on immigration numbers
and forced population growth
Rudy Giuliani (R)
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Candidates' positions on issues are fluid; expect changes. The information below reflects the best efforts of ABI thus far to reflect the true stances and past actions. If you see an error or have additional information, e-mail us as soon as possible.
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Assessing Overall Candidate Promises

EDITOR'S NOTE: All of a candidates' actions and promises on immigration are considered in these three overarching categories --

  • what do you do with the 12-20 million illegal aliens already here;
  • what do you do to stop future illegal immigration, and
  • what do you do to protect American workers and communities from the current peak flood of foreign workers?

Amnesty & Attrition Through Enforcement

OFFICIAL STANCE ON AMNESTY on Amnesty/Legalization for illegal aliens and on Attrition Through Enforcement that pushes illegal aliens to go back home: NONE

The following is a partial transcript of the Jan. 13, 2008, edition of "FOX News Sunday With Chris Wallace":

WALLACE: You have a comprehensive plan that calls for building a fence, both a physical fence and a high-tech fence, to secure the border.

You also talk about immediately deporting any illegals who commit crimes, but that's still going to leave, by some estimates, 10 million people here. What would you do with them?

GIULIANI: What you would do is you would secure the border. You'd have the fence. The fence would stop people from coming in.

You'd set up a rule that to come into the United States, you have to identify yourself, which, after all, is no different than the rule in just about any other country.

You'd have a tamper-proof I.D. card. You'd get that working. And once it was working, what you would do is you'd deport the people who are criminals. You'd let the other people come forward who are here, who want to get fingerprinted, photographed, checked out, put on the rolls, paying taxes.

The people who didn't come forward you would focus on, and you would throw them out of the country. And you probably would also find that a number of those people that won't come forward will also leave.

WALLACE: But I want to...

GIULIANI: So your number -- well, let me just finish that, Chris. So your number -- what you've got to do with the, OK, 10 million here, 12 million here, is you've got to get that number down to a number that is deportable, that fits within a system that will deport them.

At multiple millions like that, it's numbers that the government can't deal with. So if you get rid of the criminals...

WALLACE: But what will you do -- but what will you do with the ones -- let's say 8 million, 6 million, whatever -- who haven't broken the law, who are willing to pay taxes, willing to pay a fine? What do you do with them?

GIULIANI: You let them sign up. You let them get fingerprinted, photographed. You assure yourself that they're safe, decent people, that they're working, that they're now working on the rolls. You'll get the tax revenues from them. They will be paying their fair share.

And in essence, you create a self-selection process among those people. But you'll be doing it with the borders secure, with the borders now in a situation where more people can't come in.

If you try to do that before you secure the borders, your 12 million might become 16 million or 18 million.

WALLACE: But, Mayor, that sure sounds like amnesty for that self-selected group of people.

GIULIANI: Not at all. If they ever wanted to become citizens, they would have to get on the back of the line. They couldn't get ahead of anyone else. They would have to pay fines.

And then at the end of the road, anyone on any of these lists would have to be able to read English, write English, speak English. There would be substantial things that had to be done. Amnesty is being free and clear of all penalties of any kind.

WALLACE: But you wouldn't make them leave the country, would you?

GIULIANI: They'd have to pay a penalty.

WALLACE: But you wouldn't make them leave the...

GIULIANI: No. The way I would do it is the -- the way I would do it is the way I just suggested. I think that's the only way. In terms of the numbers you're talking about, and the ability of the federal government to actually get it done, that would really be the best way to get it done.

But critical to all of this, Chris, is you have got to secure the borders first. None of this can work if you don't secure the borders, because any kind of solution that you have for the people that are here, no matter how rational it is, would end up just having the problem run away from you if you don't secure the borders first.

"[W]hen we have control of our borders, when we preserve the legality of immigration, we can then turn to the people that are here. We can have them get the tamper-proof ID card. The people that come forward can sign up... But the people who want to come forward should be allowed to come forward." December 9, 2007; GOP Univision Debate

Asked to clarify his recent statement that illegal immigration "is not a crime" by TownHall.com, Giuliani responded:

"It shouldn’t be, because you wouldn’t be able to prosecute it. It would be 12 million people. Do you know how many people we have in jail, every jail, if you used up every jail in this country? About two million. So you would have a crime that didn’t get prosecuted, which would lead to disrespect for the law." September 13, 2007; TownHall.com

"Giuliani outlined his views about immigration during a recent campaign appearance in Boone, Iowa. The issue arose when Boone resident Maxine Redeker asked him what he would do about the illegal immigrants whose children, having been born in the United States, are citizens. She asked, will the parents of those children be allowed to remain in the United States? Giuliani's answer, in its most simplistic form, was yes, if they're good people. If they're not, they will be sent home. 'Look at the ones who are productive, decent people,' he said. 'Give them a card, get them to pay taxes. Those people who have children who are here -- fine, no problem. The ones who are committing crimes, we have to throw out of the country. No matter whether they have children or not .. I don't know how you're going to do that,' Redeker told Giuliani. 'You can do that,' he said. 'You let them come forward. You let them come forward, you identify them, you figure out who they are. The ones who don't come forward, you find them and throw them out. But in order to do that you have to first have control over your borders.'" August 16, 2007; The Washington Post



"The reality is, the way I look at illegal immigration, particularly in light of the terrorist threat we face, is that the focus has to be — we need a tamper-proof I.D. card. We need to know who's in the United States. We need to know everyone who's in the United States that comes in here from a foreign country. And we have to separate the ones who are dangerous from the ones who aren't. To accomplish that, we need a fence. We need a technological fence. We need a border patrol. We need people to come forward who are working so they'll get identified, get fingerprinted, get photographed. And then we should focus our attention on the people who don't come forward. And there's where you're going to find the drug dealers." May 14, 2007; FOXNews.com


“'First thing is, there should be no amnesty,' Mr. Giuliani said in response to a reporter’s question in Atlanta recently. Amnesty means varying things to various candidates. For Mr. Giuliani, it means no blanket forgiveness of illegal status." April 22, 2007; The New York Times



"If anybody is here illegally, they should never get to be put ahead of a line of people that are here legally. They should have to pay a penalty, because there should not be amnesty. It's a civil wrong. Civil wrongs are compensated by paying penalties. They should pay the back taxes. And if you ultimately find a way to make them citizens, then there should be a very, very strong requirement that they speak English, read English, write English, and understand American history." March 23, 2007; ABC News

Overall Policies on Future ILLEGAL Immigration
EDITOR'S NOTE: See lower on this page for stances on 8 specific measures to stop illegal immigration. This section contains information about aspects not covered by those categories. The rating on this section found on the Presidential Grid is based on the 8 specific ratings and the information in this section.

"To make expanded legal immigration possible today, the government must first restore public faith in government's commitment and capacity to shut down illegal immigration. 'It reminds me of the things I had to do to reduce crime in New York,' he said. 'I first had to give people confidence that it could be done.'" December 7, 2007; The Trail (Washington Post)

Overall Stance on Permanent Legal Numbers
EDITOR'S NOTE: Stances on specific legal immigration categories (Chain Migration, Lottery, Worker Importation & Birthright Citizenship) are shown lower on this page. This category contains additional comments, especially any positions about what the overall annual immigration number should be. The overall grade on legal numbers on the Grid is based on this section and the four specific categories.
OFFICIAL STANCE on reducing LEGAL immigration numbers:

"[W]e'd have I think what we all want to have, which is a country that's open to people from all over the world, but open to people who come in, who have identified themselves and want to participate in building America,' Giuliani said." November 19, 2007; The Associated Press

"Immigration is wonderful," he said. "Immigration is the best thing we have going for us. We need new people. We need people who are going to inform us, give us new ideas, but it has to be legal ... Illegal immigration is a bad thing." October 2, 2007; New York Daily News


"There isn't a mayor or a public official in this country that's more strongly pro-immigrant than I am, including disagreeing with President Clinton when he signed an anti-immigration legislation about two or three years ago, which we got some amendments of to protect the rights of immigrants." Unspecified date in 2000; NBC's Meet the Press

Assessment of Past Immigration Actions
in Political Office

EDITOR'S NOTE: Candidates who have served in Congress have an extensive record on federal immigration issues which have been weighed and graded. Other candidates have had less opportunity to deal with immigration at other levels of government.

"New York became a sanctuary city, where illegal immigrants enjoy some measure of protection, through an executive order signed by Mayor Ed Koch in 1989, five years before Giuliani became mayor in January 1994. But if Giuliani inherited the policy, he reissued it and seemed to embrace it." "Romney: Giuliani's NYC 'Sanctuary' For Illegal Immigrants,"August 8, 2007; ABC News

Guiliani said: 'If you come here and you work hard and you happen to be in an undocumented status, you're one of the people who we want in this city. You're somebody that we want to protect, and we want you to get out from under what is often a life of being like a fugitive, which is really unfair.'" December 12, 2007; The New York Times

Assessing Specific Stances on LEGAL IMMIGRATION

EDITOR'S NOTE: Unless the following four categories of legal immigration are changed, current policies will add 100 million additional people to the United States over the next few decades.

Chain Migration

OFFICIAL STANCE on Chain Migration of extended adult family members: NONE

Please email information.

Visa Lottery

OFFICIAL STANCE on randomly raffling green cards to foreigners: NONE
Please email information.
IMPORTING FOREIGN WORKERS
OFFICIAL STANCE on protecting Americans' jobs and wages from foreign workers: NONE
Please email information.

Citizenship for Births to ILLEGAL ALIENS

OFFICIAL STANCE on giving U.S. citizenship for births to illegal aliens: NONE

"Republican White House hopeful Rudy Giuliani said Friday he wouldn't try to change laws that make citizens of children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants, noting that it's a matter determined by the Constitution. 'That's a very delicate balance that's been arrived at, and I wouldn't change that,' Giuliani said..." December 1, 2007; The Associated Press

Assessing Specific Stances on ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

EDITORS NOTE: Here are 8 very important steps needed to halt illegal immigration. Aspects not included in this section are included in the section above about Overall Policies on Future Illegal Immigration.

MANDATORY WORKPLACE VERIFICATION

OFFICIAL STANCE on keeping illegal aliens from getting jobs: NONE

"He has proposed 'tamper-proof' ID cards and a database that would track people in the United States from foreign countries. He says that 'we need people to come forward who are working so they'll get identified, get fingerprinted, get photographed. And then we should focus our attention on the people who don't come forward.'" July 16, 2007; Des Moines Register (Iowa)

PUNISHING EMPLOYERS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

OFFICIAL STANCE on punishing employers who hire illegal aliens: NONE

"Giuliani told small-business owners he would not punish them for unwittingly hiring illegal immigrants." October 30, 2007; The Associated Press

LOCAL ENFORCEMENT of IMMIGRATION

OFFICIAL STANCE on empowering local enforcement of immigration laws: NONE

"My interest as mayor of New York City was to focus on the criminals that were here. I wanted the Immigration and Naturalization Service to throw them out. At the same time, there were 400,000 illegal immigrants in New York, roughly, when I was the mayor. The immigration service could throw out no more than about 2,000 a year. So I had 398,000 illegal immigrants." May 14, 2007; FOXNews.com

"Responsibility for stopping illegal immigration belongs to the federal government and not to cities, states or businesses, Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday. Giuliani told small-business owners he would not punish them for unwittingly hiring illegal immigrants. Federal officials are 'trying to put the responsibility for this on employers, on city government, on state government,' the former New York mayor said during a conference call arranged by the National Federation of Independent Businesses." October 30, 2007; The Associated Press

ENTRY/EXIT SYSTEM AT BORDERS  

OFFICIAL STANCE on implementation of entry/exit system to reduce illegal aliens who overstay visas:
  • We need a tamper-proof biometric ID card for all non-citizens and a single national database to keep track of foreigners entering and exiting our country.
  • Create A Single National Database Of Foreigners: It is critical to America's security to have one national database of non-citizens in our country. Rudy will propose consolidating all existing databases into one so a foreigner's legal status can be quickly checked.
  • Identify Those Who Have Left The Country With Biometric Check-out System: Forty-five percent of illegal immigrants in America came into our country legally but overstayed their visas. Rudy believes we need a biometric check-out system so we know who has left America and can focus enforcement on those who remain. Rudy 2008, On The Issues
Please email information.
BORDER SECURITY
OFFICIAL STANCE on the fence and other strengthening of the border: NONE

"You need security at the border, a fence, a technological fence to stop people from coming in before they can be illegal." December 31, 2007; Reuters

"Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said Monday illegal immigration could be stopped within three years, using existing border-enforcement technology. Giuliani toured part of the border in the Rio Grande Valley with state and local officials, many of whom oppose the 70 miles (113 kilometers) of steel fencing that Congress has authorized for the area. 'If you apply yourself to this over an 18-month or three-year period we could accomplish that, and all of a sudden we'd have I think what we all want to have, which is a country that's open to people from all over the world, but open to people who come in, who have identified themselves and want to participate in building America,' Giuliani said. The former New York City mayor also said that while there are places on the border where a physical fence makes sense, a virtual fence in many areas would be better. 'The virtual fence is more valuable because it alerts you to people approaching the border, it alerts you to people coming over the border,' Giuliani said, standing in front of the Rio Grande." November 19, 2007; The Associated Press

"[W]e need a fence. We need a technological fence. We need a border patrol. We need people to come forward who are working so they'll get identified, get fingerprinted, get photographed." 05/14/2007; FOXNews.com

SANCTUARY CITIES POLICIES
OFFICIAL STANCE on cities and states that forbid certain enforcement of immigration laws: NONE

"Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani was at the epicenter of the hot topic throughout the night. He was hit with the first question by a Brooklynite who said New York was a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants during his two terms as mayor. Giuliani tried to appease both sides of the immigration issue saying that during his tenure the city allowed exceptions for children of illegal immigrants to go to school; gave undocumented people free emergency medical care, and allowed "illegals" to report crimes. But, the key point he said was that 'we reported thousands and thousands and thousands of names of illegal immigrants who committed crimes to the immigration service. They did not deport them." November 30, 2007; New York Daily News



"New York became a sanctuary city, where illegal immigrants enjoy some measure of protection, through an executive order signed by Mayor Ed Koch in 1989, five years before Giuliani became mayor in January 1994. But if Giuliani inherited the policy, he reissued it and seemed to embrace it." "Romney: Giuliani's NYC 'Sanctuary' For Illegal Immigrants,"August 8, 2007; ABC News
DRIVER'S LICENSES FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS
OFFICIAL STANCE on allowing illegal aliens to obtain driver's licenses: NONE

"I called Pete King and Pete Sessions today, who are two friends of mine in Congress and supporters of mine, and I asked them to consider introducing legislation that would basically prohibit a state from giving a driver’s license or an official identification of any kind to an illegal immigrant. And it seems to me that they’re relying on a loophole in the legislation that was passed a year or so ago regarding identification and they’re saying ‘Oh you know, if they don’t want to have a REAL ID they can give out any form of identification they want.’ This would totally obstruct the enforcement of the federal immigration laws." November 8, 2007; National Review

STATE AID TO ILLEGAL STUDENTS
OFFICIAL STANCE on granting illegal aliens in-state tuition, scholarships and other assistance: NONE
The following is an excerpt from the "Report of The Human Services Division" from The Council of the City of New York (May 31, 2002)

In Response To Executive Order 124, CUNY Gave In-State Tuition To Illegal Immigrants
. "Responding to the 1989 Order, CUNY changed its tuition policy, applying the above provision by making undocumented or out-of-status alien students eligible for the resident rate of tuition. This policy allowed undocumented students to pay the resident tuition rate, if they had resided in New York State for twelve months or had attended a New York City high school for the previous two semesters." November 29, 2007; Newsbull.com
GENERAL INFORMATION

Mr. Giuliani served two terms as the 107th Mayor of the City of New York.  First elected in 1993 after a campaign focusing on quality of life, crime, business and education, he was re-elected in 1997 by a wide margin.  As Mayor, Mr. Giuliani returned accountability to city government and improved the quality of life for all New Yorkers.  Under Mr. Giuliani's leadership, New York City became the best-known example of the resurgence of urban America. 

Prior to this, Mr. Giuliani served in a variety of law enforcement and legal positions.  In 1983, Giuliani was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he spearheaded efforts against drug dealers, organized crime, government corruption, and white-collar criminals.  From 1981 to 1983, Mr. Giuliani served as Associate Attorney General, the third highest position in the Department of Justice.  In this capacity, Mr. Giuliani supervised all of the U.S. Attorney Offices, federal law enforcement agencies, the Bureau of Corrections, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the U.S. Marshals Service. 

From 1970 to 1981, Mr. Giuliani served as Associate Deputy Attorney General, Chief of Staff to the Deputy Attorney General, executive U.S. Attorney, and Chief of the Narcotics Unit of the Office of the U.S. Attorney.  He also practiced law in private practice. On March 31, 2005, Mr. Giuliani became a name partner in the law firm of Bracewell and Giuliani. 

Mr. Giuliani, a native of Brooklyn, New York, attended Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School (Class of '61), Manhattan College (Class of '65) and New York University Law School, graduating cum laude in 1968.
 

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