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Lindsey Graham presidential campaign, 2016/Immigration
From Ballotpedia
 Lindsey Graham |
U.S. Senator (Assumed office: 2003) U.S. House of Representatives (1995-2003) |
2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016 |
This page was current as of the 2016 election.
- On November 3, 2015, Lindsey Graham criticized Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s decision not take up comprehensive immigration reform while President Obama is in office. Graham said, "Forget about working with Obama, just take up the bill and vote. If you don't like the Senate bill change it, but at least vote. Take a stand. ...It's wrong for the House not to take a position on immigration. I think it hurts our party.” Graham was one of the original Gang of Eight senators who drafted and passed a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill in the Senate in 2013.[2]
- On October 12, 2015, Graham held himself up as an example that a Republican could support amnesty for undocumented immigrants and still succeed “in the reddest of red states.” He added, “I am called ‘Lindsey Grahamnesty’ and ‘Lindsey Gomez.’ To all the Gomezes out there, I will try to honor the family name."[3]
- During the September 2015 GOP debate, Graham said that the people who come to America illegally or on tourist visas to have babies are “bastardizing citizenship” and that he’d like to stop the policy of birthright citizenship to limit this problem. He also said, “We're not going to deport 11 million people here illegally, but we'll start with felons, and off they go. And, as to the rest, you can stay, but you got to learn our language. I don't speak it very well, well, look how far I've come?” Graham also encouraged creating a better system for legal immigration. “We're going to need more legal immigration. Let's just make it logical. Let's pick people from all over the world on our terms, not just somebody from Mexico. Let's create a rational, legal immigration system because we have a declining workforce,” said Graham.[4]
- Graham discussed immigration reform and Donald Trump’s policy proposals during a CNN interview on August 17, 2015. “I think it’s a bad practice to give citizenship based on birth. We have evidence of people buying tourist visas for the express purpose of coming over here and having a child as birth tourism. I don’t think that’s a good idea. But that’s not going to happen until we fix a broken immigration system. Donald Trump’s eight-page plan is absolute gibberish, that is unworkable. Mitt Romney said his biggest mistake as a candidate for president was embracing self-deportation. That hurt our party. Donald Trump’s plan is forced deportation. It’s not going to work. It is unworkable,” Graham said.[5]
- On July 30, 2015, Graham warned he would veto any immigration reform bill that did not include a pathway to citizenship if he were president.[6]
- Graham, who is a member of the bipartisan Gang of Eight, co-sponsored the comprehensive immigration reform bill, S 744 - Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, which passed the Senate on June 27, 2013.[7]
| "Senator Graham's Speech on Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill," June 27, 2013. |
- In 2013, Graham voted against an amendment to S 744 - Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, which would have required the completion of 350 miles of fence described in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 "before registered provisional immigrant status" could be granted. It also required that 700 miles of fence be completed before the status of registered provisional immigrants could be changed to permanent resident status. It was rejected on June 17, 2013.[8]
- Graham and the Gang of Eight support a path to citizenship. According to the Washington Post, "The senators envision a temporary legal status and then the opportunity to obtain a green card, upon payment of back taxes, learn English, and a background check 'among other requirements.'"[9]
- During a 2013 interview with Meet the Press, Graham said, "We’re in a demographic death spiral as a party and the only way we can get back in good graces with the Hispanic community, in my view, is to pass comprehensive immigration reform. If you don’t do that, it really doesn’t matter who we run, (in 2016) in my view."[10]
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ NPR, "Lindsey Graham Ends Presidential Bid," December 21, 2015
- ↑ The Hill, "Graham 'frustrated' by Ryan's immigration comments," November 3, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Times, "Lindsey Graham: Critics call me ‘Lindsey Grahamnesty’ and ‘Lindsey Gomez’," October 12, 2015
- ↑ Washington Post, "Full transcript: Undercard GOP debate," September 16, 2015
- ↑ Breitbart, "On the Bubble: Graham Under 1%," August 17, 2015
- ↑ The Chicago Tribune, "GOP presidential hopeful Lindsey Graham talks immigration in Pilsen," July 30, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, “S.744 - Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act,” accessed January 23, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, “S.Amdt.1197 to S.744,” accessed January 25, 2015
- ↑ Washington Post, “Gang of Eight immigration plan: Reality-based legislating,” accessed January 23, 2015
- ↑ The Daily Beast, “Lindsey Graham Wasn't Afraid to Fight for Immigration Reform,” accessed January 23, 2015
