Anyone can have a path to citizenship if they go home and apply legally. That's the best plan.
In any event, Seems like Fred said something very similar - not in 2005, but in 2007. Nonetheless, both have better records and plans than Huckabee.
Thompson on a path to citizenship: “[B]ecause we allowed ourselves to wait until we woke up one day and found 12 million illegals here, there’s no easy solution. And I think that you have to realize that you’re either going to drive 12 million people underground permanently, which is not a good solution. You’re going to get them all together and get them out of the country, which is not going to happen. Or you’re going to have to, in some way, work out a deal where they can have some aspirations of citizenship, but not make it so easy that it’s unfair to the people waiting in line and abiding by the law.” (Fox News’ “Hannity & Colmes,” 4/3/07)
Fred on the problems with cracking down on employers: “We haven’t enforced the law, in terms of employers. … For 20 years, we’ve not enforced the law, and that’s a part of the problem. You can’t enforce it all on the backs of the employers. People falsify information that they give employers and all that. That’s not a solution to the problem.” (Fox News’ “Hannity & Colmes,” 4/3/07)
-----> Fred on his skepticism of a brick-and-mortar border fence: FOX’s ALAN COLMES: “You don’t put up a fence, either, do you? Is that bad neighbor policy, put a fence up?” THOMPSON: “If it would work. I mean, I don’t know – that’s a technical problem. In this day and age, I would not think you would have to use bricks and mortar to get that job done. But we ought to do everything that we can to get it done to the extent that we can and then, as I say, I think people would be willing to take a look at the rest of the problem, what we do with the problem that we created.” (Fox News’ “Hannity & Colmes,” 4/3/07)
Fred on enforcement first: “We woke up one day after years of neglect and apparently discovered that we have somewhere between 12 million and 20 million illegal aliens in this country. So it became an impossible situation to deal with. I mean, there’s really no good solution. So what do you do? You have to start over. Well, I’m concerned about the next 12 million or 20 million. So that’s why enforcement, and enforcement at the border, has to be primary.” (Fox’s “Fox News Sunday,” 3/11/07)
Fred on not rounding up illegal immigrants: “You know, if you have the right kind of policies, and you’re not encouraging people to come here and encouraging them to stay once they’re here, they’ll go back, many of them, of their own volition, instead of having to, you know, load up moving vans and rounding people up. That’s not going to happen.” (Fox’s “Fox News Sunday,” 3/11/07)
In any event, Seems like Fred said something very similar - not in 2005, but in 2007. Nonetheless, both have better records and plans than Huckabee.
Correct. Yet some people will take the slick flipflopping double-talk from Huckabee before they take straight-up business-like talk from Romney because Huck goes to the right church.