(Above: Laura Ingraham takes AL-06 Republican candidates to task for not signing no-amnesty pledge)
Alabama 6th Congressional District candidate Will Brooke raised some eyebrows during a candidate forum several weeks ago when he expressed his support for “a path to legal status” for illegal immigrants and called for “comprehensive immigration reform.” Later in the forum he sought to clarify his position by noting he is “not in favor of amnesty.”
This week, nationally syndicated radio host and Fox News contributor Laura Ingraham featured Brooke’s comments on her radio program, and criticized several Republican candidates in the 6th District race for not signing the FAIR no-amnesty Pledge, which eliminates any wiggle room candidates might have on the immigration issue once elected.
“There are 11 million people in our country today who are not here legally,” Brooke said in the audio clip played on Ingraham’s show. “We have to figure out what to do with them. Are we going to send out Paddy wagons, load them all up and ship them out. No. But we do need a path to legal status for those that are in the country illegally.”
Ingraham bristled at the Brooke’s comments and exclaimed that “If we lose Alabama to a ‘pathway to legalization’ mindset… the whole immigration debate is gone. This is an important race.”
Ingraham’s producers say they reached out to Brooke’s campaign inquiring whether he would sign the no-amnesty pledge.
“I am opposed to any form of amnesty,” Brooke told them in response. “An open border presents significant social and security threats to our nation, without a secure border any real solution is impossible. So, the first thing we must do is secure our borders. We owe this duty to Americans, and to no one else. Immigration to America is a privilege, not a right.”
Ingrham was not satisfied.
“Instead of answering simple questions with yes or no… he won’t sign the pledge,” she said. “He dodged the question… There are other people in this race — Scott Beason, Tom Vigneulle and Paul DeMarco — all of them signed the pledge. If you don’t sign this pledge, then you’re not someone who believes in true border enforcement and you’re someone, apparently, who trusts the Obama Administration to implement immigration reform.”
Brooke’s campaign felt like he was being misrepresented, signed the pledge, and said they asked for Ingraham to correct the record, which according to the Brooke campaign she said she would do.
“We filled it out,” said Brooke campaign spokesperson Mark McNulty. “All they asked for was a comment, so we commented. We don’t fill out questionnaires given to us by talk show hosts. They apologized and said tomorrow they would go on air and apologize, but I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Shortly thereafter, one of Ingraham’s producers sent out an email blast accusing Brooke of “reversing his position” after feeling the pressure from Ingraham on the air.
“It will be up to the voters of Alabama to decide whether they trust Brooke’s newfound devotion to American workers and his opposition to guest-worker programs,” said Julia Hahn of the Laura Ingrham Show. “But one thing is abundantly clear: Brooke’s decision to sign pledge after Ingraham’s radio segment demonstrates the enormous power of the new American workers’ movement that is sweeping across the conservative base.”
UPDATE: The Laura Ingraham Show also refutes the Brooke campaign’s claim that Ingraham said she would apologize.
“The Brooke campaign spokesperson says that we promised an apology; however, we did absolutely no such thing,” said Hahn. “Quite simply, there is nothing for us to apologize for. We told Brooke’s spokesperson that we would update the story — which we did on air today — if he signed the pledge. But the reality is that Mr. Brooke repeatedly said he was for legalizing illegal aliens, which is the opposite of what the pledge says, before he said he was against it. Mr. Brooke flip-flopped — it’s that simple.”
As of right now, Scott Beason, Will Brooke, Paul DeMarco, Chad Mathis and Tom Vigneulle are the four 6th District candidates who have signed the FAIR no-amnesty Pledge. Gary Palmer and Rob Shattuck have not signed it to this point.
FAIR Congressional Task force says they have sent the candidate questionnaire to all of the candidates in AL-06. The short questionnaire can be read in full below. The five candidates mentioned above answered “no” to all three questions.
1. There are approximately 12 million illegal aliens currently residing in the United States, many taking jobs from unemployed Americans. Will you oppose or support legislation that would grant any form of work authorization to illegal aliens?
2. Each year the United States gives legal permanent residency (green cards) to another 1 million immigrants who often fill jobs at lower wages. Will you oppose or support legislation that would increase the overall number of immigrants (legal permanent residents/green card holders) admitted each year to the U.S.?
3. Despite growing welfare rolls and chronic youth joblessness, the United States admits over 700,000 guest workers annually to work in numerous professions. Will you oppose or support legislation that would increase the overall number of guest workers admitted each year to the U.S.?
What do you think? Will you vote for a Republican candidate who’s not willing to answer “no” to all three questions on the FAIR no-amnesty pledge? Let us know in the comment section below or by tweeting @YHPolitics.
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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