U.S. Border Control

September 6, 2007

Fred Thompson set a mark for obstinateness during his eight years in the Senate, ending up the lone dissenter on more votes on bills and amendments than any other Republican during that time.

Some votes are likely to draw scrutiny, particularly a series of votes in the 1990s against cracking down on illegal aliens. Those include a 1995 vote against limiting services other than emergency care and public education to illegal aliens — he was one of just six senators to oppose that proposal — and a 1996 vote against creating an employer verification system to help businesses filter out illegal aliens who apply for jobs.

But on immigration, Thompson had several votes where he bucked the pack — and seemed to favor illegal aliens.

The most stark example was his 1995 vote on the welfare overhaul, when he voted to preserve illegal aliens' ability to receive federal benefits. He was one of just six senators to vote that way, joining four other Republicans and one Democrat.

And in 1996, as Congress considered a crackdown on illegal aliens, Thompson voted against setting up a system so employers could verify the legal status of their workers.

An adviser to the campaign on immigration matters, who asked not to be named, said Thompson had concerns about how broadly the public-benefits provision was drawn. As for the employer verification system, the adviser said Mr. Thompson joined a majority of Republicans in the chamber in opposing it, with many of them thinking the new system would lead to a national ID card.

Since then, the verification system has proved to be successful and has not led to a national ID, and Thompson's immigration plans would actually expand the system, which the Bush administration recently renamed E-Verify and announced its own plans to bolster.

The campaign adviser also said Thompson had several votes proving that he is strong on immigration, including voting in the Judiciary Committee to reduce chain migration and voting to eliminate the diversity visa lottery.