An AP story released on February 17th quotes Republican Senator Rand Paul as saying that many voters want a presidential candidate who would “round people up…and send them back to Mexico.”
The AP pulled this story after discovering that Senator Paul actually said just the opposite; leaving out the word “don’t” from the quote.
Illegal immigration and amnesty are hot topics since President Obama’s reelection. President Obama has publically stated that he is seeking a “path to citizenship” for the estimated 11 million people residing in the United States illegally.
A once strong and united Republican defense against any blanket amnesty legislation has almost completely disintegrated after their disappointing election results in November. Less than a year ago, much of the conservative population of the United States was represented as being against illegal immigration with the topic taking center stage during the Republican debates.
The conservative party is now trying to acquiesce and appease those supporting the legalization of the illegal immigrants as apparently the tide of public opinion has turned 180 degrees and now supports blanket amnesty.
Opponents of amnesty such as members of the Tea Party which supports Senator Rand Paul are often ignored, misrepresented or, as in this case, unjustly vilified. Anti-illegal immigration speeches are either much rarer than only a few months ago or not being publicized by the mainstream media.
Even terms such as ‘illegal alien’ are currently being promoted as racially biased and should never be uttered which was driven home by an undocumented immigrant who recently testified before a Senate panel and stated that the term is offensive to his family.
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