2012 Presidential Hopefuls' Immigration Stances
WE ASSESS TRUMP & CAIN ON IMMIGRATION ISSUES
AND FIND THE BUSINESSMEN LACKING
Successful businessmen Donald Trump and Herman Cain have attracted a lot of attention in their own ways because of their announced interest in running for President in 2012.
We have heard a lot of people claiming that both of these men provide some great hope for those of us looking for an end to illegal immigration and deep reductions in further legal immigration of workers to compete with unemployed Americans.
We didn't find that hope. Not yet, anyway.
We can't give Cain higher than a D+.
And Trump is way down in the D-minus territory, only barely better than Newt Gingrich, Haley Barbour and Barack Obama.
As with all the Hopefuls, we rated these two on 12 different immigration issues and then added up the results to calculate their overall grade.
Listening to both men's rhetoric, you might think they are much better on immigration.
But NumbersUSA exists to help you cut through the generalities to find out whether there is any real substance to a politician on immigration. As with all the other Hopefuls, we studied everything Trump and Cain have said or written publicly about immigration.
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Barack Obama - F-
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Haley Barbour - D-
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News Gingrich - D-
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Donald Trump - D-
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Sarah Palin - D-
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Mitt Romney - D
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Mike Huckabee -D
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Herman Cain -D+
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Ron Paul -C-
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Tim Pawlenty -C
THE MOST DISTURBING FINDING
The most disturbing finding was that both Hopefuls show a lack of sensitivity to the 22 million Americans who can't find a full-time job.
Both are Bad (well, Trump is Abysmal) in terms of limiting unfair foreign worker competition. Both of them have made statements that indicate they believe we have worker shortages in various parts of the labor market and that we need to import more foreign workers.
Like most of the Republican Hopefuls, these two have totally avoided dealing with most of the urgent immigration issues that face us.
That means they are allowing the status quo to go unchallenged. The status quo is what allows 8 million illegal aliens to keep their U.S. jobs right now. The status quo is what imports another 1 million legal immigrants with permanent work permits each month and is driving most of our current population explosion and congestion.
SOME GOOD THINGS, TOO
Showing some promise, both are moving in the right direction on securing our borders.
And Trump earns a GOOD while Cain earns an EXCELLENT in supporting local enforcement of immigration laws.
That's it for Trump.
But Cain earns an EXCELLENT for the specificity of his opposition to amnesty/legalization.
And Cain also earns a FIRST STEPS for showing some support for mandatory E-Verify.
ANY HOPE FOR THESE HOPEFULS?
Sure.
The reason we update these ratings weekly is so you can continue to press your favorite Hopefuls to improve their immigration platform.
If you like Trump or Cain, you now know what you need to push them on.
The same goes for those of you who support other Hopefuls, including Pres. Obama. Keep pushing them to do better.
Sadly, Cain's D+ grade puts him ahead of seven of the Hopefuls. The only ones doing better are: Ron Paul (C-minus) Tim Pawlenty (C+) Michelle Bachmann (B-minus) You can find information about how to contact all the Presidential Hopefuls by clicking on their photo on our Prez Grid.
PLEASE MAKE SURE THESE PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS KNOW HOW IMPORTANT IMMIGRATION ISSUES ARE TO VOTERS