Sarah Palin Finally Talks About Immigration
Sarah Palin finally gave us some insight into her views on immigration during her first interview with a Spanish-language network. In the interview with anchor Jorge Ramos, Palin confesses that she doesn't know how many illegal immigrants live in Alaska, she does not support mass deportation, and she favors a path to citizenship over amnesty.
What is lacking in Palin's responses is a sense that she has a grasp on the bigger concepts. She does not discuss any plans to help solve the immigration issues that Ramos brings up. Instead she gives almost pageant-like answers that are enthusiastic, but lack substance.
The interview was aired during the broadcast of "Aquí y Ahora" on Univision Network. It was conducted in English but aired using Spanish voice-overs for the network's audience. You can see a video of the interview at Univision.com.
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Comments
Sara does not understand the immigration issue, illegal that is, and that no one coming here illegally, no matter what the reason, should be able to jump ahead of those coming legally in the path to citizenship!
What issue? If you’re here illegally, you have broken the law and are subject to arrest. If I were to enter any other country illegally it would be the same thing for me.
“What issue?” Hmm well how about the issue that the US would not be able to function without the work “illegal” immigrants give daily, the businesses built on their labor, the crops picked by their hands, and the daily spending they put into our economy. I doubt Sarah does know anything past her given talking points, but at least she knows that a massive deportation is not even an option. You think we’re in a financial crisis right now? Without the fiscal contributions of “illegals” it would be a lot worse. Why is it do you think that the deportation police don’t just (as you so intelligently suggest) round them up? Do you think they don’t know where to look? Perhaps you should send them a hint to try the back kitchens of every kind of restaurant, or the fields where they pick our crops…there are lots of ummm hidden places they could try? Its because they don’t want to get rid of the problem because the “problem” is in actuality an even bigger problem for the country were it to be “solved.” Lets continue spending millions of tax dollars to build useless fences and walls that run through colleges and such lol. Yup that’ll do it. Lets just simply arrest all the illegals to already overcrowded jails, instead of leaving room for the real delinquents. Or we could always just separate parents from their homes and families and children after decades of just trying their hardest, in most cases at a backbreaking pace, to create the “American Dream.” Forget the billions they pour INTO our economy, particularly through sales tax. The economy can afford to just be morally superior to people trying to make it. Palin’s lack of knowledge in every key policy issue, both domestic and foreign is no surprise. She’s lucky this issue took a back seat to the economy and the war. As she said, she’s been in Alaska and those Mexicans like their warm weather so she apparently hasn’t had the “opportunity” to form an intelligent opinion on an issue that has dominated politics for decades…it just hasn’t affected her so why get useless knowledge apparently? :-/ …On an up note for the two of you though, our country is in so much trouble right now that those “illegals” are probably trying to jump, run, or crawl under, over and around that blasted fence…JUST in the OTHER direction! Demonizing immigrants is pretty low on the priority list right now apparently. On a last note, there is no lottery system to become a citizen as long as you are eligible, so if granted amnesty, there would not be people qualified for citizenry turned away as a result. It’s the green cards and work visas that are low in quantity. I’m also not saying that illegal is the way to go, but there needs to be a middle ground that doesn’t demonize many of these working class people who just wanted to work hard for their family to build a better life. Dismissive ignorance is what feeds prejudices in this country at a time when diplomacy and acceptance is crucially lacking and needed in order to move this country in a new and better direction. I just think both your comments were a perfect example of what isn’t needed in a very important discussion that will eventually come to the forefront again.
There is nothing wrong with legal immigration. I brought my wife and stepson in the legal way. Illegal immigration is just what it implies. I agree with Palin that amnesty is not the answer. It is not fair to law abiding citizens. I don’t blame people for doing something that they are allowed to get away with. There are a lot of tight wads in this country who would rather use illegal labor than pay a decent wage and hire unemployed Americans. The old statement that they only do the jobs that no one else wants is a total crock. Illegal immigrants actually lower the wage standards for all of us. I would not arrest Illegals but I would impose strong penalties against employers including jail time for repeat offenders. If they feel that there is a real need for immigrant labor then offer programs to bring them in legally at the same pay rate that an American citizen would receive.
Why would anyone expect a governor from Alaska to have ever even had the need to develop any extensive views on illegal immigration. I believe that Palin is a woman of integrity more so than any other politician in the running and I am sure that when the time comes for her to be more involved in this issue she will handle it with fairness and integrity.
No Sarah Palin probally hasn’t had much of the Illegal Immigration Problems in Alaska but I hope she is able to see the Problem an no it a bit better now but its the same ole stuff with our ELECTED Officals , It’s Illegal an can be fixed if they wanted it to be but I feel there is too many DOLLARS involved an that is something we all need but some just dont care how they get it. But we are losing more than Dollars ,LIVES is something that grows daily an some folks JUST DON”T CARE. All the Pro Illegal’s cry when there is a Raid or someone gets caught for whatever they say its busting up Familys when one is deported , but when they leave their Country doesnt that break up Familys too??they dont care about that though do they . how many Pro Illegal orginations try to fix the Problem?? or Try an Help folks like me ,where my life was CHANGED FOREVER when Gonzalo Harrell Gonzales a Illegal Allien crashed our car Killing my Son Dustin ,Lucky our dog an put my wife in a wheel chair then Dissapeard an can’t be foud Yet But I am Still TRYING , where is any of these originations Crying Foul or Humanity ???? http://www.LegalAmericanFolks.com tell my story
The problem is that illegal immigration is allowed, by those in government, to continue unabated.
The problem with legal immigration is that, at least since 1965, there has been far too much of it. Rather than issuing a couple thousand visas for exchange visitors and students, they’ve been issuing hundreds of thousands. Instead of issuing 1,000 H-1B visas, they’ve been issuing over 100K.
Without all of this excessive immigration, the USA would be far less over-crowded, the schools would be far less encumbered by students who don’t understand American English, and average test scores would be higher, and the job markets would be far less dysfunctional.
This reporter is a biased idiot. Palin gave pageant answers.
Duh? She said she favors LEGAL immigration over amnesty.
She said she doesn’t know who many illegals are in Alaska. How can she? They’re illegal. Again — Duh?
This article is nonsense. ILLEGALS suck the money from our government. They suck jobs from AMERICANS.
If you want to mover to a new country — do it legally.
Nuff said.
Becky, she could find out very easily! There are 40,000 illegal aliens in Alaska and she’s done nothing to rid them from her state.
The following from Marcus Epstein at vdare.com on September 16, 2009:
“While illegal immigration is not as bad as in the rest of the country, there are an estimated 40,000 Hispanics in the state, making up nearly 6% of the population. And over 5% of the population are Asian or Pacific Islander (this is not including Eskimos.) As of 2000, 6% of the population were immigrants and over 14% spoke a language other than English at home—and that number has no doubt gone up.
Alaska also has three sanctuary cities—Sitka, Fairbanks, and Anchorage. In 2003 the state legislature passed a resolution that forbade the use of funds for immigration enforcement, making it one of only three Sanctuary States. Sanctuary cities have become a huge part of the immigration debate to the point that Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney had heated arguments over each other’s inaction on the issue. Palin has said and done absolutely nothing in regards to her state’s policies.”