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Arkansas Gov. Huckabee discusses immigration reform, gun rights
SEANNA ADCOX
Associated Press
LEXINGTON, S.C. - Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Monday the federal government has done a "lousy job" protecting America's borders because the country lacks a practical way to let people in legally.
"We simply have not even attempted to create a legal means" to process the people who want to come here and the people we need to run the economy, the Republican governor told about 50 people at a fundraising luncheon for the Lexington County GOP.
When people say illegal immigrants take jobs from Americans, Huckabee said he asks them to name someone "who cannot get a job because a Mexican illegally here has taken the job they want."
"If that's the case, if you can get me their name and phone number by five this afternoon, I can have them making a bed, plucking a chicken, tarring a roof or picking a tomato by the morning at 8 o' clock," he said.
No one has been able to give him a name, he said. Illegal immigrants have jobs Americans don't want, he said.
America has a right to know who's here and why, he said. But federal immigration laws "are so antiquated and the process so cumbersome, it would take some people 10 to 20 years to go through the legal process."
Creating a system to process people properly and thoroughly would cost money, but certainly less than it would cost to "round up 13 million people and deport them," Huckabee said.
He said he doesn't believe in "blanket amnesty," but illegal immigrants here should be given a way to pay a fine and apply for legal status. They should be required to speak English and pay taxes, he said.
He said the debate has gotten too emotional.
"It's a problem we can confront, but we can't confront it if all we're going to do is stand on opposite sides of the room screaming," he said.
"Tonight, when you get home, get on your knees and thank God you live in a country people are trying to break into rather than a country people are trying to break out of," Huckabee said. "If we start there, we might have a possibility of getting a solution."
The luncheon was one of several South Carolina stops the potential presidential contender planned for Monday and Tuesday, which is when he will raise money for Karen Floyd, the GOP nominee for state education superintendent. Gov. since 1996, Huckabee said he will wait until after he leaves office in January to decide whether to run for president in 2008.
Responding to an audience question, the avid sportsman said he would support a national "right to carry" bill that would require states to recognize concealed weapons permits issued by other states.
"That way, we could be anywhere," he said, showing the audience the weapons license in his wallet. He then boasted of killing an antelope Saturday from 250 yards in the One Shot Antelope Hunt in Lander, Wyo.
Though he's a hunter, he said the Second Amendment is not about hunting. "It's about protecting yourself, your families," and making sure government never tries to overrun its people, he said.
Arkansas Gov. Huckabee discusses immigration reform, gun rights
SEANNA ADCOX
Associated Press
LEXINGTON, S.C. - Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Monday the federal government has done a "lousy job" protecting America's borders because the country lacks a practical way to let people in legally.
"We simply have not even attempted to create a legal means" to process the people who want to come here and the people we need to run the economy, the Republican governor told about 50 people at a fundraising luncheon for the Lexington County GOP.
When people say illegal immigrants take jobs from Americans, Huckabee said he asks them to name someone "who cannot get a job because a Mexican illegally here has taken the job they want."
"If that's the case, if you can get me their name and phone number by five this afternoon, I can have them making a bed, plucking a chicken, tarring a roof or picking a tomato by the morning at 8 o' clock," he said.
No one has been able to give him a name, he said. Illegal immigrants have jobs Americans don't want, he said.
America has a right to know who's here and why, he said. But federal immigration laws "are so antiquated and the process so cumbersome, it would take some people 10 to 20 years to go through the legal process."
Creating a system to process people properly and thoroughly would cost money, but certainly less than it would cost to "round up 13 million people and deport them," Huckabee said.
He said he doesn't believe in "blanket amnesty," but illegal immigrants here should be given a way to pay a fine and apply for legal status. They should be required to speak English and pay taxes, he said.
He said the debate has gotten too emotional.
"It's a problem we can confront, but we can't confront it if all we're going to do is stand on opposite sides of the room screaming," he said.
"Tonight, when you get home, get on your knees and thank God you live in a country people are trying to break into rather than a country people are trying to break out of," Huckabee said. "If we start there, we might have a possibility of getting a solution."
The luncheon was one of several South Carolina stops the potential presidential contender planned for Monday and Tuesday, which is when he will raise money for Karen Floyd, the GOP nominee for state education superintendent. Gov. since 1996, Huckabee said he will wait until after he leaves office in January to decide whether to run for president in 2008.
Responding to an audience question, the avid sportsman said he would support a national "right to carry" bill that would require states to recognize concealed weapons permits issued by other states.
"That way, we could be anywhere," he said, showing the audience the weapons license in his wallet. He then boasted of killing an antelope Saturday from 250 yards in the One Shot Antelope Hunt in Lander, Wyo.
Though he's a hunter, he said the Second Amendment is not about hunting. "It's about protecting yourself, your families," and making sure government never tries to overrun its people, he said.
