Herman Cain is a strong supporter of US laws and the the validity of US immigration laws. He has been consistent in his views that those who seek to come here, must do so legally and that we cannot award illegal behavior with citizenship. He has repeatedly stated that a path to citizenship already exists and those who seek to come to this nation must use it.
From April of 2006 to June of 2007, Herman Cain wrote a series of op-ed discussing immigration rallies, a proposed comprehensive reform bill, and the attitudes of illegal aliens in the US. In one such op-ed, Mr Cain referenced claims being made by illegal alien supporters that their efforts to gain rights was equivalent to the civil rights struggles of African Americans. He noted that the leaders of the civil rights movement did not seek extra-constitutional rights or benefits, but merely sought the protection of their right to participate fully in society and government with the vote, and to overturn the discriminatory laws that prevented them from participating fully in the economy. He stated that the leaders of the movement to secure rights for illegal aliens – as well as their supporters in Congress – want to undermine and destroy the Constitution and the rights it guarantees legal U.S. citizens.
In a second op-ed, Mr Cain discussed the entitlement mentatlity being fostered amongst illegal aliens and the belief that they can obtain free health care through the emergency medical system. He noted that this was driving up the cost of health care for all Americans who already pay the costs of health care for those illegal aliens.
A third artilcle was written as a letter to an illegal alien from a slave. The letter discusses the desire of the slave to be treated equally and the desire of illegal alien supporters to have a separate legal system in which they abide by the rules they choose to and ignore the others. He stated that their illegal status is a non-starter for obtaining rights, benefits or a short cut to citizenship.
In two additional op-eds, Herman Cain pointed out the need to have one culture in the US and the assistance that the US gives to illegal aliens in violating other US laws. He notes that the US does not prosecute illegal aliens for identity theft or any other violations relating their illegal employment.
In a final op-ed, Herman Cain noted his opposition to the 2007 Comprehensive Immigration reform plan and noted four things that congress could do concerning immigration. These items were to secure the borders convincingly, expand the temporary worker program for skilled legal immigrants, establish a reliable legal immigrant identification program and then propose a reasonable program for the 12 million (and counting) illegal persons who broke our laws to get here, but not amnesty.
In additional interviews, Mr Cain stated that comprehensive immigration reform was a "do nothing" policy which would not solve the problem of illegal immigration. He stated that a Cain administration would do three things: secure the border; enforce the laws; promote the existing path to citizenship.
Civil and Illegal Rights
In April of 2006, Herman Cain wrote an article using the backdrop of recent marches by illegal aliens to discuss the difference between civil rights of citizens and the rights of those in the country illegally.
April 5, 2006 No Correlation: Civil Rights and Illegals' Rights
Hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens and their supporters voluntarily stepped out of the shadows last week by waving the Mexican flag and marching in the streets. The blatant flaunting of their illegal status in cities across the nation was in protest of legislation passed by the U.S. House that, if enacted, will create felons out of the approximately 11 million illegal aliens currently residing on American soil.
The arrogant sense of entitlement displayed by many illegal aliens has caused some of them to demand protection of constitutional rights guaranteed to legal U.S. citizens. Many of them even equate their situation to the civil rights struggle by black Americans in the 1950s and 1960s. Dolores Huerta, co-founder with Cesar Chavez of the United Farm Workers Union (UFWU), said last week at a rally, “We’re here celebrating a new civil rights movement, and it’s headed up by Latinos.” Ms. Huerta is deliberately misleading her followers. There is no parallel between the struggle by legal black U.S. citizens to secure their constitutionally guaranteed protections and the claim on non-existent civil rights made by millions of illegal aliens. Illegal is not a civil right.
Leaders of the long struggle for civil rights aspired to secure and protect rights based on an ideal written in the Declaration of Independence and later codified in the U.S. Constitution. That is, that all men and women are created equal, and in the U.S. all legal citizens will be guaranteed equal protection of the laws.
The 20th Century civil rights movement was preceded by nearly 250 years of slavery, followed by nearly a century of discrimination, segregation and Jim Crow laws. The movement ultimately achieved a number of legal and legislative victories, including the 1954 Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The key difference between the civil rights movement of the 19th and 20th Centuries and the call today for protection of non-existent rights by leaders of illegal aliens is that the leaders of the civil rights movement were fighting to secure and protect the rights of legal citizens. If illegal aliens were conferred the same constitutional rights as legal U.S. citizens, the benefits and uniqueness of U.S. citizenship would cease to have meaning and our nation would lose its sovereignty.
The leaders of the civil rights movement did not seek extra-constitutional rights or benefits. They merely sought the protection of their right to participate fully in society and government with the vote, and they sought to overturn the discriminatory laws that prevented them from participating fully in the economy. Conversely, leaders of the movement to secure rights for illegal aliens – as well as their supporters in Congress – want to undermine and destroy the Constitution and the rights it guarantees legal U.S. citizens.
Just as Ms. Huerta is misleading her followers on the facts of the 20th Century civil rights movement, she is deliberately deceiving them about Cesar Chavez’s views toward illegal aliens. Steve Salier, in the February 27, 2006 issue of The American Conservative, writes that the late Mr. Chavez was a successful labor organizer and union leader who fought for reforms in wages and working conditions for farm workers. Chavez keenly understood the basic relationship between wages and labor supply in a market economy – more supply equals lower wages. To protect the interests of his UFWU members, Chavez had to insure that illegal aliens willing to toil in harsh conditions for low pay did not dilute the domestic labor supply.
Cesar Chavez was surely proud of his Hispanic heritage but, like civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., he fought to protect the rights and interests of legal U.S. citizens.
In 1858 Abraham Lincoln delivered his “House Divided” speech to the Illinois Republican State Convention. Regarding the issue of slavery Lincoln stated, “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved – I do not expect the house to fall – but I do expect it will cease to be divided.”
Similarly, a nation divided between its laws and lawlessness cannot stand.
President Bush and Congress are sending a message to legal U.S. citizens and the world that they are willing to tolerate a “house divided” by allowing 11 million illegal aliens to openly break the law. They are then willing to stand by and watch the illegal aliens flaunt their lawbreaking in our streets while waving the flag of their native country.
We are a nation of legal immigrants, and there is a road to citizenship. Along that road are legal entry, our Constitution, the rule of law and the flag of the United States of America.
Illegal Entitlement
In April of 2006, Herman Cain wrote an article discussing the recent movement to grant rights and citizenship to people living in the US illegally.
April 19, 2006 Illegal Entitlement Is Not An Option
The movement to grant amnesty and eventual U.S. citizenship to some 12 million illegal aliens has turned the issue from the sounds of silence to the sounds of entitlement.
The entitlement mentality did not begin in America, but it has flourished here in the last century. The American claim on entitlements to health care, retirement income and seemingly any “right” one can conceive was birthed from the womb of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, reared by Kennedy’s New Frontier and came of age in Johnson’s Great Society. U.S. citizens, fanned by the flames of those who encourage class warfare, are increasing their demands for government-redistributed income and programs that guarantee outcomes, not opportunities. Non-citizens are now voicing the sounds of entitlement to an easy road to citizenship.
The entitlement attitude that has been ingrained in millions of Americans has blinded them to the ineffectiveness and runaway costs of their favorite programs. The fiscal challenge in meeting the future demands of the Medicare and Medicaid programs is well documented, as is the coming bankruptcy of the Social Security system. Yet few elected officials dare to even utter those programs’ names in public for fear of electoral retaliation.
Too many Americans also claim an entitlement to additional health care coverage from their employers. If they do not receive health care as a benefit, they believe the government should mandate it. The Maryland state legislature last year enacted a law requiring companies with over 10,000 employees to contribute 8 percent of total payroll to employees’ health care. The legislature is now looking at ways to require all employers, including non-profit organizations, to pay a percentage of their employees’ health care costs. Other states are considering the same plan.
Illegal aliens know they can receive free health care in hospital emergency rooms, paid for by U.S. taxpayers. A little publicized provision in the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act set aside $250 million in taxpayer dollars to reimburse hospitals for costs associated with treating illegal aliens. In a twist of logic only Congress could conceive, hospitals are barred from asking an emergency room patient if they are in the U.S. illegally. The long-run cost of this provision will surely skyrocket as hospitals continue to submit claims on coverage of people who may be illegal aliens.
Illegal aliens living and working in the U.S. have now co-opted the entitlement mentality present in too many Americans. Worse, their demands for the right to vote, guaranteed by our Constitution to citizens only, and access to social services are encouraged by elected officials trying to buy their future votes. At recent rallies Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY), to name just two, argued that illegal aliens must be allowed to remain in the U.S. and put on the path toward full citizenship rights. In other words, let’s skip the illegal part.
In addition to demands for voting rights, health care coverage and U.S. citizenship, many illegal aliens feel they are entitled to U.S. soil itself. Two groups that have helped organize the illegal alien rallies across the country, the Aztlan Movement and the Mexica Movement, believe it is American citizens who are in fact on their continent illegally. The Aztlan Movement seeks to create a separate nation comprised of northern Mexico and parts of the American Southwest, including California, Arizona and New Mexico. Members of the Mexica Movement, who waved signs at recent rallies that read “This Is Our Continent, Not Yours”, seek to completely remove Americans from North America and surrender control of the U.S. to Mexico.
The entitlement and class warfare mentality fostered for a century by liberal presidents, congressional leaders, labor union leaders and heads of liberal organizations in fact obscures their real goal. They seek complete government control of our lives and our businesses, which ultimately can only be achieved with your vote. Since the inception of the income tax code in 1913, to the birth of the Social Security system in 1935 and the programs that have followed, the end goal is always bigger government. It is also important to remember that those who occupy the positions of power will try to achieve their goal by any means possible. If it takes convincing the public that our planet is somehow warming because we drive cars with the air conditioner running, then so be it. If it takes increasing entitlement spending programs to 100 percent of the federal budget, so be it. Whatever it takes.
The United States would never have become the United States had the litany of entitlement programs and the unnatural attitudes they foster been in place in the 1800s and early 1900s. This was the time when newly freed slaves struck out to work on achieving their own dreams, when American expansion and settlement headed west, and when millions of Europeans crossed the Atlantic for a hard but better life. The only thing promised was abundant opportunity, given in exchange for assimilation and adherence to the rule of law.
We must demand that our president and Congress secure our borders and our sovereignty as a nation of laws and citizen rights. To those who enter this country legally, welcome to America. Illegal entitlement is not an option.
Letter from a Slave
In May of 2006, Herman Cain wrote an article which compared the evolution of slaves in America into citizens to that of a modern day illegal immigrant.
May 10, 2006 A Letter from a Slave to an Illegal Alien
Dear Illegal Alien,
My ancestors were brought to this country in chains against their will, and sold and forced to work like common farm animals. They had to abide by the laws to stay alive.
My ancestors endured abuse and unlawful deaths for 250 years before the civilized hearts of this nation recognized that “all men are created equal,” regardless of race or color. We went from slaves to free men and women, but without the freedom of equal rights, equal access to opportunity and equal protection under our nation’s laws. That struggle took another 100 years, culminating with the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Throughout my ancestors’ 350-year struggle the objective was always “one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” When that liberty and justice finally became legally recognized as our civil rights, some of us ran through the doors of opportunity, some walked, and some chose to stay on the outside to criticize and complain. Still, our nation’s history has always been defined by one set of laws, one language and one flag of unity. This is what defines the United States of America!
Therein lies your biggest problem. The public perception is that you want a different set of laws, and you want to ignore current laws. You even want an accommodation of your language in our national anthem, and some of your people are flaunting flags other than the flag of the USA.
As a reminder, USA stands for United States of America. It does not stand for “Under Special Assumptions.”
There is no doubt that the USA is a nation of immigrants – legal immigrants. No one faults you for desiring the opportunity for a better life in the greatest country in the world. Although we do not consider your demonstrations a civil rights movement, there are some lessons you could learn from our 350-year struggle that may help you in your quest to come out of our nation’s shadows.
First, your illegal status is a non-starter for obtaining rights, benefits or a short cut to citizenship. It is creating massive public resentment and alienating those with compassionate hearts who might want to support a reasonable and fair road to your citizenship. You will not earn U.S. citizenship as long as you choose to ignore our laws, simply because you have been able to survive here illegally for a number of years.
Granted, our immigration system is cumbersome, inefficient and needs major overhaul, but it is a part of our system of laws. Maybe one of your objectives should be to encourage Congress to overhaul the system, making the process more efficient for every immigrant, which would make it easier and more efficient for you.
Second, your objectives are unclear, and your leadership uncertain. My ancestors’ objectives have always been crystal clear, even when our leadership had been questionable, as it is today. Not every so-called “leader” capable of attracting media attention represents African-Americans’ best interests. One of our greatest leaders was, obviously, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Today, unfortunately, African-Americans are leadership-challenged, despite the great progress we have made. Beware of your leaders and those that would mislead you.
Third, get with the program on our use of the English language and respect and allegiance for our one flag. Second languages exist and are respected in many ethnic communities, but they learn the Star Spangled Banner in English. Our soldiers fight and die for one flag. Patriotism is alive and well in this country, just as it was when this nation was founded, and it will stay that way.
Your journey toward the full rights of U.S. citizenship may not take 350 years, but it will take clarity of purpose, certainty of leadership and a lawful, patriotic approach toward attaining the best that this nation has to offer. In this spirit of coming to our great country, you will eventually hear 300 million legal citizens say, “Welcome to America.”
One Culture
In April of 2006, Herman Cain wrote an article discussing the affects of introducing and allowing the cultures of other nations to come into the US without adapting to the US culture.
July 12, 2006 One Culture, Indivisible
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said of illegal aliens last week at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, “Although they broke the law by illegally crossing our borders…our city’s economy would be a shell of itself had they not, and it would collapse if they were deported. The same holds true of the nation.”
Bloomberg and other elected officials who value the economic impact of illegal aliens’ labor over the cultural decimation wrought by our acquiescence to illegals’ demands should be swiftly removed from office. Those we elect to make laws must not be allowed to compromise their enforcement, which undermines our unique American culture.
In America, we have one constitution, one set of laws, one flag, one language and one identity known as “One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” The U.S. must not make the same mistake with the illegal aliens in our country that Europe made decades ago by assuming that millions of Muslims, gaining easy entry, would assimilate into their culture.
Tony Blankley, author of The West’s Last Chance, points out the destructive impact multiculturalism has had in Europe, and the lessons we must learn in America to prevent history from repeating itself. Blankley states, “European governments accepted the multicultural belief that Muslims would mesh smoothly with the legal, economic and cultural unification of Europe through a constitutionally defined, sovereign European Union.”
Europeans could not have been more naïve. Instead of assimilating into the cultures of individual European nations, Muslims separated themselves from society. Encouraged by European governments to practice their religion, the most radical Muslim extremists carried out the mission they believe their religion demands – jihad of the sword against all non-Muslims.
In America, we must learn the lessons of Europe. If we compromise entry into this country to any ethnic group, we will be expected to compromise our language, our patriotism, our flag and ultimately our democratic ideology.
Blankley cites a quote from former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt that portends the future for an America that fails to protect its borders and its culture. Schmidt, discussing Germany’s welcoming of Turkish Muslims to his country, stated, “The concept of multiculturalism is difficult to make fit with a democratic society…(It had been a mistake) that during the 1960s we brought guest workers from foreign cultures into the country…(The cultural problems stemming from that mistake) could be overcome only by authoritarian governments.”
We know the Islamic terrorists do not respect national borders, other cultures or political structures. Neither do millions of the illegal aliens – whom many in our government and the private sector want to reclassify as “guest workers” – present in our country. Every time this year illegal aliens have protested legislation that would seal our borders and enforce immigration laws, television cameras have captured scores of Mexican flags and homemade signs claiming the U.S. stole the American Southwest from Mexico.
We must look at the big picture. The war on terrorism is not merely a war waged in Iraq or a war strictly against Islamic terrorists, and the desire to protect our borders and enforce our laws does not make us racists. The true enemy is permissiveness and multiculturalism, which threaten our democratic ideology and culture.
Since 1954 Americans have pledged allegiance to our flag with a vow that ends “One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” That one powerful sentence explains what it means to be an American, and to accept our culture cultivated over two hundred years. It means that citizenship must be earned, not given away. It means we worship the Judeo-Christian God and seek peace with each other, not death toward non-believers. It means we are a nation comprised of citizens with racial backgrounds and religious beliefs representative of every corner of the globe, but as U.S. citizens we are indivisible against envious nations who seek to divide us. Finally, it means that only as an indivisible melting pot whose citizens respect the rule of law, respect our national borders and political system, can liberty and justice be guaranteed for all.
This melting pot known as the United States of America is the most prosperous nation on Earth. Our differences are respected, but patriotism is expected from those who claim America as their homeland. That is what has made us a great nation.
Government and Identity Thieves
In December of 2006, Herman Cain wrote an article discussing the methods in which the government assists identity thieves by refusing to enforce immigration laws.
December 18, 2006 How Uncle Sam Assists Identity Thieves
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on December 12 arrested 1,282 Swift & Co. meatpacking plant employees in six states on violations of immigration law and identity theft. The arrests were not only the culmination of an 11-month investigation, but they exposed a flimsy government program that knowingly allows millions of illegal aliens to commit identity theft. It’s called the Basic Pilot program.
Employers who voluntary utilize Basic Pilot simply send the Social Security number provided by a job applicant to the Social Security Administration (SSA). If the Social Security number matches the name in the SSA’s records, the employer can assume that applicant is legal to work in the U.S. However, Basic Pilot does not check the name to see if the person is dead or alive, if the Social Security number has ever been reported stolen or, more importantly, if the number is currently in use by another person. Consequently, illegal aliens seeking employment in the U.S. use millions of stolen or fraudulent Social Security numbers.
A 2002 Temple University study evaluated Basic Pilot’s ability to prevent the hiring of illegal aliens. The study found that approximately 10 percent of Social Security numbers submitted to Basic Pilot were from illegals. That does not mean that 90 percent of all job applicants are legal to work in the U.S. It means that Basic Pilot caught the 10 percent of aliens not bright enough to purchase or steal credibly fake Social Security cards and other forms of identification.
A separate SSA database, the Earnings Suspense File (ESF), also illustrates the scope of the document fraud problem. When an employer files payroll taxes for an employee, and the employee's name and Social Security number do not match or the number does not exist in Social Security's other records, the unmatched or fraudulent number is recorded in the ESF. And by the way, the SSA keeps the taxes filed.
Though estimates of illegal aliens present in the U.S. range from 12 million to 20 million, as of November 2004 the ESF contained over 246 million records and $420 billion in payroll tax contributions, as reported by Bob Sullivan of MSNBC in 2005.
Unfortunately, the SSA is currently barred from sharing information in the EFS with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) because it contains taxpayer records. Congress has constructed a bureaucratic nightmare in an effort, ironically, to protect our privacy. Unfortunately, their efforts have created a nightmare for millions of Americans, who are victims of identify theft because of a sham program masquerading as effective law enforcement and deterrence against hiring illegal aliens.
According to an AP report, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff said the ICE investigation uncovered a “disturbing front” in the war against illegal immigration. In reality, the massive identity theft and document fraud perpetrated by illegal aliens has been occurring for 20 years, with the full and tacit blessing of our federal government.
The identity theft/illegal aliens connection began in 1986. That year Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), which required workers to show a Social Security card to obtain employment. IRCA also made it illegal to knowingly hire undocumented workers. In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed into law the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA). IIRIRA required the federal government to establish pilot programs employers could voluntary use to verify their job applicants’ employment eligibility. One of those pilot programs is known today as Basic Pilot. Our federal government’s wink-and-nod policy toward illegal aliens and their employers encourages massive identity theft, document fraud and ruined financial standing for millions of Americans. Solutions to the problem exist, but they require leadership from the president and the political will of Congress.
First, Basic Pilot must check to see if the Social Security number offered by a job applicant is in use by someone else or has been reported stolen. The current program completely misses the use of stolen or fraudulent numbers, actually encouraging further identity theft.
Second, the Basic Pilot program must be mandatory for the sectors of our economy that employ the vast majority of illegal aliens. These include the construction, hospitality, agriculture and domestic service industries. A 2006 General Accounting Office study found that 43 percent of employers that file payroll taxes on stolen or fraudulent Social Security numbers represent just five industries.
Third, Congress must allow DHS access to the ESF files. The ESF files would literally provide DHS the roadmap to employers and workers guilty of breaking labor and immigration laws.
Fourth, Congress must provide employers with more effective tools to identify illegal aliens with fake documents. Most employers want to obey the law, but the laws have to make sense and be effective.
Illegal aliens represent a challenge to our economic security and our national security. Those in Congress, the White House, private organizations and businesses who support the unchecked flow of illegal aliens by default support the massive identity theft and document fraud rampant in our nation.
Identify theft is illegal. There is no middle ground.
Response to Immigration Bill
In June of 2007, Herman Cain wrote an article discussing the recently proposed immigration bill. He stated that the bill was full of bad ideas and that there needed to be a fence on the border.
June 11, 2007 Immigration Bill: Lots of Bad Ideas, and No Fence
The Comprehensive Immigration Bill debated in the Senate last week was dead on arrival because of too many competing agendas. Liberals wanted to keep illegal families together, conservatives passionately rejected amnesty, some businesses wanted more low-skill workers, other businesses wanted more skilled workers with a new temporary workers program for legal immigrants – and most regular folks kept screaming, “Where’s the fence?”
Comprehensive has become congressional code for: Let’s put a lot of agendas and stuff in the legislation and maybe the public will not notice the details. This time it backfired miserably, because people did notice the details and all groups dug in their heels for their key agenda item and their respective regular folks screamed loud and in great numbers.
Not since the outcry against the failed Hillary Care plan for universal health care in 1994 has there been such a broad revolt by the public. People have disagreed with proposed legislation before. It happens all the time. Usually Congress is able to smooth over the public objections during debate, pass the legislation and then hold a press conference and tell the public how great it is, and how hard they had to work to get good compromised legislation.
A well-known example was the passage of the Prescription Drug Bill in 2003. Democrats loved it because it expanded social spending. Republicans loved it because they thought it would buy votes from senior citizens, which it did not. And once again, the taxpayers had to pay for good compromise legislation that will cost over $900 billon instead of the original estimate of about $300 billion over 10 years.
The Immigration Bill was supposed to be another episode of good compromise legislation, even though Congress has no idea what it will cost. It is just bad legislation with different agendas glued together, while not emphasizing enough of the public’s number one priority – the fence! Not just wire, wood and concrete, but all the technologies we have available to stop the rampant inflow of illegal aliens into this country.
We have the technology to identify one mad cow and a chicken with the flu when they threaten our food supply. We can track one potentially contagious tuberculosis patient half way around the world when he threatens the health of thousands of people. And we can capture a crystal clear picture of a driver, his tag number and who is in the car with him going through an intersection a fraction of a second after a traffic light turns red.
But yet, Congress is reluctant to use that technology to shut down our borders, which threaten our national and economic security.
Just as the proposed bill was going down in flames, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the ever-liberal Ted Kennedy were asking for President Bush’s help in trying to persuade Republicans to support this bill to nowhere. Now that’s interesting. Where were they and the Republicans when the president was leading the charge with a good solution (personal retirement accounts) to the oncoming crash of the Social Security system? Nowhere!
The Immigration Bill could have succeeded if the political class in Congress and the president had listened to the public and addressed the four distinct problems. Namely, secure the borders convincingly, expand the temporary worker program for skilled legal immigrants, establish a reliable legal immigrant identification program and then propose a reasonable program for the 12 million (and counting) illegal persons who broke our laws to get here, but not amnesty.
The one positive out of this legislative disaster is that people should now see that if enough of them scream loud enough and often enough, they can influence their senators and representatives on ill-constructed legislation. We should not have to scream, but, unfortunately, that’s what our information-overloaded, frenzied media, overwhelmed and leaderless legislative process has come to.
Congress has allowed this problem to fester and grow for over 20 years, and for once in a few times the voters have refused to accept a bad solution to an even worse situation. Maybe next time they will listen to the voters before they try to pass glued together legislation.
Maybe next time, Congress will start with the fence!
Daily Caller Interview
In October of 2010 Herman Cain was interviewed by the Daily Caller and spoke about immigration. He stated that current US laws should be enforced.
In terms of handling immigration issues, Cain said he would, first and foremost, secure the U.S. border with Mexico.
“I don’t buy this malarkey that we can’t secure the border,” Cain told TheDC. “I don’t buy this malarkey that we don’t want to offend our southern neighbors. Neither this administration nor the previous administration got serious about securing the border. I don’t know why the previous administration didn’t get serious about securing the border but they didn’t.”
Secondly, Cain said he’d enforce the laws on the books and provide the resources Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials need to secure the border.
“Enforce the laws that are already on the books,” Cain said. “That means providing the resources to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, although I think it’s misnamed – they don’t do a lot of enforcement. Give them the resources they need to do their jobs.”
Cain said he thinks the term “comprehensive immigration reform” is an “oxymoron,” and wouldn’t push for changing the immigration process.
“For those people that want to become legal citizens in this country, promote the current citizenship process,” Cain said. “It’s not that difficult. It’s democratic, it’s cumbersome, it might be confusing to some people, but if you go look it up, you’ll see: the steps are not that complicated. What makes it complicated is the bureaucracy that we have surrounding it.”
Sean Hannity Show
On December 28, 2010 Herman Cain filled in for Sean Hannity on his radio show and spoke about the need to fix immigration. He states that the border needs to be secure, and existing laws need to be enforced. He then states that no new path to citizenship needs to be established as one already exists.
Another thing we need to do in terms of common sense solutions; fix the immigration problems. That's right, I said problems. Whenever you hear the terminology "Comprehensive immigration reform," that is code for "we don't know what to do." So they just let the status quo keep on going. They let it keep on going.
We got three problems: we need to secure the border, we need to enforce the laws that are already there, and promote the path to citizenship that is already there. We don't need a new path to citizenship, let's promote the one we already have.
Campaign Event
In January of 2011, Mr Cain spoke at a campaign event in Nevada and stated that he believed that the border should be supported securing the border, enforcing current immigration laws, and promoting the "path to citizenship" already in place and not creating a new one.
Race42012 Interview
In February of 2011, Herman Cain was interviewed by race42012 and reiterated his position that current immigration laws should be enforced.
MRN: If elected, how would a Cain administration deal with border security and illegal immigration?
HC: First things first: the term “comprehensive immigration reform” tossed around by liberals is simply code for “do nothing” which becomes amnesty.
There are 3 steps to solving our illegal immigration problem: securing the border (we put a man on the moon, so this isn’t that hard!); enforce the laws; promote the existing path to citizenship.
South Carolina Debate
On May 5, 2011 Herman Cain participated in the Republican debate in South Carolina. He expresses his support for allowing states to do what the federal government will not do on immigration.
New Hampshire Debate
In June of 2011, Herman Cain participated in the Presidential debate in New Hampshire and was asked about immigration. He notes his support for abiding by US laws on immigration.
KING: Mr. Cain, another issue that's come up in recent years...
(APPLAUSE)
... as this debate has bubbled up is the whole question of birthright citizenship. If there are two illegal immigrants, two adults who came into this country illegally, and they have a child, should that child be considered a citizen of the United States?
CAIN: I don't believe so. But let's -- let's look at solving the real problem, OK? Immigration is full of problems, not one. This is why we keep kicking the can down the road. Secure the borders. Get serious about securing our borders.
Number two, enforce the laws that are already there.
Number three, promote the path to citizenship, like this lady did, by getting -- cleaning up the bureaucracy.
And here's how we deal with the illegals that are already here. Empower the states to do what the federal government hasn't done, won't do, and can't do. Then we won't be getting into the problem that was raised.
We are a compassionate nation. Of course they're going to get care. But let's fix the problem.
Iowa Debate
In August of 2011, Herman Cain participated in the Republican Presidential debate in Ames, Iowa. He stated that the border needed to be secured and the legal immigration path in place should be used.
FERRECHIO: OK. Turning to you now, Mr. Cain.
When President Obama joked about protecting the borders with alligators and a moat, not only did you embrace the idea, you upped the ante with "a 20-foot barbed wire electrified fence." Were you serious?
CAIN: America has got to learn how to take a joke.(LAUGHTER)
But let me -- allow me to give you my real solution to the immigration problem. I happen to believe that is four problems.
Yes, we must secure the border with whatever means necessary. Secondly, enforce the laws that are there. Thirdly, promote the path to citizenship that's already there. We have a path to citizenship for illegal aliens. It's called legal immigration.
And then, fourth, I happen to agree with empowering the states and allow them to deal with that issue. If we work on the right problem, we will be able to solve it.
And in the case of immigration, we've got four problems that we need to work on simultaneously. It turns out that America can be a nation with high fences and wide open doors. That's what built this nation. So we can have high fences and wide open doors, all at the same time. (APPLAUSE)
Palmetto Freedom Forum
In August of 2011, Herman Cain participated in the Palmetto Freedom Forum and was asked about immigration. He stated that he opposed amnesty in every form and that his immigration policy would favor immigrants who were using the legal immigration process.
STEVE KING: I was about to ask you that question, Herman. You offered the answer to it. This other question is posed when I listen to your response. Nobody is sneaking out of America. What do you do with those speaking in?
CAIN: Those that are sneaking in, I believe we must first make sure we're working on the right problem. That's fundamental to my leadership style. I always challenge my staff when I was in business or anywhere, what's the right problem. What should the priority be? Do I have the right people around me? And then we can put together the right plans.
STEVE KING: Would you oppose amnesty in every form?
CAIN: I would oppose amnesty in every form, because here are the four problems relative to immigration. It's not one, it's four. Let's secure the border for real. Not talk about. Let's enforce the laws already on the books. Thirdly, I happen to believe that we can promote the path to citizenship that's already there. We simply need to clean up much of the bureaucracy that's preventing people from being inspired to come through the front door.
And fourthly, what I would do with those illegal aliens that are already here, empower the states to do what the federal government can't do, hasn't done, and will not do.
STEVE KING: And then yet, we have legal immigration. America is the most generous country in the world with a million a year coming into the United States. Is there such a thing as too many legal immigrants? What should that number be? Can we get too many?
CAIN: I don't believe there's too many legal immigrants because we all came from somewhere. 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.
STEVE KING: Herman, there are 50 million people in line in foreign countries waiting to come into the United States legally. So how many would be too many?
CAIN: 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. If they're bringing us more problems than opportunities, then 50 million might be too many.
STEVE KING: Would you though, be favorable towards establishing illegal immigration policy that rewarded merits of applicants --
CAIN: Yes.
Reagan Debate
In September of 2011, Herman Cain participated in the Republcian debate at the Reagan Library. He talks about his plan for immigration.
CAIN: Let's make sure -- let's solve all of the problems. It's not one problem.
I do believe we can secure the border with a combination of boots on the ground, technology, and a fence, but we've got three other problems. And to get to it, we've got to secure the border.
Secondly, let's promote the path to citizenship that's already there. We don't need a new one, we just need to clean up the bureaucracy that's slowing the process down and discouraging people.
The third thing we need to do, enforce the laws that are there, and the way we do it, empower the states. I believe that the people closest to the problem are the best ones to be able to solve that problem. Empower the states to do what the federal government hasn't done, can't do, and won't do. This is how we solve the entire problem.
The Western Debate
In October of 2011, Herman Cain participated in the Western Debate in Las Vegas. He notes his support for enforcing US immigration laws.
COOPER: We're going to stay on the topic of immigration. Everyone is going to get a chance to weigh in.
This is a question that was left at CNNPolitics.com. "As president, will you order completion of the physical border fence along the entire border between the U.S. and Mexico?" That's from Marilyn L.
Herman Cain, let me start with you. Obviously, over the weekend, you got a lot of headlines by saying you would have an electrified fence. You then later said it was -- you then later said it was a joke. And then last night, you said, "It might be electrified. I'm not walking away from that. I just don't want to offend anyone."
(LAUGHTER)
So...
(APPLAUSE)
So would you build an entire fence along the entire border, and would you have it be electrified?
(LAUGHTER)
CAIN: Allow me to give a serious answer. Yes, I believe we should secure the border for real, and it would be a combination of a fence, technology, as well as possibly boots on the ground for some of the more dangerous areas. I don't apologize at all for wanting to protect the American citizens and to protect our agents on the border, no.
(APPLAUSE)
Secondly, the second thing that I would do -- see, I believe in let's solve the whole problem. We must shut the back door so people can come in the front door. Secondly, promote the existing path to citizenship by cleaning up the bureaucracy in Washington, D.C.
Thirdly, enforce the laws -- the immigration laws that are already on the books. (APPLAUSE)
And here's another one of these bold ideas by the non-politician up here. Empower the states to do what the federal government is not doing in terms of enforcing those laws.
...
COOPER: Herman Cain, the 14th Amendment allows that anybody born in the United States is an American citizen. Should that change?
CAIN: I want to go back and answer this question first, OK? And that is, my message to Latinos, blacks, whites, and all Americans is that we must first start with significantly boosting this economy, which is on life support.
This is why I have put forth a very bold plan, and I'm not afraid to try and sell it to the American people. I'm not afraid to fight for it when I become president of the United States of America. So that's my message.
If we have this economy growing, people will be able to take care of their families and go after their American dream. And until we boost this economy, all of us are going to suffer for a long time.
CNN National Security Debate
In November of 2011, Herman Cain participated in the national security debate on CNN. He outlines his immigration plan.
BLITZER: Herman Cain, let me let you...
(APPLAUSE)
... weigh in.
CAIN: Yes. Allow me to answer the gentleman's question. The answer is yes. An insecure border is a national security threat for the following reasons.
Number one, we know that terrorists have come into this country by way of Mexico. Secondly, 40 percent of the people in Mexico, according to a survey, already believe that their country is a failed state. Thirdly, the number of people killed in Mexico last year equals the number of people killed in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.
So yes, so let's solve the whole problem. Number one, secure the border for real. Number two, enforce the laws that are already there. We don't need new laws. Number three, promote the current path to citizenship. Clean up the bureaucracy in Washington, D.C. so people can come through the front door instead of sneaking in the side door. And, number four, to deal with the illegals that are already here, empower the states to do what the federal government is not capable of doing.
2012 Presidential Campaign Website Statements
Chapter Six: Fix the Immigration Problems
America is an exceptional nation. We are also a prosperous nation because of our liberties and our free market system. That’s why people from all over the world want to come to America to create better lives for themselves and their families, because we are truly the land of opportunity. Americans have embraced their role as the world’s premier “melting pot,” welcoming immigrants from every corner of the planet. We readily learn about other cultures, customs and beliefs. We appreciate those who are willing to come to this country and make America a more vibrant and enriched place.
Americans do resent, however, the willingness of some to circumvent our laws and enter our nation illegally. While many, if not most, illegal immigrants are peaceful people simply seeking to provide for their families, some are not. In fact, some are quite dangerous, jeopardizing the safety and well-being of American citizens.
Illegal immigration has only exacerbated illegal activity, such as the horrendous crimes of drug smuggling and human trafficking. Illegal immigrants who are repeat offenders are harder to track, making it difficult for law enforcement to prevent crime. Further, weak borders have caused a compounding problem of terrorists assimilating with illegal immigrants, crossing the border with them and entering the U.S.
Illegal immigration also puts a tremendous strain on America’s entitlement and health care systems. Illegal immigrants are typically uninsured and cannot afford to pay for their medical care, driving up costs for all Americans, even those actually insured. In fact, several hospitals in the U.S. have declared bankruptcy as a result of the costs of caring for illegal immigrants.
We must secure our borders, enforce our laws and promote the existing path to citizenship. Protecting our nation’s sovereignty should be a paramount concern of those elected to lead us, not an afterthought or a reaction once the problem becomes even worse. Further, taking a stand on the issue does not mean one lacks compassion, but instead, that one respects the rule of law and the importance of not becoming a lawless nation.
