California Conservative

As you know, I’ve been a staunch supporter of getting a solid enforcement-first immigration bill. That’s the only reason why I wanted the Senate bill to pass. I’ve been clear that I want the Senate to move more towards the House bill than vice versa. Gary Bauer is today’s columnist with the Washington Times. He’s done a far better job of outlining an acceptable bill than I could have.

But as lawmakers consider various immigration reform measures, they should take a hard look at the reams of polling data that show that standing strong on conservative values, not giving in on amnesty, is the key to winning the hearts, minds and votes of Hispanic Americans. First off, Hispanics are much more conservative on immigration than is commonly believed.* An August 2005 Time poll of Hispanics revealed 61 percent considered illegal immigration either an “extremely serious” or “very serious” problem. In addition, 41 percent thought the U.S. was not doing enough to secure its borders against illegal immigration, while 19 percent felt it was doing “too much.” Moreover, a 2005 Pew Hispanic Center poll showed a majority of both American-born and foreign-born Hispanics opposed increasing the flow of legal immigrants from Mexico and Latin America. A majority of Hispanics (53 percent) even supported building vast border fences and stiffening penalties for illegal aliens.

[Editor's note: So why aren't our "elected leaders" listening?]

As an alternative to amnesty, Indiana Rep. Mike Pence recently presented the Border Integrity and Immigration Reform Act, which would require all illegal citizens to leave the country, obtain a visa and re-enter legally. Essentially, the bill includes all of the important border security measures of the House bill passed last year, and adds a provision, allowing illegals to obtain guest worker visas for a duration of two years. Mr. Pence’s plan would also create private worker placement agencies to link specific workers to specific jobs for specified time periods in the United States.

The Pence legislation is another example of this rising Republican star’s gravitas. I think that his provision to allow “illegals to obtain guest worker visas” for a maximum of 2 years is sound policy. (more…)