His letter, to his Working Family list, after the jump.
To: Friends and SupportersFrom: Gary Bauer
Campaign for Working FamiliesDate: Monday, December 3, 2007
You Be The Judge!
As Mike Huckabee continues to improve in the polls, his positions on the issues are coming under greater scrutiny. Over the last week, a heated debate has broken out between Huckabee and many of the other candidates over the immigration issue, and particularly the question of providing benefits to the children of illegal immigrants.
On Friday, many of the leading groups fighting illegal immigration blasted Huckabee for his position on the issue. While Governor Huckabee now says he is against amnesty and for secure borders, he continues to raise eyebrows with his defense of scholarships and other taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens.
Since the illegal immigration debate will continue to be a big part of the 2008 campaign, and no doubt a key item on the legislative agenda in 2009, as it has been in Congress for the past few years, I want to get your take on the controversy.
The Facts
When he was governor of Arkansas, Huckabee supported legislation allowing illegal immigrants who had attended Arkansas high schools to participate in a scholarship program to attend college. Huckabee lost that debate, and the bill failed. He also strongly opposed an effort by state Senator Jim Holt, also an ordained Southern Baptist minister, to end taxpayer subsidies
for illegal immigrants in Arkansas and to require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. Huckabee denounced Holt's legislation as "race baiting" and "demagoguery."
\Huckabee's ArgumentGovernor Huckabee strongly defends the positions he took as governor on aid
to illegals. He argues that denying illegal immigrant students scholarship
money would be punishing children for what their parents have done. He
says, "my soul will not let me" do that. On ABC News this weekend, when
he
was asked whether or not he would support federal scholarships for
illegal
immigrant students, Huckabee said, "I'm not sure..."Senate Democrats recently proposed the "DREAM Act," which would have
allowed illegal aliens to receive taxpayer subsidized in-state college
tuition rates that out-of-state American citizens cannot get. The
"DREAM
Act," like other recent immigration "reform" efforts, failed to pass due
to
overwhelming public outrage.One year ago, Huckabee compared America's response to illegal
immigration
to slavery by remarking, "One of the great challenges facing us is that
we
do not commit the same mistakes with our growing Hispanic population
that
we did with African Americans 150 years ago... I think, frankly, the
Lord is
giving us a second chance to do better than we did before."The Critics' Response
Critics of Huckabee's positions point out that many illegal immigrants
are
entering the U.S. because they want to get benefits for their children.Increasing those benefits, such as college scholarships, would serve as
a
magnet for illegal immigrants. Since scholarship money is always
limited,
every scholarship that is given to an illegal immigrant student is a
scholarship that is taken away from an American citizen.In addition, they point out that while it is a Christian responsibility
to
help the poor, it is not Christian to take someone else's money through
the
power of Big Government to redistribute it to the disadvantaged.
Huckabee's critics also say that comparing slavery to illegal
immigration
is a complete distortion. Finally, they reject Huckabee's argument thatchildren shouldn't be punished for their parents' actions. Children do
get
hurt when their parents are punished, including when a parent is
imprisoned
for criminal behavior.My Take
I think the critics are closer to the truth in this debate. I believe
any
Republican presidential nominee who has a soft record on illegal
immigration will have a hard time distinguishing themselves from HillaryClinton, who, as you know, is tripping over herself to avoid appearing
to
be soft on illegal immigration. What do you think?Please address the issue I have presented. I have accurately described
the
two sides of the debate, so I am not sympathetic to the idea that simplyposing the question is somehow anti-Huckabee.
Rather this is part of an ongoing debate we need to have in order to
understand what the conservative position on immigration "reform" is and
to
ensure that we have a clear conservative nominee in 2008. This issue
cuts
across party lines and many Americans - Republicans, Democrats,
Independents - were outraged by the repeated efforts of politicians in
both
parties to push comprehensive immigration reform.
| 
August 25, 2007
Dear Governor Huckabee:
[Introduction/pleasantries omitted]
I hope here to bring to your attention an opportunity for you to turn a possible liability for your candidacy into an asset: the problem of illegal immigration. To get straight to the point…There persists among reputable conservative blogs and other circles the perception that you are an “open borders guy” due to your reported advocacy of scholarships and provision of social services for the children of illegal aliens in Arkansas. One example: both Michael Medved’s opinion column on your candidacy and his similar radio piece last week received overwhelming negative reaction due, in large part, to this issue. I don’t mention this to get you down, but to reveal to you an opportunity for you to further distinguish yourself from the other candidates by helping to unite, rather than divide, Americans on a solution to this problem.
As I understand your approach to illegal immigration, it is to enforce strict border control while acknowledging the basic humanity of the illegal aliens already here, or at least of their innocent children. It seems that your approach could be summarized by Micah 6:8 - “to do justice and to love kindness.” Ignorance of this precept is severely polarizing our country; illegal immigration is merely the occasion. It is much easier to prefer – take your pick – either justice OR kindness than it is to strive to do justice AND to love kindness. Politically, conservatives tend to pursue unkind justice while liberals tend to champion unjust kindness. Depending on who is in charge and a likely hidden motive, the government may lavish kindness on one group at the expense of justice for another. Specifically, law-abiding Americans are growing indignant at the reports of illegal alien criminals of the worst sort given a pass to run our streets and wreak murder and mayhem on innocent citizens.
Justice demands a penalty for lawbreaking…for culprits on both sides of the equation. For over twenty years, business and political opportunists have been unofficially welcoming illegal aliens – usually escaping poverty – into an American underground. To then round up 12 million-plus souls Elian Gonzalez-style and toss them back over the Rio Grande would create a humanitarian crisis and civil turmoil in this country the likes of which we haven’t seen since perhaps 1863. Adding injustice to this unkindness would be the failure of the Federal Government to own up to the fact that it has been the chief enabler of this lawlessness by looking the other way – looking the other way for kickbacks called Money and Votes. What the government should have been doing is fulfilling its commission from On High to bring wrath on those who do wrong and to praise those who do what is good.
So here, Governor Huckabee, I offer to you the following three concise tiers upon which to build a solution to the problem of illegal immigration.
1. LAW & ORDER – Absolute control of our borders and ports of entry, including a complete and robust border fence. Absolute enforcement of employment eligibility.
2. JUSTICE – The illegal alien must pay a meaningful and substantial penalty, or leave the country. No bringing in family members outside of the normal immigration process. Employers hiring illegal labor will be prosecuted. Incarcerated illegal alien felons are immediately remanded to the authorities of their native countries.
3. KINDNESS – To the illegal alien: “You were wrong to sneak into our country, and we were wrong to abet you. Tell you what: to make it right, we’ll meet you halfway. Justice must be satisfied, but we won’t orphan or starve your children to get there. If you will make amends, we will grant you limited legal work authorization. During that time you may get in the back of the line and apply for citizenship if you so desire. Otherwise you will go home when your authorization expires.”
Obviously a full-blown policy is not detailed here, and the few details mentioned are not new. It’s building on the right foundation that is most important. Rather than short-circuiting the discussion to the part about “making beds and plucking chickens,” what we first have to establish is a clear perspective that appeals to some of the noblest American instincts. I believe that by this three-tiered foundation, you can help to persuade many a worried conservative that Kindness does not mean “open borders,” and you can help to persuade the immigrant groups that all law-abiding people have no need to fear Justice.
While you’re at it, it would be a great service to the national dialogue on illegal immigration if you could help us to clean up our language. Some by deception, while others by laziness, equate “illegal alien” with “immigrant” with “Mexican,” sowing confusion and tossing fuel on the passions that surround this problem.
Governor Huckabee, if you will articulate an immigration policy in which Law and Order are followed by Justice and Kindness, I think you will distinguish yourself with a winsome message that will serve to unite the country around a solution.
Sincerely,
Brian Snow
[Sacramento, CA]
Posted by Brian Snow | December 3, 2007 8:53 PM