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Subscribe to RSSOSKALOOSA, Iowa—Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann waded into a sensitive area of immigration policy Saturday during a somewhat charged exchange at a campaign stop in southeast Iowa.
Bachmann entered an extended exchange with a college student (and Democrat) over how to handle the immigrants who are brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
After finishing a speech that focused in part on repealing the federal health care law and overhauling the tax code, Bachmann opened the floor to questions from the 100 or so people gathered at Smokey Row restaurant.
A 19 year-old college student, identifying himself as Latino, asked what Bachmann would “do to” the children of illegal immigrants.
Bachmann responded that she is “not doing anything to them,” and described why she is against the federal government rewarding citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants.
“Their parents are the ones who brought them here,” Bachmann said.
"They did not have the legal right to come to the United States," Bachmann added, of the parents. "We do not owe people who broke our laws to come into the country. We don’t owe them anything.”
Bachmann went on to draw a parallel to her own family’s journey to the United States more than 150 years ago.
"I dare say that probably every single person in this room descends from immigrants,” Bachmann said.
“I did—my immigrant family came here in the 1850s, and they came into the United States legally. They received zero benefits.”
The exchange was somewhat charged, because the student, Roy Aguillon, cast the question in personal terms.
“These guys were my friends," Aguillon said. "They are the guys who sit next to me in class, who I see in Walmart.”
Aguillon, who is from San Antonio and is a student at nearby William Penn University, is a second-generation American citizen and is active in local politics—serving as the vice president of the College & Young Democrats of Iowa.
In an interview with NBC News, Aguillon said he didn't intend to draw Bachmann into a discussion about the DREAM Act—legislation which would offer benefits, including citizenship, to the children of illegal immigrants.
Instead, he says, he was looking for a practical answer for young illegals, given Bachmann's hard line position.
“These guys don’t know anything else," Aguillon said during his interview with NBC. "What are you going to do, send them back to Mexico? The place is basically in the middle of a drug war.”
Aguillon says he didn’t attend the event to raise trouble, and despite his leadership role in the Iowa College Democrats, he would consider voting Republican in 2012.
He complains that President Obama abandoned the DREAM Act, and hasn’t been hard enough on Wall Street. He says, of Obama: “He’s not enough of a fighter to be my president right now.”
Despite the personal tone of their exchange, Aguillon and Bachmann chatted following the event, and they posed for pictures together afterward, along with Aguillon's girlfriend.
As the campaign team left the restaurant, Iowa state co-chair Brad Zaun, a state senator from Urbandale, pulled him aside.
“Thanks for your honesty,” Zaun said.
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So are we going to apply the dream act to children of felons who are citizens of the USA? Bank robbers, rapists, murders etc., we pay for the children of Mexicans, but not criminals children who are citizens? If we are going to pay for illegals children's collage, then we need to pay for all criminals children... fair play, right?
American children whose parents comment felonies are just a screwed as illegal Mexican kids... think about it.
So come to American, break our laws, get fake ID'S, fake S.S. numbers, fake insurance cards, suck our resources and we will reward you with free education for your children...
SICK!
These guys were my friends," Aguillon said. "They are the guys who sit next to me in class, who I see in Walmart."
What does this have todo with these people being in the United States illegally? Is he trying to tell us Walmart hires illegalls or is he saying because they are his friends they should be allowed to become American's? These are the guys that sit next to me in class? Who pays for their learning, books and food? I have to pay for my childs lunches, where is my help?
Slaves were no longer imported to the US by then, and the borders were really open to anyone who could get here alive whether from Germany or Mexico. The '48ers from Germany came, and some were Marxists who were run out of Germany. They became active in GOP politics during Lincoln's ascension. Oh Michelle, was your family one of the Marxist '48ers? Many did settle in IA and MN.
Sorry but this kid asking Bachmann a question and stating he might vote for a republican over Obama because of the dream act is an idiot. For one NO republican will do any such proposals in fact they'll put programs in like electric fences or some other extremist crap. Either this guy has been living in lala land or is a shill being paid by the media.
Seeing as this came from MSNBC I'd take the later rather than the former.
This young men is a dreamer, he is still just a baby, true he can vote, but that is why we have an electoral College Vote so people like him will not elect the wrong person, our system was built on the belief that the common people did not have the know with all to elect a president , let us not forget that Bush loss the Popular vote, but won the electoral college vote! Bush should NOT have been president if you went on just the popular vote, BUT this system still is about POWER and not about the common people, it never was and never will be about the common people! This young man's vote does not really count for anything, he is just another dreamer who had his 15 minutes of fame, and will never be heard of again, and so it goes, so it goes...
I would say, everyone born naked and no one is different, by doing the right thing and try to make others happy will make your self happy....life is short so just do the right thing by making others happy you will be happy as well...........peace to everyone, no more arguments ...specially ms bachmann as a politician you should be making everyone happy is what will count.....if you are trying to against other and keep blaming others instead of helping to resolve the problem it will only get worst...........peace and good luck !
Keep smokin' whatever you're smokin'. You're better off there in lala land.
1848 to 1880 about 1 million Germans came to the US. So, did Michelle's family come from the mass exodus that occurred during the first German revolution in which the nobility banished Marxist revolutionairies and their sympathizers from German soil?
Regarding the great Conservative Political Philosopher, Bachmann: So much for Compassionate Conservatism. The GOP/TPers seem to be quite coldhearted when it comes to humankind. Is this the nation we want to become? How sad.
To the ignorant haters of illegal immigrants , Whatever happened to:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
That was a very different time and a very different group of immigrants.
and they did it legally, learned and followed the laws, learned and spoke English and kept there money here, just to name a few!
via13et-al, While I sympathize with Mexican immigrants and would like to see this problem resolved equitably, no country's immigration laws should be founded on a poem written by a woman who won a contest and got it engraved under a statue. We'll need something more constructive than rhyming words to fix this problem.
I'll tell you this. I'm a Democrat, but I'll support anyone who has the chutzpah to send every one of them back across the border where they belong, alleged American citizen or not. This country cannot afford to provide education and healthcare to people who aren't paying taxes, or who refuse to learn to speak the language. We can't even provide social security and medicare to our own elderly who worked their entire lives to earn it. I am sick of this whole immigration thing. They do NOT belong here. Politicians - get some chutzpah - SEND THEM BACK AND CLOSE THE BORDER FOREVER!
The border should be closed until the war on terror has been won. This may even put a little pressure on Mexico to take better care of her people, and may put some pressure on them to get the drug war under control.It is a bit laughable to hear politicians say we have to cut entitlements to our own people, when we are paying out billions in medicaid dollars for health care of illegals, and sickly elderly visiting relatives who come from other countries to visit their loved ones in America, are hospitalized and on medicaid by nightfall. We are Mexico's welfare plan.
The GOP needs to get serious about sliding aside all the time wasters now ...they have to pick a candidate in the next short while and the more time these Cains, Perrys and Bachmanns take up, the less time there is to start consolidating working policies.
The GOP has a responsibility to go with people that can lead and deliver on sensible policy for a better country.
Any democrat who thinks Bachmann, or any other republican cadidate would handle social issues better than Obama is a fool.
Wake up! Obama is a sell out to big business and big banks. We need someone in there who will YELL IT LIKE IT IS. No more wusses.
In addition, we need a candidate who will stand up for the American people, rather than sliding into the "good old boys club" Washington DC branch. Anyone who thinks Obama is handling social issues well (as he continues to create class division while thoroughly enjoying his affluent lifestyle) is a fool.
Joshua Clarke,
You are full of hate, do some justice to your name. I urge you to read my post above yours.
And proud of it!
Everybody and their kids want to come to USA. The only difference between the children that are here illegally and the ones that are still in their own countries is that the guardians of the illegal alien children chose to commit felony by entering into USA illegally. DO NOT REWARD THE CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR.
Thank you...
And Joshua, you are not a democrat, never was and never will be you are just another xenophobic and hater
Well there Viagrahead . . . So what? One of these days the world is going to see just how many people in this country feel exactly the same way I do. It has already started with Occupy Wall Street. We are going to take back our country.
And the proper grammar is never 'were' not never 'was'. Oh, wait, perhaps English is not your first language . . . Now let me guess what your first language could be . . . Let me si, oops see . . .
I think the consensus in the GOP is 'doesn't matter if America goes to sh@t in a sandwich bag....as long s we get Obama out of that White House' That's a pretty UnAmerican attitude to hold. Selfish and reckless.
Ms. Bachmann appears to have a clear understanding of the word "illegal." I, too, have many friends who are not American citizens. They came here legally, maintain a legal, current green card, and get in line for citizenship. It is hard to see those who don't play by the rules trump those that do. And it is ridiculus to have people who are here illegally get instate tuition. They are not citizens of the country, why should they receive instate rates? I do agree that she appears to here the voice of the American people.
They shouldn't be in our schools. Period. Send in the janitor squad to sweep them out.
Get rid of all immigrants. Give it back to the Indians. Which Indians? When god gave the "new world" to the Christians (I suppose Roman Catholics and Protestants were Christian) they all did their best to exterminate these Indians. There were lots of Indians. Indians who had driven out other Indians who had driven out other Indians. Hey, Constantine said "by this sign conquer." He spoke Latin. By the way, is he a Latino? Oops. He said it in Greek. This gets complicated. Go back far enough and some of these Indians are actually from some of the lost tribes of ancient Israel. Hey, maybe the 50 states - no, just the 48 - should be returned to Palestine. Or the Etruscans. None of them survived? So, we immigrants should catch the next Qantas flight back to our homelands. I don't know which of my choices are best. My father was a mix of Italian and German. Mother a blend of Irish and Scotch. And an embarrasing taint of Russian. I'll chose Italy. I love crema caramela and the ladies who can make it. I hope all of those Roman and Spanish and English and Portugese and American, etc., and Indian scalpers got all the benefits they were entitled to when they retired.
For those that are wondering how someone can deny citizenship to someone born in the US to an illegal immigrant, it's really quite simple. All you have to do is look at the original intent of the 14th Amendment as explained, in the Senate, by the co-author of the amendment, Senator Jacob Howard.
*loc*gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llcg&fileName=073/llcg073.db&recNum=11
Look near the bottom of the center column where he states;
"Every Person born within the limits of the United States, and subject to their jurisdiction, is by virtue of natural law and national law a citizen of the United States. This will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States, but will include every other class of persons."
The part that is often overlooked are the words "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof". Since an illegal immigrant is still a citizen of another country, that country is who holds ultimate jurisdiction over them. The original intent of the word "jurisdiction" is to be synonymous with "allegiance". Since the parents still owe allegiance to a foreign country, they are not fully subject to our laws, thus the US only has a limited amount of legal power over them.
Since illegal immigrants are not diplomats, they do not have diplomatic immunity from prosecution, but in all other ways, the US has no jurisdiction over them.
I say give them 100k to go to American Colleges just like Perry does, screw all of you protesing with your student loan debt, KEEP PAYING while they go to School for free and guess who really pays, you do! Hahahahahah. If your a liberal this is what you support so Shhhhhhhhhh!
Ever go a relatives house and the $5it is is either not done or over cooked?
This is Bachmann. No middle and dinner is served, like it or not.
But in her corner, she has ton's of $$ to keep "her" dream alive, and ones that she will STICK in the bank when she bow's to the remaining GOP.
All that I am saying!
Bat crap crazy speaks again! She needs to stay in MN with her ridiculous husband and pray away the gay. GOOD GOD!
ok, i'm old, easily confused, not that smart. from the article, the young man asked bachman "what would you do to chilldren of illegal immigrants?" bachman replied "i'm not doing anything to them". the title of the article says "bachman says she would not do anything for children of illegal immigrants".
don't know the kid. don't support bachman. try to follow reporting from a variety of sources. can't believe i am still surprised when it is not coherent...
these are complicated issues that will not be resolved. only through negotiation and compromise will they be ameliorated in the short term, allowing us the opportunity to develop long-term solutions.
So....., let's see.... Why don't I go rob a bank, buy a house with the money, and put my kids in it. When they come to take the house back, I'll ask them, "what about the kids? They didn't do anything wrong. You can't punish the kids and take the house away to make them homeless."
If the kids profit from crimes committed by the parents, they get to keep the profit???
So what would you actually do with the innocent kids, there Steve?
they can return to their country and apply for legal entrance like everyone else. their parents would go with them. They might still be able to come here, but start over legally.
Same question applies to what would you do with the bank robber's kids?
Does no one here understnd that we just cannot keep handling the volume of people coming here??? Why do you think besides the ccoruption of all our politicians that we are broke as a counrty. I am sick to death of hearing about how great all the illegals are.
I work next to them toiling away in the hot sun all day and being dirty and not bathing does not make one a good worker although it seems that alot of americans seem to think it does.
This law about being born her and being a citizen was written 200 years ago. No one then could have possibly forseen how this would have turned out. At some point we have to say stop. they broke CA they are breaaking Texas and almost every other state they have over run. We jus cannot be the holding cell for the entire world anymore.
All you liberal crybabies that feel so sorry for these people who blame the US for all the ills of whatever country they come from take about 10 each into your homes and provide for them!!!
Everyone here keeps saying what a great hardship it is to come here and how much money they pay to come??!! Well they must have alot more money than brains because alot of them have been deported 4 or 5 times so if you figure it costs $30K per tripo which is about what I have seen the numbers n here quoted geez why not just save the cash and stay home and make your country better instead of comiing here and bringing this country down to your level as you do not plan on staying here for any real peeriod of time.
Each year they send every dime they make home becauee they live 20 to a house and can do that. So they have kids and use our social serivices nd drag everything down. then they build the big house in thier country and go back home. Like I said I work next to them and have sen and heard it day in and out for the past 10 years. They are not going to learn our language nor obey our laws because they already broke the law coming here and figure the law is meant for us not them.
All you bleeding hearts have to realize they are picking your pocket and laughing at you all the way home.
When we are broke and a 3rd world country like they come from they will all be home wearing new cowboy boots looking at the cattle they bought with our money and laughing.
They could care less that the hospital is not suppossed to be used as a doctors office while it is to hard for them to become citizens they seem to be able to find every loophole in every law we have and exploit it for thieer own benifit much better than I ever could have thought of.
Since when did children having a roof over their heads and food in their bellies become "profitting from a crime"? What a frickin' stretch!