PrintBen Carson supports citizenship for illegal aliens
Ben Carson supports citizenship for illegal aliens. He didn't call for this in 2004, or 2008 or 2012 or late last year. He called for it just this past June.
On Wednesday, Dr. Ben Carson said America’s borders must be sealed to protect against terrorism and told a prominent group of Latino elected officials that he also supports giving illegal immigrants a path to legalization and eventual citizenship. Regarding the country’s illegal immigrants, Carson said, “many of them have never known any other country … so where are you going to send them?”
That's rather odd. I thought immigration was supposed to serve American policy, not the wishes and feelings of the people who illegally came here. What about the feelings of American citizens? Carson doesn't talk about our feelings. And Carson is exaggerating--most illegals have very clear memories of the country they came from. When he talks like this, he sounds like Jeb Bush.
Carson said the country must “provide them a way so that they don’t have to hide in the shadows” and “give them an opportunity to become guest-workers–they have to register, they have to enroll in a back tax program.”
"Help them out of the shadows" is more liberal-speak. If I didn't know who was speaking, I'd think it was Obama (or Jeb Bush).
“And if they want to become citizens they have to get in the line with everyone else… because we have to pay homage to people who’ve done it the right way,” Carson added.
This is the part that worries me. What, exactly, does it mean that they have to "go to the back of the line"? Many people wait years, even decades to enter the United States. Will these people have to wait ten or twenty years until their number is called? Or does"go to the back of the line" have another meaning, which is they can apply for citizenship now, years ahead of when they would get that option if they applied legally?
In any event, there is no ambiguity about one thing: however long illegals have to wait for citizenship, they can do their waiting in America. Unlike someone waiting patiently in Europe for permission to immigrate for years and years, illegals can continue to benefit from their illegality by staying and working in America until they get citizenship. So this language about "going to the back of the line" and being treated like legal immigrants is nonsense. Under Carson's plan they would effectively have a chair at the front of the line, since they would never have to go back to their home countries and stay there to reapply. That's what they'd have to do if they were really going "to the back of the line."
I'm troubled by this and some of the other positions taken by Carson. We need a committed constitutional conservative for president who will enforce all the laws, even the ones related to immigration.
This article was written by Ed Straker, senior writer of NewsMachete.com, the conservative news site.
