State of Arkansas Archives: on Immigration
Bruce Westerman:
Control the borders, then implement guest worker program
Subsequent to establishing and maintaining operational control of the border, Congress should look at any reforms through a careful, step-by-step, process that establishes benchmarks to be met before the next step is taken, encourages lawful immigration,
prevents illegal immigration, and does not include amnesty. - Guest Workers: Any guest worker program should be market-driven, truly temporary and protective of hardworking taxpayers. Additionally, any guest worker program should require
temporary workers to return to their home countries once their visas expire.
- H-1B Visas: Our country has a history of welcoming the best and brightest high-skilled workers to its shores. In order to create a situation where American businesses expand
their work and create new jobs that result in higher wages, I support raising the cap on H1-B visas for skilled workers-provided we enforce existing immigration law to prevent visa overstays.
Source: 2014 Arkansas House campaign website, BruceWesterman.com
Oct 10, 2014
Conner Eldridge:
Pathway to legal status but no amnesty
Conner's plan for comprehensive immigration reform:- Secure our borders and ports to ensure we know who and what is entering this country.
- Create a pathway to legal status for undocumented immigrants already in the US with strict requirements,
such as having a clean background check, securing a job, paying fines and all back taxes.
- Oppose amnesty and immediately deport undocumented immigrants who commit a violent crime or who pose a threat to national security.
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Ensure passage of the DREAM Act so that young people who grew up in the US can serve in the Armed Forces or pursue higher education, [including] allowing undocumented students who graduate from an Arkansas high school to pay in-state tuition.
We have a proud legacy of welcoming people who seek the American Dream. However, we must fix our broken immigration system, take immediate action to secure our borders and pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation.
Source: 2016 Senate campaign website, ConnerForArkansas.com
Aug 31, 2016
Curtis Coleman:
100% opposed to amnesty in any form or by any mechanism
I am 100% opposed to amnesty.
I will not vote for any piece of legislation that grants amnesty, or ones that fund amnesty in any form or by any mechanism. We must secure our border first, above all else.
Source: 2016 Arkansas Senate campaign website, CurtisColeman.com
Nov 11, 2015
Dan Whitfield:
End migrant child detention facilities: use foster care
The migrant child detention facilities are costing taxpayers $22,000/month in order to incarcerate innocent children in conditions that doctors have deemed "torture conditions." Children belong in homes, not concentration camps.
I propose we offer loving American families $2,000/month to house a child. This would be like foster care but would be a limited amount of time while the child's parents are undergoing the immigration process.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Jun 8, 2020
Jared Henderson:
We can learn and grow by listening to the immigrants stories
Henderson said Saturday's event taught just as much -- if not more -- than any day on the campaign trail. "It just really opened our eyes to the reality that our immigrant population makes us stronger as a country," he said. "We are
at our strongest when we celebrate diversity and we really promote inclusiveness, and that starts with understanding the real stories of our fellow citizens. It just deepens my convictions to fight for those things."
Source: Democrat-Gazette on 2018 Arkansas Gubernatorial race
Apr 15, 2018
Leslie Rutledge:
Sued to overturn Sanctuary jurisdiction rules under Obama
The Rutledge Record on Government Overreach - Worked with other states' Attorneys General to overturn Sanctuary jurisdiction rules set in place by the Obama Administration.
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Sued the Obama Administration to overturn the illegal executive actions on immigration.
- Pushed the Biden Administration to arrest and remove unlawful immigrants convicted of sex crimes.
Source: 2021 Arkansas Governor campaign website LeslieRutledge.com
Nov 21, 2021
Mark West:
Pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens
Q: Do you support or oppose the statement, "Pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens"?
A: Support
Source: OnTheIssues interview of 2018 Arkansas governor candidate
Apr 28, 2018
Sarah Huckabee Sanders:
Some immigrants are worse than animals
Sarah Huckabee Sanders' political ambitions for the candidacy for governor of Arkansas have been obvious ever since she departed as former President Donald Trump's press secretary, telling The New York Times in a 2019 interview that she felt "called"
to serve as senator or governor. She was known for her blunt answers
("frankly I don't think ['animals'] was strong enough," she told the press when asked about Trump's use of the dehumanizing word to describe "some immigrants"),
her defenses of the indefensible (calling it "very Biblical" to separate migrant families at the border).
Source: The Week newsmagazine on 2022 Arkansas gubernatorial race
Jan 26, 2021
Sarah Huckabee Sanders:
Pledges to defund sanctuary cities, already done in 2019
Sanders came under attack from [Lt. Gov. Tim] Griffin, who criticized her campaign video pledge to "prohibit sanctuary cities and cut off funding for cities that deliberately violate immigration laws." Griffin noted that [Gov. Asa] Hutchinson in
2019 had already signed into law a measure cutting off state funding to so-called "sanctuary cities" that do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement authorities.
Source: Politico.com e-zine on 2022 Arkansas gubernatorial race
Jan 25, 2021
Sarah Huckabee Sanders:
Defends sending immigrants to Democrat-led sanctuary cities
Q: Trump said he wants to bus migrants to sanctuary cities run by Democrats.SANDERS: Certainly this wouldn't be our first choice. Democrats have stated time and time again they support open borders, they support sanctuary cities.
So, let's spread out some of that burden and let's put it in some of those other locations if that's what they want to see happen and are refusing to actually help fix the problem.
Source: ABC This Week on 2022 Arkansas Gubernatorial race
Apr 14, 2019
Sarah Huckabee Sanders:
Defended family separation: very Biblical to enforce the law
[On immigrant family separation]: "On the children who are being separated from their families as they come across the border, the attorney general said there is justification for this in the Bible," said CNN's Jim Acosta. "Where does it say in the
Bible that it's moral to take children away from their mothers?" Sanders said that "it is very Biblical to enforce the law," before blaming Democrats for refusing to close the "legal loopholes" that enabled the administration's new policy.
Source: Rolling Stone magazine on 2022 Arkansas Gubernatorial race
Jun 14, 2018
Hallie Shoffner:
We should have immigration reform, but this isn't it
[On reforms]: "I think that everyone believes we should have immigration reform, but that everyone also believes that this isn't it…and everyone would like both Democrats and Republicans to come to the table and work out a real solution," Shoffner said.
"Tom Cotton seems much more interested in spending money on an agency that does not currently have to hold themselves to the same standards as our local law enforcement, at the expense of fighting real injustice in this country," Shoffner said.
Source: Arkansas Advocate on 2026 Arkansas Senate race
Feb 26, 2026
Ethan Dunbar:
Would support ICE if they operate with guardrails
Dunbar said he would not support defunding ICE, which some top Democrats have called for in light of the
Minnesota killings. "If they operate in accordance with their mission, with guardrails, then I think ICE serves a vital service to our country," said Dunbar, the mayor of Lewisville in south Arkansas.
Source: Arkansas Advocate on 2026 Arkansas Senate race
Feb 26, 2026
Fredrick Love:
Due process applies even to illegal immigrants
Arkansas State Police told lawmakers that they are an 'assisting agency,' which means they can't do everything ICE can do, but they can work with them. "I was interested in today's topic of immigration enforcement with the state police because
I wanted to ensure, number one, that it was being handled," said State Sen. Fred Love (D-Pulaski County). "And it was carefully being handled for the citizens of Arkansas."
"Regardless of if someone is a U.S. citizen or not, due process is a part of our law," Love said. "The Constitution is the fabric that makes up
America, and so if we are operating within the fabric of that Constitution, I'm fine… There may be criminals, but not everybody here is a criminal. And I want to make sure that humanity is being observed."
Source: THV-11 (CBS) on 2026 Arkansas Gubernatorial race
Jan 21, 2026
Page last updated: Oct 18, 2026