Moderators only skimmed the surface of real immigration issues in New Hampshire debates of both parties this week. And media reports missed nearly all the available nuances even from that. But NumbersUSA’s tweeters filled the gaps with minute-by-minute coverage and commentary.
Catch up on what you may have missed about immigration on our NumbersUSA Twitter page at:
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Start with the Feb. 6 tweets on the GOP date. Then scroll back to Feb. 3 and 4 for tweets surrounding the Democratic events.
Last night’s tweets added up to this statement by NumbersUSA President Roy Beck that was released immediately to the national media:
We didn’t learn much about where the candidates stand on admitting one million legal immigrants a year tonight, but we did learn clearly where Kasich, Rubio and Cruz stand on amnesty.
Kasich promised to move a work permit and legalization amnesty through Congress in the first 100 days.
Rubio refused to disavow the Gang of Eight policy of amnesty and doubling immigration before enforcement. But he acknowledged that his 2013 bill isn’t popular and promised to move the amnesty part after enough enforcement is in place to persuade.American people to support amnesty.
Cruz, on the other hand, said he would have his administration enforce any laws on the books, including the deportation of any illegal migrants when they are encountered by authorities.
Unfortunately even though ABC reported that immigration is the No. 1 issue on social media, neither party ever gets asked how many immigrants should be imported to compete with American workers each year.”
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It was most interesting to see Sen. Rubio so clearly stating his preference on Saturday night for an amnesty (although he would never use the word). As Mickey Kaus tweeted last night: “Rubio’s only objection to his Gang of 8 bill was that it didn’t pass?”
Rubio is now promising he won’t move an amnesty as president until a number of enforcement measures are implemented.
A devastating new detailed account of Rubio’s work with the Gang of Eight reveals that he made the same promises throughout the 2013 effort to pass the amnesty:
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This highly sourced report states that Rubio broke every one of those promises in his effort to help Sen. Schumer and Pres. Obama pass their amnesty.
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NBC moderator Chuck Todd told Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders that comprehensive amnesty and immigration doubling might have passed easily if Barack Obama had made it a priority and pushed it on Congress when he first took office. By the time, he did push it in 2013, Todd indicated, Obama had used up too much political capital on other things.
Roy tweeted during the Democratic debate that Todd seemed to be trying to get Hillary and Bernie to pledge to avoid that mistake and push amnesty first if elected.
But neither Democrat would make the pledge. Both agreed that comprehensive immigration reform (the common media phrase for amnesty and immigration doubling) had to occur but neither would make it a priority. Instead, they named several other top priority items that presumably would all move with amnesty through Congress at the same time. Bernie even said that amnesty is unlikely to pass until campaign finance reform passes.
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