Huckabee signs Sen. Sessions' Immigration Pledge

CBSNEWS ^ | February 2, 2008 | Joy Lin

[Tennessee Nana]

TUSCALOOSA, ALA. -- Mike Huckabee has changed his mind and will sign an Alabama senator’s immigration pledge for presidential candidates - an effort to defeat the McCain-Kennedy proposal in the U.S. Senate.

In Birmingham last week, Huckabee said he was almost ready to sign the pledge put forth by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., but was on the fence regarding one of its aspects. "Which one?" a reporter asked.

Huckabee said it had to do with the 13th point of the 15-point pledge, one to “eliminate the visa lottery program and change current preference categories that guarantee automatic entry for aging parents and extended family members and replace it with a system that fairly and objectively evaluates at least 50% of applicants based on characteristics such as education, skills, English ability, and age.”

Huckabee said he wasn't sure if the ratio for immigrants with advanced degrees was "arbitrary" or flexible enough for changing needs.

"Everything else about it is...absolutely fantastic," Huckabee said. "That's the one piece we haven't been able to completely work on. Hopefully we can get with Senator Sessions to get that verified."

Later at a rally in Tuscaloosa, Huckabee announced he would sign Sessions' pledge. Asked about the decision during the media avail that followed, he said, "Point 13 dealt with ratios of people in engineering-- we looked at that and decided it really is not a big issue and certainly not something that ought to keep us from signing it. It's very consistent with our 9-point immigration plan so I thought, what better time to do it than when I'm in Alabama."

Regarding the seemingly quick manner in which he decided to sign the pledge, he said, "We've been looking at it for about a week…I looked at it last night and today and decided when we got here that this would be a great time to sign the pledge."

[ApplegateRanch]

Although I think you were not serious when you said "Just ask McCain," I think I see your point.

Actually, I was serious.

I have a letter from him, telling me that 'a pathway to citizenship' is not amnesty, because those making use of it would have to pay a fine, etc.

The gist is that he considers amnesty a total freebie, and since the 'pathway' was not totally a freeby for those opting to use it, it wasn't amnesty.

Either you or I are sadly mistaken about what Sessions is doing, and I think it is you.

I won't impugn Sessions, but I will maintain that those who sign, can parse it to mean what they want it to mean, notwithstanding what Sessions meant.

As to the rest, POTUS, even with 100% commitment--which I doubt Huckabee or McCain come close to having, can't act in violation of the courts, but this does give cover when a signer shrugs, and say, "Oh, well; I did what I could", instead of ('unreasonable' with a Dem Congress?) fighting to get the tools needed to overcome the court rulings.

I MAY be being a bit paranoid about this, but I've seen way too many "pledges" fall to "pragmatism" after an election. Records mean MUCH more to me.

Leopards, spots, etc. "Promise her anything, but give her Arpegé" is more than just a marketing slogan, when it comes to candidates.

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

>>Actually, I was serious.

I have a letter from him, telling me that 'a pathway to citizenship' is not amnesty, because those making use of it would have to pay a fine, etc.

The gist is that he considers amnesty a total freebie, and since the 'pathway' was not totally a freeby for those opting to use it, it wasn't amnesty.<<

OK. What I was thinking was that you were hinting that McCain could be trusted, and that clearly is not the case.

Again, I don't think he will sign the Sessions pledge, because he wants the "Whole Amnesty Hog," including citizenship. That's why I think Sessions included the phrase "path to citizenship," because swindlers like McCain say that they want to legalize the illegals and give a "path to citizenship," but they claim, "It's not amnesty." If the question was, "If elected President, will you take amnesty for illegal aliens off the table?" they would say, "Yes, I am not for amnesty."

>>I MAY be being a bit paranoid about this, but I've seen way too many "pledges" fall to "pragmatism" after an election. Records mean MUCH more to me.

Leopards, spots, etc. "Promise her anything, but give her Arpegé" is more than just a marketing slogan, when it comes to candidates.<<

Yes, some politicians think we have the words "Lie to me" tattooed on our foreheads. I am a little "paranoid" too. I certainly don't see any candidates still standing who inspire trust, and what's worse, McCain seems to be winning. And of course, amnesty would be irreversible. With these characters we have to choose from, it will take a miracle to prevent it from happening.

[RetiredArmy]

Yes. Shelby changed from being a dim to the RINO party.