Q - Please start by summarizing your position on immigration.
Well, I start off with saying that it’s a big problem. I don’t like to get involved with the Federal Government very much, but
I do think it is a federal responsibility to protect our borders. This mess has come about for various reasons. One, the laws aren’t enforced. Another, the welfare state. We have a need for workers in this country because our welfare system literally encourages people not to work. Therefore, a lot of jobs go begging. This is an incentive for immigrants to come in and take those jobs.
It is compounded because of federal mandates on the states to provide free medical care—that’s literally bankrupting the hospitals in Texas—and free education.
So my main point is to get rid of incentives that cause people to break the law—entitlements as well as the promise of amnesty, citizenship.
I also want to revisit the whole idea of birthright citizenship. I don’t think many countries have that. I don’t think it was the intention of the Fourteenth Amendment. I personally think it could be fixed by legislation. But some people argue otherwise, so I’ve covered myself by introducing a constitutional amendment.
Q - How would legislation work?
It would define citizenship. Individuals that just stepped over the border illegally would not be technically “under the jurisdiction of the United States”. [i.e. not "subject to the jurisdiction thereof," in the words of the Fourteenth Amendment] That’s illegal entry, so they don’t deserve this privilege.
Q -
What is your view on legal immigration?
I think it depends on our economy. If we have a healthy economy, I think we could be very generous on work programs. People come in, fulfill their role and go back home.
I’m not worried about legal immigration. I think we would even have more if we had a healthy economy.
But in the meantime, we want to stop the illegals. And that’s why I don’t think our border guards should be sent to Iraq, like we’ve done. I think we need more border guards. But to have the money and the personnel, we have to bring our troops home from Iraq.
Q-
Is the economy healthy enough right now?
No. I don’t think so. I think the economy is going downhill. People are feeling pinched—in the middle, much more pinched than the government is willing to admit.
Their standard of living is going down. I saw a clip on TV the other day about somebody who was about to lose their house, they couldn’t pay their mortgage. There’re millions of people involved, people are very uncertain about this housing market. That can’t be separated from concern about illegals.
http://www.vdare.com/pb/070912_paul.htm
