|
|
| |
| Fri, Sep. 5, 2008 |  |
 |
|
||
| |
Huckabee responds to immigration criticism Friday, Nov 30, 2007 By Aaron Sadler Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - As rivals who consider Mike Huckabee soft on immigration ramp up their attacks, the former Arkansas governor acknowledged Thursday that his position on the issue may cost him votes. Huckabee for weeks now been criticized for his 2005 support of state-sponsored scholarships for illegal immigrants. Legislation to provide the tuition aid failed in the Arkansas Senate. Huckabee admitted his stance is unpopular among a GOP voter base that has made immigration the No. 1 issue of the campaign. "If it costs me the election, it costs me the election," he told reporters at a luncheon on Capitol Hill. But Huckabee said voters should direct their anger toward a government that has neglected the immigration problem. "Be mad at the government, be mad about immigration," he said. "I'm mad about it, too. But let's punish the right people for breaking the law. A 6-year-old crossing the border doesn't know he's breaking the law." One of his opponents, Mitt Romney, has accused Huckabee of misleading voters when he discusses support for scholarships, but fails to mention he also backed guaranteed in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrants. And former state Sen. Jim Holt, R-Springdale, said Thursday Huckabee "has his head in the sand" when it comes to immigration policies. Huckabee said he supported construction of a border fence, opposed amnesty for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already in the country and backed penalties for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants. He said the federal government had thus far failed to solve the problem. Holt said Huckabee is to blame, too. "In 2005, he told me personally in his office there was no illegal immigration problem," said Holt, who introduced legislation two years ago that would have denied all government benefits to illegals. Since then Huckabee has flip-flopped on the issue, Holt added. "Huckabee would not lose the presidency because of his stand on immigration, he's losing it because he's making such a blatant 180-degree turn on the issue," Holt said. "That's what's going to cost him, he's changing his tune." Romney called out Huckabee on the scholarship issue in a debate Wednesday and has repeatedly criticized him for his position. Romney's campaign Thursday said Huckabee fails to mention that legislation in Arkansas included tuition breaks for illegal immigrants. The original bill contained provisions for both academic scholarships and in-state tuition breaks. Huckabee and Romney are in a tight battle for first place in Iowa, which holds its first-in-the nation caucuses on Jan. 3. A survey of Iowa voters Wednesday showed Huckabee ahead of Romney 28 percent to 25 percent, statistically within the margin of error. "Mitt Romney is just plain wrong and I think he knows he's wrong when he says what I proposed in Arkansas was a special break for illegals," Huckabee said. "There was nothing special about it. These were the children who by law we educated in our schools." Huckabee said students who had met high academic standards are worthy of scholarships. "Our country is better than that, to punish children for what their parents did in breaking the law," he said. But Holt on Thursday countered that children are constantly affected by parents' actions. A $200 speeding ticket, for instance, means a child may be deprived of a favorite toy or a restaurant meal, he said. "We don't want to punish the child, nobody does, but there has to be a rule of law," Holt said. Illegal immigrants should not receive the benefits offered to American citizens, but not face some of the risks, such as the possibility of being drafted. Huckabee, whose national profile has surged recently, campaigns this weekend in New Hampshire. The state's primary is Jan. 8, five days after the Iowa caucus. He trails Romney and several others in New Hampshire. Joining Huckabee on Thursday for the roundtable with reporters was actor Chuck Norris. The star of TV's "Walker, Texas Ranger," has endorsed Huckabee. The two men starred together in Huckabee's first television advertisement, and Norris was Huckabee's invited guest at Wednesday's debate in St. Petersburg, Fla. |
