Ingraham vs. Aguilar

Alfonso Aguilar, an advocate calling for conservatives to support comprehensive immigration reform, said Wednesday that the rule of law and amnesty for illegal aliens are concepts in conflict.

Aguilar, who was the U.S. Office of Citizenship chief under President George W. Bush and currently works for a corporate-backed group with links to the Bushes, claimed he believes in the rule of law and supports tighter border security.

And he said the penalty should be “proportional” to the infraction.

“Following the argument of the rule of law, the penalty has to be proportional to the crime or infraction. To propose that the only way to deal with them is to return them to their home country, that’s the only penalty, I think that’s certainly excessive,” Aguilar said on “The Laura Ingraham Show.”

But when pressed by Ingraham whether one can maintain a conservative commitment to the rule of law and simultaneously advocate not enforcing federal law regarding deportations, Aguilar conceded the two ideas are opposed.

“As I understand, you are subject to deportation as a resident alien who is in violation of current immigration law,” Ingraham told Aguilar, who agreed.

“[They] are subject to deportation, but you, who say you’re for the rule of law believe, no, deportation is off the table. Correct?” Ingraham continued.

“That is correct,” Aguilar replied.

Aguilar is the director of the American Principles Project’s Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, which is part of a pro-immigration network of pro-business organizations funded by the Koch brothers and other wealthy donors who support legal status for illegal immigrants as a source of cheap labor.

Ingraham said Aguilar is free to advocate for changing the law. But the current statutes are clear, she said.

Aguilar’s response: “There are unfair laws. Our system doesn’t work.”

Ingraham asked to whom the laws are unfair.

“The immigration law is supposed to work for the average American,” she said. “It doesn’t exist to make Guatemala a better country, or Salvador a better country.”

Ingraham pointed out that record levels of immigration have coincided with a bad economic period.

Ingraham pointed out that record levels of immigration have coincided with a bad economic period.

“Why is the economy not humming?” she asked.

Beyond the policy debate, Aguilar argued that Hispanics are naturally inclined to support conservative caucuses, like anti-abortion polices and limited government.

“We believe Latinos, like Ronald Reagan believed, are conservative,” he said. “They respond well to our ideals.”

If that is true, Ingraham asked, how come Hispanics vote overwhelmingly Democrat? California, she pointed out, has become “impossibly Democrat.”

Aguilar asserted that conservatives have not done a good enough job making their case.