Iowans must school candidates on immigration

Iowa Republican operative John Stineman visited our editorial board earlier this month to insist that caucus candidates move past immigration rhetoric and make real reform a caucus issue.

We agreed with almost every word from Stineman, who also is full-time director of the Iowa Chamber Alliance, a group of the state’s 16 largest chambers of commerce, including ours. His editorial board visit was funded by Partnership for a New American Economy, a special interest group with a deep roster from U.S. business, including Alcoa president Klaus Kleinfeld, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and media mogul Rupert Murdoch. The partnership website lists 90 supporting mayors from both parties, including Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba.

The partnership calls for an immigration debate far deeper than blanket opposition to amnesty or further fortifying one border. It recognizes that skilled and unskilled immigrant labor fuels American growth.

“Iowa Republican caucus goers are not as averse to immigration reform as you see in the media,” Stineman told our board.

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