If you’ve seen Vice Presidential candidate Tim Kaine talk about illegal immigration recently it’s probably to attack Donald Trump for being too harsh. But earlier today Rich Weinstein, the guy who found many of those infamous videos of Jonathan Gruber talking about the ACA, uncovered this little seen 2012 interview in which Kaine talks tough about illegal immigration and the need for more border security:

“What I would do on the immigration, you know, comprehensive reform is this,” Kaine says. He continues, “I would require those who are here illegally to sort of raise their hand and come forward and say ‘we broke the law.’

“By admitting that you’re breaking the law you’re going to have that as a criminal violation, as a legal violation and you’re going to have to pay a penalty and it’s going to be a significant penalty that you will pay over a period of time, whether it’s a fine or whether it’s an escalated tax rate, you’re going to have to pay that. We would take that money that was being paid by those who have come here unlawfully and we would use it to increase border security.”

Kaine claims illegal immigration is down but reiterates, “I would take these fines paid by folks who are here and do even more border security to try to protect our borders.”

Hillary’s current plan for immigration reform doesn’t seem to involve any fine. Instead there is a pathway to citizenship and a commitment to continue supporting the DAPA and DACA programs which appear to be losing propositions at the Supreme Court.

It’s worth noting that Hillary Clinton herself was much more conservative on this issue when she ran for President in 2008. In a debate with Barack Obama she outlined a tougher plan that sounded more like the one Kaine was discussing in that 2012 video:

What we’ve got to do is to say, come out of the shadows. We will register everyone. We will check, because if you have committed a crime in this country or the country you came from, then you will not be able to stay, you will have to be deported.

But for the vast majority of people who are here, we will give you a path to legalization if you meet the following condition: pay a fine because you entered illegally, be willing to pay back taxes over time, try to learn English — and we have to help you do that, because we’ve cut back on so many of those services — and then you wait in line.

Back then, Hillary was even against giving drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. Now her website says they should be allowed (but not mandated?) to buy insurance on the Obamacare exchanges.

Kaine was never as aggressive on illegal immigration as Donald Trump but his plan to make immigrants pay higher taxes or a “significant penalty” to cover the costs of increased border security sounds more like the plan offered by Ben Carson during the primaries than it does Hillary’s current plan.

Bonus Tim Kaine clip: In 2005 he was a conservative who would defend traditional marriage and the sanctity of life! “These are my values and that’s what I believe” the clip ends. He should have added, ‘unless I get tapped for VP, then I’m willing to defend abortion all day long.’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RblNbXJEw1I