Yuckabee

Here's one reason why I'd write in Foghorn Leghorn for president before I'd give Mike Huckabee my vote:


A controversial County College of Morris policy allowing illegal immigrants to enroll and pay the lower, in-county tuition rate received some high-profile support Tuesday night from likely Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee. (emphasis added)

Huckabee, the guest speaker at the Drew Forum, was introduced by president Robert Weisbuch as having backed legislation providing "tuition assistance to children of undocumented immigrants" when he was governor of Arkansas.

Weisbuch's comment prompted Barbara Eames, a Hanover resident who opposes the new CCM policy, to ask Huckabee his views on it during the question-and-answer period.

Huckabee, in his response to Eames, did not specifically refer to the Randolph-based college, but offered a spirited defense of his viewpoint that those brought to the United States illegally as children should be given the opportunity to complete their education.

He said his support for tuition assistance legislation in Arkansas was inspired by the plight of an undocumented high school valedictorian who, under the state's existing law, would have been ineligible for a public college scholarship.

"I decided I'd rather see that kid become a taxpayer, rather than a tax-taker," Huckabee said.

Huckabee said rather than targeting young children who had no choice in their decision to move to the United States, the battle over illegal immigration should focus on strengthening the borders and cracking down on businesses violating the law.


So in short, Huckabee has a history of supporting in-state tuition for illegal aliens; he approved as governor of Arkansas, and he endorses such policies now.

The final paragraph tells us that, His support for college tuition assistance became an issue in his failed run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. I assume he anticipates a second failed attempt at the Oval Office, since he's keeping the status quo on his unpopular stance.

Why do people whose presence within our borders is a violation of federal law deserve preferential treatment -- treatment that U.S. citizens do not enjoy? Better yet, why are they allowed to enroll as students in American schools at all?

Other questions: why does Huckabee assume that all illegal aliens attempting enrollment in college were brought here against their collective will as children? How does he know that some or even many didn't make that trek willingly, as teenagers or young adults? Why is ensuring that illegal aliens complete their educations a duty of American politicians? Notice the unstated assumptions built into his viewpoint.

As for his nonsense about his preference for them becoming taxpayers, not tax-takers, that problem has a solution that doesn't require handing them in-state tuition at U.S. colleges: deport them, or don't let them in the door, in the first place. I suppose that's too much to ask in the days of the Obama administration, when border enforcement is deemphasized and sunny propaganda is the order of the day.

Mike Huckabee is part of the problem, not part of a solution. He's a champion of the idea, "meet the new boss, same as the old boss." If you think pandering to illegal aliens is progress, he's your go-to guy.