Rick Perry’s Uneven Stances on Latino Issues

Texas Governor Rick Perry sat comfortably at the top of the Republican Presidential nomination bill, once upon a time. Now, he’s clocking 10.3% of the votes in the Iowa Caucus, a distant and lonely 5th place. Now Rick Perry is probably most well-known for his constant verbal faux pas, being something of a Bush-in-training, and this tends to overshadow his stances, which some say have a lot of appeal to the all-coveted Latino voter base. Here’s a quick summary:

On immigration:

Perry’s stance is pretty moderate, but being fair, his record shows some pretty serious inconsistencies. He signed the Texas Dream Act in 2001, allowing illegal immigrants to attend state universities and colleges. He was also a verbal critic of Arizona’s controversial SB1070, as well as the use of E-Verify which prevents the hiring of undocumented workers.

On the other hand, Perry has been urging the passage of a bill that outlaws sanctuary cities, or cities where the authorities do not inquire into the nature of one’s immigration status. The hammer on such cities has been lifted for now, but Perry then advocated a Voter ID Act in direct opposition to Latino advocacy groups.

On border security:

Despite heavy criticism from the right for his perceived compassionate stance on immigration, Perry has his feet set and his shoulders squared on the issue of border security. He wants thousands of National Guardsmen at the border. More border security agents to be hired and trained. Aerial surveillance. He said he would even send the military into Mexico to fight the drug cartels if things don’t even out down there.

Interestingly enough, he is against building a fence along the border. He instead calls for a more strategic approach, building some fencing around high traffic areas. Manned security is his primary strategy regarding the issue.

On the economy:

The biggest issue of the upcoming election. Perry claims to grow jobs on the federal level the way he did at the state level. Indeed, Texas did experience a net gain of 1.2 million jobs from 2001 through 2011, while the U.S. lost 1.1 million in the same time frame. Perry says that since 2009, 40% of all jobs created in the U.S. come from Texas.

However, his opponents say that he is exaggerating his state’s success. Texas is 24th highest in unemployment in the nation at 8.5% while the nation-wide average rests stubbornly at 9.1%.

On healthcare:

Repeal Obamacare.

Give states more flexibility.

The end.

Agree or disagree, there’s at least some position here. They just have to teach the guy how to talk.

Does this change your mind about Rick Perry or solidify your position against him? Do you think he can jump ahead with Latinos with these stances?