The “new” Giuliani—“tough” on immigration

Here’s a headline in the New York Times from last month:

Candidate Giuliani Shifts His Tone on Immigration

In contrast to his years as New York’s mayor, Rudolph W. Giuliani is now taking a tough stance on immigration. [Italics mine.]

If you’re thinking this supposed shift to the right by Rudolph W. Giuliani is an obvious tactical fraud, you win five dollars. The shift consists of a move toward a Jorge W. Busheron-like position of calling for more enforcement at the border and providing a way for illegals to “earn” citizenship, which, under Giuliani’s preferred plan, they must do by starting “at the back of the line”—meaning the back of the line for citizenship. But if they must wait in line for citizenship, the inescapable implication is that they get legal permanent residence immediately. Giuliani says he’s against “amnesty,” which he defines as the automatic granting of citizenship. But if Giuliani is against the automatic granting of citizenship, that implies that favors the automatic granting of legal permanent residency. Since legal permanent residency is what the illegals want, therefore when Giuliani says he’s against amnesty, he’s a TOTAL LIAR, just like Busheron.

So, all in all, it’s a slight shift, adding up to nothing. The main difference in Giuliani’s new position is the huge increase in lying that it involves.

The Times article is worth reading, though, for bringing out Giuliani’s past pro-immigration and pro-illegal immigration statements and his attacks on any kind of counter view as equivalent of Know-Nothingism etc.

Trying to contrast Rudy the former open-borders crusader with Rudy the born-again borders enforcer, the Times has the audacity to give the article the sub headline I’ve already quoted:

In contrast to his years as New York’s mayor, Rudolph W. Giuliani is now taking a tough stance on immigration.

But in contrast to that dishonest headline, the article itself lets on that Giuliani never brings up the subject of immigration unless audience members ask him about it. Now there’s a committed border enforcer for you. Do you think Giuliani has ever had to be prompted by audience members in order to mention, for example, his support for homosexual rights?

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Ken Hechtman writes:

Remember this blast from the past?

It’s the “old” Giuliani in 1996 defending New York’s Sanctuary City law against federal encroachment in the form of Clinton’s Welfare Reform bill.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at May 15, 2007 10:25 AM | Send