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Charlie Crist on ImmigrationRepublican |
"It's certainly worth a very good debate and research," Crist said. "If there are people here that aren't paying into the system, which everyone agrees there are, that's in essence a form of fraud on the system." Crist said he doesn't support amnesty, but rather an "earned path to citizenship." Illegal immigrants would have to apply for citizenship and be placed in line behind people already seeking it.
CRIST: I don't think so. We probably agree on this issue. The first thing we need to realize about immigration reform is to make sure that we seal the border. Everything else is an academic conversation unless and until we do that. Second, we need to make sure that we're enforcing the law. Laws on the books don't mean anything if they're not being enforced. And third, those who are already her shouldn't be advantaged by the fact that they got here illegally. They should go to the back of the line, go through the regular process, what the law requires, in order to attain their citizenship.
Q: The immigration reform plan of 2007--you still think those are pretty good ideas?
CRIST: I don't think they're bad ideas. I think that those three principles, though, need to be underscored--protecting the border; enforcing the law that's on the books; and no advantages.
GRAHAM: We should have very strong laws against illegal immigration. In terms of legal immigration, our state has benefited greatly. We should continue that tradition of America which recognizes our openness to th refugee-fleeing persecution.
CRIST: I agree with the senator in a lot of that response. I think that it's important that we make sure that we close the door of illegal immigration so that we can keep open the door and the promise of legal immigration. I understand how new blood and new energy and new ideas have made America a better place to live for all of us. And I think it's important that we continue to provide the opportunity for that infusion of new ideas and new blood and a better tomorrow. But we have to make sure that we protect our borders, and we have to make sure that we stop illegal immigration, because we can't afford it.
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Other governors on Immigration: | Charlie Crist on other issues: | |
FL Gubernatorial: Adam Putnam Alexander Snitker Andrew Gillum Gwen Graham Rick Scott FL Senatorial: Bill Nelson Gubernatorial Debates 2017: NJ: Guadagno(R) vs.Phil Murphy(D, won 2017 primary) vs. VA: Gillespie(R) vs.Perriello(D) vs.Wittman(R) vs.Wagner(R) vs.Northam(D) Gubernatorial Debates 2018: AK: Walker(i) vs.(no opponent yet) AL: Kay Ivey(R) vs.Countryman(D) vs.David Carrington (R) vs.Tommy Battle (R) AR: Hutchinson(R) vs.(no opponent yet) AZ: Ducey(R) vs.David Garcia (D) CA: Newsom(D) vs.Chiang(D) vs.Villaraigosa(D) vs.Delaine Eastin (D) vs.David Hadley (R) vs.John Cox (R) vs.Zoltan Istvan (I) CO: Ed Perlmutter (D) vs.Johnston(D) vs.Mitchell(R) vs.Cary Kennedy (D) vs.George Brauchler (R) vs.Doug Robinson (R) CT: Malloy(D) vs.Drew(D) vs.Srinivasan(R) vs.David Walker (R) FL: Gillum(D) vs.Graham(D) vs.Mike Huckabee (R) vs.Adam Putnam (R) GA: Kemp(R) vs.Casey Cagle (R) vs.Hunter Hill (R) vs.Stacey Abrams (R) HI: Ige(D) vs.(no opponent yet) IA: Kim_Reynolds(R) vs.Leopold(D) vs.Andy McGuire (D) vs.Nate Boulton (D) ID: Little(R) vs.Fulcher(R) IL: Rauner(R) vs.Kennedy(D) vs.Pawar(D) vs.Daniel Biss (D) vs.J.B. Pritzker (D) KS: Brewer(D) vs.Wink Hartman (R) MA: Baker(R) vs.Gonzalez(D) vs.Setti Warren (D) vs.Bob Massie (R) MD: Hogan(R) vs.Alec Ross (D) vs.Richard Madaleno (D) ME: (no candidate yet) MI: Whitmer(R) vs.El-Sayed(D) vs.Tim Walz (D) MN: Coleman(D) vs.Murphy(D) vs.Otto(D) vs.Tina Liebling (DFL) vs.Tim Walz (DFL) vs.Matt Dean (R) NE: Ricketts(R) vs.(no opponent yet) NH: Sununu(R) vs.Steve Marchand (D, Portsmouth Mayor) NM: Grisham(D) vs.(no opponent yet) NV: Jared Fisher (R) vs.(no opponent yet) NY: Cuomo(R) vs.(no opponent yet) OH: DeWine(R) vs.Schiavoni(D) vs.Sutton(D) vs.Taylor(R) vs.Jim Renacci (R) vs.Jon Husted (R) vs.Connie Pillich (D) OK: Gary Richardson (R) vs.Connie Johnson (D) OR: Brown(D) vs.Scott Inman (D) PA: Wolf(D) vs.Wagner(R) RI: Raimondo(D) vs.(no opponent yet) SC: McMaster(R) vs.McGill(R) vs.Pope(R) SD: Noem(R) vs.Jackley(R) TN: Green(R) vs.Dean(D) TX: Abbott(R) vs.(no opponent yet) VT: Scott(R) vs.(no opponent yet) WI: Walker(R) vs.Harlow(D) WY: (no candidate yet) |
Newly-elected governors (first seated in Jan. 2017):
DE-D: Carney IN-R: Holcomb MO-R: Greitens NH-R: Sununu NC-D: Cooper ND-R: Burgum VT-R: Scott WV-D: Justice Retiring 2017-18: AL-R: Robert Bentley(R) (term-limited 2018) CA-D: Jerry Brown (term-limited 2018) CO-D: John Hickenlooper (term-limited 2018) FL-R: Rick Scott (term-limited 2018) GA-R: Nathan Deal (term-limited 2018) IA-R: Terry Branstad (appointed ambassador, 2017) ID-R: Butch Otter (retiring 2018) KS-R: Sam Brownback (term-limited 2018) ME-R: Paul LePage (term-limited 2018) MI-R: Rick Snyder (term-limited 2018) MN-D: Mark Dayton (retiring 2018) NM-R: Susana Martinez (term-limited 2018) OH-R: John Kasich (term-limited 2018) OK-R: Mary Fallin (term-limited 2018) SC-R: Nikki Haley (appointed ambassador, 2017) SD-R: Dennis Daugaard (term-limited 2018) TN-R: Bill Haslam (term-limited 2018) WY-R: Matt Mead (term-limited 2018) |
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