Candidates' positions are categorized as Pro (Yes), Con (No), Not Clearly Pro or Con, or None Found.
Candidates who have changed their positions are listed as Now their most recent position.
(Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by party; black & white photos indicate candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria.)
Chuck Baldwin, Founder and Minister of the Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL, issued the following statement through his Communications Director, Mary Starrett, in an Aug. 11, 2008 email to ProCon.org:
Bob Barr, former US House Representative (R-GA), in an Apr. 16, 1999 article titled "The Consequences of Illegal Immigration" on his US House of Representatives website:
"Unfortunately, all immigrants do not enter our country legally. Some citizens of other countries don't come to America for the right reasons. Instead, they cross our borders to engage in criminal activities or benefit from the services American taxpayers pay for. In the process, they endanger public safety, drain government coffers, and harm the reputation of other foreign-born citizens who followed the law and entered America legally...
...[T]here are large numbers of people living in our country illegally, competing with Americans for jobs, and sopping up large amounts of our tax dollars." Apr. 16, 1999 Bob Barr
John McCain, US Senator (R-AZ), stated in a May 13, 2005 article titled "Members of Congress Introduce Comprehensive Border Security & Immigration Reform Bill [S.2611]" on his US Senate website:
"The reality is, there are an estimated [?] million undocumented people living and working in this country. It would be impossible to identify and round up all 10 to 11 million of the current undocumented, and if we did, it would ground our nation's economy to a halt. These millions of people are working. Aliens will not come forward to simply 'report and deport.' We have a national interest in identifying these individuals, incentivizing them to come forward out of the shadows, go through security background checks, pay back taxes, pay penalties for breaking the law, learn to speak English, and regularize their status. Anyone who thinks this goal can be achieved without providing an eventual path to a permanent legal status is not serious about solving this problem." May 13, 2005 John McCain
Cynthia McKinney, former US House Representative (D-GA), issued the following statement through her Press Secretary, John Judge, in a Nov. 1, 2008 email to ProCon.org:
Ralph Nader, attorney, author, and political activist, stated in a June 21, 2004 interview with Pat Buchanan titled, "Ralph Nader: Conservatively Speaking," published by The American Conservative:
"...[T]hey are working, they are having their taxes withheld, they are performing a valuable service, even though they are illegally here..." June 21, 2004 Ralph Nader
Barack Obama, US Senator (D-IL), stated in an Apr. 3, 2006 article titled "Floor Statement of Senator Barack Obama on Immigration Reform" on his US Senate website:
"To keep from having to go through this difficult process again in the future, we must also replace the flow of undocumented immigrants coming to work here with a new flow of guestworkers. Illegal immigration is bad for illegal immigrants and bad for the workers against whom they compete. Replacing the flood of illegals with a regulated stream of legal immigrants who enter the United States after background checks and who are provided labor rights would enhance our security, raise wages, and improve working conditions for all Americans." Apr. 3, 2006 Barack Obama
INACTIVE CANDIDATES
(Candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria appear
below in black and white and in alphabetical order by party.)
John Edwards, former US Senator (D-NC), stated at the Sep. 9, 2007 Democratic Presidential Debate, hosted by Univision held in Coral Gables, FL:
"Well, first of all, we should be proud of the fact that because we've had so many workers come into this country who deserve a path to earn citizenship and who are working to support their families have made America richer, culturally more diverse, and they are in fact performing jobs that, in some cases at least, would be difficult to find others to perform. So for that reason they're -- they are an important part of our economy, and I do believe they're an important part of our economy." Sep. 9, 2007 John Edwards
No position found as of Jan. 29, 2008. ProCon.org also emailed the Giuliani campaign on Jan. 21, 2008 with this question. They did not respond to our email.
Mike Gravel, former US Senator (D-AK), stated in an article titled "Guest Voz: Senator Mike Gravel Declares: 'Latino Immigrants Are America's New Scapegoats,'" on latinalista.net (accessed Jan. 30, 2008):
"Right now, Latino immigrants are America's new scapegoats...
Do you think it?s a coincidence that our nation is in such a mess and our leaders are suddenly worried about undocumented workers?...
Like all immigrants, Latinos have made our country stronger. And we need to bring them into the system ? not throw them out and bar the door...
We should no longer tolerate the underground economy that allows employers to avoid social security taxes and abuse their workers." Jan. 30, 2008 Mike Gravel
Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas, stated at the Sep. 27, 2007 Republican Presidential Debate at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD, hosted by Public Broadcasting System (PBS):
"[U]ntil something is done to touch the people who are employing illegal immigrants because of the very reason that they've talked about on this stage, to create what amounts to another version of slave labor, then we're never going to stop the flow. You're not going to get illegals to admit that they're here illegally, because they're desperate enough to do anything to feed their families." Sep. 27, 2007 Mike Huckabee
ProCon.org emailed the Imperato campaign on Dec. 13, 2007 with this question. Mr. Imperato provided a response to this question and 26 others during a recorded 45-minute telephone interview with ProCon.org on Mar. 11, 2008. On Mar. 21, 2008 Mr. Imperato no longer met our eligibility criteria for inclusion on this site, and we stopped transcribing his verbal responses as of that date.
Steve Kubby, a Libertarian candidate and founder of the American Medical Marijuana Association, stated in a Jan. 31, 2008 email to ProCon.org:
"Absolutely. Several sectors of our economy -- plant agriculture in California, poultry processing in the midwest, homebuilding in many parts of the country -- would virtually collapse overnight without immigrant labor, and legal immigration quotas don't come close to filling the demand.
US unemployment has hovered in the 5% range for years now. Economists consider 5% unemployment to be effectively 'full employment,' because that 5% represents mostly people who are either between jobs or who aren't looking for a job. America NEEDS workers, and the labor supply is tight enough that without a continuous injection of immigrant labor, Americans would be paying much higher prices for their food, homebuilding and home repair, etc.
Furthermore, illegal immigrants pay all kinds of taxes and consume relatively few government-funded 'social services.' They pay in income taxes under false names, and don't file for refunds. They pay Social Security taxes and never collect benefits. They avoid most government 'benefits' for fear of being detected and deported. They subsidize the welfare state that middle class Americans take for granted -- and then endure the false claims that they're the ones draining the budgets of those programs!" Jan. 31, 2008 Steve Kubby
Frank McEnulty, an Independent candidate and President of Our Castle Homes, in a Jan. 24, 2008 email to ProCon.org, stated:
"Not in the numbers we have been forced to try and assimilate into our economy over the last several years. Yes, most of them are productive people who hold down jobs and some even pay taxes, but they take far more out of the economy through burdens on our schools, hospitals and other governmental agencies and programs on an annual basis than they contribute." Jan. 24, 2008 Frank McEnulty
Ron Paul, US Representative (R-TX), in an Apr. 3, 2006 article titled "Dr. Paul?s Writings: The Immigration Question" on his official campaign website:
"Today, the overwhelming majority of Americans- including immigrants- want immigration reduced, not expanded. The economic, cultural, and political situation was very different 100 years ago.
We're often told that immigrants do the jobs Americans won't do, and sometimes this is true. But in many instances illegal immigrants simply increase the supply of labor in a community, which lowers wages. And while cheap labor certainly benefits the economy as a whole, when calculating the true cost of illegal immigration we must include the cost of social services that many new immigrants consume- especially medical care." Apr. 3, 2006 Ron Paul
Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, stated in a May 22, 2007 edition of the Morning Show with Chris Stigall on KCMO 710 Talk Radio, FOXNews Radio:
"I believe it's important to end illegal immigration so we can maintain and encourage legal immigration. Immigration is good for this country; it's helped us over our history. We need immigration to provide some of the skills that we may miss, migrant workers, cultural advantages. It's a great source of vitality for America to have legal immigration, but illegal immigration ?-that we need to bring an end to." May 22, 2007 Mitt Romney