GOP Presidential Hopefuls Face Questions About Legal Immigration at SC Forum

Five GOP Presidential Hopefuls faced questions about legal immigration levels during a candidate forum hosted by Sen. Jim DeMint in South Carolina on Monday. Rep. Steve King asked both Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich for their opinions on current legal immigration levels as well as prior comments they made on illegal immigration.

Rep. King first asked Herman Cain about his position on amnesty. In previous statements, Cain has left the door open for providing a pathway to citizenship for some of the nation’s 11-18 million illegal aliens. Cain said that he opposes amnesty in every form and reiterated his four point plan to deal with illegal immigration. But Rep. King also asked him if he believed that allowing more than 1 million legal immigrants into the United States each year was “too many”?

“I don’t believe there’s too many legal immigrants because we all came from somewhere,” Cain said. “It’s just a matter of where we have a need and where we have an opportunity. In some communities, there might be a number that says we don’t want to overload the system. But I think one of the things that has made America great is its diversity.”

Rep. King tried to get a more definitive answer by telling Cain that there were 50 million people waiting in line to come to the United States and if that number was too high.

“I don’t have an answer for that, congressman, because I would have to look at one, what type of qualifications do these 50 million people have, secondly, what type of skills and education do they bring with them,” Cain said. “If they’re bringing us more problems than opportunities, then 50 million might be too many.”

Rep. King then brought up the legal immigration issue with Newt Gingrich asking the former House Speaker if he thought 50 million legal immigrants was too many.

“I think that there are two practical limitations to the degree you can absorb,” Gingrich said. “One of them is the degree to which your economy is flourishing or not flourishing. I mean, if you’re in a boom period, and you have to opportunity to absorb talent and absorb energy, you can, by definition, absorb more people than if you are, as we are right now, in a period of either deep recession or depression, depending on your view.”

Gingrich continued by saying that assimilation into society is a key element.

“When you have a country which is proud of its history, which is proud of its language, which is comfortable saying to people, come to America to be Americans, you can absorb more people than if you have a country whose elites are totally confused and are prepared to give up on being an American.”

To read the whole transcript from Monday’s forum, see CNN.com. And for more information on the 2012 Presidential Hopefuls and their positions on immigration, see our presidential comparison grid.