Redstate

A few other excerpts:

Think about it for a moment, in a city as large as New York we have a very large undocumented and illegal population -- 400,000 people or more from a total of 7.5 million. So now, if you don't create an area of protection for those 400,000 people to report when they are victimized then not only do you increase the risk they'll be victimized again but that next time the mugger seeks to victimize someone they might not be an illegal or undocumented immigrant. Because when a mugger seeks to victimize someone they won't ask for a green card, -- muggers don't get involved in those distinctions between legal resident, immigrant or illegals. If you say to people you are going to pay a very heavy penalty by reporting to the police crimes that are committed against you, you deprive the police of significant information they could use to catch criminals. And when you're talking about as many people as we're talking about that's a significant part in which the police enforce the law and protect all citizens.

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If we have 400,000 illegal and undocumented immigrants in New York City last year the federal government only deported about 1,200 people. With all the federal reforms of immigration and all the additional resources the federal government promises, if you assume the most optimistic results would be that deportation by the federal government would be doubled or tripled. Let's suppose the numbers of deportations tripled that would mean three to four thousand deportations a year, remember, we have a population of 400,000 undocumented and illegal immigrants. What that means for the reality of life for all of us is that those people will remain here and stay here.

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I'll give you another example of how, in practicality, this won't be an exercise that will control immigration in any meaningful sense. Right now in New York City prisons there are approximately 2,500 people who are illegal and undocumented. In a given year about 4,000 illegal and undocumented immigrants go through the New York City jail system with the potential of 70,000 people each year whose names come to our attention who have allegedly committed crimes or who have been convicted of committing crimes. None of them are protected by Executive Order 124. Those names should be turned over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service and they have been for at least the last decade. There are literally thousands upon thousands of names the I.N.S. could work on and usefully deport from the United States, which they're not going to do, either with present resources or what they're promising to do with all their reform measures, and actually only three hundred people that were convicted of serious felonies by the federal government were deported.

Another speech later that month

Illegal immigration is a different matter. I do not defend it. No one should break the law.

But preventing illegal immigration is the job of the Federal Government.

The United States has to do a lot better job of patrolling our borders.

If we can't stop illegal immigration, then we can't stop drugs and weapons from entering the country, either.

But in a country as large as ours, with our protection of individual liberty, and with a huge border that spans sea, deserts and mountains... and given the strong desire that people have to come to this country, the Federal Government may never be able to stop illegal immigration completely.

At best, all we can expect is that the Federal Government will do a better job of patrolling our borders.

The reality is, people will always get in. And the reality is, the Federal Government doesn't deport them.

In New York City, which has 400,000 undocumented immigrants, only about 1,500 a year are deported.

Under the new legislation, that number would -- at most -- double to about 3,000 out of 400,000.

So illegal and undocumented immigrants are going to remain, and even increase.

And nothing that is now being proposed in Washington would realistically change that very much.

In the real world, local officials can't do much on their own about immigration, especially not when there is so much else for the NYC Govt to do. You think the Clinton Administration did a good job of patrolling the border, or even of deporting people reported to it?

"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill

I don't find your rebuttal convincing. The fact is, Mayor Giuliani opposed the most significant legislation the republican congress wrote because Giuliani wanted to continue the funding for illegals. You can spin it anyway you want, but the facts are there for all to see.

Furthermore, there are cities all across America that are writing their own anti illegal legislation...they aren't waiting for the feds to do it. Had Giuliani been serious about his opposition to illegal immigration, he could have passed his own citywide legislation. The fact is, he didn't.

At least I got you to admit that local governments can write legislation of their own on the issue. The fact is, Giuliani never attempted to stop illegal immigration in NYC.

I just wish some of these candidates, Giuliani included, would be honest about their true feelings on the issue of illegals. As the speech shows, deep down in his heart, Giuliani felt compassion for illegals and became an advocate for their rights. I'd have more respect for him if he'd just admit how he really feels, rather than pandering to the conservative wing of the republican party with disingenuous rhetoric.

Recently, Rudy defended his don't ask don't tell policy when it came to illegal aliens.

Rudy and other open borders advocates often argue there aren't enough law enforcement personnel to police illegals. If Rudy had not forbidden school and hospital administrators as well as police and other city workers from asking people their immigration status there would have been more than enough enforcement.

But that won't stop Rudy from redefining himself on the issue.