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(Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by party; black & white photos indicate candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria.)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:
"Pro- build a fence and enforce the existing immigration laws, no amnesty and no social services at taxpayer expense." Aug. 15, 2008 Chuck Baldwin
Bob Barr, former US House Representative (R-GA), in a May 14, 2008 interview with Glenn Beck on CNN's Glenn Beck Program, stated:
"[Glenn] BECK: Illegals, do you ship them home or not?
[Bob] BARR: When you find them, you ship them home, absolutely...
BECK: Do you build the border fence?...
BARR: No...First of all, I think it would be terribly costly. And whatever border fence you build, people are going to find a way to get around it, go under it, go over it, somehow. I think it would look absolutely awful. And even though it's a fence to keep people from coming in, as opposed to the Berlin wall, it gives the same impression. Not the impression I want to give the world about America." May 14, 2008 Bob Barr
[Editor's Note: Prior to John McCain's June 5, 2007 Con position in support of a fence along the US-Mexico border, his position was Pro as indicated by his Sep. 29, 2006 Yes vote on the "Secure Fence Act of 2006"]
"SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION OF FENCING AND SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS IN BORDER AREA FROM PACIFIC OCEAN TO GULF OF MEXICO...
(1) SECURITY FEATURES.-
(A) REINFORCED FENCING.-In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide for least 2 layers of reinforced fencing, the installation of additional physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors..." Sep. 29, 2006 "Secure Fence Act of 2006" (H.R. 6061), Library of Congress website
John McCain, US Senator (R-AZ), stated at the June 5, 2007 Republican Presidential Debate held at Saint Anselm College Manchester in New Hampshire:
"Look, America is a land of opportunity. The question was just asked, what is it to be an American? It's to share a common goal that all of us -- a principle -- are created equal and endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights...
Of course it has to be legal. Of course that it has to be regulated. And 18 months, by the way, will go by while we fix the border before we do anything else on this issue...
And we're not going to erect barriers and fences." June 5, 2007John McCain
Cynthia McKinney, former US House Representative (D-GA), voted No on the Sep. 29, 2006 "Secure Fence Act of 2006" (H.R.6061):
"SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION OF FENCING AND SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS IN BORDER AREA FROM PACIFIC OCEAN TO GULF OF MEXICO...
(1) SECURITY FEATURES.-
(A) REINFORCED FENCING.-In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide for least 2 layers of reinforced fencing, the installation of additional physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors..." Sep. 29, 2006 Cynthia McKinney
Ralph Nader, attorney, author, and political activist, issued the following statement through his Communications Director and Policy Writer, Loralynne Krobetzky, in an Oct. 20, 2008 email to ProCon.org:
Barack Obama, US Senator (D-IL), at the Feb. 21, 2008 Democratic Presidential Debate hosted by CNN and held in Austin, TX, stated:
"Well, this is an area where Senator Clinton and I almost entirely agree. I think that the key is to consult with local communities, whether it's on the commercial interests or the environmental stakes of creating any kind of barrier...
As Senator Clinton indicated, there may be areas where it makes sense to have some fencing. But for the most part, having border patrolled, surveillance, deploying effective technology, that's going to be the better approach." Feb. 21, 2008 Barack Obama
[Editor's Note: Senator Obama also voted in favor of the "Secure Fence Act of 2006" (H.R.6061) on Sep. 29, 2006 which allowed for the following:
"SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION OF FENCING AND SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS IN BORDER AREA FROM PACIFIC OCEAN TO GULF OF MEXICO...
(1) SECURITY FEATURES.-
(A) REINFORCED FENCING.-In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide for least 2 layers of reinforced fencing, the installation of additional physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors..."]
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.)
Joe Biden, US Senator (D-DE), stated in an exchange with CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer at the June 3, 2007 Democratic Presidential Debate in New Hampshire:
"Biden: ...There doesn't need to be a 700- mile fence. But there does need -- look, we ought to start -- we all love this phrase: Start talking truth to power. Fourteen million illegals: Now, you tell me how many buses, carloads, planes -- they're going to go out and round up all these people, spend hundreds of millions and billions of dollars to do it, with the whole world watching, while we send these folks back. Rather than get a background check on all of them, take out the criminals, get them back, and provide for a means by which we allowed earned citizenship over the next decade or so...
[Wolf] Blitzer: If you don't think there needs to be a fence, why did you vote for that legislation?
Biden: Well, that fence was -- the reason I voted for the fence was that was the only alternative that was there. And I voted for the fence related to drugs. A fence will stop 20 kilos of cocaine coming through that fence. It will not stop someone climbing over it or around it. And so -- but this bill has a much more reasonable provision in it. It has much -- a shorter fence. It does have the Border Patrol requirements. And it is designed not just to deal with illegals, it's designed with a serious drug trafficking problem we have." June 3, 2007 Joe Biden
[Editor's Note: Prior to Joe Biden's June 3, 2007 Not Clearly Pro or Con position statement, his position was Pro a fence along the US-Mexico border as indicated by his Sep. 29, 2006 Yes vote on the "Secure Fence Act of 2006"]
"SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION OF FENCING AND SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS IN BORDER AREA FROM PACIFIC OCEAN TO GULF OF MEXICO...
(1) SECURITY FEATURES.-
(A) REINFORCED FENCING.-In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide for least 2 layers of reinforced fencing, the installation of additional physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors..." Sep. 29, 2006 "Secure Fence Act of 2006" (H.R.6061), Library of Congress website
Hillary Clinton, US Senator (D-NY), stated at the Feb. 21, 2008 Democratic Presidential Debate hosted by CNN and held in Austin, TX:
"[Hillary] Clinton: There may be places where a physical barrier is appropriate. I think when both of us [Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama] voted for this, we were voting for the possibility that where it was appropriate and made sense, it would be considered...So I would have a review. I would listen to the people who live along the border, who understand what it is we need to be doing to protect our country...
[John] King: Does that mean that you think your vote was wrong, or the implementation of it was wrong?...
Clinton: But, you know, John, there is -- there's a lot we've learned about technology and smart fencing. You know, there is technology that can be used instead of a physical barrier. It requires us having enough personnel along the border so that people can be supervising a certain limited amount of space and will be able to be responsive in the event of people attempting to cross illegally. I think that the way that the Bush administration is going about this, filing eminent domain actions against landowners and municipalities, makes no sense.
So what I have said is, yes, there are places when after a careful review, again listening to the people who live along the border, there may be limited places where it would work. But let's deploy more technology and personnel, instead of the physical barrier.
I frankly think that will work better and it will give us an opportunity to secure our borders without interfering with family relations, business relations, recreation and so much else that makes living along the border, you know, wonderful." Feb. 21, 2008 Hillary Clinton
[Editor's Note: Senator Clinton also voted in favor of the "Secure Fence Act of 2006" (H.R.6061) on Sep. 29, 2006 which allowed for the following:
"SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION OF FENCING AND SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS IN BORDER AREA FROM PACIFIC OCEAN TO GULF OF MEXICO...
(1) SECURITY FEATURES.-
(A) REINFORCED FENCING.-In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide for least 2 layers of reinforced fencing, the installation of additional physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors..."]
Chris Dodd, US Senator (D-CT), in an exchange with CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, stated the following at the Nov. 15, 2007 Democratic Presidential Debate in Las Vegas, NV:
"[Wolf] Blitzer: I want...Senator Dodd, though, to respond, because you voted for that security fence along the border between the US and Mexico...
Dodd: I will give you some points. In certain places you could make a case that a wall might help, not of course on the entire border. I am opposed to that. But the idea of having some sort of better security, including additional guards, additional technology here to allow us to deal with the issues. But there ought not to be any correlation here. When you take the oath of office, you don't [sic] swear to uphold the Constitution or protect the country. I believe by upholding our rights, we do protect the country. And the administration has taken the opposite view. They are posing to us the false choice, the dichotomy that to be safer, we have to give up rights. I think that is so fundamentally flawed and fundamentally dangerous for the United States of America to embrace that idea." Nov. 15, 2007 Chris Dodd
[Editor's Note: Prior to Chris Dodd's Nov. 15, 2007 Not Clearly Pro or Con position statement, his position was Pro a fence along the US-Mexico border as indicated by his Sep. 29, 2006 Yes vote on the "Secure Fence Act of 2006"]
"SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION OF FENCING AND SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS IN BORDER AREA FROM PACIFIC OCEAN TO GULF OF MEXICO...
(1) SECURITY FEATURES.-
(A) REINFORCED FENCING.-In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide for least 2 layers of reinforced fencing, the installation of additional physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors..." Sep. 29, 2006 "Secure Fence Act of 2006" (H.R.6061), Library of Congress website
John Edwards, former US Senator (D-NC), stated in a July 1, 2007 The Houston Chronicle article titled "Democrats Meet Hispanic Leaders in Florida Forum":
"I would never be for building a wall all the way across our southern border; that would be crazy." July 1, 2007 John Edwards
Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City, stated in an article titled "12 Committments: Immigration" on his official candidate website (accessed Dec. 19, 2007):
"Congress authorized the construction of 700 miles of border fence in 2006 and then appropriated over $1.1 billion for border security. However, Washington has only built a few dozen miles of fence. Rudy will commit to building the fence - both physical and high-tech - now, while deploying and maintaining 20,000 Border Patrol agents and measuring their progress toward ending illegal immigration. It is important to accomplish this goal in order to preserve and expand legal immigration." Dec. 19, 2007 Rudy Giuliani
Mike Gravel, former US Senator (D-AK), in a May 21, 2006 NH [New Hampshire] Insider.com article titled "NH Insider's 10 Questions," stated:
"Our nation's borders should not be fenced nor should they be militarized. We can beef-up the Border Patrol and the Coast Guard, if need be." May 21, 2006 Mike Gravel
Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas, in an article titled "Issues: Immigration" on his official candidate website (accessed Dec. 19, 2007), stated:
"I support the $3 billion the Senate has voted for border security. This money will train and deploy 23,000 more agents, add four drone planes, build 700 miles of fence and 300 miles of vehicle barriers, and put up 105 radar and camera towers. This money will turn 'catch and release' into 'catch and detain' of those entering illegally, and crack down on those who overstay their visas." Dec. 19, 2007 Mike Huckabee
Duncan Hunter, US Representative (R-CA), stated in an article titled "Core Principles" on his official candidate website (accessed Dec. 19, 2007):
"As a result of the success of the San Diego fence, Rep. Hunter authored the provisions of the Secure Fence Act calling for the construction of 854 miles of border fence along the five most prolific smuggling corridors on the Southwest border. While construction of the Secure Fence project is not moving as rapidly as Rep. Hunter would like, the Administration is moving forward and as of September 30, 2007, 70 miles of new border pedestrian fence has been constructed. Congressman Hunter remains engaged in ensuring that the Administration meets the mandates put in place by the Secure Fence Act and secures our borders as rapidly as possible." Dec. 19, 2007 Duncan Hunter
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.
Alan Keyes, former Assistant US Secretary of State, stated in a June 7, 2006 speech at the Minuteman Fence Groundbreaking," Renew America website:
"I just want to tell you that I have been both moved and proud to be able to work in any capacity at all to help the folks who are organizing this great effort [Minuteman fence constructed on private land along US-Mexico border], to take the lead and to reassert the spirit of our country....
So, what we're doing here is not just building a fence. We are rebuilding a character. We are redefining a people. We are reminding ourselves and the people of our country and people all over the world that the American people have made a difference. Because, though we come from every voice and color and creed and kind, we stand together now on a common creed of self-government and liberty that has allowed us to make the difference." June 7, 2006 Alan Keyes
Steve Kubby, Founder of the American Medical Marijuana Association, stated in an Jan. 10, 2008 email to ProCon.org:
"Not the kind of fence that's being built now! Peaceful people should be free to move across borders to visit, to live, to seek work. The fence we're building now is designed to stop them from doing so, and that's dangerous to America, both economically and in terms of national security. Once we've repealed our nonsensical restrictions on immigration so that peaceful people can walk in through the 'front door' without any hassles or penalties, then a fence might make sense as a countermeasure against hostile parties like terrorists. Right now, it's just offensive, un-American foolishness." Jan. 10, 2008 Steve Kubby
Dennis Kucinich, US Representative (D-OH), voted No on the "Secure Fence Act of 2006" (H.R.6061) on Sep. 14, 2006:
"SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION OF FENCING AND SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS IN BORDER AREA FROM PACIFIC OCEAN TO GULF OF MEXICO...
(1) SECURITY FEATURES.-
(A) REINFORCED FENCING.-In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide for least 2 layers of reinforced fencing, the installation of additional physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors..." Sep. 14, 2006 "Secure Fence Act of 2006" (H.R.6061), Library of Congress website
Frank McEnulty, an Independent candidate and President of Our Castle Homes, in a Dec. 28, 2007 email to ProCon.org, stated:
"Although the effectiveness of the fence is open to debate, the fact that Congress and the President agreed that it should be built and signed laws to that effect, means it should be constructed. Promises to the electorate should always be kept, especially those that are made to get oneself elected or reelected. However, the only true way to stop the current onslaught of illegal aliens into this country is to take away the incentive for them to come here. To do that, we need to rigorously enforce the laws we have in place to make the hiring of illegal aliens too costly and dangerous for employers. If there are no jobs available for illegal aliens then there will be little incentive for them to continue coming here in the huge numbers we have seen in recent years." Dec. 28, 2007 Frank McEnulty
Ron Paul, US Representative (R-TX), stated in a Sep. 14, 2006 press release titled "Dr. Paul's Writings: Paul Votes for Stronger Border Security" on his official candidate website:
"Congressman Ron Paul joined more than 280 of his House colleagues in voting to better secure our nation?s borders. The House of Representatives passed the 'Secure Fence Act of 2006' yesterday, taking a needed step toward real immigration reform.
'The problems associated with illegal immigration cannot be addresses unless and until we gain physical control of our borders and coastlines,' Paul stated. 'The number one priority for Congress should be securing our borders?no immigration reform is possible until then. Once we have control over who is entering the country, we can begin to reform the legal immigration process.'
'Amnesty for lawbreakers is not the answer, and it?s time to rethink birthright citizenship,' Paul added. The bill passed yesterday requires the Homeland Security Department to gain 'operational control' of the country's international borders, authorizes the construction of approximately 700 miles of fencing along the US-Mexican border, requires a study of implementing security systems along the US-Canadian border, and directs the department to evaluate the ability of personnel to stop fleeing vehicles at the border." Sep. 14, 2006 Ron Paul
Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico, stated at the Nov. 15, 2007 Democratic Presidential Debate in Las Vegas, NV, hosted by CNN:
"And I'm against the fence because it will not work. The Congress only funded half of the fence...and it's not American." Nov. 15, 2007 Bill Richardson
Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, stated in an article titled "Issues: Ending Illegal Immigration" on his official campaign website (accessed Jan. 22, 2008):
"Secure The Border. Follow through on Congressional commitment to build a physical and technological fence along the southern border, and secure other points of entry." Jan. 22, 2008 Mitt Romney
Fred Thompson, former US Senator (R-TN), in an Oct. 16, 2007 article titled "Ask Fred - Building the Border Fence" on his official candidate website, stated:
"We not only should, but we can [build a fence/wall along the Southern border of the US]. The law requires it. There are laws on books right now that require several hundred miles to be built, that we haven't already built. It's definitely part of the solution. We need additional wall. We also need to use electronic surveillance. We need additional patrolling in areas where fencing might not be appropriate... It's not only the right thing to do, it's a matter of national security." Oct. 16, 2007 Fred Thompson