America's Voice

ENFORCEMENT ONLY. On his campaign website Tinsley states, “Illegal immigration is a growing problem in the United States. As a border state, New Mexico is on the front lines of the debate over illegal immigration and border security. This tide of illegal immigration has compromised our national security and placed additional pressure on our health and education systems. Illegal immigration is fundamentally unfair to those legal immigrants, who play by the rules as they work to pursue the American dream… Many see building a border fence as the solution.

I agree that it is part of the solution in specific geographical areas.” He also said the United States must act by “ending the practice of giving government benefits to illegal aliens; immediately putting an end to the policy of giving drivers licenses to illegal immigrants; [and] requiring high school graduates to read and speak English proficiently before graduating from high school.” While he says he supports “comprehensive” immigration reform, Tinsley does not outline any policy positions that go beyond enforcement to reform our visa laws or address the status of undocumented workers; he only states that any comprehensive plan should not contain “amnesty.” [Ed Tinsley for Congress, accessed 8/18/08] In his acceptance speech following the Republican primary, Tinsley said that immigration is “a very complicated issue. We can’t take a Band-Aid approach to fixing things." [AP, 6/4/08]