{"id":693,"date":"2007-11-04T16:31:00","date_gmt":"2007-11-04T16:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.arkansasfreedom.net\/?p=693"},"modified":"2007-11-04T16:31:00","modified_gmt":"2007-11-04T16:31:00","slug":"mexican-consulate-deal-dogs-huckabee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/?p=693","title":{"rendered":"Mexican consulate deal dogs Huckabee"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><font color=black><br \/>\n<!-- end leadin graphic --><\/p>\n<hr noshade=\"noshade\" size=\"1\">\n<!-- standing head --><br \/>\n<font color=\"#440000\" face=\"Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif\" size=\"-1\"><strong>ELECTION 2008<\/strong><\/font><br \/>\n<!-- end standing head --><!-- head --><br \/>\n<font color=\"#000000\" face=\"Palatino, Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif\" size=\"+2\">Mexican consulate deal dogs Huckabee campaign<\/font><br \/>\n<!-- end head --><!-- deck --><br \/>\n<font color=\"#000000\" face=\"Palatino, Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif\" size=\"+1\">Critics charge he established &#8216;magnet&#8217; for illegals financed by citizens, U.S. businesses<\/font><br \/>\n<!-- end deck --><\/p>\n<hr size=\"1\">\n<font size=\"-1\">Posted: October 31, 2007<br \/>1:00 a.m. Eastern<\/p>\n<p><\/font><br \/>\n<font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\"><br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p>\n<font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\"><font face=\"Palatino, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times, serif\"><br \/>\n<!-- byline --><br \/>\nBy Jerome R. Corsi<br \/>\n<!-- end byline --><br \/>\n<!--- copywrite only show on NON commentary pages as per joseph meeting 8\/23\/06 ------><br \/>\n<font size=\"-1\"><br \/>\n<!-- copyright --><br \/>\n\u00c2\u00a9&nbsp;2007&nbsp;WorldNetDaily.com<br \/>\n<!-- end copyright --><br \/>\n<\/font><br \/>\n<\/font><br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><!-- intelliTXT --><br \/>\n<span id=\"intelliTXT\"><br \/>\n<font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">\t<!-- Kontera --><br \/>\n<!-- begin bodytext --><br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<table align=\"right\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"194\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.worldnetdaily.com\/images2\/govhuckabee%20(2).jpg\" border=\"0\" height=\"227\" width=\"194\"><br \/>\n<font face=\"arial\" size=\"1\">Former Gov. Mike Huckabee<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">A lingering controversy over the role former Arkansas Gov. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/redir\/r.asp?http:\/\/www.mikehuckabee.com\/\/\">Mike Huckabee<\/a><br \/>\nplayed in establishing a Mexican consulate office in Little Rock<br \/>\nfinanced by taxpayers and local businesses continues to follow the<br \/>\nRepublican presidential candidate&#8217;s campaign, even as he enjoys a surge<br \/>\nin polls.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">Critics<br \/>\nin Arkansas contend Huckabee worked with some of the state&#8217;s most<br \/>\nprominent and politically powerful businesses to draw illegal<br \/>\nimmigrants to the state to accept low-paying jobs.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">Huckabee strongly denied the charges in a telephone interview with WND yesterday.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">This week, as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldnetdaily.com\/news\/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58366\">WND reported<\/a>,<br \/>\nRasmussen Reports added Huckabee to its daily tracking of top tier GOP<br \/>\npresidential candidates following a surge that pushed him past former<br \/>\nMassachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney with the support of 13 percent of likely<br \/>\nvoters nationwide. In Iowa, a University of Iowa poll released Monday<br \/>\nshowed Huckabee surging to a virtual tie for second place in the key<br \/>\nprimary state with Rudy Giuliani at 13 percent.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\"><em>(Story continues below)<\/em><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">adsonar_placementId=1270202;adsonar_pid=663759;adsonar_ps=1451068;adsonar_zw=300;adsonar_zh=250;adsonar_jv=\"ads.adsonar.com\";<\/script><script style=\"display: none;\" language=\"JavaScript\" src=\"http:\/\/js.adsonar.com\/js\/adsonar.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">One<br \/>\nof Huckabee&#8217;s Arkansas critics, long-time border-security activist Joe<br \/>\nMcCutchen, told WND that Freedom of Information Act documents he<br \/>\nobtained show unusual business practices and possible improprieties in<br \/>\na 2006 Huckabee decision to attract a Mexican consulate to Little Rock.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">Space<br \/>\nin an Arkansas government facility was leased for $1 a year to the<br \/>\nMexican government to establish the Mexican consulate until a permanent<br \/>\nMexican consulate facility could be built, at the expense of Arkansas<br \/>\ncitizens and corporations.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">McCutchen<br \/>\ncharges that Huckabee made the deal with Mexico in order to attract<br \/>\nillegal immigrants into the state to work in politically connected<br \/>\nArkansas businesses seeking to exploit low-cost immigrant workers.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">&#8220;Huckabee<br \/>\nis an open borders multi-culturalist who put the will and needs of<br \/>\nArkansas corporations before the needs of Arkansas citizens and<br \/>\ntaxpayers,&#8221; McCutchen charged.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">In<br \/>\nhis telephone interview with WND, Huckabee insisted his major goal in<br \/>\nestablishing a Mexican consulate office in Little Rock was to assist<br \/>\nArkansas companies in export-import business with Mexico.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">He<br \/>\nalso contended the Mexican consulate in Little Rock would make it<br \/>\neasier for Arkansas to determine that immigrants had legal status to<br \/>\nwork in the state.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">&#8220;Wal-Mart<br \/>\nis the largest private sector employer in Mexico,&#8221; Huckabee told WND.<br \/>\n&#8220;We also have a lot of small manufacturing companies you&#8217;ve never heard<br \/>\nof that make things that are then used in Mexico in manufacturing in<br \/>\nMexico.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">Huckabee explained that there were two basic reasons his administration wanted the Mexican consulate office in Little Rock.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">&#8220;First,<br \/>\nwe wanted to accommodate the business that was increasing between<br \/>\nArkansas businesses and Mexican businesses,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Second, if<br \/>\npeople were going to come to Arkansas, we wanted them to follow legal<br \/>\nprocesses, rather than just be illegal. We wanted people to come to<br \/>\nArkansas and get the proper paper work and do things with a work permit<br \/>\nand a visa. It&#8217;s so much easier to do that if you have a consulate<br \/>\nwhere people can go to get proper documentation, rather than just<br \/>\naccommodating people illegally.&#8221; <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">McCutchen&#8217;s<br \/>\naccusations trace back to an Oct. 3, 2003, trip Huckabee, as governor,<br \/>\ntook with economic development adviser Robert Trevino in a state<br \/>\nairplane to visit with Mexico&#8217;s president at the time, Vicente Fox.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">During the trip, Huckabee and Trevino explored with Fox the possibility of establishing a Mexican consulate in Little Rock.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">Trevino<br \/>\nserved from 200-2004 as district president of the League of United<br \/>\nLatin American Citizens, also known as LULAC, an activist group<br \/>\nstrongly advocating for rights of Hispanic immigrants in the U.S. In<br \/>\n2004, he was appointed commissioner of Arkansas Rehabilitation<br \/>\nServices, the state agency that subleased the space for the Mexican<br \/>\nconsulate. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">McCutchen&#8217;s<br \/>\nclaims regarding the financial arrangements of establishing the Mexican<br \/>\nconsulate in Little Rock are backed up by Arkansas government documents<br \/>\nhe has obtained in numerous Freedom of Information requests. He<br \/>\nprovided copies to WND for examination.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">A <a href=\"http:\/\/j85.01e.mytemp.website\/2007\/03\/30\/huckabee-defies-the-us-constitition.aspx\">&#8220;Use of Facilities&#8221; agreement signed July 7, 2006,<\/a><br \/>\nobtained in the FOIA request and posted on McCutchen&#8217;s website shows<br \/>\nthe Mexican consulate subleased at the cost of $1 per year a facility<br \/>\nin an Arkansas Rehabilitation Services building designated as,<br \/>\n&#8220;Administrative office space for limited purpose.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">A<br \/>\nJuly 21, 2006, memo from Trevino&#8217;s office also documents that a<br \/>\nconsortium of Arkansas corporations had agreed to &#8220;support the consular<br \/>\npresence&#8221; during the first three years, including what appears to be<br \/>\nthe costs of building for Mexico a permanent consular facility in<br \/>\nLittle Rock.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">The<br \/>\nTrevino July 21, 2006, memo specifies that Mexico would not pick up the<br \/>\nfull costs of staffing the consulate and the mortgage on the new<br \/>\nfacility until the beginning of the fourth year, in 2010.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">The<br \/>\nmemo explains the cost of purchasing the site and building the Mexican<br \/>\nconsulate would be sponsored by an unnamed group of Arkansas<br \/>\ncorporations which &#8220;have expressed an interest in supporting the<br \/>\nconsular presence during the first three years.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">WND has obtained a copy of a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/redir\/r.asp?http:\/\/j85.01e.mytemp.website\/2007\/05\/01\/foi-information-on-consulate-news-article.aspx\">memo detailing a letter Arkansas Assistant Attorney General Bishop Woosley sent to McCutchen&#8217;s attorney<\/a> filling in the blanks of the redacted paragraphs of Trevino&#8217;s July 21, 2006, memo.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">Woosley&#8217;s<br \/>\nletter indicated the mortgage payment for the Mexican consulate was<br \/>\n$7,500 per month, arranged by Arkansas real estate developer Bruce<br \/>\nBurrow.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">Burrow is the chairman of the board of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/redir\/r.asp?http:\/\/www.burrowhalsey.com\/view\/40\">Burrow Halsey Realty Group, Inc.<\/a> and a principle in MBC-Holdings, in Jonesboro, Ark.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">WND<br \/>\nalso has obtained copies of invoices from Arkansas construction<br \/>\ncontractor Baldwin &amp; Shell charging $60,000 for building the new<br \/>\nMexican consulate at 3500 South University Avenue in Little Rock. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">WND<br \/>\nalso has a copy of a check from the city of Little Rock, dated June 1,<br \/>\nindicating Baldwin and Shell were paid $60,000 as requested.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">Reporting<br \/>\nby the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette backs up McCutchen&#8217;s claims and adds<br \/>\nfurther details to the FOIA documents WND has examined.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">On<br \/>\nOct. 18, 2006, the newspaper reported the $1-a-year lease offered by<br \/>\nArkansas Rehabilitation Services, commenting, &#8220;The Huckabee<br \/>\nadministration is giving virtually free temporary office space in<br \/>\nLittle Rock to Mexican consular officials while the Mexican government<br \/>\nprepares to move into a permanent facility this fall.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">The<br \/>\nnewspaper noted the Arkansas Building Authority, which handles leases<br \/>\nfor state agencies, valued the temporary office space at $572 per<br \/>\nmonth.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nwanews.com\/adg\/News\/188454\/\">reported the opening of the newly built consulate office<\/a><br \/>\nat 3500 South University Ave. in Little Rock on April 25 in a ceremony<br \/>\nthat included the signing of a sister-city agreement with Pachuca, in<br \/>\nthe Mexican state of Hidalgo.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">When<br \/>\nasked about the business arrangements, Huckabee told WND he did not<br \/>\ndispute any of the details regarding the Mexican consulate sublease or<br \/>\nthe private financing of the construction of the Mexican consulate&#8217;s<br \/>\nnew building.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">A <a href=\"http:\/\/j85.01e.mytemp.website\/2007\/03\/30\/huckabee-defies-the-us-constitition.aspx\">legal analysis on McCutchen&#8217;s website<\/a><br \/>\nsuggests Huckabee violated Arkansas law in permitting the Arkansas<br \/>\nRehabilitation Services to sublease its property to the Mexican<br \/>\nconsulate.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">Huckabee told WND the sublease was legal &#8220;under the auspices of economic development.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">&#8220;There<br \/>\nwas nothing untoward or secretive about the sublease,&#8221; Huckabee said.<br \/>\n&#8220;We are proud of the efforts, because we were doing two things we<br \/>\nthought were important \u00e2\u20ac\u201c building economic capacity in the state,<br \/>\nhelping our businesses have economic opportunities and at the same time<br \/>\nhelping curb illegal immigration by making sure people had a greater<br \/>\nlevel of access to get legal status.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">Prominent<br \/>\nArkansas journalists in background briefings with WND painted a<br \/>\ndifferent picture, arguing Huckabee put out a subtle, but clear message<br \/>\nto illegal immigrants from Mexico, &#8220;We wish you no ill in Arkansas. You<br \/>\nare welcome to come here to live and to work.&#8221; <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">Huckabee&#8217;s message was not hard to understand, an Arkansas source explained.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">&#8220;Arkansas<br \/>\nhas a lot of low-skilled jobs, including a lot of chicken slaughter<br \/>\nhouses, and the employers wanted low-pay workers,&#8221; the source said.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">McCutchen put it more bluntly.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">&#8220;When he was governor of Arkansas, Huckabee ran what amounted to a sanctuary state,&#8221; he told WND.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">&#8220;Huckabee&#8217;s<br \/>\nreal goal was to create the Mexican consulate as a magnet to bring<br \/>\nillegal alien workers into the state,&#8221; McCutchen said, &#8220;to benefit<br \/>\ncompanies like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/redir\/r.asp?http:\/\/www.tyson.com\/\">Tyson Foods<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.walmart.com\/\">Wal-Mart<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/redir\/r.asp?http:\/\/www.okfoods.com\/\">OK Foods<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/redir\/r.asp?http:\/\/www.simmonsfoods.com\/\">Simmons Foods<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/redir\/r.asp?http:\/\/www.manta.com\/coms2\/dnbcompany_2f1lc\">George&#8217;s Farms, Inc. <\/a> and a host of smaller operations who wanted to employ the illegals for their cheap labor.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">Border-security activist Kenny John Wallis, who runs the Arkansas blog <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/redir\/r.asp?http:\/\/keeparkansaslegal.blogspot.com\/2007\/10\/two-immigration-stories-from.html\">Keep Arkansas Legal<\/a>, agrees with McCutchen.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">&#8220;Huckabee<br \/>\nwanted to attract the illegal immigrants for the employers in the state<br \/>\nlike Tysons Foods that wanted cheap labor,&#8221; Wallis told WND.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">&#8220;In<br \/>\na nutshell, Huckabee went to Mexico a little over three years ago to<br \/>\ncreate a Mexican consulate,&#8221; Wallis said. &#8220;He then had his deputy Bob<br \/>\nTrevino work out a deal where the Mexican Consulate was allowed office<br \/>\nspace at the Arkansas Rehabilitation Center for $1 a year. The Mexican<br \/>\nConsulate also had mobile consulates where Mexican officials in vans<br \/>\nwent across the state helping illegal immigrants stay and work in the<br \/>\nstate.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">Huckabee denied that his goal was to attract illegal alien workers to Arkansas.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">&#8220;It&#8217;s<br \/>\nsimply untrue,&#8221; Huckabee told WND. &#8220;I know for a fact that John Tyson<br \/>\nand others diligently tried to make sure that there was legal status to<br \/>\ntheir employees. That doesn&#8217;t mean that there weren&#8217;t illegal<br \/>\nimmigrants working there, often with false documents.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">&#8220;Just<br \/>\ncommon sense tells you a multi-billion dollar multi-national company,<br \/>\nwhether it&#8217;s Wal-Mart or Tyson Foods, is not going to intentionally<br \/>\nhire illegals and potentially have the kinds of problems they are going<br \/>\nto have from it, just to have somebody picking the feathers off<br \/>\nchickens,&#8221; Huckabee told WND.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">Still,<br \/>\nin May, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported federal immigration<br \/>\nagents arrested 21 illegal aliens during a raid on an Arkansas Mexican<br \/>\nrestaurant chain.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">That<br \/>\nfollowed federal immigration operations two weeks earlier that arrested<br \/>\nmore than 100 illegal aliens working at a George&#8217;s Farms poultry<br \/>\nprocessing plant in Butterfield, Mo., just north of the Arkansas state<br \/>\nline in Barry County, Mo.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">Earlier<br \/>\nthis month, seven employees of George&#8217;s Farms in Missouri were arrested<br \/>\non federal charges of hiring illegal immigrants at the processing plant<br \/>\nin Barry County. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">George&#8217;s Farms is headquartered in Springdale, Ark.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\"><a href=\"http:\/\/quickfacts.census.gov\/qfd\/states\/05000.html\">According to the U.S. Census Bureau<\/a>,<br \/>\nArkansas had a 2006 population of about 2.8 million people, including<br \/>\nsome 131,000 Hispanics, about half of whom were estimated to be illegal<br \/>\nimmigrants. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">McCutchen estimates the number of illegal aliens currently in Arkansas is over 200,000.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">&#8220;Arkansas<br \/>\nhas been known for low-skilled businesses, including animal slaughter<br \/>\nhouses,&#8221; McCutchen said, &#8220;businesses that tend to attract Hispanic<br \/>\nillegal immigrants with low educational levels, willing to work for<br \/>\nminimal pay and virtually no benefits.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">Huckabee faced criticism as governor for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/redir\/r.asp?http:\/\/www.arkansasnews.com\/archive\/2005\/02\/03\/News\/316813.html\">supporting<br \/>\npre-natal care for pregnant illegal immigrants and a proposal to allow<br \/>\nillegal aliens who graduate from Arkansas high schools to apply for<br \/>\nstate college scholarships<\/a>.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">Huckabee<br \/>\ndefended the effort, telling WND, &#8220;Amendment 65 to the Arkansas<br \/>\nconstitution says that life begins at conception, and it is the duty<br \/>\nand responsibility of the state to do everything possible to protect<br \/>\nand preserve human life from conception until its natural conclusion.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">&#8220;I<br \/>\ntook an oath to uphold the state constitution,&#8221; Huckabee continued. &#8220;In<br \/>\naddition to the civil obligation, I feel I have a moral obligation as a<br \/>\npro-life person to protect all life from the moment of conception.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">&#8220;Besides,<br \/>\non a practical standpoint, we could give pre-natal care without regard<br \/>\nto immigration status to virtually every unborn child in the state<br \/>\ncheaper than we could afford the cost of taking care of one child born<br \/>\nwith serious birth complications,&#8221; Huckabee argued. &#8220;So for us, it was<br \/>\nboth a constitutional matter as well as a practical matter. We don&#8217;t<br \/>\npunish children for the sins of their parents.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">In 2005, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/redir\/r.asp?http:\/\/www.arkansasnews.com\/archive\/2005\/01\/28\/News\/316347.html\">Huckabee called un-Christian, un-American and irresponsible a bill introduced by state Sen. Jim Holt<\/a><br \/>\nthat would have denied state benefits to illegal immigrants and would<br \/>\nhave required valid proof of citizenship to register to vote.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">Huckabee<br \/>\ntold WND the senator&#8217;s legislation was unnecessary, because &#8220;Holt<br \/>\ncouldn&#8217;t point to illegal aliens in Arkansas who were getting benefits.<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s already against state law, and we could already prosecute any<br \/>\nillegal aliens getting state benefits that Holt could point to.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">In<br \/>\nJune 2005, addressing the 76th annual LULAC convention in Little Rock<br \/>\nas keynote speaker, Huckabee told the 10,000 political, community and<br \/>\nbusiness leaders in attendance, &#8220;Pretty soon, Southern white guys like<br \/>\nme may be in the minority.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/redir\/r.asp?http:\/\/www.arkansasnews.com\/archive\/2005\/06\/30\/News\/323746.html\">Huckabee told LULAC<\/a><br \/>\nthat having their 2005 annual convention in Little Rock was important,<br \/>\nbecause Arkansas had one of the fastest growing populations in the<br \/>\nnation, and &#8220;Arkansas needs to make the transition from a traditional<br \/>\nSouthern state to one that recognizes and cherishes diversity &#8216;in<br \/>\nculture, in language and in population.'&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">McCutchen acknowledged Huckabee declares on his website that he now calls for closing the borders.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">&#8220;But<br \/>\nthat&#8217;s 180 degrees from what he did as governor of Arkansas,&#8221; McCutchen<br \/>\nsaid. &#8220;Huckabee will say anything that he thinks is acceptable. He is a<br \/>\ndangerous man.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">McCutchen agrees with Eagle Forum President Phyllis Schlafly&#8217;s view of Huckabee, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/redir\/r.asp?http:\/\/www.opinionjournal.com\/diary\/?id=110010782\">cited last week by John Fund of the Wall Street Journal<\/a>.<br \/>\nSchlafly said Huckabee has &#8220;destroyed the conservative movement in<br \/>\nArkansas, and left the Republican Party a shambles. Yet some of the<br \/>\nsame evangelicals who sold us on George W. Bush as a &#8216;compassionate<br \/>\nconservative&#8217; are now trying to sell us on Mike Huckabee.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">&#8220;My<br \/>\noverall feeling is that Huckabee is a traitor to Arkansas citizens,&#8221;<br \/>\nMcCutchen stressed. &#8220;He&#8217;s a multi-culturalist who has done more to<br \/>\ndamage this state than any other governor of Arkansas. During<br \/>\nHuckabee&#8217;s tenure, we&#8217;ve had 150,000 bankruptcies, more than all<br \/>\nprevious governors put together. We&#8217;ve lost somewhere in the<br \/>\nneighborhood of 10,000 manufacturing jobs. He has almost doubled the<br \/>\nsize of state government in his tenure and he is not a man of the<br \/>\npeople.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">Huckabee&#8217;s campaign website <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/redir\/r.asp?http:\/\/www.mikehuckabee.com\/index.cfm?FuseAction=Issues.View&amp;Issue_id=4\">lists his &#8220;number one immigration priority&#8221; as &#8220;to secure America&#8217;s border.&#8221;<\/a><br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">Huckabee<br \/>\nsays on his website, &#8220;We need to create a process to allow people to<br \/>\ncome here to do the jobs \u00e2\u20ac\u201c plucking chickens, tarring roofs, picking<br \/>\nfruits \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that are going unfilled by our citizens.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">&#8220;There&#8217;s<br \/>\nnothing I&#8217;m ashamed of at all,&#8221; Huckabee continued. &#8220;I would be happy<br \/>\nto accommodate the Dutch government. I went to South Korea, Taiwan and<br \/>\nJapan to pursue trade opportunities. Any time we can bring good paying<br \/>\njobs to the state, or when we can help keep jobs in our state that are<br \/>\ndoing business with companies in other countries, that&#8217;s what I assumed<br \/>\na governor was supposed to do.&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">WND<br \/>\nasked Huckabee if he had exerted similar efforts to get consulate<br \/>\noffices established for China or any other country with which Arkansas<br \/>\nwas doing business. He could not cite any other similar efforts.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times\">WND contacted Burrow&#8217;s Jonesboro office for comment but received no reply.<br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ELECTION 2008 Mexican consulate deal dogs Huckabee campaign Critics charge he established &#8216;magnet&#8217; for illegals financed by citizens, U.S. businesses Posted: October 31, 20071:00 a.m. Eastern By Jerome R. Corsi \u00c2\u00a9&nbsp;2007&nbsp;WorldNetDaily.com Former Gov. Mike Huckabee A lingering controversy over the role former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee played in establishing a Mexican consulate office in Little &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/?p=693\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Mexican consulate deal dogs Huckabee<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-huckabee-illegal-consulate"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}