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NAPLES, FL -- Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich defended his immigration policy after days of criticism from other GOP contenders – reiterating that he does not support amnesty -- on Friday night before his largest crowd yet on the campaign trail.
Erik Kellar/AP
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich addresses a town hall meeting Friday at the Naples Hilton in Naples, Fla.
"I am not for amnesty for anyone. I am not for a path to citizenship for anybody who got here illegally," Gingrich told the crowd of roughly 750 people, many of whom were forced to stand in the hallway. "But I am for a path to legality for those people whose ties are so deeply into America that it would truly be tragic to try and rip their family apart."
The former House speaker, who is seen as one of the front-runners for the GOP nomination, has been taking some heat on his stance on immigration since Tuesday’s debate. After the debate some of his Republican rivals – Michele Bachmann and Mitt Romney – have accused Gingrich of supporting amnesty, which the speaker said Friday night was misinformed.
"It speaks badly of any candidate who would deliberately repeat something which they know is not true," Gingrich told the packed crowd inside a Naples Hilton ballroom. Later, he added, "Ironically, in the Reagan Library debate I think most of them actually agreed with me," on my immigration policy.
Gingrich wants to model his immigration plan for illegals already in the country on the WWII model of the Selective Service System program, which allowed local communities to decide who would be drafted for war. He noted that the program "really tried to take general policy and give it a human face."
"I think the vast majority [of illegal immigrants] will go home and should go home and then should reapply. I do not think anybody should be eligible for citizenship," the former speaker said to loud applause in Southwest Florida with his wife, Callista, sitting in the front row of the audience. "I am suggesting a certification of legality with no right to vote and no right to become an American citizen unless they go home and apply through the regular procedures back home and get in line behind everybody else who has obeyed the law and stayed back there."
Gingrich has been rapidly rising in the polls recently despite questions raised about his ties with Freddie Mac and now on his policy on illegal immigrants. Back in the summer months, many Republicans and pundits wrote off the former speaker after more than a dozen of his staff quit unexpectedly.
"Remember, I was supposed to be dead in June or July," Gingrich said. "One side of that is that for a long period of time, they didn’t pay any attention to me."
Gingrich and his wife are scheduled to sign books Saturday morning in Naples.
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Wow there’s a lot of xenophobes posting here huh? I have an idea, how about America goes dark, you know no one in and no one out for a long time. It seems most people would like this in the first place
Just another Republican smokescreen to get elected then actually do nothing more about the issue once in office.
Just like Bachmann trotting out the abortion issue. It is an issue that causes people to vote for a candidate based solely on their position either pro or con, turning a blind eye to all other issues. Then, once in office, nothing more happens and we barely hear a thing about it.
I, for one. can now see through the smokescreen. I can spot yet another hollow Republican promise and I am not buying into it anymore. The entire party has become far too corrupt, greedy and self-serving to be electable.
So, he is suggesting amnesty. Permanent legal residency is just another name for amnesty. Most illegals don't want citizenship anyway. What a weasel.
Didn't Obama promise to take care of the "Illegal Immigration" issue while running for office?
The Obama administration has addressed illegal immigration with the following multistep plan.
1 - Made the politically correct term for "illegal aliens" to be "undocumented immigrants"
2 - Granted Aunt Zeituni Onyango citizenship, after she ignored a judge's order to leave the country
3 - Gave Uncle Onyango Obama a get-out-of-jail free card, which was used to be released from being held by ICE, even though he is in violation of a deportation order.
4 - Issued a presedential order which granted backdoor amnesty to as many as 300,000 illegal aliens.
5 - Filed lawsuits against every state attempting to legally address the illegal alien issue
Finally a Republican candidate that speaks with some sense and compassion. Newt you are getting closer! Now go have a heart to heart with your sister and re-evaluate your stance on SSM.
There are many occasions on which I disagree with Mr. Gingrich, but here I must agree. In the constant tirade about illegal immigration from both sides, the word illegal seems to often get lost. Countless millions around the world, perhaps a billion, want to come to the United States of America. We cannot possibly allow them all. To make things at least a bit fair we have laws in place to regulate immigration. Enforce them. Wanting to make a better living is not a bad reason for wanting to come here, but it is never a good enough reason to ignore the rules. Half the planet lives in fear in repressive and violent countries, so that cannot be alone a good enough reason either. Allowing blanket immigration for these two reasons is simply not practical; the nation will be utterly overwhelmed. We must obey the rules to maintain a civil society, and so must all who come here.
I see your point. Some countries require a college degree or necessary skill before allowing someone entry. However, when the Gross National Income reaches, say, $1,000 per person per year, then we can pretty much assume that a college education or advanced skills are difficult to obtain. The bottom line is that the U. S. is very attractive for a variety of reasons--people will continue to arrive on these shores for a piece of the "American Dream."
I say, reduce the initial fees for legal immigration, reduce the red-tape for the application process, collect the taxes and remaining balances from legitimate paychecks.
Thank you, Toni for a measured and thoughtfully reasonable comment on a subject which rarely draws either :c) ... from the one who was often known as 'doubting Thomas' though that is not my name, so I greatly esteem your alias.
Sorry Newt....can't have it both ways. Amnesty is still amnesty.
The Federal Government is already in court with Arizona, Utah, Alabama .... about states wanting to enforce some kind of immigration laws that the Federal Government has failed to enforce. Now this guy wants to give local communities the power to enforce immigration. Not going to happen. The Federal Government needs to enforce the law. Deport all illegal aliens.
The red tape and costs surrounding legal entry into the U. S. should be significantly reduced. Most of the immigrants I have met cannot afford the fees. They WANT to be legal, WANT to contribute in a significant way to society, and WANT to avoid being used on the black market, yet they need to work to save the money. It's a tangled web.
How about charge a small fee upfront and then deduct the remaining balance from legal, taxed paychecks? It's a win-win for everyone. Americans get the money to decrease the national debt, no taxes have to be raised, and we don't have to hear the Conservatives bitch about the subject again!!!!!!!
One of the more logical solutions I've heard.
I see ONLY one problem to it. The domestic employers of illegals , employ them for the same reason multi-nationals move to China. That is, low wages, no regulation, less paperwork. How do you propose stopping the illegal employers from just firing the now legal employees for a new group of illegals??
It ALWAYS goes back to the employers. Until our leaders grow a spine and require E-Verify. Even , excellent suggestions like yours, are compromised .
Hum Hum Hum........It's just like make Newt to reapply for presidency.
Newt, just tell'm to come to this country legally or we will deport you at the first chance we get.
What many don't understand we are a land of laws, the majority abide by those laws, it is only fitting that those that don't be locked up or in this case deported, otherwise all that this country stands for is doomed.
Child and family servicers rips families apart who commot illegal acts, "illegal" immigrants are no better than american citizens who have their children placed in foster care. Illegal immigrants who have been here over 10 yrs deserve no mercy for being too LAZY to apply for a green card or citizenship. Haven't they heard of "birth control" or planned parenthood?
What a FAKE !! Well Newt must have misspoke
Newt was Speaker of the House under President Bill Clinton!!!!
Newt had nothing to do with the balanced budget, and surplus!!!!
Bill Clinton: Clinton refused to cut a deal with Gingrich, pledging to resist cuts to “Medicare, Medicaid, education and the environment.”
House Republicans last week could halt growth by 1.5 to 2 percentage points in the coming year. This is a battle not only of numbers but also of worldviews, and Democrats should have no trouble explaining why the Republican plan will only result in more pain for anxious Americans.
All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach.
Adolf Hitler / Newt really knows how to LIE!!
Newts statement in New Hampshire: The first Republican House in 40 years and by forging balanced budgets and even a surplus despite the political challenge of dealing with a Democratic President.
Gingrich: Make illegals pay their share of the national debt as an admission fee. That's the total debt not the 'official' debt. The official debt is $15 trillion. The Total debt is over $100 trillion. So that amounts to be $300,000 for each admitted illegal. Pay up illegals!
That's a good idea, having illegal immigrants "re-apply" for citizenship, since they never applied in the first place.
Now Newt, if you can just get all the criminals in this country to surrender their illegal weapons and then "reapply" to get them back and register them, you'll be batting a thousand!
Goodbye GOP. Newt's your man.
Next years elections will be the worst ever. Our country is tanked regardless of who wins I fear.
Why not immitate some ME and EU countries. If you have been in the country for 15 years or more and you have no criminal convictions you are entitled to apply for resident status that gives you many benefits except voting and a passport. You get instead of a passport a travelling document that allows you to travel abroad. To get a passport and the right to vote you have to apply and pass an exam about the history and government system of the country. England, Germany and others have been accepting people from common wealth countries that have entered on a visitor visa and stayed - works for them should work for the US.
Because we have current laws that answer these questions.
It is not hate, it is the law; a law that has been being abused by too many, for too long. It is time to stop the abuse. We hate being abused. We want it stopped. This is the way to stop it. We have an unemployment rate of 9.1%, 18 million Americans unemployed while
we carry 18 million illegal immigrants. We have $2.2 trillion annual budget deficit while illegal immigrants cost Americans $2.2 trillion a year in welfare, health care and education benefits. Have you no sense of logic? The law needs to be applied equally in all situations to be fair to all and effective. Believe me we are all understanding and ympathetic but we can't allow the law to be abused. That is what is happening when people come here illegally whether they did it yesterday or 50 years ago. If you let people get away with this then
every other illegal immigrant and the potential immigrants still in mexico will think they can also break the law and be forgiven later like these people.
Send them ALL back to be fair to all of them here, legally and illegally, and the ones still in mexico who want to be here legally and illegally.
Republican's need to remember the old saying ( watch what you wish for you might just get it ). They want deficit reduction, come January 1 2013 they will get $6.2 trillion worth of cuts. $1 trillion dollars they agreed on just to raise the debt. ceiling. The $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts the super committee couldn't agree on ($600 billion in defense cuts and $600 billion in non-discretionary spending cuts ) and the $4 trillion in Bush tax cuts that expire on that same day. That all totals to $6.2 trillion and President Obama doesn't have to do anything to get them. Obama played the Republican's like a real pro and they didn't even see it coming.
"path to legality" = Newt code for amnesty.
Since we all know Newt cares little about ripping (his own) family apart, clearly his motives are elsewhere.
Newt's done, D O N E !!! Anybody that endores amnesty is out of their minds.
Here is the answer:
I believe an acceptable compromise would be to change the 14th Amendment (remember, ratified in 1968, this was not something the founding fathers wrote) to require at least one parent to be a U,.S. citizen to allow the born child to be a
citizen, and if it is the father then a DNA test would be required. Naturally
if the mother is a U.S. citizen the witnesses at birth will be able to swear
witness to the fact that she gave birth. Also we leave previously so called
anchor babies with their citizenship and those without American citizenship
illegal immigrants be required to leave. These people knew the risks when they
entered the country illegally. The time has come to pay the piper. I am sure they wanted a better life for their children-they got it. The price for that is to go home. Give them a year and then if caught in American illegally they will be banned forever.
It wouldn't be fair to deport the "anchor babies," but it is fair to deport anyone who is here illegally. So let's draw the line there. Give the people who are here illegally a year to leave. That is not an amnesty for a year. If they are caught here in that year as illegals they will be deported and not allowed back for 7 years. As perviously suggested that if they are caught here after the year they are banned forever.
Now for the Amendment: Change it. This Amendment was ratified in 1968. This was not something the founding fathers could have anticipated. It is creating a problem so we need to fix that. It is not like we have never fixed an amendment before (18,21).
For every latino illegal immigrant in this country one legal latino applicant is denied entrance. It is not fair to those who are following the rules. We really can't do anything about the "anchor Babies" and their fore-cestors. They followed the rules-they were born here and the constitution says they are citizens. But that does not mean that we should continue this. That Amendment was new in 1968. It appears to have problems, we need to correct that. And anyone who is here illegally should leave, give them a chance to go on their own, if they don't go and are caught then they are to be deported. And they can be deported. Don't believe we can not deport all of them. We moved a million soldiers last year. We can move 10 times that many people who are not soldiers.
What about people like me, an abandoned baby who had no birth certificate and therefore no parents? I was stateless and undocumented. I should be deported? Where would I be sent, seeing as how I don't have a birth certificate saying what country I was born in and no one knew who my parents were or what nationality they were?
Byn your reasoning then, the I should have been left to drown in the middle of the ocean?
Newt has some baggage, but he probably knows more about running the country and international affairs than the other candidates or BO.
Newt Gingrich has some baggage??? Understatement of the year.
The former DISGRACED Speaker of the House has a steamer trunk filled with dirty laundry of his.
Here is a plan:
Hire 500,000 Americans
Go into these vacant shopping plazas that every town has right now
Open processing centers and lets get them socials.
All you need to get social is proof of employment and at least 2 yrs of residence here. If you can't provide that than you get deported.
5 year limit on getting everyone that is here now registered.
Anyone coming in after are sent back within 7 days. You will need an additional couple hundred thousand to process deportations.
I really don't think this economy can afford losing the money that 40 million people put into the economy right now. Nor the work force that they provide.
Throwing 40 million people out is just cutting our noses off to spite our face and will cost a huge amount of money with very little return.
Lets be sensable instead of spiteful
E-Verify across the entire nation, Most will self Deport, Enforce the laws, Put Millions of Citizens back to work, Increase wages across the board, Lower the chances of outbreaks of disease, Lower the Crime rate across the Nation, Decrease school classroom sizes to increase learning for Citizen children, Increased revenue in social services to help Citizens, We will save Billions and Billions....
Do you think Sandie and Forrest should meet for a coffe?
Ha thats what I was thinking lol
If Newt Gingrich met Jesus Christ, he'd probably tell him to "take a bath and get a job"...
Amen Jam !
and the arguments go on....................................