News

The Pew Research Center released a new report on Thursday that is well-timed given Martin O’Malley’s emphatic, and unfounded, claim that “net immigration from Mexico last year was zero.” We pointed out that O’Malley was conflating legal and illegal immigration, and that he either misinterpreted or misrepresented data from 2007-2014 in order to make the point that illegal immigration was a thing of the past, so therefore is is unreasonable for Americans to demand a secure border.

The Republican presidential primary debate this past Tuesday helped to better define where the various top-tier candidates stand on immigration. Jeb Bush, who is wildly unpopular with Republican voters, reiterated his support for blanket amnesty for twelve million illegal aliens. John Kasich went even further than Bush in the debate, calling illegal aliens “law abiding” and denouncing Americans who support enforcement efforts. While neither Bush nor Kasich at this point look to have a realistic shot at the nomination, in large part due to their positions on immigration, they should get credit for being honest about their intentions. Neither man pretends that he believes the interest of the American people takes precedence over the demands of illegal aliens (or probably more correctly the demands of donors who fund their campaigns.)