Last Friday, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly asked former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) what she would do about immigration if she ever became “President Palin.” Palin informed O’Reilly that she would do “whatever it takes” to secure the border, including “militarizing” the border with 10,000-15,000 National Guard troops and building a wall. However, Palin seemed less confident about what to do about the millions of undocumented immigrants already living in the U.S. She proposed requiring undocumented immigrations to register with the federal government in order to legally work in the United States — a step that would actually be part of comprehensive immigration reform:

O’REILLY: Now we have 12 million people staring at you. [...] Are you going to deport them, what are you going to do? [...]

PALIN: You’re not gonna give them a free pass. You’re not gonna say, ‘okay you and anyone else who wants scurry across this porous border between now and when we do finally get it fenced in and physically secured — we’re gonna give you a free pass.’

O’REILLY: So no amnesty?

PALIN: No amnesty! [...] Do we make them register with the federal government? Yes! [...] Let’s keep it simple and let’s say ‘no, if you were here illegally and if you don’t follow the steps that at some point through immigration reform we’re gonna be able to provide — and that is somehow to allow you to work — if you don’t do that, then you’re gonna be gone.’

Watch it:

Palin’s immigration platform unintentionally sounds a lot like the Democrats’ “Conceptual Proposal for Immigration Reform” that Republicans widely rejected:

Proponents of immigration reform acknowledge that we need to meet clear and concrete benchmarks before we can finally ensure that America’s borders are secure and effectively deal with the millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States. These benchmarks must be met before action can be taken to adjust the status of people already in the United States illegally…this proposal not only includes well-designed statutory provisions that will strengthen future enforcement, but also includes a broad-based registration program that requires all illegal immigrants living in the U.S. to come forward to register, be screened, and, if eligible, complete other requirements to earn legal status, including paying taxes.

Ultimately, Palin’s responses to O’Reilly’s probing questions were fuzzy at best. Palin went back and forth between agreeing to give undocumented immigrants green cards because “there has to be that expectation that they will work” and saying American citizens need to be the ones with the “first shot” at jobs. Palin also reminded O’Reilly of how her “great political hero” Ronald Reagan signed off on legalizing 3 million undocumented immigrants in 1986. When O’Reilly pointed out that he “botched it,” Palin immediately backed away saying, “Exactly! We learn from history.”

The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) that Reagan signed off on failed to put an end to illegal immigration because it didn’t create a flexible policy to deal with the future flow of immigration or sufficiently deter employers from hiring undocumented labor. However, there are also some lessons to be learned from IRCA’s legalization program. “Even though IRCA was implemented during an economic recession characterized by high unemployment, it still helped raise wages and spurred increases in educational, home, and small-business investments by newly legalized immigrants,” asserted the Center for American Progress in a report that was released earlier this year. “Taking the experience of IRCA as a starting point, we estimate that comprehensive immigration reform would yield at least $1.5 trillion in cumulative U.S. gross domestic product over 10 years.”

Here’s a report on systemic discrimination against Palestinians buying land in Jerusalem from a surprising source — Fox News:

Despite claims from the Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, and the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that Jerusalem’s real estate market is free and open to anyone regardless of race or religion, a new study shows Palestinians do not have equal access to property in Jerusalem.

The Israel group Ir Amim released a new study showing that 80 percent of land in Jerusalem cannot be purchased by Palestinians.

Watch it:

Key members of the GOP have openly supported Israel’s Jerusalem policies. Last August, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) led a congressional delegation to Israel, defended Israel’s evictions of Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem to make way for Jewish settlers, and criticized the Obama administration’s efforts to halt the evictions.

In May, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele spoke at a rally sponsored by a number of pro-settlement groups, including the American Friends of Ateret Cohanim, a group that “works to transfer ownership of Arab homes to Jewish families in East Jerusalem.”

And former presidential candidate/current Fox News host/future presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has made numerous trips to Israel sponsored by Friends of Ateret Cohanim, voicing his support for the continued growth of settlements and the expulsion of the Palestinians, stating that they should be made to find a homeland “elsewhere.”

What is it these politicians are actually supporting? A European Union report last year “accused both the Israeli government and the Jerusalem municipality of working deliberately to alter the city’s demographic balance and sever East Jerusalem from the West Bank”:

[The EU report] said that both bodies assist right-wing organizations, such as Ateret Cohanim and Elad, in their efforts to implement this “strategic vision,” especially around the Holy Basin area. These organizations buy houses in Arab neighborhoods, and make “attempts to implant further Jewish settlements into the heart of the Muslim Quarter.”

The municipality, the report continued, discriminates against the city’s Arab residents with regard to building permits, health services, education, sanitation and more.

All of this has been reported on for years by Israeli human rights organizations like B’Tselem, Ir Amim, and Peace Now, as well as international human rights NGOs like Amnesty international and Human Rights Watch, all of whom are under increasing attack by the Israeli government. Unfortunately, the reporting thus far hasn’t resulted either in Israel changing the policy, or in the country with the most leverage over Israel — the United States — taking serious steps to get Israel to change the policy, which generates understandable resentment and anger among Palestinians, which in turn powers extremism and violence.

Cross-posted on the Wonk Room.

Here’s a report on systemic discrimination against Palestinians buying land in Jerusalem from a surprising source — Fox News:

Despite claims from the Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, and the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that Jerusalem’s real estate market is free and open to anyone regardless of race or religion, a new study shows Palestinians do not have equal access to property in Jerusalem.

The Israel group Ir Amim released a new study showing that 80 percent of land in Jerusalem cannot be purchased by Palestinians.

Watch it:

Key members of the GOP have openly supported Israel’s Jerusalem policies. Last August, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) led a congressional delegation to Israel, defended Israel’s evictions of Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem to make way for Jewish settlers, and criticized the Obama administration’s efforts to halt the evictions.

In May, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele spoke at a rally sponsored by a number of pro-settlement groups, including the American Friends of Ateret Cohanim, a group that “works to transfer ownership of Arab homes to Jewish families in East Jerusalem.”

And former presidential candidate/current Fox News host/future presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has made numerous trips to Israel sponsored by Friends of Ateret Cohanim, voicing his support for the continued growth of settlements and the expulsion of the Palestinians, stating that they should be made to find a homeland “elsewhere.”

What is it these politicians are actually supporting? A European Union report last year “accused both the Israeli government and the Jerusalem municipality of working deliberately to alter the city’s demographic balance and sever East Jerusalem from the West Bank”:

[The EU report] said that both bodies assist right-wing organizations, such as Ateret Cohanim and Elad, in their efforts to implement this “strategic vision,” especially around the Holy Basin area. These organizations buy houses in Arab neighborhoods, and make “attempts to implant further Jewish settlements into the heart of the Muslim Quarter.”

The municipality, the report continued, discriminates against the city’s Arab residents with regard to building permits, health services, education, sanitation and more.

All of this has been reported on for years by Israeli human rights organizations like B’Tselem, Ir Amim, and Peace Now, as well as international human rights NGOs like Amnesty international and Human Rights Watch, all of whom are under increasing attack by the Israeli government. Unfortunately, the reporting thus far hasn’t resulted either in Israel changing the policy, or in the country with the most leverage over Israel — the United States — taking serious steps to get Israel to change the policy, which generates understandable resentment and anger among Palestinians, which in turn powers extremism and violence.