Carson has not directly said if he supports a pathway to citizenship, but in his book America The Beautiful, Carson seemed to imply that a pathway to citizenship is the "moral" thing to do.
"Is it moral for us, for example, to take advantage of cheap labor from illegal immigrants while denying them citizenship? I'm sure you can tell from the way I phrased the question that I believe we have taken the moral low road on this issue," he wrote.
Carson has also said the United States should model its immigration reform after Canada's guest-worker program. "People already here illegally could apply for guest-worker status from outside of the country," Carson wrote in November. "This means they would have to leave first."
Source: National Journal 2016 series: Republicans on immigration , Feb 23, 2015
Pathway to citizenship unfair to past & current immigrants
Carson took a hard line on the path-to-citizenship issue: "The American people should not be manipulated into believing that they are heartless simply because they want to preserve the rule of law in our nation and look after their own before they take in others," he wrote. "We also have to consider the millions of people who have immigrated here legally as well as those who are in the queue.
It is incredibly unfair to them to grant amnesty to those who have jumped ahead of them in line illegally."
Source: National Journal 2016 series: Republicans on immigration , Feb 23, 2015
Use Canadian model for guest worker program
Dr. Ben Carson was a success [with the Iowa Freedom Summit crowd]. He told a great life story about how he survived serious hardships, and shared his faith.
With respect to immigration he wants to incorporate a guest worker program modeled on the Canadian one. That's a guest worker program for jobs Americans don't want to do, seal the border, and accept applications only from applicants who are outside of our borders.
Source: Salon.com weblog on 2015 Iowa Freedom Summit , Jan 26, 2015
Common-sense solutions: guest workers plus harsher penalties
Rising conservative star Ben Carson seemed to charm attendees at Saturday's Freedom Summit, weaving stories of his upbringing through a series of topics including immigration and health care. Carson, a best-selling author and retired neurosurgeon, spoke in an easy-going style that alternated between sincere and humorous: "I always feel so welcomed when I come to Iowa, because they have so many people here who actually have common sense," Carson said. Laughter followed.
Carson called for common-sense solutions to end government overreach and return America to traditional values. He spoke at relative length on immigration, calling for harsher penalties for those who employ undocumented immigrants and better border security. Carson also called on the U.S. to adopt a version of Canada's guest worker program, requiring those seeking work to apply while they live outside the U.S.
Source: Des Moines Register on 2015 Iowa Freedom Summit , Jan 24, 2015
Overwhelming majority want the southern border secured
The overwhelming majority of Americans want the southern borders of our country secured and our immigration laws enforced, but several administrations recently have been unwilling to get tough on this issue because they do not want to alienate a large voting block of Latinos. This is yet another area where our government's leadership and the wishes of many of the people diverge and the people are being ignored.
Source: America the Beautiful, by Ben Carson, p. 39 , Jan 24, 2012
Ben Carson sketches plan for dealing with illegal immigrants
Posted on September 13, 2015 by
Paul
Mirengoff in 2016
presidential election, Ben
Carson, Immigration
During an appearance of Face the Nation, Dr. Ben Carson took a stab today at outlining how he would deal with the issue of illegal immigration. After criticizing Donald Trump’s concept of deporting every illegal immigrant (and then readmitting “the good ones”), Carson said this:
[L]et’s say we get [the borders] sealed, because certainly in a Carson administration that would be done within the first year. You also turn off the spigot that dispenses the goodies, so that people don’t have any incentive to come here.
Then those who are here, we have to recognize that we can’t just round them up, but we can give them an opportunity to register. I would give them a six-month period.
If they register, and if they have a pristine record, they haven’t been causing problems, I would give them an opportunity to become guest workers — not citizens, not voting people, not people who get goodies. I think that would be a fair way to do it.
In terms of them becoming citizens later on down the road if
they’ve done things the right way, we the American people will decide what the
criteria for that ought to be.
Most of the commentary I’ve seen about Carson’s statement has focused on the guest worker idea. I’ll get to it in a moment.
My biggest concern, though, is with Carson’s proposal eventually to establish criteria for illegal immigrants becoming “citizens. down the road if they’ve done things the right way.” By definition, those who are here illegally have not “done things the right way.” They should be barred from becoming U.S. citizens.
As for a guest worker program, I’d like to hear the advantages of such a system over the status quo which, in a sense, is an informal guest worker program for illegal immigrants who keep their noses clean (and many who don’t). Carson suggests one — “registration” of illegal immigrants. But how many would register?
The disadvantages of a guest worker program have been described by Mark Krikorian and Ian Tuttle. It tends to result in permanent settlement and to depress wages.
Carson insists that under his plan, guest workers wouldn’t be permitted to “get goodies.” As Tuttle points out, however, there are a number of “goodies” that are all but impossible to cut off. Many illegal immigrant households receive welfare benefits through American-born children. There is no realistic way to withhold those entitlements.
Somehow, a presumption has arisen that we need to do something for the illegal immigrants living in this country. “Something” might be a guest worker program, full-fledged amnesty, a path to citizenship, or (in Trump’s case) deportation and readmission (in many cases) with legal status.
This presumption is, I think, a symptom of belief in big government and government-imposed solutions. A less (but plenty) ambitious idea is simply to keep illegals out and to deport those who run afoul of the law in any respect.
Finally, what are the politics of the proposal Dr. Carson sketched? Tuttle suggests that because Republican primary voters seem to want a hard line, it’s far from clear that Carson’s plan can be sold at the present time.
Proponents of comprehensive immigration reform have long insisted that the idea of legalizing most illegal immigrants under certain conditions has substantial, and even majority, support among Republicans. Certain poll results notwithstanding, I have never believed this. But neither do I deny that a great many Republicans are sympathetic to “doing something” for illegal immigrants who abide by our laws (except the ones that apply to immigration.
The problem for Carson may be that he likely is not the first or second choice of this portion of the Republican party. He’s competing for votes, I take it, with hardliners like Donald Trump, not with, say, Jeb Bush.
For this reason, Carson’s statement on Face the Nation might prove politically problematic.
In any event, the major candidates are staking out divergent positions on immigration. It should make for an interesting next debate.
http://www.nationalreview.com/
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