Gov. Huckabee too soft on illegal immigration? The truth about his stance on immigration

UPDATE: Gov. Huckabee has come out with a 9-point Secure America plan. Very strong plan.

There is a lot of false criticism leveled at Gov. Huckabee for his stance on illegal immigration. These articles below should be able to clear up any suspicion that he's soft on that issue.

http://www.mikehuckabee.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Newsroom.Article&ID=82

Truth Squad: Immigration Facts

November 02, 2007

Immigration Facts

- The Governor opposes and will never allow amnesty.

- Governor Huckabee believes that securing our borders must be our top priority and has reached the level of a national emergency.

- The Governor supports the $3 billion the Senate has voted for border security. This money will train and deploy 23,000 more agents, add four drone planes, build 700 miles of fence and 300 miles of vehicle barriers, and put up 105 radar and camera towers.

- In this age of terror, illegal immigration is not only an economic issue, but also a national security issue.

- Governor Huckabee opposed the amnesty bill that was attempted to be rushed through Congress this summer, and opposed the misnamed DREAM Act, which would have put us on the slippery slope to amnesty for all.

- Governor Huckabee opposes and will not tolerate sanctuaries for illegals.

- Governor Huckabee opposes giving driver's licenses to those who are illegally in our country and supports legislation to prevent states from doing so.

- Governor Huckabee believes illegal aliens who try to vote or try to apply for welfare benefits should be arrested.

- Governor Huckabee will stop punishing cities which try to enforce our laws and protect the economic well-being, physical safety, and quality of life of our citizens.

- Governor Huckabee opposes and will not tolerate employers who hire illegals. They must be punished with fines and penalties so large that they will see it is not worth the risk or profitable.

- Governor Huckabee opposes the economic integration of North America that would create open borders among the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

- Governor Huckabee will never yield one inch of American sovereignty.

- Governor Huckabee will take our country back for those who belong here. No open borders, no amnesty, no sanctuary, no false Social Security numbers, no driver's licenses for illegals.

It has been reported that Mike Huckabee supported benefits for illegals immigrants while he was Governor of Arkansas.

Governor Huckabee never supported benefits for illegal immigrants. In Arkansas, illegal immigrants do not receive welfare benefits or food stamps. Governor Huckabee has always, and will always be supportive of the laws and regulations of the country.

It has also been said that Mike Huckabee was in favor of providing college scholarships for illegal immigrants while he was Governor.

The governor only supported the measure that applied to those who met the academic qualifications and applied for legal citizenship. The measure didn't pass. Governor Huckabee stressed that any student would simply be treated as any other graduate of an Arkansas High School, and not given any special consideration.

Critics say that Governor Huckabee's motives behind opening a Mexican consulate office in Little Rock was to court illegals to come work in Arkansas.

The Mexican consulate provided Arkansas businesses with access to Mexico and opportunities to expand their markets, and would help further ensure that immigrants from Mexico are legal and better able to secure legal documentation. At the same time, the office would open up opportunities for Mexican investors to invest money with Arkansas partners, which would help create more jobs in the state.


Second, Doug Matayo, a former Arkansas State Legislator defends Gov Huckabee's policies on immigration.

http://roebuckreport.blogspot.com/2007/11/exclusive-former-ark-state-legislator.html

Mike Huckabee: Protecting the integrity of state documents
By Doug Matayo

Act 2210 of 2005 was signed into law by Governor Huckabee. The legislation made it illegal for a driver’s license to be issued to anyone who could not prove legal residency in Arkansas.

Over two years before the controversy swirling over New York Governor Spitzer’s desire to allow illegal aliens to receive state documentation in the form of a state issued driver’s license, as Mike Huckabee’s floor leader, I sponsored and we passed legislation to stop illegals from getting licenses. Huckabee signed it into law.

Huckabee recognized this issue is about INTEGRITY. The integrity of the state to issue documents that are authentic and to avoid fraudulent attempts for people to receive state benefits they are not entitled too. Also this will cut down on voter fraud since a license cannot be issued to a non-resident (and state issued ID is typically produced at the polls to verify identity). But some of Huckabee’s detractors are still not happy with Huckabee’s immigration stances.

In a Wall Street Journal article, a former Republican legislator – Randy Minton – stated Huckabee was for amnesty, sanctuary cities and open borders. Apparently, Mr. Minton wasn’t paying attention when Matayo and Huckabee moved Act 2210 forward to keep all non-legal residents of Arkansas from getting state issued identification. Apparently, Mr. Minton didn’t read the papers when Huckabee signed into law legislation which allowed state troopers to partner with the Department of Homeland Security to arrest illegal immigrants and enforce federal immigration law. Obviously, Mr. Minton isn’t letting these facts get in the way of his continual personal and vitriolic attacks on Mr. Huckabee.