Immigration and the GOP Is it still the party of Reagan, or of Tom Tancredo?

Wall Street Journal ^ | 3/31/2006 | Review and OUtlook

[BillyBoy]

>> If the GOP becomes the party of Tom Tancredo, it's no longer the party for me. <<

Well, Celtjew "Libertarian", the GOP has stood for tight border controls, strict citizenship rules, limited immigration, and deporting all illegals since about, oh... since about the 1880 Republican convention or so, so I'd say it was NEVER the party for you.

You're welcome to the open borders Libertarian Party. They peaked in 1980 and got about 0.3% of the vote in the last presidential election.

"Since the authority to regulate immigration and intercourse between the United States and foreign nations rests with the Congress of the United States and the treaty-making power, the Republican party regards unrestricted immigration... as a matter of grave concernment under the exercise of both these powers, would limit and restrict that immigration by the enactment of such just, humane and reasonable laws and treaties as will produce that result."
-- 1880 Republican Party Platform

[Celtjew Libertarian]

You're welcome to the open borders Libertarian Party.

No I'm not.... we have this little problem that I supported going after the terrorists in Afghanistan and they don't.

Problem is there's only one party in this country that believes in actually defending it and that's the GOP. Until the party splits or some other party also believes in defending the country, we're stuck together.

[BillyBoy]

>> This wonderful site is no longer reflective of Reagan's vision, of hopefulness and opportunity.

This site is certainly reflective of Reagan’s vision of hopefulness and opportunity. If we get control of our nation’s borders and obey the rule of law, we can truly have America become a shining city on a hill that provides millions of Americans and LEGAL immigrants with the opportunity to prosper and succeed in the American dream.

>> Instead, it is turning to the narrow, cramped, inward-looking pessimism of Buchanan. I never thought I'd see it.

Nonscene. If all the people bashing illegal aliens on this board (and in the conservative movement in general) agreed with Buchanan’s platform, he would have gotten FAR more votes than his paltry 0.4%. Just because we agree with Buchanan on IMMIGRATION, it doesn’t mean we support or endorse the REST of his views. I would never vote for an isolationist, neo-confederate, anti-semetic, cut-and-run platform exposed by Buchanan. His main “issue” in 2000 wasn’t even immigration, it was his so-called “America First” opposition to free trade like NAFTA, GATT, etc. I’m a Tancredo man – NOT a Buchanan man.

>> If you folks have your way, America will be a gray city on a garbage dump. That's the Buchanan view. You always have the Buchanan view. Have the Reagan view. <<

What he said IS the Reagan view. Here is the OFFICIAL Republican statement on immigration during Reagan's two campaigns, when the platform was tailored to his campaign and dominated by Reaganites:

“The United States immigration and refugee policy MUST reflect the interests of the nation's political and economic well-being. Immigration into this country must NOT be determined by foreign governments or even by the millions of people around the world who wish to come to America. The federal government has a duty to adopt immigration laws and follow enforcement procedures which will fairly and effectively implement the immigration policy desired by American people… the immediate adoption of this policy is essential to an orderly approach to the great problem of oppressed people seeking entry, so that the deserving can be accepted in America without adding to their hardships… We pledge a system that will… end aid to illegal aliens”
--1980 Republican Party Platform

“We affirm our country's absolute right to control its borders. Those desiring to enter MUST comply with our immigration laws. Failure to do so not only is an offense to the American people but it is fundamentally unjust to those in foreign lands patiently waiting for legal entry… with the estimates of the number of illegal aliens in the United States ranging as high as 12 million and better than one million more entering each year, we believe it is critical that responsible reforms of our immigration laws be made to enable us to regain control of our borders…the flight of oppressed people in search of freedom has created pressures beyond the capacity of any one nation.”
--1984 Republican Party Platform

[4Freedom]

Truth on the past Republican Party Platform planks against illegal immigration 'BUMP'!

[LibLieSlayer]

Enjoy your alternate reality. You'll never convince me, so see ya!

LLS

[4Freedom]

Please read post #243.

Here are some of the highlights.

What he said IS the Reagan view. Here is the OFFICIAL Republican statement on immigration during Reagan's two campaigns, when the platform was tailored to his campaign and dominated by Reaganites:

“The United States immigration and refugee policy MUST reflect the interests of the nation's political and economic well-being. Immigration into this country must NOT be determined by foreign governments or even by the millions of people around the world who wish to come to America. The federal government has a duty to adopt immigration laws and follow enforcement procedures which will fairly and effectively implement the immigration policy desired by American people… the immediate adoption of this policy is essential to an orderly approach to the great problem of oppressed people seeking entry, so that the deserving can be accepted in America without adding to their hardships… We pledge a system that will… end aid to illegal aliens”

--1980 Republican Party Platform

“We affirm our country's absolute right to control its borders. Those desiring to enter MUST comply with our immigration laws. Failure to do so not only is an offense to the American people but it is fundamentally unjust to those in foreign lands patiently waiting for legal entry… with the estimates of the number of illegal aliens in the United States ranging as high as 12 million and better than one million more entering each year, we believe it is critical that responsible reforms of our immigration laws be made to enable us to regain control of our borders…the flight of oppressed people in search of freedom has created pressures beyond the capacity of any one nation.”

--1984 Republican Party Platform

[arnoldpalmerfan]

Thanks for posting this photograph.

[LibLieSlayer]

I'll see your Republican Party platform, and raise you Ronald Reagan's own words on immigration... Illegal or otherwise.

Here are quotes from President Reagan on illegal immigration! His own words, in his own way, from his own heart. If the man is his words, these words ARE the man! End of story.

Link to quotes:
http://www.rnha.org/ImmigrationReformNow/Quotes.htm#Reagan

LLS

---

President Ronald Reagan

“I've said on a number of occasions that I can't help but believe—you can call it mysticism if you will—that God must have placed this land here between the oceans to be found by a certain kind of people and a kind only in one thing: that whatever corner of the world they came from, they had the courage—and the desire for freedom that went with it—to uproot themselves and come to this strange land, beginning back when it was the most underdeveloped land in the world, and come here leaving family and come to a strange language and everything that went with that kind of a move."

“Many who passed through the gates at Ellis Island had little more than what they carried with them, yet they possessed a determination that with hard work and freedom, they would live a better life and their children even more so. They were captured by the American dream. AND BOTH THEY AND THEIR NEW COUNTRY WERE THE BETTER FOR THEIR EFFORTS AND THEIR FAITH, because they not only came here for something but just as THEY CAME FROM EVERY CORNER OF THE WORLD. THEY BROUGHT SOMETHING from every corner of the world TO THIS GREAT MELTING POT. And maybe in so doing, THEY PROVED HOW ARTIFICIAL ARE THE PREJUDICES AND THE HATREDS THAT EXIST IN THE WORLD BECAUSE WE PROVED THAT WE COULD ALL MIX ...”

***Remarks Announcing the Formation of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Centennial Commission, May 18, 1982

“...IT MAKES ONE WONDER ABOUT THE ILLEGAL ALIEN FUSS. ARE GREAT NUMBERS OF OUR UNEMPLOYED REALLY VICTIMS OF THE ILLEGAL ALIEN INVASION OR ARE THOSE ILLEGAL TOURISTS ACTUALLY DOING WORK OUR OWN PEOPLE WON’T DO? ONE THING IS CERTAIN IN THIS HUNGRY WORLD; NO REGULATIONS OR LAW SHOULD BE ALLOWED IF IT RESULTS IN CROPS ROTTING IN THE FIELDS FOR LACK OF HARVESTERS.”


***From a Radio Address entitled "Apples," dated November 29, 1977.

"I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept GOD-BLESSED AMERICA WITH TEEMING WITH PEOPLE OF ALL KINDS LIVING IN HARMONY AND PEACE, A CITY WITH FREE PORTS THAT HUMMED WITH COMMERCE AND CREATIVITY, AND IF THERE HAD TO BE CITY WALLS, THE WALLS HAD DOORS AND WINDOWS THAT WERE OPEN TO ANYONE WITH THE WILL AND THE HEART TO GET HERE. THAT’S HOW I SAW IT AND SEE IT STILL,”

***Farewell Address January 11, 1989

"You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman; you can go to live in Germany, you cannot become a German— or a Turk, or a Greek, or whatever. But anyone, from any corner of the world, can come to live in America and become an American."

"You have to realize that we are a people that are made up of every strain, nationality, and race of the world. And the result is that when people in our country think someone is being mistreated or treated unjustly in another country, these are people who still feel that kinship to that country because that is their heritage. In America, whenever you meet someone new and become friends, one of the first things you tell each other is what your bloodline is. For example, when I'm asked, I have to say Irish, English, and Scotch—English and Scotch on my mother's side, Irish on my father's side. But all of them have that."

"Well, when you take on to yourself a wife, you do not stop loving your mother. So, Americans all feel a kind of a kinship to that country that their parents or their grandparents or even some great-grandparents came from; you don't lose that contact."

[4Freedom]

All of Reagan's quotes, but one, were about legal immigration. The sole mention of illegal immigration was from 1977 and it was taken out of context.

Obviously Reagan decided that illegal immigration was bad for our country, thus the more recent language used in the 1980 and 1984 Republican Party Platform planks.

Nice try though.

[Proud2BAmerican]

Boy they sure look like future GOP voters to me. C'mon, let's give'em amnesty so we can register them as Republicans, cause you know they're just dying to.

[Proud2BAmerican]

In other words: NO, no sign of assimilation in this photo.

[Proud2BAmerican]

If there is a stop sign, and everyone ignores it, and nobody enforces any sort of retribution on the drivers who ignore it -- then what useful purpose does it serve? It's no longer a "Stop" sign, because it doesn't encourage anyone to "stop".

[Proud2BAmerican]

Here's another thing we never discuss, the only reason that ten million plus illegal aliens are taking jobs from Americans, is because millions of Americans are giving them jobs.

No, the reason they're taking the jobs is because as illegals, they artificially depress fair wages for work performed. If there were no illegals to work for artificially-low wages, employers would be forced to pay a fair wage for work performed (e.g., capitalism), and you'd find plenty of Americans lining up for the jobs.

[deport]

and you'd find plenty of Americans lining up for the jobs.

---

We have that many unemployed today?.....

[UNflagburner]

If 'everybody' ignores it, then sure it's meaningless. Except everyone doesn't ignore it, but a lot of people take the risk and do. And some of those get caught and get tickets.
Same thing with immigration. Not every Mexican runs across the border. Some do gamble that it's worth it and do. McKennedy would make a lot of those pay the fines.
The other guy's argument, presumably, was that the borders are meaningless because some get through them. So my question remains is whether the stop sign is meaningless if I ran it.

[4Freedom]

"We have that many unemployed today?"

Yes.

Employment Situation Summary

Technical information:

Household data: (202) 691-6378 USDL 06-396

http://www.bls.gov/cps/

Establishment data: 691-6555 Transmission of material in this release http://www.bls.gov/ces/ is embargoed until 8:30 A.M. (EST), Media contact: 691-5902 Friday, March 10, 2006.

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: FEBRUARY 2006

Nonfarm payroll employment grew by 243,000 in February, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.8 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Job gains occurred in construction, financial activities, health care, and several other industries.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

Both the number of unemployed persons, 7.2 million, and the unemployment rate, 4.8 percent, were little changed in February. A year earlier, the number of unemployed was 8.0 million, and the jobless rate was 5.4 percent.

Following a decline in January, the unemployment rate for adult men edged up to 4.2 percent in February. The jobless rates for the other major worker groups--adult women (4.3 percent), teenagers (15.4 percent), whites (4.1 percent), blacks (9.3 percent), and Hispanics (5.5 percent)--showed little or no change over the month. The unemployment rate for Asians was 3.2 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

After declining in January, the number of unemployed persons who had been without a job for 27 weeks or longer returned to its December level of 1.4 million. These long-term unemployed accounted for 19.0 percent of total unemployment in February, down slightly from a year earlier. (See table A-9.)

The United States has plenty of unemployed Americans that were happy to do the jobs that illegal aliens are doing now.

Illegal aliens will work cheaper, not harder or better.

[Proud2BAmerican]

Not to mention those who are "underemployed" -- that is, they're working at jobs that don't meet basic living expenses, due to the depressing effect that illegal immigration has on wages in America.

[Proud2BAmerican]

If 'everybody' ignores it, then sure it's meaningless. Except everyone doesn't ignore it, but a lot of people take the risk and do. And some of those get caught and get tickets. Same thing with immigration. Not every Mexican runs across the border. Some do gamble that it's worth it and do. McKennedy would make a lot of those pay the fines. The other guy's argument, presumably, was that the borders are meaningless because some get through them. So my question remains is whether the stop sign is meaningless if I ran it.

Borders are meaningless unless a nation enforces them -- i.e., does what is necessary to prevent illegal entry. At this point in time, the border is largely unsecured, and entry is not a difficult prospect -- as evidenced by the torrent of illegal aliens flooding our country on a daily basis. If the law regarding stop signs were largely unenforced, to the same degree with which illegal aliens enter our country, then yes, stop signs would become meaningless.

[McGavin999]

I've just about had it with all these eastern folks slamming us on immigration. I think we in the border states shoud start issuing one way tickets to New York, DC, and MA.

My neighbor, who is a LEGAL immigrant from Mexico, suggested we print up flyers and tell the illegals just how many free services are available back east.

[Mojave]

To wit, do Republicans want to continue in the Reagan tradition of American optimism and faith in assimilation

Reagan signed what was to be a ONE TIME amnesty bill for illegals. The RINOs and Rat want to undo the Reagan position.