[Utmost Certainty]

Like it or not, most people don’t support hardline stance on illegal immigration.

Sealing the border? Yes.
Deporting most illegal immigrants, especially dangerous ones? Yes.
Tracking down and deporting every single one? No.

[kabar]

The proponents of amnesty are wont to create the false choice between a blanket amnesty and mass deportation of 12 to 20 million illegal aliens. In reality, we have other choices and alternatives that don’t reward people who have broken our laws with the right to stay and work here and an eventual path to citizenship. The 12 to 20 million illegal aliens did not enter this country overnight and they will not leave overnight. Attrition through enforcement works. We have empirical data from Georgia, Oklahoma, and Arizona proving that it does.

During the 2006 amnesty debate, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) commissioned a Zogby poll offering respondents not the false choice between mass deportation or amnesty (a word CIS did not use in the survey), but rather a three-way choice between mass deportation, earned legalization, and attrition — and attrition was preferred two-to-one over legalization.

[Thane_Banquo]

Even I don’t support the last one, simply because it is impractical. In fact, if you do the first one, the other two eventually will take care of themselves.

But the broader point is no one here on FR thinks that Newt is perfect. The reason we support him is the alternative is for the GOP to sell its soul to the Northeastern Rockefeller liberal Republicanism that kept us in the minority for forty some years. If I can agree with Newt on 90% of the issues, and Romney’s record as Massachusetts governor shows he agrees with Obama on 90% of the issues, then the choice is clear.

And we also know even Reagan had immigration policies we didn’t like.

[CharlesWayneCT]

I don’t know whether to shake my head in disbelief, or just be happy that, because of Newt Gingrich, positions I once flirted with that got me roundly criticized here at FR are now apparently the official site policy, and something that nobody would ever think should be different.

Oddly, as another pointed out, Romney talks about self-deporting, which is what conservatives used to talk about; that after we make it impossible for illegals to get jobs, or drive cars, or collect welfare, they will decide it’s better to go back home. Is that inhumane?

But really, the problem here was Gingrich saying that being against illegal immigrants was an “anti-immigrant” position. That’s what the left says, that if you are against illegals you are against immigrants in general. Of course Gingrich didn’t say this at an english-speaking debate, he said it on a spanish-language station advertisement. So maybe we weren’t supposed to know about it.

[DH]

Like it or not, most people don’t support hardline stance on illegal immigration.

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It’s quite apparent that you are not one of the Americans living down here by the border.

Non-Americans outnumber us. Live here and you will think that out a little longer before painting with a broad brush.