Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee wants to amend the Constitution to prevent children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants from automatically becoming American citizens, according to Minuteman Project founder and Huckabee endorser James Gilcrist. The Washington Times reports that Gilchrist, who has recently been campaigning with Huckabee, was told by the candidate of his positions. According to Gilchrist, Huckabee promised him that he would force the Supreme Court to both challenge birthright citizenship, as well as push Congress to pass a 28th Amendment to the Constitution to remove any doubt.
Gilchrist says he was also told the former Arkansas governor what his thoughts are on the case against U.S. Border patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Joe Alonso Compean, both serving prison sentences for shooting a fleeing suspect. "I would make it my first act as president to pardon agents Ramos and Compean," Mr. Gilchrist said Mr. Huckabee told him. "I read back my notes to him twice and I told him I did not want to put words in his mouth," said Mr. Gilchrist, who last week also issue a press release from the Minuteman Project detailing Mr. Huckabee’s positions.
Campaign spokeswoman Kirsten Fedewa said Mr. Huckabee intends to review the case against Ramos and Compean as one of his first acts as president, but she otherwise didn’t dispute Gilchrist’s quotes. Miss Federwa said Huckabee and Gilchrest are "united by a mutual desire to end illegal immigration and are political allies toward that end."
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Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa Cantellano accused presidential candidates of worsening an already ‘adverse climate’ for Mexican migrants and vowed to redouble efforts protect the rights of her country’s citizens living and working in the US . The Washington Post reports that, Cantellano, speaking at a conference for Mexican diplomats, held an unfavorable opinion regarding candidates’ stances on immigration: "Given the adverse climate that prevails for the Mexican community in the United States , aggravated by the electoral debate in that country, we also have to give particular attention to the problems confronted by our migrants."
The remarks from Cantellano echo the criticism that many Mexican officials have levied against U.S. policy on immigration. In November, Mexican President Felipe Calderon called migrants ‘hostages’ of the presidential campaign and urged candidates not to use them as talking points. Calderon also criticized the US Senate in June, calling its rejection of an immigration reform measure ‘a grave error.’
The Mexican media have been giving exceptional coverage to the 2008 U.S. presidential campaigns, particularly on candidate debates about immigration. El Universal, one of Mexico’s largest paper’s has provided constant updates on candidates’ stance on the issue; the day Cantellano made her remarks, the paper carried a piece asserting that Sen. John McCain had become the target of ‘continuous attacks’ for supporting immigration reform and that immigration is Mitt Romney’s ‘Achilles’ heel.’
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A record one million immigrants sought US citizenship last year so they could vote in the 2008 presidential election, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) announced last week. Their findings are consistent with the number of applications submitted last year to USCIS; they claim that in 2007, they received 1.029 million citizenship applications between January and October 2007. The figure – twice the number for the previous year – overwhelmed the offices processing the claims, causing a backlog.
The NALEO believes that the Hispanic population – at 45 million people and the largest ethnic minority in the US – could wield decisive weight in November’s election, particularly largely Hispanic states such as Florida , Nevada , New Mexico and Colorado . Because of the influx of Hispanics applying for citizenship, Hispanic organizations have made a strong effort to minimize the application backlog that is burdening USCIS, so that ultimately new Hispanic citizens will be permitted to vote. "Our campaign is committed to building the support we need to clear this backlog," said Cecilia Munoz, vice-president of the nation’s Hispanic group, the National Council of La Raza. "They deserve the opportunity to have their voices heard on election day."
