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Rand Paul: The GOP needs to “evolve” on immigration

“You can’t have open borders in a welfare state. We’ve got a pretty significant welfare state, so it’s not just about normalizing the 11 or 12 million here, it’s whether or not while you’re doing that another 11 or 12 million come in, and I think that will bankrupt the country,” Paul said. “So I am concerned, but I’m also open-minded enough to say that it is an issue that we do need to evolve on. But I’m not willing to be so much in adapting that I believe you allow people to come in without having a secure border and…letting people get to the front of the line.”

Paul’s twin concerns – a secure border and an exhaustive path to citizenship that doesn’t allow illegal immigrants to leap-frog those who have already applied to come here legally – are the foundation of the argument Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has pitched to allay the concerns of skeptical conservatives. …

Paul on Wednesday took that idea further, proposing a yearly review of border security, so that if certain metrics are not met, Congress could vote to suspend the “normalization” process. Paul said this was necessary because in the past Republicans have traded amnesty for border security, but never received what they asked for.

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No, they are welfare lovers. Their families are by and large subsidized.

astonerii on January 31, 2013 at 10:46 AM

So join the Minutemen.

Notorious GOP on January 31, 2013 at 10:49 AM

So join the Minutemen.

Notorious GOP on January 31, 2013 at 10:49 AM

You are cute, do you come in purple?

astonerii on January 31, 2013 at 10:50 AM

Umm.. what makes you think that Walker is anti-immigration reform? His BFF is working with Rubio on this one.

Illinidiva on January 31, 2013 at 10:33 AM

Last I heard he’s at least managed to keep his mouth shut on it. That’s a heck of a lot better than most GOP politicians are doing right now.

Hispanics, by nature, are GOP voters. Very family and religiously orientated.

Notorious GOP on January 31, 2013 at 10:41 AM

This is a myth. Also, in terms of social issues, African Americans are natural conservatives too. The party has been trying to reach out to blacks now for 50 years. How’s that going for us?

The issue at hand is that if Democrats actually do ram another amnesty through, voting will become irrelevant even faster than we thought.

Rand is not going to dash into a closet, change, and come out as Supernativist because he’d run into Democrat-launched Kryptonite faster than you could say “Obama sucks”. It would end him as surely as proclaiming his father’s views on non-interventionalism.

MelonCollie on January 31, 2013 at 10:29 AM

So… what is your stance, exactly? You’ve admitted what the effect of amnesty will be, and yet you’re smearing amnesty opponents as racists. I find it bizarre you validate their concerns in one sentence and then in the very next sentence you complain about “nativism.”

Doomberg on January 31, 2013 at 10:51 AM

Maybe the way to court Hispanics is to treat them like adults instead of treating them like a number. Wow, what a concept.

xblade on January 31, 2013 at 10:49 AM

No, no, the way to court Hispanics is let the Democrats tell us what Hispanics want (which is amnesty), and then try to ram through our own version of amnesty and put them on welfare. If we just do this ONE THING, they will love us and we’ll have our own captive voting minority forever and we’ll hardly have to do any real work for it at all! /

Doomberg on January 31, 2013 at 10:54 AM

Blue Buddha!

Bmore on January 31, 2013 at 10:55 AM

So… what is your stance, exactly? You’ve admitted what the effect of amnesty will be, and yet you’re smearing amnesty opponents as racists.

That’s a lie.

I find it bizarre you validate their concerns in one sentence and then in the very next sentence you complain about “nativism.”

Doomberg on January 31, 2013 at 10:51 AM

That’s because you’re too dense to get the point.

I’ll restate it once again for you: Rand CANNOT turn into ultra-right-wing Mr.I-Hate-Illegals because it will get him crucified in the press and the public eye.

I know amnesty will be bad. But unless you think he can snap his fingers and make the GOP grow spines, he’s basically all on his lonesome if he goes full-bore anti-amnesty.

MelonCollie on January 31, 2013 at 10:55 AM

Cruz got 35% of the Hispanic vote in Texas, Romney 29%. As in the case of Martinez in NM, whites elected a conservative Latino. There is no conservative “Texas model” for winning the Hispanic vote. Nor does being religiously Catholic make you a “natural” right winger. The Catholic Church always disliked free enterprise. It just disliked Communists even more.

Seth Halpern on January 31, 2013 at 10:56 AM

There is no conservative “Texas model” for winning the Hispanic vote. Nor does being religiously Catholic make you a “natural” right winger.

Seth Halpern on January 31, 2013 at 10:56 AM

I’ll say. ‘Social justice’ for the win…not.

!@#$#@% imbeciles! Did you REALLY think this wouldn’t happen?

MelonCollie on January 31, 2013 at 10:58 AM

Last I heard he’s at least managed to keep his mouth shut on it. That’s a heck of a lot better than most GOP politicians are doing right now.

Christie’s also kept his piehole shut on this. That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t support it as he is a moderate squish. I think that one can safely assume that any positions that Ryan holds on this issue are also held by Walker.

This is a myth. Also, in terms of social issues, African Americans are natural conservatives too. The party has been trying to reach out to blacks now for 50 years. How’s that going for us?

African Americans have a different view on the role of government. They believe in an activist government (i.e. Civil Rights Bill). That plus Nixon’s Southern strategy really screwed the Republicans with African Americans. A Latino working class family might be more inclined to listen to the Republicans idea of small government. The heated rhetoric is a real turn off.

Illinidiva on January 31, 2013 at 11:01 AM

No, no, the way to court Hispanics is let the Democrats tell us what Hispanics want (which is amnesty), and then try to ram through our own version of amnesty and put them on welfare. If we just do this ONE THING, they will love us and we’ll have our own captive voting minority forever and we’ll hardly have to do any real work for it at all! /

Doomberg

I think you’re on to something. Hey, maybe Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin and Barack Obama are just trying to help Republicans win after all!

xblade on January 31, 2013 at 11:03 AM

“Congress could vote to suspend the “normalization” process”…

And then what?

Mimzey on January 31, 2013 at 11:04 AM

@MelonCollie You have good political instincts, and understand how the game is played.

tommy71 on January 31, 2013 at 11:04 AM

African Americans have a different view on the role of government. They believe in an activist government (i.e. Civil Rights Bill). That plus Nixon’s Southern strategy really screwed the Republicans with African Americans. A Latino working class family might be more inclined to listen to the Republicans idea of small government. The heated rhetoric is a real turn off.

Illinidiva

Sigh….there is no excuse you won’t make to justify nonsense, is there?

xblade on January 31, 2013 at 11:07 AM

@MelonCollie You have good political instincts, and understand how the game is played.

tommy71 on January 31, 2013 at 11:04 AM

Thank you.

I hate amnesty and border jumpers as much as any rightwinger here. But I am under no delusions that Rand Paul can make all of Clowngress do an about-face and seal the border all by his lonesome.

Frankly I’m wondering if there is no political solution to this.

MelonCollie on January 31, 2013 at 11:08 AM

I always cringe when I hear the words “evolve” and “immigration” in the same sentence. One way or another, “evolving” boils down to preferential treatment for criminals and another assault on my bank account to redistribute my wealth to people to whom I am not indebted. It also comes down to Republicans acting more like Democrats so we can appeal to yet another bloodsucker demographic, the Hispanics.

CrustyB on January 31, 2013 at 11:11 AM

Cruz got 35% of the Hispanic vote in Texas, Romney 29%.

Seth Halpern

And yet, both were against amnesty. It’s almost like Romney’s opinion on amnesty had nothing to with his low Hispanic numbers at all. Hmmm. Maybe, like a lot of other people, they just didn’t like the guy.

xblade on January 31, 2013 at 11:19 AM

You are cute, do you come in purple?

astonerii on January 31, 2013 at 10:50 AM

Yes, but Mitt is more purpleish.

Notorious GOP on January 31, 2013 at 11:24 AM

You know what hispanics here legally are most concerned with?

Jobs.

You know what wold happen if illegals were deported/forced to self deport?

There would be a lot more jobs.

If the GOP really wants to make inroads into the hispanic vote, enforcing the laws already on the books is the way to go.

Because the end result of amnesty, is to turn America into Mexico – and who really wants that?

Rebar on January 31, 2013 at 11:29 AM

Here’s the problem:

Whites are comprising an increasingly smaller percentage of the electorate, and everyone else is voting D in steady or increasing numbers.

This isn’t really our fault: the MFM hammers this meme 24/7/365, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. It doesn’t matter how many elected minorities we showcase at our convention or that OWS is just as white as the Tea Party. You’re fighting against a DNC propaganda machine constantly at work.

The days of GOP candidates talking about self-deportation are over. We’re fighting an information war against a media that is openly working for our opponents. Paul, Rubio and others have decided that the only way to try and overcome their corruption is to try and undercut their narrative so that we can get the rest of our message across. I don’t know if it will work, but I don’t really see many other options.

crrr6 on January 31, 2013 at 11:56 AM

The days of GOP candidates talking about self-deportation are over. We’re fighting an information war against a media that is openly working for our opponents. Paul, Rubio and others have decided that the only way to try and overcome their corruption is to try and undercut their narrative so that we can get the rest of our message across. I don’t know if it will work, but I don’t really see many other options.

They should have never openly talked about self-deportation to begin with. But Romney was just an awful politician.

Illinidiva on January 31, 2013 at 12:10 PM

crrr6, shhh, now you’re talking pragmatism (my domain).

tommy71 on January 31, 2013 at 12:17 PM

As a Mexican born non-latino/non-hispanic/non-chicano can someoene explain to me the benefits of these “plans” to the American taxpayer?

pacificcon on January 31, 2013 at 12:20 PM

They should have never openly talked about self-deportation to begin with. But Romney was just an awful politician.

Illinidiva on January 31, 2013 at 12:10 PM

So, then what should he have said? You’re either going to a) deport them, b) cause them to self-deport, c) legalize them. C is an anathema to conservatives, and he chose option B. I don’t remember his answer exactly being scorned around here.

crrr6, shhh, now you’re talking pragmatism (my domain).

tommy71 on January 31, 2013 at 12:17 PM

Thanks. I should add that my preference would be for some rich GOP tycoons to buy up all the TV networks for more balanced press coverage on the issues, but that doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon.

crrr6 on January 31, 2013 at 12:37 PM

I wonder how GWB won 40% of the Hispanic vote in 2004. But thats a statistic most tend to ignore. Oh, Amnesty, we’re doomed. Lol. But I know GWBs secret.

tommy71 on January 31, 2013 at 12:55 PM

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