really. We have this every 4 years in primaries when we battle and eat our own . The key is too come out United after all this. Please see and click on the links under the I SUPPORT THE ELEPHANT part of my sidebar.

While all this might seem just horrible now it is basically a replay of what we see every four years but we all forget about. I do hate to inform the Anchoress of this though . There will be no more selections. As to the GOP side it will be either Romney, Rudy, or Huckabee and as to the Democrat Side it will be either Obama or Hillary. That is pretty much it. We are three weeks from Iowa and whole series of states in quick succession. Unless Fred Thompson, John McCain, or Edwards gains some serious traction and quick that is petty much it. It appears even the Ron Paul Express is wearing thin a tad. The fact is this could over in two months.

Immigration-
The Anchoress also talks about an endorsement of Huckabee that left her cold. I have to agree I was not happy with it. That is by the one of the Minutemen Factions headed by Jim Gilchrist. Now this is all in response to the attacks by Romney on Huckabee that he is "soft" on illegal immigration.
Now I find that people generally are ignorant of the Minutemen movement. That includes both their Avid supporters and very Vocal opponents. I spent a year of my life working with various people that were for Comprehensive Immigration Reform(such as me) and those very much opposed to it to expose these frauds. I will not get into it now but basically both major camps in my view are money making scams. Jim Gilchrist though is perhaps a tad bit more ethical than the Simcox camp but he has his hands in the cookie jar too.

In the end as I have followed Gilchrist career the more I am convinced he does not believe in much at all. Now The Pink Flamingo who is a Republican and also is on my Support the Elephant Links, in fact she started it I think, was not pleased with this endorsement. I understand that. She knows even more than I do what is behind all these groups. She said:
Undaunted and ignoring the "Hate"Group label, Michell Malkin today quotes Tanton flunkie Roy Beck and Numbers USA. It seems Jim Gilchrist, one of the minutemen et. al has endorsed Mike Huckabee. If Gilchrist is for him, I'm against him. Gilchrist is truly one of the most despicable people in the country and a fitting associate for John Tanton, Roy Beck, and Dan Stein. Evidently Malkin feels right at home with these people, all of whom have been cited by the SPLC as minions of hate. Evidently there is no shame or conscience remaining in the conservative movement. Evidently Huckabee lacks the courage of his "Christian" convictions to denounce Gilchrist and all he stands for. I once had respect for Huckabee. No longer. He has proved he is nothing but a shill for Tanton's web of hate.

Well I can understand her misgivings here. However I do think there is more going on here than meets the eye. I feel very confident that The Tanton Forces will not be behind Huckabee. In fact they are opposing him quite actively now. They hate him because he is not buying into their extremist rhetoric. In the end and I will admit Huckabee is being pragmatic about this. He has to show he is against illegal immigration(who isn't). In a way this strikes me as Huckabee's Bob Jones University moment. Remember eight years ago when Bush appeared at Bob Jones University which is an anti Catholic mecca and had weird views on race. Well I had huge misgivings about that to say the least. Perhaps I am too pragmatic about these things but I accept them as part of unfortunate part of these political races from my standpoint. Needless to say Bush went on to be one of the most friendly Catholic Presidents we ever had.

Let me also say to those that think making Gilchrist a big part of the Huckabee campaign is a good idea that I see that as a huge mistake. Trust me on this. Lets not even talk about the aspect of the Hispanic vote which is a major issue. Again one must understand the Minutemen Movement and the factions Already a huge faction of it is using this endorsement to declare war not only on Huckabee but their "competitors". This will be used to fatten their own pockets through direct mail etc. Again this is an internal civil war that we should not be a part of. This is dealing with so many direct mail groups and inside the beltway Fundraising firms and political non profits that it is breathtaking. I just hope people in the Huckabee campaign are smart enough to know that.

Now besides the practical politics of this I find parts of this worthy of more attention. The Pink Flamingo said a few days ago:
HUCKABEE SELLS OUT TO TANTON

I had held out some hope for Mike Huckabee, but now, after reading his proposals for immigration, that mirror those of Tanton flunkie Mark Kirkorkian, I don’t mind admitting I am disappointed. Allahpundit thinks it is a good thing.
“…Huckabee has a new immigration plan out, and it’s way, way better than anyone would have expected from him. Full disclosure: though I had nothing to do with preparing it, he acknowledges that it’s partly modeled on a May 23, 2005 NR cover story I wrote. On illegal immigration, the most important elements are: universal verification of the legal status of new hires and cooperation with Social Security and IRS to prevent the use of fake or stolen identity information; systematic cooperation between local, state, and federal law enforcement authorities; full implementation of the check-in/check-out system (US-VISIT) at the borders; and rejection of Mexico’s illegal-alien ID card, known as the matricula consular. But even on legal immigration, it represents progress, calling for the elimination of the egregious visa lottery and the preference category for adult siblings of American citizens. I’d eliminate more categories that that myself, and I’m not sure what the specifics are behind “Increase visas for highly-skilled and highly-educated applicants”, but this is a big deal if Huckabee actually campaigns on this…”

Now this is where I disagree with her and I think something very important is going on here. The question is if Gilchrist is trying to moderate his position. Huckabee views on not punishing the children of illegal aliens is well known. That in itself is something that was anathema to the "deport them all big and small crowd". Surely Gilchrist is aware of these views. Let us look at the Huckabee plan on illegal immigration:
The Secure America Plan
A 9-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 Bureau of 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.

Now something to note about this is much of this was on the table as to the immigration reform bill that was proposed by Bush. For instance points one and two about Border Security and the fence. There is not much different there. Also despite the rethoric from the extreme right those goals are still on track.

There is a reason why Huckabee has those "dates" in there. It is because the current adminsitration believe it or not is on track for those concerns. Point 4 about punishing employers sounds very much like the Bush legislation also.

The key is point 3. Point 3 seems like it leaves room for a possible Touchback provision. Remember a year ago that was in the mix. All the talk of Ellis Islands type processing systems as was once offered by Congressman Mike Pence when he was trying to find compromise on this issue.

Now I was against the touchback provision because I just think it is a waste of money. However I am seeing that Huckabee is showing indications that he is open to compromise on this issue. Which in the end will have to happen.

Where I disagree with The Flamingo on is this. The Tanton anti immigration extremist are just that. Anti immigration period. In many ways as I have argued over the past two years the anti illegal immigration debate is just a side show to what their true aims are. For instance the Huckabee plan wants to INCREASE Visas for Highly Skilled workers. That is very much against what the Tanton groups and their organisations like CIS want. In fact they worked to kill that last year.

This is not a plan where a Illegal ALien will always be an illegal alien. It appears to me that Huckabee is leaving room here for some compromise again on a touchback provision. Again I am not thrilled with that because I think it costly and in some ways impractical. However I do note that this plan seems to LEAVE ALOT of the demands OUT that so many of extreme elements were demanding. In a sense I am getting the feeling Huckabee is allowing himself room to show YES he will deal with Illegal immigration and get tough on the border but is allowing room to do something with the people here that is not in reality just permanent deportation. Which is of course sane because nothing short of compromise on either side will get us any solution.

So while I am not thrilled with some aspects of this plan , I still comforatable in backing Huckabee. I expect for him to show through ads that he views illegal imigrationa problem. However I do think it is important that he is not going into many troubling areas. I think this is on purpose and a eye on the future.

Update---
For those that are worried that Huckabee is going into the John Tanton Camp more proof that is not the case.
The Ever annoying Mark Krikorian who is John Tanton Lapdog said:
Huckabee still hasn't figured this issue out. McCain and Giuliani are openly calling for amnesty, but Huckabee's new immigration plan says that "Policies that promote or tolerate amnesty will be rejected." Yet in Sunday's debate he responded to "what to do with the 12 million of undocumented that already live in the United States?" by echoing the Pence "touchback" amnesty scheme: "If you can get an American Express card in two weeks, it shouldn't take seven years to get a work permit to come to this country in order to work on a farm." He'd said the same thing earlier in the day, on Fox News: "But that pathway to get back here legally doesn't take years. It would take days, maybe weeks, and then people could come back in the workforce."

While I support a more McCain like approach I think this shows that Huckabee is looking for a compromise that will satify Americans that don't like th eidea of illegal aliens getting "amnesty"(whatever that means) and doing something that is sane and Christian as to the people that are here and not criminals. IN the end that makes sense. I think its clear that Huckabee would not be for deporting all the "illegals" that were brought here as children. Someone has to take care of them. Once you connect the dots it appears that Huckabee is trying to find a way to uphold the law yet still maintain a humane policy as to how we deal with the people here. As I said before the "Touchback" policy does not makes a huge amount of logistic sense. If we do this let me say I intend to apply for a job in the Jamaica Touchback office or perhaps the Ireland branch. Still it is a compromise in finding a solution to this 20 year problem we have all ignored that dos not violate my Catholic principles.