Mother Jones
As a member of the Virginia Senate, GOP gubernatorial nominee Ken Cuccinelli used his email newsletter to tout his role in founding State Legislators for Legal Immigration (SLLI), a group dedicated to cutting off economic, education, and employment opportunities to undocumented immigrants. Cuccinelli, who is now the state’s attorney general, has softened his views in recent months to appeal to a broader audience as he runs for governor. But as a potential swing-state governor, his past statements clash with the Republican National Committee’s post-election autopsy stressing the importance of immigration reform for the future of the party.
SLLI was launched in 2007 by Pennsylvania state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, a Republican. The group aligned itself with anti-immigration hardliners in an effort to convince the Supreme Court to use the 14th Amendment to end birthright citizenship—a position Cuccinelli endorsed in a Senate resolution urging Congress to take action against what he called “anchor babies.” According to its mission statement, the group also aims “to provide a network of state legislators who are committed to working together in demanding full cooperation among our federal, state and local governments in eliminating all economic attractions and incentives (including, but not limited to: public benefits, welfare, education and employment opportunities) for illegal aliens, as well as securing our borders against unlawful invasion.”
In May 2007, Cuccinelli endorsed SLLI in his newsletter, the Cuccinelli Compass, writing, “I was one of the founding members of State Legislators for Legal Immigration.” He spelled out a version of the group’s mission statement, expressing the importance of eliminating incentives that “continue to lure illegal aliens across the border,” and wrote that he supported sending “illegal aliens back to their home country.” He also wrote, “You can count on me to remain vigilant on this issue!” Cuccinelli sent out the newsletter days after stating in an SLLI press release that “porous borders and lax immigration enforcement have left us vulnerable not only to terrorist attacks but to increasing levels of crime in our communities,” specifically those who “traffic their deadly cocktail of drugs and gang violence into Virginia.” (Read the full text of the email’s immigration section below.)
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