Barack Obama

	Polls and lipstick
	Women's vote
	Immigration

Barack Obama

-I want to talk about immigration for a moment. There was very little talk on immigration during your convention. But, you did say "I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child." Are you implying that maybe there should be a moratorium on raids?
-Well, what I've said, and I will repeat, is that raids are a publicity stunt, they are a tactic to push people away from focusing on the failures of the immigration system as a whole. What we have to do is to have a comprehensive immigration plan that has strong border security; that cracks down on employers who are taking advantage of undocumented workers. The reports in Iowa, the meat packing plant, where you have thirteen year olds who were working in the most dangerous of circumstances. We've got to crack down on them, and we've got to provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers, making sure that they over time are able to earn their position here in the United States of America.

"That is something that I am committed to doing as President, but we got to stop demagoging the issue. The Republican Party frankly has been much worse about trying to stir up fear, and that fear often times ends up being directed at the Hispanic community as a whole, in a way that I think is very unfortunate. We got to fix the system, but we have to also remember that we are a nation of immigrants."

-There are a couple of things that John McCain has said about you in an interview on our network last week. He told us that you proposed an amendment to the immigration reform bill that he co-authored that would have killed it.
-Let, let let, let me...

-He said that you wanted to eliminate the guest worker program, and that would have killed the bill.
-Let me, let me be very clear about this, because this is a dishonest comment by John McCain. The fact of the matter is that the two amendments I proposed, number one was to make sure that we didn't have a guest workers program in here that would allow people to come in, but then be fired by their employees and deported without any cause whatsoever. So, my interest is protecting the workers who come here, that I think was the right thing to do.

"The second amendment that I had was to make sure that when we set up an employer verification system, that the employers actually have to check and be serious and careful about who they are screening, so that they just don't exclude people with Hispanic surnames. Because since there was a four percent error rate in verifying whether somebody was actually a citizen or not, you could have the situation where US citizens with Hispanic surnames were getting fired from the jobs or not getting hired, and I thought it was important to have that protection. Now, if John McCain thinks that those things are unimportant, then that is something that I am happy to debate. I think that most of your viewers want to make sure that any immigration plan ensures that they are not discriminated against.

-In short, he also said that you would unilaterally renegotiate NAFTA, and that you are against every free trade agreement. Is it true? Are you against free trade?
-Look, I, I voted for Peru, I have been supportive of a whole range of free trade agreements.

-Do you want to renegotiate NAFTA?
-What I have said is that I want to make sure that the side agreements that exist on labor and on environment are placed in the agreement itself, and are enforceable, the same way the corporate agreements that are important to U.S. corporations are enforceable. Because... I think that  is very important to make sure that our free trade agreements aren't just good for corporate bottom lines, and Wall Street, but they are good for workers, and we make sure that those who are in the toughest situations are also benefiting from free trade. You know, so, John McCain and George Bush and I have a different philosophy. I believe in free trade, but I want to make sure that it benefits people at the bottom and not just people at the top.

-You've never been to Latin America, do you think that you can relate to a region that you have never been to? Especially because it is our hemisphere and it is a region that directly affects the security of our country.
-Well, I know John McCain likes to tap all his travels. It hasn't prevented him from making a series of bad decisions. He had traveled to Iraq, and yet wasn't clear about the difference between Shiite and Sunni and ended up suggesting that we could go in there and be greeted as liberators.

"I think he has not been supportive of policies that would make a difference in Latin America. George Bush, who claimed that he had a special affinity for Latin America, hasn't, he ignored Latin America for the last eight years because of their obsession on Irak. I think what is important for people to focus on who has the policies and is serious about creating the kinds of alliances and partnerships based on mutual respect that would allow countries both in Latin America and here in the United States to grow, and that is something that I consistently, and is something that I will promote when I am president.

-Are you planning a trip to Latin America?
-Absolutely, I'm looking forward to it.

-Thank you Senator.
I appreciate it.


Note: To read John McCain's interview in "El Punto", click here.

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Barack Obama