DNC: Giuliani Can't Hide Shady Past by Distorting His NYC Immigration Record

December 13, 2007 -- Rudolph Giuliani today is trying to distract voters from his shady past by launching a television ad in New Hampshire called "Will" which outright distorts his record on immigration. As Giuliani continues to hide his business dealings, defend Bernard Kerik, and cover-up his blatant misuse of taxpayer-paid security, he is now running an ad promising to be tough on immigration while his record as Mayor paints a different picture.

Most glaringly, the ad fails to point out that Rudy told New Yorkers "we want to protect" undocumented workers and he "pushed policies" that favored undocumented immigrants. Giuliani even filed a lawsuit against the federal government to block efforts to require the city to turn in illegal immigrants who sought city services. At the time Giuliani justified his support noting, "[t]he reality is that they are here, and they're going to remain here." [The New York Times, 4/22/07; The New York Times, 10/12/96;]

"Instead of trying to distract voters with a TV ad that covers up his real immigration record, Rudy should finally come forward and release his full list of shady business clients and own up to his blatant misuse of taxpayer-paid security," said DNC spokesman Dag Vega. "Americans deserve to know what outside influences might sway Giuliani. His secrecy about his business dealings and abuse of taxpayer dollars won't sit well with the American people who want honest leadership."

GIULAINI AD WATCH: "WILL"

Video: http://blip.tv/file/538795
Time: 30 seconds

Giuliani: "People are frustrated over immigration because the government has been talking about solving this for twenty or twenty-five years and it has just gotten worse."

Reality:

25 Years Ago, Giuliani Wanted To Give "Amnesty" To 3 Million Illegal Aliens. "As a top Justice Department official in the 1980s, Rudy Giuliani helped sell the Reagan administration's comprehensive immigration bill, which would give "amnesty" to 3 million illegal immigrants by making their stay here legal. Giuliani gave speeches back then promoting many of the same ideas that stirred heated debate this year in Congress and led to the rejection of President George W. Bush's comprehensive immigration bill. 'Some groups staunchly oppose legalizing any undocumented aliens,' Giuliani told the Bar Association of the City of New York on Oct. 14, 1981. 'There is no other choice but to legalize these people.' He added: 'To hunt them down, apprehend them and expel them from the country is impractical, a waste of limited resources, inhumane and ultimately destructive to the continuing tradition of America.'" [Newsday, 8/14/07]

1994: Giuliani To Undocumented Workers: "We Want" You. If "you happen to be in an undocumented status, you're one of the people who we want in this city. You're somebody that we want to protect." [New York Times, 6/10/94]

Giuliani: "What we need here is leadership."

Reality:

Leadership? Giuliani Trying To Change History, Revise His Own Record. In a new book, "Meet the Next President," Giuliani "is being quoted in a new book as saying that he would have liked to deport all 400,000 illegal immigrants from New York but had to bow to reality." As the New York Times pointed out, "The remarks differ sharply from what he said in 1994, as mayor" when he said "If you come here and you work hard and you happen to be in an undocumented status, you're one of the people who we want in this city. You're somebody that we want to protect, and we want you to get out from under what is often a life of being like a fugitive, which is really unfair." [The Caucus, NYTimes.com, 12/11/07 (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/11/giuliani-now-says-he-would...)]

Giuliani: "Build a fence, train the border control, have a border stats system have a tamper proof ID card."

Reality:

Giuliani Wants To Slash Border Patrol Funding By As Much As 20% "The other thing that I would do is I would impose budget cuts on all agencies every year. It's the only way to budget." [interview with Wall Street Journal editorial board, 6/25/07 (http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110010280)] "I would use it with the Federal Government, and that is to ask every agency to make cuts of 5 to 20 percent [annually]." ["Excerpts From Mayor Giuliani's Remarks In Des Moines, IA, June 20, 2007, http://www.joinrudy2008.com/news/pr/310/, accessed, 6/21/07]

Giuliani: "...and if you become a citizen you have to be able to read English write English and speak English and understand American civics."

Reality:

Giuliani Flip Flopped On English As The Official Language. This year, Giuliani has "signaled his support for making English the nation's official language" yet in 1996, he opposed English as an official language, saying "there's no reason to pass a bill like this except, maybe, to exclude people, insult people or offend people." [Newsday (New York), 6/6/07; New York Times, 8/14/96]

Giuliani: "We can end illegal immigration."

Reality:

1996: Giuliani Said We Can't End Illegal Immigration; It Would Destroy The Economy. "Speaking at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in 1996, Giuliani said, 'We're never ever going to be able to totally control immigration to a country that is as large as ours. If you were to totally control immigration into the United States...you might very well destroy the economy of the United States.'" [Jonathan Martin's Blog, Politico, 8/16/07, (http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0807/As_abortion_is_to_Mitt...)]

Giuliani: "The technology exists to do it, the people exist to do it and now we need the political leadership and will to get it done. I am Rudy Giuliani and I approved this message."

Source: DNC

Bookmark/Search this post with:

 •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •