Free Republic

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (left), the leading contender for the GOP presidential nomination, according to a Gallup poll taken from August 17–21, has reiterated his opposition to a fence along the American border with Mexico. He commented on the fence at a campaign stop in New Hampshire, a crucial primary state. Perry, who served as the chairman of leftist Al Gore’s Democratic presidential campaign in Texas in 1988, has a confirmed liberal history on immigration, as The New American has reported, although he now campaigns as a conservative.

Rick Perry’s record on immigration isn’t as bad as I thought. It’s worse! … It’s not just that he doesn’t want to build the border fence. Many fence opponents argue (though I disagree) that it’s far more important to take away the “jobs magnet” that lures illegals to try to cross the border in the first place. But Perry hasn’t supported the quickest, best way to take away the jobs magnet, which is to require all private employers to use the “E-Verify” electronic check of Social Security numbers. Perry wouldn’t even require his own state government to use E-Verify, let...