Dobbs Loses a Big Backer « The Washington Independent

The Americans for Legal Immigration PAC just announced that it’s withdrawing its longstanding support for former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, who the group previously called on to run for president, because he’s backed away from his stance against legalization of illegal immigrants.

“While Mr. Dobbs claims his positions have not changed, however, that is not the perception of many of our mutual supporters,” said William Gheen of ALIPAC, in a press release. “His recent comments on Telemundo and his national radio show supporting some kind of path to citizenship for illegal immigrants is inconsistent with positions of ALIPAC and the views of most American citizens.”

ALIPAC is a stalwart opponent of what it and Dobbs have long derisively called “amnesty” for illegal immigrants. The PAC cites a recent Pulse Opinion Research poll finding that “78% of likely voters were opposed to legalizing the status of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., with only 19% supporting it.”

No lawmakers are actually proposing legalizing all 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States, but some have proposed creating a path to legalization for those who have lived and worked in the United States for several years, have not broken any criminal laws and are willing to pay back taxes and a fine.

Dobbs recently fueled speculation that he may run for political office when he appeared on Telemundo and said he would support legalization for some undocumented immigrants. He also floated the possibility during an appearance on former Sen. Fred Thompson’s (R-Tenn.) radio show.

“Our internal polling shows that over 70% of our supporters are upset with Mr. Dobbs’s comments on Telemundo is support of legalizing illegal aliens. ALIPAC opposes any path to citizenship form of Amnesty for illegal aliens currently in the US,” said Gheen.

“Therefore we are dropping our support for Lou Dobbs and suspending the fan sites we have created.”