October 3, 2008

NC’s immigration debate makes NPR blog

Posted at 4:30 PM by Rob Schofield

National NPR reporter Jennifer Ludden discussed North Carolina's debate over the admission of immigrants to community college in the context of the presidential race on the Vox Politics blog yesterday. In "McCain's Mixed Messages on Immigration," she writes:

For several weeks, McCain and Democratic candidate Barack Obama have had a tit-for-tat air war en espanol over last year's Senate bill to overhaul immigration. Each campaign has been accused of making misleading statements in the ads, but McCain's clear, implied message to Latinos is that he — and only he — supports a large-scale legalization….

Last weekend, though, McCain issued a contradictory message — in English. It came after Obama campaigned in North Carolina, a state where a fast-growing Hispanic population has made immigration a red-hot issue. Obama repeated his support for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers, and for allowing undocumented students to have in-state tuition at public colleges….

The McCain campaign was quick to respond. In a statement, it said Senator McCain does not support "amnesty" or in-state tuition. (Again, this was in contrast to the Senator's actual record. In past years he — like Obama — has co-sponsored the DREAM act, which would allow immigrant students without legal status to pay in-state tuition.)

Critics say McCain has also been sending different messages depending on which part of the country he's in, speaking more moderately about immigration in the Hispanic-heavy southwest, while taking a harder line in the southeast, where opposition to illegal immigration runs strong. Obama, by contrast, has consistently supported a comprehensive approach, even if he hasn't pushed the topic much on the campaign trail.

I'm not sure whether Obama actually said he favored in-state tuition for N.C. immigrants last week – that's not even on the table here right now. It is true, however, that both candidates have previously sponsored the DREAM Act, which would have had that effect.

Chris discusses this matter in today's Fitzsimon File as well.

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