Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann’s positions on immigration rank among the most conservative and restrictive in the Republican Party. She has become a favorite of the Tea Party because of these views.
Rep. Bachmann supports building a fence along the Mexican border, deporting all illegal immigrants in the United States and state lawmakers who have written their own immigration laws.
Bachmann opposes the DREAM Act and any comprehensive reform plan that includes a path toward permanent residency or citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants already living here.
The Minnesota congresswoman also opposes the so-called “anchor baby” provision in the U.S. Constitution that gives U.S. citizenship to any child born in the country, regardless of how the child arrived here or whether its parents are here legally or not. Bachmann supports repealing the 14th amendment. “We’ve got to end this anchor baby program,” she has said repeatedly during the primary campaign in Iowa.
Bachmann is adamant that the government “should not do anything” for the children of illegal immigrants.
“Their parents are the ones who brought them here. They did not have the legal right to come to the United States,” she said in Iowa. “We do not owe people who broke our laws to come into the country. We don’t owe them anything.”
She has been harshly critical of GOP rival Rick Perry for signing a version of the DREAM Act as governor of Texas.
Border Fence Is ‘Job No. 1’
Bachmann solidified her standing as the Tea Party favorite on immigration when she signed a pledge to complete a double fence along the entire 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border by 2013. She said if elected president, the project would be “job No. 1.”
“And it will be every mile, it will be every yard, it will be every foot, it will be every inch of that border,” she told the Los Angeles Times, “because that portion you fail to secure is the highway into the United States.” She says it is “madness” that “illegal aliens” are allowed to come into the country.
Bachmann believes that securing the borders is a national security issue. She says many of those who come into the United States illegally have ties to terrorist organizations, drug cartels or have criminal records.
During a debate sponsored by MSNBC, she said the consequence of not having a border fence is “to yield United States sovereignty to another nation. That we cannot do.”
Support for Arizona, Alabama Lawmakers
Bachmann sides with state legislatures in Arizona, Alabama, Georgia and elsewhere that have written their own immigration laws. She blames the White House and Congress for failing to enforce federal laws already on the books.
“The federal government has failed the American people and has failed the states,” she said during a debate in Orlando, Fla. “It's reprehensible that Pres. Obama has sued Arizona for trying to protect the people in Arizona. That's wrong. As president, I would do what my job would demand of me. That's to uphold the sovereignty of the United States of America.”
Bachman says she would restore federal control over the nation’s immigration policy. Until the government achieves that, reforms will have to wait.
“The last time our immigration laws were overhauled was in 1986, when Congress granted amnesty to almost three million illegal immigrants in the U.S. and promised increased border security in the near future,” Bachmann says. “Twenty years later, the number of illegal immigrants in our country has quadrupled, with no end in sight. Rather than repeating the mistakes of our past, I believe Congress must work to secure our nation’s borders and enforce the immigration laws already in place. Once this is achieved, improvements to the current system can be considered.”
After Republican rival Newt Gingrich suggested some limited amnesty might be necessary, Bachmann fired off a letter to conservative supporters assailing his stance and calling for strict enforcement.
"Conservatives oppose illegal immigration. We believe there is a right way and a wrong way to immigrate to the U.S. However, as conservatives we believe that our laws must reflect reality and common sense, be fiscally responsible, and avoid the loss of innocent life,” she wrote. “The status quo is unacceptable and clinging to the status quo, or tougher versions of it, is neither conservative nor principled. It has become clear that the only viable approach to reform is combining enforcement with additional legal avenues for those who wish to work in our economy, while also addressing the situation of those already here in the U.S."
Bachmann says President Reagan's support for an amnesty provision in 1986 immigration legislation was a mistake that has drawn more illegal immigrants into the United States.
