Perry sounds off on immigration

Taking questions from reporters for the first time since Monday as he wrapped up a campaign swing here, Texas Gov. Rick Perry defended and expanded on his record on immigration policy — a record with positions that parts of the Republican base reject.

As governor, Perry’s supported allowing illegal immigrants to get in-state tuition rates at Texas universities and opposed Arizona’s strict state immigration law — despite signing a law in Texas that critics call similarly repressive.

“Here’s what you need to understand about me, is I’m a big believer in the 10th Amendment,” Perry said. States are the ones that should decide how they set university tuition rates and how they enforce immigration laws, he said.

“I didn’t think that the state of Texas, an Arizona-exact law was right for the state of Texas,” he said. “I didn’t want to make our law enforcement officers federal immigration officers. So state-by-state ought to be the way to do that, not by the federal government, one-size-fits-all.”

But Perry called for federal involvement on the issue when a reporter pointed out that the Constitution assigns the federal government responsibility for immigration.

“Once we secure the border, we can have a conversation about immigration reform in this country, but not until. You must have the federal government putting the resources, the boots on the ground, the aviation assets in the air, and secure that border so that we know the border is secure before we have a conversation about any immigration reform,” he said.

To a follow-up about whether illegal immigrants who serve in the armed forces should be allowed to become citizens, he said, “Yes sir, I think there is a path to citizenship for those young men and women who have served their country.”

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Foreigners arrested in Britain riots to be deported

We'll believe it when we see it

More than 150 foreign nationals arrested after the riots in Britain will be deported, a media report said Saturday.

Immigration Minister Damian Green said they will be thrown out of Britain at the 'earliest opportunity'.

Around 150 of the 2,800 people held over the looting and arson attacks were born abroad, the Daily Mail said quoting the UK Border Agency.

Immigration Minister Damian Green said Friday: "We strongly believe that foreign national lawbreakers should be removed from the UK at the earliest opportunity."

"We also have the power to cancel the visas of foreign nationals found guilty of criminal activity, and this is something we will be looking to do when cases arise," the Mail quoted him as saying.

Under immigration rules, criminals from outside Europe are automatically put forward for deportation if they are sentenced to 12 months in prison.

The same applies to Europeans given a 12-month sentence for drugs, violent or sexual crimes, or 24 months for other crimes, the Mail said.

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