Last March in Steve Levy: A Patriot Candidate for NY Governor? I was delighted to report that Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, who has a fine patriotic record on immigration, had switched parties and was seeking the Republican nomination. Levy immediately attracted the right enemies.

He also attracted the animosity of the autocratic Hacks and Drones who control the New York GOP machinery. Complex and arcane rules were successfully employed to prevent anything as uncouth as voter choice: Levy was kept off the Primary ballot.

Miraculously Patriots get a second chance: Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino somehow got himself on the ballot, crushed the useless Establishment candidate Rick Lazio, and has subsequently been polling surprisingly strongly, especially amongst the key ”likely voters".

Although the issue was little mentioned in the Primary, Paladino is good on immigration: Voters Please Take Note Of Paladino's Anti-Immigration Reform Stance By Felicia Persaud CARIBWORLDNEWS.COM Fri Oct. 1, 2010

Republican Carl Paladino has made it crystal clear where he stands on immigration reform, especially as it relates to undocumented immigrants… Paladino says he will not be a governor for the undocumented.

And what are we to do with them pray tell Mr. Paladino? As far as he is concerned we should round them all up and send them back

This article is based on Carl Paladino on Undocumented Immigrants ”You gotta go back to where you came from.” By Catalina Jaramillo Feet in 2 Worlds 9/16/10

Catalina Jaramillo: You talked about serving all New Yorkers. But there's a large percentage of undocumented immigrants. How are you going to serve them?

Carl Paladino: Undocumented immigrants? No, I'm not. They are not citizens of the state. They are not citizens of the state. If they are here illegally, they are here illegally, OK? And we are not servicing them. We are not letting them come out in our social services programs; we are not letting them come out in our Medicaid programs. They can go some place else and try to get in those programs in some other state. But the taxpayers of this state are not going to be servicing undocumented aliens, OK?

CJ: So you are going to send them back?

CP: If the law enforcement people apprehend an undocumented alien, they will be sent back, yes. They will be given to federal authorities for proper deportation. Because we believe in the rule of law...you gotta go back to where you came from and come in on a clear path, alright, and earn it and then you are entitled to those entitlements.

No one has really tested how patriotic immigration reform would play electorally in New York. There is a presumption that immigrants like having their wages undercut, living conditions worsened, and access to social services like education restricted by floods of later immigrants (often of different cultures) — but to state that is to see how absurd it is.

Encouragingly, there are signs that the Democratic candidate Andrew Cuomo would rather not find out. Consider Catalina Jaramillo’s reply in Immigration and the Governor's Race By Bob Hennelly WNYC News Monday September 27, 2010:

What about Cuomo? Have you heard anything proactive in terms of his position on how he would approach the challenge of dealing with the undocumented?

Not in his campaign. As an attorney general, he has been very active protecting immigrant communities. He's always been talking in favor of immigration reform, but in the campaign, I've tried to contact his campaign, and get his take on these issues, and I haven't gotten any response.

Back at CaribWorldNews.com, Felicia Persaud resoundingly calls on voters to stomach any reservations and vote for New York Governor strictly according to the candidate’s immigration stance.

Seems sensible to me.

H/T One Old Vet