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Paul speaks to Las Vegas Hispanic group
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Feb. 1, 2012 | 7:08 p.m.
Republican presidential contender Ron Paul told an influential group of Hispanics on Wednesday that he favors an easier path for legal immigration to the United States.
"I just do not believe barbed wire fences and guns on our borders will solve any of our problems," the Texas congressman told a group of about 100 people Wednesday morning.
Paul, in town ahead of Saturday's Republican caucus, was the only Republican candidate to accept an invitation to speak before the Las Vegas group Hispanics in Politics. Paul, the candidate who has most actively reached out to Hispanic voters, finished second in Nevada to current Republican front-runner Mitt Romney in 2008. Romney is expected to finish first again, but Paul has made it clear he intends to do well here.
Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, plans to reach out to several dozen invited Hispanic business leaders on Thursday at Mundo Restaurant in Las Vegas, his campaign confirmed.
Paul spoke in detail about immigration policy, saying he favored legal immigration, though he did not like a lot about so-called amnesty programs that would allow people who have been in this country illegally to gain citizenship. He said that would be rewarding lawbreakers.
He said there is too much emotion involved in the immigration issue, comparing how some people blame the illegal immigration problem for the nation's economic problems with how the Nazis used Jews as scapegoats in the buildup to World War II.
He also said the nation "overreacted" to the events of Sept. 11, 2001, as far as immigration goes, and that there is too much red tape for immigrants and others to contend with. He does not favor issuing national identification cards, either, he said.
"I don't want to live in a country where we have to have our papers" to conduct ordinary business, he said.
Simply deporting immigrants who are not here legally is no solution, Paul said. He said he has seen families separated by such actions, and that it is not good policy to send someone to their country of origin if they have been here most of their lives. It would also be a logistical nightmare to deport all illegal immigrants, he said.
"That makes no sense at all to do that," Paul told the crowd.
He said the nation should instead make it easier for people to immigrate here legally. Most immigrants, he said, come here because they believe in the American dream.
He said everybody wants the same thing, no matter what group they belong to: freedom.
"That should bring us all together," he said.
Paul, who spoke for about a half hour Wednesday and answered a few questions afterward, has focused on gaining supporters among diverse groups: Hispanics, veterans, young voters and Mormons, who have previously backed their fellow church-goer Romney.
Michael G. McDonald, 53, said he was supporting Paul because he was the only candidate in either party who is honest about revamping the country's monetary policy.
"He's the only alternative we have," said McDonald, who attended Wednesday's event and plans to participate in Saturday's caucuses.
He said that if Paul does not gain the Republican nomination, he will vote the way he has been voting for a decade: For "none of these candidates," an option unique to Nevadans.
Edwin Aguilar, 22, attended the event, too. He said he is not yet a citizen, so he cannot vote. But he said he is here legally from El Salvador, and he wants to spread the word about Paul.
"I believe Ron Paul's message is universal," Aguilar said. "It appeals to anybody from any background. Peace, liberty, freedom."
Paul emphasizes returning the country's currency to the gold standard, dramatically reducing government spending and regulations, and emphasizing individual rights over government policy. He tends to appeal to libertarian-minded Nevadans.
Marlene Simpson, 50, said she would support Paul in Saturday's caucus. She likes that he wants to focus on domestic policy, rather than the goings on around the world.
Paul, as he often does, railed against the response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, particularly the invasion of Iraq and the Patriot Act.
He said that if elected, he would immediately bring the troops home.
"We've spent too much time meddling in the affairs of other nations," he said. "I think we ought to stop all that."
Review-Journal reporter Laura Myers contributed to this report. Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.
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I stopped supporting Libertarian Party candidates when their #1 priority was open borders. While they don't trumpet this position as before because of its unpopularity it still seems to exist. Its support of Iran's freedom to develope Nukes have driven me further away. If the Libertarians drop these suicidal positions and focus on their campaign of Limited Government then they would really get support
onlypaul 2012;
heaven help us if Ron Paul is our only way out...lol...and he has no shot so you need to get realistic about this...I wanted Santa Claus to be real when I was young too..
Can honesty prevail in the white house and congress.hmmmmmm Can we count in our hands how many that could support him when he gets elected.
the end of the obama era is also the end of the democrat party as a national force. the money is gone, the country bankrupt. the dems did it, now they will have to sit down.
Another reason you don't want Mitt...with 90% of his money coming from coporate donors, his largest donor being Goldman Sachs:
http://readersupportednews.org/video/4-video/9665-crony-capitalism-and-the-history-of-bailouts
Beentheredonethat:
Who wants to lend us money with our massive debt? Nobody! Would you want to lend money to a guy who is massively deep in credit debt or a guy who manages his money responsibly. Why don't you ask people in Argentina after their crash around 2000 if gold and silver are valuable after a collapse......it is.
The only political retoric that is going to perk up Hispanic ears, is the promise of their own Voting District, their own Schools, their own Businesses that only hire Hispanics, amnesty for ILLEGALS, and more entitlements like Harrito Reids Dream Act for ILLEGALS. they are deaf to any lesser proposals. If you snow them like Harrito did, you just may con them into believing youbwill help them create a large, impenetrable subculture, independent of American Laws and Standards.
Vegasdream, you are talking out your rump. Our money is backed by nothing but our worthess bonds and promise to pay. A promise to pay money we dont have!!! That is the problem. The Federal government is a fake money debt creation machine that has robbed us all for far too long and it needs to end or it will end us.
Only Ron Paul!!!! Mitt nor Newt can't beat Obama. Mitt is Obama in a different suit. Even if he did, we would be Obama part II. Check out this video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rYP6mmk2QE&feature=youtube_gdata_player
supposer;
lol...sound like a typical Ron Paul guy, a little angry are you??...take a deep breath and try not to be so angry at the world...ohh and do some reading you really are misinformed...and it looks like your mind has closed...sad....
beentheredonethat: If all is as you suggest, why borrow money at all? Why not just print it and hand it out? To make sure we pay it back to our masters instead of each other? What makes money real? When it represents something real, nitwit. You believe in funny money, yet we have to have it loaned to us and pay it back? To whom? Or what? The Universal Money Fairy? Obviously, you could not envisage anything your beady little eyes have not witnessed, which is why you don't miss your liberty, because you never had it, it was gone before you might know it. That "wealthiest people in the world" you fear, get what they get from government, including the Federal Reserve. As far as thinking long and hard about something, when you get around to doing that, let me know.