Tim Kaine on Immigration Accusations: "It's a slap in the face"

Kaine: Somebody can say anything they want about me, but when I hear those kind of statements I feel like it's a slap in the face of the Virginia National Guard troops that I sent to the border between Arizona and Mexico...I've still got some there guarding the border.  It's a slap in the face against my state police who I have instructed to anytime they come across somebody who is not here legally to notify ICE and arrest them if need be, turn them over to ICE which they've been doing.  It's a slap in the face against people who work with my Department of Corrections, my Department of Motor Vehicles all of whom do their part to make sure that people [who] are not here legally they don't get drivers licenses. 

And in the DOC we let ICE know and ICE most often will come and get them.  So, you know, people will say things for political reasons but we're doing a lot of immigration work in Virginia now.  And we're doing more than, frankly, we need to, but we're doing it to pick up after a just horribly failed federal policy -- the Bush Administration, Congress hasn't been able to get their act together.  And so governors across the United States are doing all kinds of things. 

But what I won't do is just agree to the notion that Virginia should just completely take it over from the federal government  So I continue to say that it is the Bush Administration's  responsibility, it is the federal government's responsibility to have an immigration policy that they're willing to enforce and not just dump it on us.  But we've got very tight rules in Virginia, generally can't receive public benefits if you're not here lawfully.  And, between law enforcement and motor vehicles and corrections and National Guard, we're doing our part, it's just that we need the federal government to be a real partner....

Question: On some specifics, do you want the state police to train with ICE?

Kaine: My state police guys work with ICE all the time; they've gotten training, they're doing work with ICE.  Earlier in the year there was an effort in the legislature first to get a thing passed requiring a certain agreement with ICE. The legislature defeated that bill...I met with ICE folks with my state police and others and we looked at the content of the agreement they wanted us to sign. We said look, we're already doing all this federal work already, let's look at this agreement.  What I concluded was the agreement was basically, "hey state, you do even more and we're not going to do anything."  And I think a policy at the federal level of they're just going to dump this off on states and localities is an outrage.  And I think the Bush Administration and Congress needs to take this federal responsibility seriously. 

Now, until they do, we're still gonna be sending folks to guard...you know, I've sent about 450 Virginia Guardsmen to guard the border between Arizona and Mexico since 2006. I have a handful there now, there's going to be more going in late 2007/early 2008.  We're gonna continue to do those things, we're gonna continue to if we pick up people who are not here legally contact ICE, make arrangements so that ICE can take over them.  But Virginia cannot take over the federal government's responsibility for illegal immigration.

Question: Would you allow for illegal immigrants to be denied bail just as a flat policy?

Kaine: I think that's actually a pretty smart idea, it has a huge price tag.  The idea behind bail is you don't want to give bail to somebody who's a flight risk.  I think it would be a natural presumption that somebody who is not here legally would be a flight risk.  But just know that every time you deny bail, there's a jail cell so there's a big price tag to that.  But I think that could make a lot of sense, I'd be very open to talking about that.

Question: What about in-state tuition at state universities for children of illegal immigrants...?

Kaine:  Right now, my understanding of current Virginia law is that I do not believe schools offer that.  There was a discussion back in the Warner administration about folks who had been here for a certain number of years whose parents were paying taxes, if they were trying to get...if they had filed to get their immigration status arranged properly and the matter was just sitting over on ICE's desk somewhere.  Under that circumstance, I could see an argument that yes, that would be a fair way to treat them for tuition purposes.  Again, they're paying taxes, they've lived here, they're trying to get ICE to act.  It's not uncommon for papers to sit on desks with ICE for years with no action.  But if you're not trying to become legal, if you're not taking the steps necessary to become legal, no, you shouldn't get in-state tuition.

Question:  Don't even let them go to state universities?

Kaine:  As a general matter, we have a rule that if you're not here legally you're not entitled to public benefits. We make exceptions to that rule.  We are required constitutionally to educate kids in K-12, and that's a good thing, I think you would want kids educated.   We are also, we make the decision I think it's wise, certain public health services we give to folks regardless of their immigration status.  You don't want somebody with tuberculosis not getting treatment and infecting thousands of other people.  But the general rule in Virginia is no public benefits if you're not here lawfully. That was put in place a number of years ago. 

So the argument that we're not doing anything about immigration is a specious argument that people bring up to try to make political points.  We're doing an awful lot.  I've got first responders on the front lines in law enforcement and public safety positions risking their lives to do stuff, so I don't take kindly to the notion that, well, Virginia's not doing anything.

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