Final grade on immigration before the voting starts

Just in case anyone cares as much about the issue as I do, here are my thoughts on the presidential candidates of both parties on illegal immigration. Numbers USA has done the same thing, and here are their rankings.

All of the Democrats - Unacceptable
No matter what they say now, they are for the pre-summer of 2007 status quo, which is open borders (and, if something must "be done", amnesty). Don't be fooled by their rhetoric, which is pretty weak anyway. At least Obama is honest when he says in debates that he wants amnesty and open borders (which is different than what's on his website, and thus I don't believe his website), and that's consistent with his votes for amnesty since he's been in the Senate.

I will give some credit to John Edwards, though, in that he can plausibly make the case for cracking down on illegals. His whole schtick is about helping blue-collar workers (rather than just the panoply of left-wing issues), so I believe he would perform some level of border tightening based on the economic issue of illegals dragging down wages.

I should be more fair to Chris Dodd, who isn't awful. He was still an amnesty supporter, though, so take that for what it's worth. (He has no section on his website for illegal immigration.)

The Republicans are much tougher to decipher, but I'll try my best. I've been following these guys very closely over the past year, and they each deserve their own comment.

Duncan Hunter - Gold Standard
He's the best, but he has no chance of winning. His congressional district is in San Diego, and he was instrumental in building the fence there that dramatically cut down on border crossings (the video is excellent). He's got the record and the ideas (on everything, actually), so it's unfortunate he won't win. He'd be a great president, or failing that, Vice President or Defense Secretary.

Ron Paul - Gold Standard
He's definitely got some bad ideas (mostly on foreign policy), but he is as close to Hunter on this issue as anyone. He even wants to end birthright citizenship, so this issue is something I agree with him 100%.

Fred Thompson - Very Good
He doesn't have the track record on this issue, but at least he doesn't have much of an open borders record. He was for a mild amnesty back in the 1990's, but in fairness to him, the massive influx of illegals since then has certainly changed things. Thus, he deserves a pass for that. Plus, his consistent record and philosophy of small government and American strength matches very nicely with his current views. Out of the top five contenders, he's the best, as his detailed plan shows.

Mike Huckabee - Incomplete (probably Bad)
It's not easy to write that Huckabee is bad on this issue, as he's come up with a plan that's arguably tougher than Thompson's. The problem is that it's totally at odds with his record as governor of Arkansas and with his religious faith (which is something that he uses as a central theme in his campaign, so I am going to use it against him here). I just don't believe him on anything he says, so despite his wonderful plan, I don't like him on this issue.

Mitt Romney - Decent
He's been all over the place on this issue in his career, and he's a bit of a late convert. However, I get the feeling that Romney's going to stick by what he promises during this campaign. That's not much, I know, but he's OK and he wouldn't be a disaster on immigration. His plan is pretty solid.

Rudy Giuliani - Bad
Basically, until his presidential run he was for open borders. His current plan is to seal the borders and ensure that foreigners have secure ID cards or something. Noticeably missing is any mention of what to do about current illegals (meaning, he wants to do nothing about them or give them amnesty). Out of anybody else, I would consider this unacceptable. However, Rudy is, if nothing else, a serious man, so I presume that he would do his damndest to ensure that his plan is implemented. It's no doubt better than what we've got now, so that saves him from a worse grade.

John McCain - Unacceptable
Not hard to figure out. He's been for open borders his entire career in the Senate, and he was instrumental in the amnesty abomination this past summer. Yes, this is how that bill came about:

Working behind closed doors for months, a handful of Democrat and Republican staffers, along with a few senators and principals from the Administration, have been drafting a “comprehensive immigration reform package.” Until Saturday morning, May 19, 2007, the legislation was unavailable to any other senators or staff, let alone the media, policy analysts, or the general public. This legislation would be the most significant reform of immigration policy in 40 years, affecting not only our national security and homeland defense but the fiscal, economic, and social future of the United States for several generations. A document marked “DRAFT – FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY,” is being relied upon by senators and staff as the final language to be debated beginning on Monday, May 21, with the expectation of a vote on final passage -- without congressional hearings, committee mark-up, fiscal analysis, expert testimony, or public comment -- before the Memorial Day recess. This is not a good way to deliberate over such an important piece of legislation and tosses aside years of the U.S. Senate tradition as being the most deliberative body in the world.

McCain knew the only way to get it passed was to write it in secret with a few other senators and then try to ram it through the Senate for passage. Let's not forget this wonderful bit of statesmanship on his part, too:

During a meeting Thursday on immigration legislation, McCain and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) got into a shouting match when Cornyn started voicing concerns about the number of judicial appeals that illegal immigrants could receive, according to multiple sources -- both Democrats and Republicans -- who heard firsthand accounts of the exchange from lawmakers who were in the room.

At a bipartisan gathering in an ornate meeting room just off the Senate floor, McCain complained that Cornyn was raising petty objections to a compromise plan being worked out between Senate Republicans and Democrats and the White House. He used a curse word associated with chickens and accused Cornyn of raising the issue just to torpedo a deal.

Things got really heated when Cornyn accused McCain of being too busy campaigning for president to take part in the negotiations, which have gone on for months behind closed doors. "Wait a second here," Cornyn said to McCain. "I've been sitting in here for all of these negotiations and you just parachute in here on the last day. You're out of line."

McCain, a former Navy pilot, then used language more accustomed to sailors (not to mention the current vice president, who made news a few years back after a verbal encounter with Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont).

"[Expletive] you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room," shouted McCain at Cornyn. McCain helped craft a bill in 2006 that passed the Senate but couldn't be compromised with a House bill that was much tougher on illegal immigrants.

After the bill failed, his front-running presidential campaign went belly-up, and he is only now beginning to come out it. He currently only wants to strengthen the border, which makes his "plan" the weakest official plan out of any of the big candidates in either party (even Hillary lies to make her plan look decent). Note how it is full of non-sequitors such as improving the economy and strengthening alliances with Latin American countries. I guess McCain gets some credit for not lying to us, though according to this link he's doing it just on this weak promise to tighten the border (the picture makes me throw up in my mouth). He'd be a total disaster as president in this area. If he gets the nomination, I'd rather stay home than let him destroy the Republican party as president.