Pat McCrory took an abrupt U-turn in Winston-Salem over the weekend during the GOP convention, wound up in Maricopa County. Let me quickly add that maybe McCrory went into some detail — or plans to — explaining his newly evolved positioned on illegal immigration. And I mean beyond the 70 percent approval rating the Arizona immigration law now enjoys with the public, popularity which a cynic would say wholly explains Pat’s sudden fondness for enforcing immigration laws.
In the meantime, let’s revisit McCrory’s former positions on immigration law. Here’s Pat in January 2007 throwing in “a more serious crimes” caveat when discussing the 287(g) program with WFAE. The entire final report is here.
McCrory was also on a Department of Homeland Security panel which produced this report which touched on the need to “balance between secure borders and open doors.” No where did the report suggest that states pass laws essentially making it a state/local trespassing offense to be in the country illegally.
But hey, you knew that. So does Pat. That is way I cannot wait to hear how he has come to this place. My guess — he’ll say he was always for enforcing the law and that various reports and panels he was part of did not and do not reflect his views. At least that’s what I would say.
