Liberal New York Times Columnist Longs For A Different Version Of Rudy Giuliani
You know, the one that existed before he started running for President.
David Brooks:
Rudy Giuliani can play a little rough at times, but there are some moments when an inner light turns on and he turns downright idealistic. One of those moments came on Oct. 10, 1996, as he stepped on the podium at the Kennedy School of Government to deliver a speech on immigration.
“I’m pleased to be with you this evening to talk about the anti-immigrant movement in America,” he said, “and why I believe this movement endangers the single most important reason for American greatness, namely, the renewal, reformation and reawakening that’s provided by the continuous flow of immigrants.”
Giuliani continued: “I believe the anti-immigrant movement in America is one of our most serious public problems.” It can “be seen in legislation passed by Congress and the president.” (Republicans had just passed a welfare reform law that restricted benefits to legal immigrants.) “It can be seen in the negative attitudes being expressed by many of the politicians.”
Giuliani said, somewhat unfairly, that the anti-immigrant movement at that time continued the fear-mongering and discrimination of the nativist movements of the 1920s and the Know-Nothing movement of the 19th century. He celebrated Abraham Lincoln for having the courage to take on the anti-immigrant forces. He detailed the many ways immigration benefits the nation.
Then he turned to the subject of illegal immigration: “The United States has to do a lot better job of patrolling our borders.” But, he continued, “The reality is, people will always get in.”
“In New York City,” he said, “we recognize this reality. New York City’s policy toward undocumented immigrants is called ‘Executive Order 124.’ ” This order protected undocumented immigrants from being reported when they used city services. Giuliani was then fighting the federal government, which wanted to reverse it.
“There are times,” he declared, “when undocumented aliens must have a substantial degree of protection.” They must feel safe sending their children to school. They should feel safe reporting crime to the police. “Similarly, illegal and undocumented immigrants should be able to seek medical help without the threat of being reported. When these people are sick, they are just as sick and just as contagious as citizens.”
And before anyone says that Rudy has changed his feelings about illegal immigration since the mid-1990’s, consider this:
Just last year, I saw him passionately deliver remarks at the Manhattan Institute Hamilton Award Dinner in which he condemned the “punitive approach” to immigration, “which is reflected in the House legislation that was passed, which is to make it a crime to be an illegal or undocumented immigrant.”
To “deal with it in a punitive way,” he said then, “is actually going to make us considerably less secure than we already are.” The better approach, he continued, is to embrace the Senate’s comprehensive reform and to separate the criminal illegals from the hard-working ones.
These speeches are the real Rudy. These speeches represent the Rudy who once went overboard and declared, “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 got that? The real Rudy.
Illegal immigration is an important issue for a lot of Americans, and given the widespread public furor that prevented some amnesty-granting immigration legislation from passing in Congress last year it’s pretty clear how most Americans feel about it. President Bush’s limp-wristed approach to border security, coupled with a desire to give illegals amnesty, was bad enough. But do we really want a President who actually wanted illegal immigrants in his city?
Can we afford a President who wants to give illegals access to our already burdensome welfare state?
Rudy likes to paint a different picture of his illegal immigration stance now, but he’s just trying to fool us. In the “issues” section of his campaign website Rudy doesn’t even address the illegal immigration issue. Probably because he’s not all that keen about going on record with it.
Which should probably tell us something. Rudy’s good at pleasing conservatives with smooth speeches about cutting taxes, and funny one-liners about Hillary Clinton. But when it comes down to brass tacks, on certain policies (illegal immigration being one of them) Rudy just isn’t someone conservatives should want.
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