Blunt, Carnahan: Feds have failed on immigration

JEFFERSON CITY -- Republican Roy Blunt and Democrat Robin Carnahan both contend the federal government is failing to adequately secure the nation's borders. But Missouri's leading U.S. Senate candidates disagree about whether states should start filling that gap.

Blunt, a congressman from southwest Missouri, says he supports an Arizona law authorizing its police to check people's immigration status and would support a federal law giving similar powers to local police nationwide.

Carnahan, Missouri's secretary of state, says such a hypothetical federal law would impose an unnecessary burden on local police. She says states should not have to resort to enforcing immigration laws themselves.

Blunt and Carnahan answered questions about the Arizona law and other immigration policies in separate interviews this past week with The Associated Press. Here are their responses:

The AP: A recent report from the Pew Hispanic Center estimated 11.1 million illegal immigrants live in the U.S. Do you consider this to be a problem or an asset to the American economy? If this is a problem, what is your solution?

Carnahan: "We're a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. So I don't think illegal immigration is something we want to encourage and, in fact, we need to stop it."

She said the nation should encourage legal immigration by streamlining what currently is a slow, bureaucratic process.

"The way we stop (illegal immigration) is to secure the border, to enforce the laws on employers and to make sure that folks who break the law coming here, that there's no amnesty," Carnahan said.

Blunt: "It's bad for them, it's bad for us. It's bad for a country to have laws that you refuse to enforce."

He said he supports the construction of fences along the U.S.-Mexican border, as well as monitoring the border with people and other surveillance techniques.

"Securing the border is the entry level position that the government has to take before anybody is going to think that the government can deal with the other elements of immigration appropriately," Blunt said.

The AP: Do you believe states should have the right to enact laws, such as the one in Arizona, that authorize police to question people's immigration status if they have a reasonable belief people are in the country illegally? Would you support a federal law granting such authority to all law enforcement officers?

Blunt: Yes, on both accounts.

Blunt criticized the U.S. Department of Justice for challenging Arizona's law in court, suggesting it should instead be taking action against cities that refuse to enforce federal immigration laws.

"It's unfortunate that Arizona has to deal with that topic," Blunt said, "and they wouldn't have to deal with it if the federal government would do its job, which is to secure the border."

Carnahan: Opposes a theoretical federal law granting Arizona-style immigration powers to local police nationwide, saying it would impose an additional burden on them.

She did not directly say whether she supports or opposes the Arizona law, instead saying that states should not have to resort to such laws.

"I actually think most states would like the federal government to just do its job," Carnahan said. "I don't think states should have to do this."

The AP: The DREAM Act would allow people in the U.S. illegally to become legal U.S. residents after spending two years in college or the military. To qualify, people must have been younger than 16 when they arrived in the U.S., have spent at least five years in the country and have a high school diploma. Do you support the legislation? Why or why not?

Blunt: No.

"It's a mistake to try to solve the other problems that relate to immigration until you solve the overriding problem, which is getting control of who's here by controlling the border," Blunt said.

Carnahan: No.

"The first step needs to be fixing what's broken, which is securing the borders, enforcing the laws and making sure those who are illegally here are dealt with before we think of starting to expand it more," Carnahan said.

The AP: Do you support efforts to change the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which grants automatic citizenship to babies born in the United States -- even if their parents are not here legally? Why or why not?

Carnahan: No.

"Let's stop playing games about this, and let's actually enforce laws, keep our country safe, keep our borders secure, enforce laws on employers, and then we won't have to change the Constitution," Carnahan said.

Blunt: Did not directly say he opposed efforts to change the 14th Amendment, but suggested that it should not be necessary.

"If you control the border, you don't have to worry about birthright citizenship," Blunt said.

http://www.newstribune.com/articles/2010/10/04/news_state/nt090state10mosenate10.txt