Jack,it is as realistic as trying to change the tax code!

About as realistic as the Iraqis being able to send all the illegal aliens home.

Jack , I’d love to see him do this. I’m an indepent voter and I’m looking @ ALL issues and each candiates creditiablity and how they will change the issues. I want to here how he expects too accomplish this, because I have heard it yet.All I’ve heard from most of the candiates are pre-election promises, no how and why .

Just more mindless babel. Jack! What good does it do to send them home if they can come right back? We have to fix the “PROBLEM” first! Seal the Borders. Then we will fully have everyones attention! Then, progress will be made in identifying the illegals as they have no choice buy to sign up to stay or be sent back if they don’t and get caught! You want the immigration problem solved, seal the Borders! That even fixes some economic issues by opening up border control jobs!

What? Huckabee sending illegals home? Are you kidding me? It is nothing more then a move to get votes. Huckabee is amnesty guy, he is lying, wow! I am so disgusted at this, he is the one who told Iowans, that we need to be humane to illegals! Well, I hope you in Mass Media will advertise his lies, so people will not vote for a fraud.

It’s not. First they all have to be caught, then deported, and it assumes none will come back–and new ones won’t arrive. It’s faith-based immigration policy.

I appreciate many things about Mike, but this is not one of them! I cannot understand why the illegal aliens issue has hit the top of the GOP agenda. Not only is this plan/promise rediculous, it is impossible. The McCain plan with it’s emphasis on deporting those who break the law while providing ways for illegals who are productive participants in our country to have a path to legal staus is more humane as well as doable. Let’s secure our borders and then move on to more legitamate concerns such as health care, the economy and terrorism.

He’s lying and he knows he’s lying. This is not the way a christian let alone a pastor should start a run for the office of President. This is not the first stupid thing he has said, I wonder if the religeous voters will give him another free pass. Maybe they think that paying lip service to God, is the only thing that matters. It worked for President Bush, didn’t it?

Dear Jack,

I think that pretty soon they’ll have special troops to gather illegal immigrants like animals…and they’ll be call “security services” or SS for short… I hope the fine art of sarcasm is not lost on this commentator.

-C

PS- Do you think Mitt got the memo that the housing market created fewer new homes, which in turn made those home building companies buy less trucks, which hurt the American car market? Those jobs aren’t coming back home “Mitty”, maybe you could go to Japan and beg for our competitors to make shoddy cars… It wasn’t immigrants which hurt our car market it was a combination of our lack of innovation and arrogance.

Not very realistic, nor is it possible. Gov. Huckabee or “Hickabee” as I like to call him, is not going to be driving a bus from town to town gathering up all of the illegal immigrants & shipping them to the border. There are between 15 & 20Million illegal immgrants here. By the time Gov. Hickabee finishes dropping off 1 load of illegal immgrants & starts to go back & pick up another load, the 1st load of illegal immigrants will have figured out a way to get back into the U.S., fence or no fence.

Jack, I think Mr. Huckabee is on planet X. I keep chuckling when I remember his “Mr Rogers by the highlighted “bookshelf” commercial anyway!

Huckabee’s pledge is impossible to carry out. He’ll ignore the problem of illegal aliens beyond stirring up hatred in order to gain votes. He’s willing to scrap the Constitution if doing so leads to a theocracy with his name on the door of the national church.

why can’t we send them all home, it would be cheaper to deport every illegal immigrant than to provide them with services they shouldn’t qualify for, it would be cheaper than putting them in jail. the only thing cheaper than sending them all packing is to put a bounty on them, i know it’s harsh, but so is there invasion of our sovleernce.

scott missouri

Jack, as realistic as his aim to bring tie religion to the Constitution. The same way, he wants to ignore separation of Church and State, he wants to ignore the legal citizens of our country. Although odds are he will not be a presidential candidate, the person that will become our new leader, together with our elected officials, will only increase our woes in the economy and security areas by allowing illegal aliens to take away homes and jobs from those that deserve them, and allow those who work for terrorism to live among us.

I’m assuming all the illegals will be lining up at a bus stop somewhere just patiently waiting for their “ride” home. On the other hand, as a lazy old retired guy, just sitting around leeching off Generation X’rs, with my Social Security pot of Gold, I’d gladly be among the first to volunteer to drive one of the busses.

It is simple! It only takes a moment to say it. It only takes a moment to think about it too.

Mike Huckabee’s pledge to send all illegal aliens home is as realistic as his likelihood of getting elected and rewriting our Constitution to marry it to the teachings of his religion. We should all pray that he gets Kuciniched!

It’s the right thing to do. They should have to apply and wait their turn outside of this country, just like everybody else.

Once we get all of our unemployed working, then we can bring in legal guest workers at the complete expense of the employer, not taxpayers.

Our economy will then get the boost needed since Americans spend most of their money in THIS country, and we will not be paying for illegals health care, education or other social costs.

It also makes it easier to get the illegals and other criminals that are here to do us harm, they have fewer places to hide.

They won’t go home on their own, but no problema. He can have God swoop in, grab them all up in a jiffy and transport them pronto. Then he can get on with the real work of turning the U.S. government over to God.

Jack

It’s not overly realistic, but FINALLY someone is saying what I have been saying for the last year and that is send them all home.If any American were to sneak into Mexico illegally we’d be locked up in there hell hole jails and not given any rights. I don’t like Huckabee because he’s a republican, but I respect him for his stance on illegal immigrants. McCain is on the wrong path to the Presidency if he wants to put the illegals on the path to citizenship!

Unrealistic. It’s totally physically impossible. It’s what people wanted too hear so he said it. Just like getting out of Iraq in 12 months, logistically impossible.

First of all Jack, theres more like 40 million illegals in our country, not the 12 you mentioned. Huckabee isn’t going to do a damn thing about sending illegals home, Corp. America will see to that. Huckabee like all the other politicians tell you what you want to hear and then it STOPS!!!! The cost to the American taxpayers is tremendous, do any of these politicians care, hell no!!!!!!

Weather it is realistic or not doesn’t matter. What a politician promises and what they deliver on are two different things. Remember Bush Sr. Read my lips, no new taxes. Once elected they forget all about campaign promises and go back to bussiness as usual.

How realistic is Mike Huckabee’s pledge to send all illegal aliens home?

It is about as realistic as either one of us growing back the hair that we loss.

Apparently the pledge to send illegal aliens home is coming from God, and every good Christian in the Bible Belt (the stupid states) knows that everything is possible with a pipeline to God. Huckabee also wants to bring the US Constitution into conformity with God’s law.

Huckabee is pledging to send the illegals home? No kidding. Between this remark and his recent claims to rewrite the Constitution to God’s standards, I have a question for you. What has Huckabee been smoking?
God help us all.

I have no problem with Huckabee’s position. As a Dem, I do have a problem with the Dem party platform. It was on CNN last night that a person yelled out at a Clinton event… “Do I have to be a citizen to caucus?” Do you have to be a citizen to vote? Why do I feel that only in this country would this be asked?

I am annoyed that someone just needs to sign an affidavit that they are legal to vote (you can’t even do that to get over the border anymore). The punishment… you might eventually get prosecuted for breaking the law. pffft… I can imagine the months, even years, it would take to verify all of these affidavits. I can’t imagine we will ever know the impact on the vote. I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s just another special interest put before the American citizen.

Unless Huckabee is willing to start enforcing penalties on employers who use illegal aliens there is no way he can honor the pledge he’s signing. The first thing he will need to address is the role of corporate America in government and those corporations that employ illegals, and from what I’ve heard so far, that isn’t going to happen.
Huckabee is pandering like most of the other candidates. It’s easy to say let’s get rid of all the illegals, but he has no plan for it.

I hope it’s realistic. The millions of dollars that illegal aliens drain out of this country with free healthcare, assistance, free education for their kids etc. The companies that hire these illegals should be heavily fined, so much so where it is not economically feasible to hire them to begin with.

Go Mike go! You make it happen, Jack and I with both vote for you!

We can’t even find one elusive international criminal in Osama bin Laden, what makes anyone think we find the 12 million illegal aliens in this country and send them back? I guess Huckabee has already begun follow the ongoing trend with American politicians, making promises they can’t keep.

It looks like he is playing all conners of immigration problems, and does not have a stand on immigration.

I would expect such nonsense from a candidate who does not believe in evolution and has pledged to support a constitutional amendment to ban all abortions. The evangelical Republican core that thinks George Bush is a great president is as out of touch with reality as he is.

Jack its not realistic to think all the illegals would leave the country but its time to start to enforce the existing laws. If he does that and there are no jobs they will begin to go home.John McCain says he will close the border but after that he says we need compassion. Amesty anyone

It’s impossible. And he knows it. He’s just pandering to the “Lou Dobbs crowd.”

First off Jack, not all illegals are Mexican. Does Huckabee expect the Mexican government to just let all these people back into their country without some kind of standoff.
Second, how is this going to happen? will it be a mass round up, herding somewhere between 12-20 million people into holding camps,,,, loading them on trains, trucks and buses, and sending them across the border at gun point?? My god, sounds like a society gone MAD!
Is this idea, Huckabee’s “Christian moral values” coming of age, or is it another human tragedy which will make it into the history books?

As much as I’d like to see it happen, I doubt anyone is going to succeed in kicking all 12 million illegals out of the country — certainly the man who gives scholarships to the children of illegals and lets convicted criminals out of prison. Huckabee’s fairy-tale world, so full of Christian compassion, is not the real world most of us live in.

Jack,

Considering this country can’t even determine how may illegal aliens are currently incarcerated, I highly doubt if we can implement Huckabee’s plan. Securing the borders and ensuring that employers verify citizenship may encourage many illegal aliens to leave on their own accord. However, there will be those that will hide in the shadows, work for cash or be supported by family members who are here legally. I realize the immigration laws need to be enforced, but will we really feed good about ourselves as a nation if we end up breaking up families and kicking grandmas out of the country to fend for themselves? It seems as though we should be able to find a more reasonable solution.

Sharon

Huckabee’s pledge to send all illegal aliens home is a fairy tale. Most legal Americans want it done and done now. It ranks right up there with building the fence along the Southern border. But we must get real. Big business runs this country and they are not about to return to paying wages that allow employees to live a decent life. Corporations will fight forever to stop deportations, and pay the politicians big bucks to make sure they get what they want. So, sending the illegal aliens back to their own country and building the fence will remain fairy tales until the American citizens stand up and fight for America!

Unfortunately, this is more pandering. I don’t trust this candidate any further than I could throw him. Wasn’t it just yesterday that he said he wanted to amend the constitution to prohibit abortion? While I am NOT pro-abortion, I do NOT believe in discrimination being added to what used to be the greatest document in the world. If people can’t see that this is a continuation of more of the same… BUSH II… then they deserve what they vote for!

The first thing any of our so called leaders have to do to tackle immigration is to ask themselves why are immigrants (illegal or not) coming here. Access to health care, supermarkets and other resources that are sparce where they are is how we sell the American Dream (Democracy) to the rest of the World. Accept that the flow of people and drugs through our southern border will never stop until there is no need for it. Business’ get richer and Mexicans survive to live another day.

We should annex Mexico and send our agriculutre down there. We could move military bases to the border along with other government entities to control the flow and quality of products being shipped. This would also stimulate the economy and help ease the violence and corruption taking place along the border. Costly yes but far more logical than building a fence and the US would be gaining all that desireable coast land. Give them a reason to stay at home.

Huckabee’s pledge to send all the illegal aliens home is about as realistic as his chance of becoming president

I believe him. Unfortunately… the guards were approved. No funding. The fence was approved. No funding. Has anyone noticed candidates often leave out phrases such as: there will be no legal status, I will appoint Attorney’s general (give us their record) whose priority it will be to ensure employers are no longer allowed to break the law, I will provide excellent education to citizens (my state is now proposing to cut education $700-1000 per child, thank you very much), I will stop forcing taxpayers to pad corporate profits by subsidizing their cheap labor. I appreciate the talk, but it is very generic spin with very little substance behind it. How about reducing our ridiculous trade with China and shifting the focus to Mexico which is the source of a large portion of our illegal immigration problem? I think this govt is hypocritical when it claims to care about immigration when they give lip service to trade with Mexico. They need jobs, not lip service. How about enforcing visas? This problem is large and complex and the solutions few and weak.

Oh, but then we have Clinton and her (condescending) buses.

Jack
As the former governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee gave the illegal immigrants a free ride to a college education. What make anyone believe he is serious about sending all the illegals back to their country of origin.

As realistic as Huckaby picking strawberries for my breakfast tomorrow morning.

Can you believe any Republician?

Huck’s proposal is DOA. There are over 70 million Hispanics in the USA. Close to 50 million of them are expected to vote in 2008. Nothing tops illegal immigration with Hispanics.
We want a humane realistic solution to this problem that includes citizenship for those illegals that want citizenship.

On this issue, we vote as a bloc. Long ago, we wrote off the GOP Presidential candidates and we will also do the same with any other candidate that demonizes, or appears to demonize, illegals.

Remember Jack - President Bush only got reelected because he won over 40% of the Hispanic vote.

His chances are as realistic as is his likelihood of getting elected and rewriting our Constitution to marry it to the teachings of his religion.

Whether or not it is realistic. Huckabee is the only one with balls enough to at least take a hit at a problem so bad that the rest of them hide or say there is no such thing as an illegal woman or man. BS. This is one of the major problems with our economy, health, schools and jobs. The ILLEGALS HAVE TO GO!!!!!

Jack, among preachers, this is called a church count. If attendance is 76, let’s round that up to “about 100.” Huckabee knows we can “round-up” 51% of the Mexican illegals in a county, so he is “rounding up” to 100%. Sadly, Huckabee has ceased using Christian principles here!

Luk 18:29

“Then Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, there is no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of God’s kingdom …”

Hmm, I wonder if Huckabee has rejected the Bible in his political press.

Dale
Anadarko, OK

Before we begin to even discuss the issues of morality behind this question, the notion that the United States could somehow forcibly eject 12 million people from the county is absolutely absurd. Our recent history has undoubtedly proven that this government is not the most efficient when it comes to the ability to relocate people (feel free to ask the 1.3 million people in metropolitan New Orleans, or maybe the roughly 150,000 troops in Iraq for whom we still have no concrete removal plans). Furthermore, even if the government could somehow track down all of these people and deport them, the cost would would be nothing short of phenomenal.

I was also under the impression that this country was one built on the blood, sweat, and tears of hard working immigrants, much like these 12 million “illegal aliens.” When did we decide that Emma Lazarus’ famous words: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, would no longer apply? I thought that this country’s dark days of racist rhetoric were finally coming to a close; that we were finally ready to start truly embracing those values that we enjoy calling our American values. But as I listen to the vehement opposition growing against these individuals who have chosen our great country to seek a better life for themselves and their children, I can not help but feel shame and sadness for a nation that is still wrought with racism, greed, and fear of that which we do not know.

that’s about as doable as a snowman in h*ll.

face it. huckabee is a nice guy with a very good heart and good intentions, but he is severely lacking pragmatism…

About the same as my pledge to my wife that I will stop watching football on Sunday afternoons.

MOVE ‘EM OUT ! As a teacher of many of their offspring breaking the backs of public schools in Texas, while they are provided ESL and translators for tests, etc. it does sound good, but the reality is that America is like a ship with a leaky hull. We give ‘em a nice plane or bus ride home and the secret or not so secret crossings continue. So how can we win? We can get tough and quit buying into their claims of keeping us going in the workplace. Americans are denied jobs when the credit report they have to pay for when they apply comes up dicey due to student loans, etc. while illegals come here with a clean slate and sometimes a fakey SS ID#. No credit at all gets the job, while our citizens get further and further down on the food chain because they have computer records throughout the country. Hard to believe that citizens “needing money” are less desireable than illegals with no telling what the background! It’s a system beyond broken.

It is an almost unsolveable problem.. Just annex Mexico as a state, problem solved….
charlotte California.

It’s right up there with getting all twelve Commandments amended to the Constitution and getting China to make safe products.

Actually, after thinking about it a bit more, Huckabee could have the Roman Pontiff require all Catholic church members to register in their birth town. When the immigrants cross the border, Huckabee could quickly, close the door/doors. Don’t laugh, Jack, it was done at least once before.

Dale
Anadarko, OK

How can he promise to deport all these people when he dosen’t even know who they are. That is a bald face lie. It sounds good but is not realistic. As it is right now even if you could gather up and export each and every illegal alien how would you keep them out.
It is not gonna happen in our lifetime.

He signs the pledge in South Carolina and he’ll burn it next week in Florida! Honestly I don’t know who’s worse - these pandering candidates or these idiot fringe groups who make up these wacky pledges.

Elian Gonzales X 12 Million = Yeah right.

Mr. Huckabee’s pledge to send illegals home will be met with resistance by Governors who prefer not to do so. Interestingly, he was one of those himself just a short while ago.

Jack, it’s about as realistic as George H. W. Bush promising “No new taxes.”

It’s not. Period. I would say it’s an insult to the American people, but the sad truth is too many will actually believe him.

Sounds like our prison system will finally get all that space they need! So we won’t be giving the illegals 3 square meals a day and a place to live, sounds good to me!

Jack, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it best when he described the deportation of 12 million illegal immigrants as fiction.

I think Mr. Huckabee is deadly serious about sending the illegals home. However, I don’t think he has the foggiest idea about how to accomplish it. Mr. Huckabee, in almost all of his positions, seems to be serious with no real idea of how to enact any of his policies.

Not only is it unrealistic but it would damage the economy even more so. This is a problem we need to work and come together with. This kind of divisive politics is not only hurting our nation but also fueling racism. We all remember what happened when the “illegal” immigrants went on strike.

Huckabee’s plan sounds like a broken record: repeats what it is, but won’t go any farther than that.

It’s about equally as realistic to arrest and deport all illegal immigrants as is it to arrest all illegal drug users. Not that failure will dissuade us. We’ve been spending billions of dollars a year for 35 years to slowly and consistently lose ground in the war on drugs, so why not do the same with immigration?

I don’t know if anyone’s noticed but this country has been built on cheap labor. From the industrial revolution with indentured servitude to the cheap labor provided by illegal aliens today. It may be possible, but I’m curious as to what the ramifications will be for businesses when this cheap labor goes away.

Sending all illegal aliens home sounds like a great thing but it is just not possible to do. People should be asking Huckabee what exactly he is going to do to get all illegal immigrants out of this country instead of just applauding his pledge.

It’s as practical as him or any republican wining the 2008 Election. Even registered Republican are not excited about any of Republican candidates as much as possibility of getting Barack Obama as our new president.

Jack:

Huckabee is doing a great disservice to Christians. He is pandering for the SC vote. It is just so sad!

It’s about time someone in Washington had big enough gonads to do the right thing with illegals.

The problem is getting it done……..

Completely unrealistic unless you get the full support of state and local law enforcement. It will be up to local law enforcement agencies to apprehend illegal aliens (which they should be doing already anyway) and turn them over to the INS. There are already laws on the books that are not being enforced so what does it matter if one person says he’s going to send them all home? If it was that simple don’t you think we’d have done it already? Oh, I forgot, our representatives in Congress are more interested in bickering with their opponents across the aisle than actually getting anything important done. Too bad.

I hope if he’s elected, he can do it. What’s wrong with saying “YOU are here illegally. Go home”? If I ran a red light ILLEGALLY, would I not have to pay the consequences? I’m all for making them obey the laws of the United States.

His comment is an real and Americans doing hardwrok themselves i.e. working long hours, cleaning, construction etc Lets face Americans don’t work as hard and generally aren’t as driven so what he is porposing is the equivalent of saying ” i plan to raise minimum wage and make people work less efficiently and while I am at it, make American businesses even less competitive”

Jack,

How exactly does Huckabee plan on rounding up 12 million illegal immigrants? And where exactly will the millions of dollars in law enforcement resources come from? Perhaps he could play his guitar around the country with Chuck Norris to raise the required cash.

I doubt that ANY Republican will do ANYTHING to derail the illegal alien employers gravy train. THAT’s the problem with the whole situation. Democrates see the illegals as future voters after an amnisty that eventually gives them citizenship while the Republicans see them as cheap labor that don’t dare unionize because of their illegal status.

A pledge on illegal aliens? Give me a break. It is the economy stupid. He is just pandering. He knows that won’t work.

Hi Jack,

Huckabee can load all the illegals into the trains he’ll make run on time. Maybe Lou Dobbs can drive even play conductor!

If we can’t even identify the illegal aliens in this country, how the heck can we propose to send them all home? And without secure borders, what’s to keep them from coming back in the way they got here in the first place? We’ve got our carts & horses all mixed up here.

Ignorant! Here is an excellent example of another presidential candidate trying to beef up appeal with empty, and in this case, impossible promises. Without even commenting on his position concerning illegal immigrants, I find this whole sharade ridiculous: as if the idea of an ordained minister running for president wasn’t ridiculous enough.

In reality, Mr Huckabee may not be able to send them all home. But think how much better off we would be if he only accomplishes half that goal… I have not heard any other candidate with enough guts to make such a pledge…..

The illegal aliens will find their way home when they can no longer find jobs and use our health care and school systems for free. It can’t be that hard for the U.S. to send millions of people across the border. After all, Mexico did it!

You bet, Gov. Huckabee’s decision to use our nation’s law enforcement (What a concept!) is long overdue. Good for Huck! Good for us, U.S.

I think of it as a very realistic position. After all, if you can’t find and capture 20 million illegal immigrants in the United States, how do you expect to find one lone terrorist?

It would take 40 years to send illegal aliens home if we started right now. This is all politics to get him elected on the Republican ticket. It is unrealistic and a desperate attempt to unite the evangelicals and moderate conservatives to vote for him.

Yes it very realistic, we should round them up in every major city, and send them packing. I still don’t understand why we haven’t been sending them home from the beginning. If we had been, perhaps we wouldn’t have this issue. What part of ILLEGAL do Americans not understand? As an immigrant from south america I went through the legal process of becomming a citizen of this nation, why cant they?

Jack, if IRAN can round-up 250,000 undocumented Afgans and send them home I don’t see why we can’t do the same.

Dear Jack:

Mr Huckabees suggestion to send illegals home is legal and very doable. The only thing I would question is the same that’s shown itself in Congress. Does he really have the intention and the resolve to do it. If he does it will get done.
Rhonda
Michigan

Build the fence, send them back, then make the immigration system work so they can
come in a legal manner as my Grandparents did.

Putting aside the negative economic implications of inexplicably sending away a large portion of our nation’s hardest workers, it seems to me incredibly disingenuous that a party filled with “compassionate conservatives” is frighting tooth and nail to be the one to most vehemently refute the notion of “amnesty”. Seems an excellent way to alienate a large portion of the electorate and pander to those who put fear and xenophobia over the economy and basic humanity.

Gov Huckabee smiles alot but I wonder if he really all there. How in the hell are we going to send 12 million illegals home ? E|we dont have the manpower to send one thousand home. While it sounds good when your running for office are people really that stupid

With the slowing economy, it is very possible. If he appoints an Atty. General that would enforce the laws, we can have 30 Million illegal imgrimgrants go home and never return. They by law are not allowed to come back now. Since they violated the laws. I say instead of sending troops over seas lets bring federal troops to the borders and ports.
We should take any business license from any one that does not check imingration statis.

As a resident of invaded Mexifornia, I know that this subject is a hot and angry one. Everyone I know is angry that this president has refused to listen to the citizens of this country, and our big bad governor runs and hides when this subject is mentioned. All the citizens of this country want is relief from this invasion, actual enforcement of existing immigration laws, an end to being forced to pay the billions of dollars to support these invaders, and last but not least, an end to the nauseating pandering to illegal aliens by our suck-up politicians.

Hmm, let’s see…Election time? Why don’t we break out the worn out illegal alien card and run with it!! It worked for Arnold in California, right? Remember, this train is never late!!

Huckabee’s pledge to give no amnesty to illegals is a step in the right direction. However you must look at what Huckabee has done in the past when he gave illegals scholarships. I never care about what someone says they will do, I only trust people who ‘walk the walk’ and not ‘talk the talk’.

It’s about as likely as Mitt bringing back all of Michigan’s lost jobs and Obama waving his magic wand and creating a nuclear-free, world at peace.

I believe Mike Huckabee has just ruined his campain. My family and I are latino Americans in California and have been voting republican for decades, we supported Mike Huckabee for his values and his previous stance on supporting the children of immigrants, but now that he has announced that he would like to deport every single illegal alien he has lost the support of our whole family and probably every latino american in the country. Great Job Mike!

Huckabee’s proposition to send all illegal aliens home is totally unrealistic. It would require extensive changes and manpower to “seal the borders”. Aside from this fact, the concept of just kicking people out of the country doesn’t jive with American melting-pot ideals. In 2008, we need to be looking to the future for answers, not wasting our time attempting to create some type of purist society. While its true we need to be more aware of border security, we need to understand that we’re moving into a world where we need to work with countries at our borders to enhance our level of security. Banishing thousands or millions of people can’t be the answer - lets think of something better.

Hopefully it is no more realistic then him getting to be the next President. He can do more flip flops then a fish out of water. He needs to go find himself a little Baptist church in the hills of Arkansas and pretend he is saving the world

It’s about time someone started enforcing the law regarding illegal aliens. At least Huckabee has the gumption to say what’s on most legal American’s minds, especially those of us who were brought up in the Southwestern US and have seen our social services, schools, and jails, screwed up because of illegal aliens. It’s Mexico’s problem, not America’s. Stop hiring illegals, stop giving them benefits, make them pay their own way and they will go home.

Its as realistic as the air we breathe. He will be The President and will direct the Congress and law enforcement agencies to simply enforce the laws that we have on the books currently.

Realistic?, Simple, just let the illegals continue to protest, or even announce protest sites as they have been doing around the country, then take the National gaurd and seal off the area (peacefully) and round-up all the cattle, verify whether they are illegal or not, ship them home, and seal off the border with National gaurd troops as you increase the deportation, You may even catch a few criminals while they are at it. Sure, it’s realistic, The Wild West get get a little more wild with the stray cattle.

While I don’t agree with granting amnesty to the millions of illegals aliens ( to include all others than of Mexican/Spanish descent) I think it ludicrous for anyone to think we’re going to locate and deport upwards of 20+ million people and their families without incurring much social unrest and taxpaper expense.

Do I hear the holloow echo of SS and Gestapo boots during the night hours going house to house as under Hitler to locate Jews?

Bush had already trampled the Constitution and our civil rights, now Huckabee wants to rip the social fabric of this country apart.

There has to be a better way — not one for politcial points.

Jack,
If we send all illegal immigrants home, who would mow our lawns? Who would flip burgers in our fast-food restaurants? It is obvious, no American would work for less than two dollars a day. If we send them home, then our infamous Big Mac would cost $40 a small soda $30 and a hot dog, $20. Clearly, this is not a viable option. Instead, we should close our borders so no more would come in. We got enough problems with them already. Just look at the crime rates in Texas and California.

Sending illegal aliens back is realistic, because its been done twice before. When Ronald Reagen gave amnesty to the illegal aliens, he said it would be the last time any illegal alien would be given amneysty, so send them home.

IF he does seal the borders it WOULD work. You can hire as many border patrol agents as you want but until crossing the border isn’t as easy as walking across the street… it does no good. I think the idea he is supporting is great, but there has to be a consistent way of enforcing it.

Jack,
I think we should do just that. I’ve heard of potential law suits by the illegal
aliens stating that they will be suing the US Goverment for services not rendered. The reasons stated for the lawsuit is that since the US Goverment has allowed the illegal aliens to come into this country and have not tried to make them leave, they are therefore entitled to services provided by the US Goverment.
It is time to crack down on the illegals, and the businesses that hire them.

It’s a lovely plan that Huckabee’s signed onto, and if it were to be implemented, the vast majority of law abiding American would rejoice. Huckabee, however, has proven that he has no intention of standing by this or any other pledge: he supports in-state tuition for the offspring of America’s border crisis and takes every opportunity to cover up his horrible record of encouraging lawbreaking with pardons and benefits for the children of illegals. It’s hilarious how all the Republican candidates have rushed to show their “law-and-order” side, without any facs to back up their propaganda. Illegals will still get their amnesty (no matter the terminology), and average Americans will get left in the dust of career politicians.

Not realistic at all. Has anyone actually estimated the cost of deporting millions of illegal aliens in the U.S.? There is likely a a point where the cost of deportation is greater than the social cost of illegal immigration, and I think Huckabee has crossed that line. Not only is it not realistic but it isn’t economic either.

What is wrong with a candidate to become President of the United States actually vowing to follow the law? I do not believe that this problem is unique to the United States. At some point, the US government is going to have to draw a line in the sand and reassert herself as a nation of laws. There is no way that the US government can provide an amnesty plan. The estimates are 12 million, which means there are probably close to 30 million in this nation. Our government has attempted an amnesty plan during the Reagan administration and it simply opened our borders wider. Amnesty doesn’t work. A nation of laws does work. It is apparent that the Bush administration forgot that with their cavalier respect for habeas corpus and government wire tapping. I hope whoever we Inaugurate in January 2009 will join Huckabee in this pledge.

Of course it’s realistic to send most if not every illegal alien home. That has never been the question. The question is making it a fiscal priority so that it can effectively be done. To date, the money we need to help enforce our immigration laws is being spent on wars, rediculous congressional health plans no one else has acces to, pet projects no one needs, and political campaigns so that we can find out who has taken the latest swipe at another candidate. What a nation we’ve come to be. Too bad I’m only 19 years old. I get to watch it all unravel so that my generation can pick up the pieces.

Very realistic. It might take time, but if he’s really going to stand behind his words. It should happen. Everyone talking about global warming and what kind of counry were going to leave to our children, what kind of economy are we going to leave our children. Minimum wage for everyone. We encourage our kids to stay in school. Where are our schools going to be if we don’t act, and soon. I support sending ILLEGALS HOME.

Jack
I am a recent immigrant (15 years) but I came through the “front door” and through the bureaucracy from Work Visa to Green Card to US Citizenship
‘Amnesty’ (by any other name) smells just bad and wrong.
• It is an insult to those who waited in line
• It is an insult to people who came here legally and jumped through all the hoops
• It is an even bigger insult to those who are currently waiting in line
• It is working against working / middle class “Legal” Americans of all ethnicities
I applaud Mike Huckerbee for signing the NumbersUSA pledge
Enforcing the law against employers will send the illegals back steadily by attrition and they can join the queue and come here legally like the rest of us
It is this one issue that has turned me from a Democrat into an Independent
David

I believe Mike Huckabee has the right idea. The longer we sit back and let immigrants come to the U.S. illegally, the more of them we will see crossing the border. They are already taking over our jobs, our civil rights will be next. Sealing the borders can be done and I think candidate Huckabee has the right idea. Show them we mean business and make them cross legally.

Of course it’s reasonable! It’s the law! If these illegal aliens were crossing the border carrying guns it would be called an invasion! Just because they aren’t doesn’t make it any less illegal. That is like saying I only committed a little murder and my victim was only mostly dead.

I think this plan is about as possible as the evacuation of New Orleans before hurricane Katrina, how much of our tax payer money will go into finding these people and then transportation for them to leave the country…then what do we do dump then right across the boarder with Mexico? what about illegals that aren’t from Mexico let alone from this Hemisphere all together, what about illegals from China or Europe, how much will this cost us in transportation? We are talking about 12 million people here do your math thats 4 percent of the country, deportation is a very, very unlikely option.

Huckabee is totally unrealistic. Such xenophobia! Why not enforce the laws that are on the books now and speed up approvals for those worthy persons awaiting a green card. Make it easier, not harder. For example, don’t turn someone down because they got married while their application was pending. Get used to it. Most illegal immigrants are not going anywhere, especially those who have been living here a long time and have children who are US citizens.

Yes, Jack he can successfully send all 12 million home. In his dreams.
The republicans are using the immigration issue like they used gay marriage last election cycle.

We need to secure our borders, and make it difficult for those who cross our borders to find work. That would involve seriously penalizing companies who benefit from the cheap labor illegals provide.

Deporting those folks who have already established their lives here would be
very un-Christian. (Not to mention very expensive and labor intensive)

Huckabee has stooped to the level of the other Neanderthal Republican Candidates.

What a shame.

It’s realistic, Jack, as realistic as the Bush administrations plan to seal the border…

How sad it is to see politicians scapegoating people every four years just to get elected! Last time it was gays and lesbians; this time its gays and lesbians and immigrants. The people I know who fit these categories are all hard-working Christian people who contribute much to our community. Politicians who want to defend the constitution should be more concerned with equal rights and human rights, than changing their tune to play to the worst prejudices of our society every four years. People need the right to live here with dignity, with their families. If they are contributing positively to American life, they should have or be able to attain the same rights we all enjoy.

The Eisenhower Administration repatriated 1.6 million illegal aliens in the mid- 1950s. Since then we have put men on the moon. So why would you question if we can enforce immigration laws? All we need is a president who loves the United States enough to adhere to the Constitution and respects the rule of law.

Please send them home, it can be done, we have the laws, law enforcement and if need be the US Military to enforce it. What get’s me is how this got so out of hand in the first place?…..Mexico is their country , if they have a problem with the government there, then as Mexicans do something about it. You are here illegally therefore you are criminals….(DUH!!). Also could Lou Dobbs run for president?.

I wish all the candidates felt the same way and sent them back to Mexico [or wherever else they came from] and let them apply to come in to U.S.A.

I also don’t think if they cross the border and have a baby the baby should be a U. S. citizen. The child should have a choice at 18 yr old to chose which country he/she wants to be a citizen.

Enough is enough……………we can’t keep providing free medical etc.

We need to close our boarders and quit handing out money for housing, food, medical to illegal citizens . We need to focus on our own U.S. Citizens.

Give me a break. There is no way that it is possible to send all illegal immigrants back to their countries of origin. First off, the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants is far to large a number for us to handle. That is about 4% of the estimated more than 300 million people who live in the United States. Secondly, what about all those children who were born in the United States, who’s grand parents brought these children’s parents to the United States? They did not choose to come to this country. More than just the 12 million people will be leaving the United States. Millions of people who have grown up in this country, experienced the culture of this country, and who have hopes and dreams. Just like I do. Just like you do.

Can you say “fairytale”? Mike Huckabee is hell bent on separating himself from the pack by being the most radical GOP candidate in the primary. First he’s amending the constitution, now he’s rounding up 12 million people. How exactly does he plan to do that? Last I checked our military was fighting Bush’s religious war. He needs to wake up from his Hucka-dream!

13 million…all entitled to due process. Do the math and tell me how the court system will take care of 13 million new cases. How many law enforcers will it take to round them up? Where will 13 million people be housed while awaiting immigration hearings? All of these little details add up to an almost mathematically impossible endeavor.

Better to go after employers. A few harsh penalties and some time in jail for the c.e.o.’s and the problem will solve itself.

Jack
If Huckabee is following the No amnesty pledge to NumbersUSA then he has promised to “send” illegal aliens home thru attrition only NOT rounding up and sending them home as most pro-amnesty groups would suggest. What could be wrong with following US law thru enforcement and sealing the border? I say it is about time someone in (or wants to be in)our government actually agreed with common sense!! Thank you, Gov. Huckabee.

if we can enforce the tax code, we should be able enforced the illegal immigration laws.

I hear quite a few people wanting to leave this country but are having a hard time doing it. Why don’t we send the unappreciative away and keep the ones that want to stay and work hard at making this a better country.

Jack,
To this day, I am not sure where Huckabee stands on immigration. Does he support financial aid to illegals to go to college? Or does he want to send them back to Mexico and make them wait two years to come back and go to college? Would they still get in-state tuition? To enforce our borders, maybe we can create a constitutional amendment that is up to ‘God’s standards’. He could add that as the tenth commandment to his nine point plan.

My son-in-law had a good mill job.

He gets laid off at Christmas a few years ago. (bad)
The mill rehires. (good)
He wasn’t rehired. (bad)
He gets retrained. (good)
He get a job. (good)
He is paid less and has less benefits. (bad)
He is in a high risk job and my daughter is worried when he is at work. (bad)
ICE tries to enforce US law and a raid is carried out. (good)………
The mill has to shut down as the illegals won’t come to work. (what????)

Story: illegal workers only take jobs a citizen iss unwilling to do. The difference in pay has caught up. They are moving to a smaller home this month.

My state California has a large immigration problem. The state is looking at cutting education $700-1000 per child. I can’t wait to see what my son’s education is going to look like now. Does he loose books? I can guarantee you, the buckets will stay in the halls and the mold will continue to grow as there will be no funds to fix the roof.

I have read Huckabee’s plan and have listened to him throughout this campaign. Living in the south and working in the construction industry I know how important this issue is to many people. It is a shame that we have a President and members of Congress who will not secure our borders immediately. Why do we have to wait until a new President is elected to get this done? If our elected officials would do their job now this would be a non issue in this presidential race. I believe Huckabee’s plan could achieve this goal.

Huckabee’s “pledge” carries about as much weight as George W, Bush’s pre-election claim that he didn’t believe in using the U.S. military for nation-building, or Arnold Schwarzenegger’s promise to clean up the California budget crisis. Whatever these jokers say, believe the opposite.

It may not be realistic ,but, our economy may be helped. Hospitals are over loaded with illegals without insurance,schools are over loaded with kids that don’t want to learn English. Our business have to use two languages to deal with customers. I would vote for Huckabee if he can get the job done.

Whoa……….. Not only is Gov. Huckabee’s ridiculous, it’s ignorant. We might as well hire those illegal aliens to go to Iraq and take up W’s call to find the weapons of mass destruction, and offer legal status to those that do !!!

Hey Jack,

You can do it Mikes way, or Obamas way, Enforce the law, or throw up your hands up and say you can’t.

I hear every politician and organization say these people are coming here for work, but no one is saying anything about what it is doing to Americans that are looking for the same work.

Not one of our presidential candidates are addressing the effects of supply and demand that does not reduce costs, it increasing them, and with wages going down, there is no way Americans can maintain a quality of life that many natives, and legal immigrants have come to know.

Thanks

Jay

It is just as unfeasible to send all illegals home as it is to legally allow them to stay here. If they all left at once our economy would collapse for sure. Here’s a way to phase out the illegals and have them leave on their own just as they came on their own.

1) Pass a law making the penalty for entering the country illegally 1 year detention in a concentration camp type prison followed by deportation. This stops the revolving door.

2) Come up with an expedited process to process legal aliens in which we can guarantee their health status, ability to speak english, and the type of work they are coming for. Also come up with a tamper proof document for such legals.

3) Systematically crack down on illegals through their employers. Employers duped into hiring illegals via forged documents shall not be held accountable. Those knowingly hiring illegals shall be punished to the full extent of the law.

Number 1) will make an expensive unmaintainable fence unneeded. These people are only coming here because they can. A year in prison will make them a lot less willing to enter illegally. Number 3) can be executed in a time frame and manner that will eliminate all the illegals without risking our economy.

If Huckabee was a woman wearing a short red leather skirt and stilletto heels, there would be a name for him!

Just like the other presidential candidates, Huckabee will say what ever is takes to get the vote! Same as the woman wearing a short red leather skirt and stilletto heels while she tries to earn a few bucks!

Jack….I don’t think he is being realistic! for one, where is he going to get all the money and support to do this? Supposedly there are 12 million illegals here but that means there are at least 20 million! there is no way they can get all deported. I don’t think this will save much anyways…it will bring more problems to many people! Another question…if we deport all the immigrants, who is going to pick fruit in the hot sun or bad weather, clean houses and hotels, and cook ethnic food in out restaurant. I am american and I have many friends and family here and I don’t know not ONE PERSON that would do the work of the immigrants…do you?? ok maybe you do but i know we cant replace them

thanks,
Mari

It’s easy how to send illegal aliens home, my uncle and i used to drive up to the 7-11 every morning to get our coffee and when we walk in all the illegal aliens were standing there wanting work and when we walked out we’d find them all over our truck. We’d tell them to get out b/c my uncle does not hire illegals but if you dress gov’t workers like masons, contractors, ect. have all of the mexiacans get in the truck tell them all that he needs them and then confine them. You check there status and then ship off the illegals and send the legal ones home. It is simple, inexpensive, and it saves alot of masons the pain of getting the uninvited mexicans out of our truck.

Returning all illegals to their home country is as likely as me returning all the preparation H back in the tube that I inadvertantly stepped on this morning.

If he has the will to enforce our laws, it absolutely can happen. Tell ya why.
When Ike announced to businesses that all immigration laws would be enforced, millions migrated out of the country in a few short weeks. Without any big fanfare, no TV talking-heads comments, no threats from congress, no threats from Mexican government hired guns. The illegals just started moving on down the road and out.

Ike’s stated reason for sending them home? He said that a lower paid working force of illegals would undercut the standard of living for the working man. Imagine that? He actually understood the economics of regular people and did something about it.

Jack, this is almost as unrealistic as the fight on drugs. What does Huckabee expect to do? Empty out Downtown Los Angeles, San Antonio, Phoenix, cities in texas and the rest of southwestern cities, well we might as well give those states back to Mexico.

It may seem unrealistic, because we are getting used to having a disfunctional government that can’t function most the time. I think as long as we’re letting them work tax free, we might just as well give them free house’s . It just might boost the economy!

Jack:
Huckabee’s revelation in regards to what he’d do about illegal immigrants? I think a better way is when President Bush leaves office, he can move his Crawford ranch south of the U.S. border and his beloved, guarded friends will follow.

Anyone who believes that Huckabee’s pledge to send all “illegal” aliens packing is actually realistically doable needs their heads examined. Of course, they all need to go home and get in line with everyone else, but the fact is that most of them have been in the USA or years and have serious roots in various communities. The mere logistics of sending 12 million folks packing is nothing more than just rhetoric at its best. Shame on him - I thought he was a Christian man with morals and ethics - he’s just telling lies now.

Well, Jack, Huckabee’s pledge is realistic, but the problem is would he do it. Right up until just recently he has said that the illegal aliens would have to go home and apply for legal status. When asked how long they would have to be out of the country, he said, “a few days, maybe weeks.” That’s a touchback amnesty provision that’s in his 9 point plan. If he’s saying differently now, then I don’t believe him and neither should anyone else. It’s obvious he’ll say anything to get elected.

Every illegal immigrant costs us money. Get them out and stop them at the border unless they can demonstrate an added value to our society.

So Huckabee plans to uproot millions of people from their homes and jobs, taking their American-born children out of school…to what! Go back to Mexico en masse where they no longer have a home? This is a “plan!” It sounds more like a “plan” to put the last nail in our economy’s casket, cause massive disruption in here and in Mexico. What’s next? War with Mexico?

It scares me that Mr. Huckabee wants to be president. I’ve seen really short-sighted thinking by politicans but this is just plain scary.

He needs to drop this idea like a hot chalupa.

About as realistic as Bush’s campaign promiss’s. He reversed himself on everything except tax cuts (for corporate America and the rich). As soon as he’s elected he will forget about it.

Jack,
As much as I would love to see 12,000,000+ illegal aliens sent back, it is extremely unrealistic and I cant believe that a reasonable person would do what Huckabee has done. It’s nothing more then a political ploy in an election year to get votes. They are here, we let them in, we have to deal with them. What I would like to see otherwise is those in government held responsible for the problem in the first place. This issue along with many others is a clear representation of our government being guilty of criminal misconduct on a unprecedented level. For openers, impeach, impeach, impeach.

Derrick-CA.
Can anyone truly say what the effect of sending 12 million working people packing would have on the economy? My sense is that it would be a disaster or else the government would have already done it. If there was no benefit to them being here then there would be an all out action to remove them. If Governor Huckabee wants to stand on his principle then thats fine. I just wonder if trying to remove them all now would help us or hurt us.

Sorry, but it is far too late to send 20 Million people home, stop and think about the numbers just for one moment. Mike Huckabee as well as any other who speakes of securing the borders is talking pie in sky stuff plain and simple. Americans were told by Washington there were 12-20 million they mean 20 plus! CNN has shown a few tunnels on TV and every canidate has stated they are going secure the borders by building fences. Now Huckabee is going to send them home, ask him to count from one to 20 million….even that’s imposible.

What!?! This is as ridiculous as it is economically stupid. It is also obvious that his campaigning skills consist of typical redneck-rhetoric. He should watch the news more and play off this whole “socio-economic situation” like McCain and Thompson. They target a larger demographic, like EVERYONE. Huckabee’s target voter, is slightly different :).

The sheer cost of hunting down and sending home twelve million illegals is astronomical. Huckabee will have a fun time attempting to raise money for additional governmental employees without rai