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Sen. Rand Paul reiterated Tuesday afternoon that he's not calling for a new pathway to citizenship in his immigration proposal, but he's not planning to stand in the way of any undocumented workers who want to eventually become citizens, either.

"It doesn't get you in a green card line. It gets you in a line to enter the country legally to become a citizen like everybody else who wants to come from around the world to be a citizen," he said on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer."

In a speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce earlier in the day, Paul stated that he's not in favor of deporting the country's 11-12 million undocumented immigrants and instead argued for a plan that would give work visas to those who came to the country illegally. A congressional panel would determine how many visas would be given each year.

The plan would bring "these workers out of the shadows and into becoming and being taxpaying members of society," Paul said in his speech.

Some reports, however, questioned whether he was supporting a pathway to citizenship, a proposal backed by a bipartisan group of senators in Congress.

Asked specifically Tuesday if he was in favor of allowing undocumented workers to one day become citizens, Paul said he supports the idea if workers want to apply for citizenship in the traditional manner.

"But you don't get to get in front of anyone in the line," he said.

"I'm simply saying you can get a work visa and you can get in the normal line," he added. "I'm not creating a new line for citizenship. I'm just saying you can get in the current line that exists. The only thing I'm saying is you don't have to go home." http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/03/19/rand-paul-attempts-to-
clarify-position-on-pathway-to-citizenship/?hpt=hp_bn3

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Amid the mish-mash of potential presidential contenders at last weekend's Conservative Political Action Conference, pundit Ann Coulter didn't disappoint her supporters by brandishing once again the language of racialist politics.

It was no surprise that she used immigration reform to inflame the right. She has depicted Latinos as "a deluge of unskilled immigrants pouring into the country," and she'll explain to anyone who will listen that immigrants are looking for little more than the next government handout. Her deep ignorance of both the American Latino community and immigration reform is shameful.

Among her fiery comments was an attack on GOP politicians Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the "endless Bushes," New Jersey's Gov. Chris Christie and others who have publicly voiced support for immigration reform. Coulter alleged that Republican politicians are speaking out in favor of immigration reform because they "panicked" reacting to the lackluster voter support last November. And, she proudly announced, from now on she will be a single-issue voter against "amnesty for illegals."

Which is why the party is changing its tone. Republicans like Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Chris Christie are following the footsteps of Ronald Reagan in recognizing that the way to move this country forward lies in the sometimes messy, complicated task of seeking a solution to the immigration problem, not in bright-line denouncements like Coulter's sound bites.

Coulter's smug rally to become "single-issue voters" smacks of panic she accuses others of experiencing. Her take on immigration is exactly the kind of ill-informed and short-sighted stance that has caused the GOP to lose supporters.

She can't be pleased with the timing of the release of her own Party's report, which proclaims in no uncertain terms that immigration reform must be embraced, not dismantled. It is Ann Coulter's views that are truly out of step with the leadership and the goals of the only Party that will have her.More at http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/20/opinion/garcia-immigration-reform/index.
html?hpt=hp_bn7

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