Newt Gingrich on solving the illegal immigration problems

When he’s not slamming the President as the worst president since Jimmy Carter, Newt Gingrich is well-worth the read/listen, and his “Practical Steps to Solving Immigration, American Identity, and Border Security” piece is no exception. The suggestions involve common sense, something seriously lacking in the out-of-control rhetoric being tossed back and forth by many in the immigration debate (with the exception of a few – most noteably, the well-versed commenters to this blog!).

Check it out, and let me know what you think.

Hat tip: ST reader Great White Rat

5 Responses to "Newt Gingrich on solving the illegal immigration problems"

bindare says:

June 19, 2007 at 11:17 pm

What Gingrich proposes makes more sense than anything I have heard in the current senate immigration bill. I just don’t trust the Elites to close the border or enforce any of the requirements in the “path to citizenship”. What Bush, Kennedy, McCain, and the others want smells like a scam of gigantic proportions. Gingrich has the right ideas. Too bad he has a squeeky voice and a bad history with wives. We should establish a cabinet position strictly for border security and put him in charge just to take advantage of his genius.
camojack says:

June 20, 2007 at 3:48 am

Gingrich tries to score points by kicking Bush when he’s down…at the popularity polls. Pure politics.

As for what he says regarding the illegal immigration situation, he makes a lot of sense. No need to have one all-encompassing bill; several dealing with the various aspects would be much better, starting with border enforcement…
Great White Rat says:

June 20, 2007 at 11:56 am

I’m with camojack and ST on the general tone of the discussion. Libs engage in invective reflexively; there’s no good reason for us to follow suit.

As for the 10-point plan, I like most of it, but I have doubts how much of it could be passed or implemented properly:

Control the border. Amen. This is where it has to start. When you’re in a leaking boat, the first thing you do it plug up the leak. Then you can think about bailing out the water that’s already in the boat.

Punish companies that are deliberately hiring illegals. A good idea on its face, but can it pass? It would face formidable opposition – Dems who want wide open borders combined with businesses who use the illegals as basically a class of slaves who will work for next to nothing.

Deport criminals. Agreed. I’ve suggested the same thing here in past threads.

Cut off all federal aid to sanctuary cities. Be prepared for the libs to howl that this is unfair to all the poor who rely on federal largesse, and for more than a few ACLU-inspired lawsuits. But there must be consequences for refusing to obey the law. Rather than an immediate cutoff of aid, I’d consider criminal proceedings against the officials in any city that refused to cooperate with the feds on this.

Make English the official language of government. Also good. I’ve commented on the need for assimilation before.

Ensure that becoming an American citizen requires passing a test on American history in English and giving up the right to vote in any other country. The problem with the first part of this is that with the dumbing down of the educational system, it’s reasonable to ask how many native-born Americans could pass the same test. The hardest part might be getting the test written in the first place.

Beyond that, a lot of it makes sense, but I’m skeptical how much of it could be done without the usual bureaucratic snafus.
forest hunter says:

June 21, 2007 at 4:07 am

I won’t repost anything from before (last open thread) or link it as I have already pointed out some of the historical aspects of what was right then and would work now IF the laws were enforced.

You’re on a ship that’s been breeched. Do you argue, fuss and stew about who’s in the boat or do you patch the ****** ******* HOLE!!!

1954 OPERATION WETBACK, according to this source: resulted in approximately 80,000 Mexican nationals in the space of almost a year, while INS officials claimed that an additional 500,000-700,000 had fled to Mexico before the campaign began. The INS estimates rested on the claim that most undocumented people, fearing apprehension by the government, had voluntarily repatriated themselves before and during the operation. We could do this every month or even weekly but it’ll be of zero value, if we don’t seal the perimeters!

Stop the flippin pandering for Mexican votes and PLUG THE *** **** HOLE you emasculated loons on both political sides and everywhere in between!!! Practical – NOT POLITICAL – for the love of this country!
Drewsmom says:

June 21, 2007 at 5:54 am

forest, you are right on as usual. Our posters on this site get it, why can’t our overpaid guys in Washington seem to have a glue.
Some day my prince will come and be elected and SHUT DOWN THE BORDER and clean this MESS up.

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