2014 WV Senate debate: on Immigration


Natalie Tennant: Secure the borders first, then send illegals to back of line

Q: Do you support any sort of pathway to citizenship for people who are in this country illegally?

Capito: "I do not support amnesty, plain and simple. I believe that it is incumbent upon us to secure our borders before we move forward into any other comprehensive immigration plan."

Tennant: "We need to address this piece of (immigration reform) legislation that was bipartisan and worked on so hard by so many senators but first off, we have to secure the borders. We must secure the borders. We must make those who are in this country (illegally) get to the back of the line, learn English and pay taxes."

Source: WV MetroNews on 2014 West Virginia Senate debate Oct 8, 2014

Shelley Moore Capito: Secure the borders first, then comprehensive reform

Q: Do you support any sort of pathway to citizenship for people who are in this country illegally?

Capito: "I do not support amnesty, plain and simple. I believe that it is incumbent upon us to secure our borders before we move forward into any other comprehensive immigration plan."

Tennant: "We need to address this piece of (immigration reform) legislation that was bipartisan and worked on so hard by so many senators but first off, we have to secure the borders. We must secure the borders. We must make those who are in this country (illegally) get to the back of the line, learn English and pay taxes."

Source: WV MetroNews on 2014 West Virginia Senate debate Oct 8, 2014

John Buckley: Create a mechanism to normalize people already here

Q: Immigration is another big issue right now. Is that a thing in your campaign?

A: That's a tough issue. To the extent voters perceive that open immigration is going to come at their expense, they are wary of the direction the country is heading with the borders and immigration. As a libertarian I'm kind of caught in the middle, perhaps not as ideological as some of my brethren. Welcoming hard-working immigrants is part and parcel of the character of America, but at the same time figuring out how to afford keeping ourselves a beacon for those across the world and to continue to fight against the welfare society. We have to create a mechanism to normalize people already here in a way that doesn't contravene one of our principles, which is rule of law. That does not set the stage for more in the future to say, get in illegal and stick around long enough, so really there are no laws against illegal immigration. I don't know how to do that.

Source: Reason magazine Q&A on 2014 West Virginia Senate race Jul 24, 2014

  • The above quotations are from 2014 West Virginia Senate debates.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Immigration.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Natalie Tennant on Immigration.
  • Click here for more quotes by Pat McGeehan on Immigration.
Candidates and political leaders on Immigration:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R)
Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R)
Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Dec 07, 2018