Is Bill Brady a friend to immigrants?

At a breakfast Friday sponsored by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement, Illinois' GOP gubernatorial candidate sounded downright progressive when he spoke about the importance of immigrants to the state's economic future. Watch a section of his address below (The full speech is available here):

Brady's argument, at least as briefly explained in last week's speech, revolves around economic expansion; he contends that Illinois' natural-born birth rate is too low to spur long-term economic growth. To stay competitive, the state should embrace the immigrant community, which grows by 35,300 people each year and fills crucial holes in the labor market.

By staking out a position antithetical to the mainstream anti-immigrant movement, which consistently warns about what they consider the potential of "runaway growth," the state senator is certainly distancing himself from some conservatives in his own party who have considered introducing an Arizona-style immigrant enforcement bill in the Land of Lincoln. He's also aligning himself with the business owners and clergy members who make the case for immigration reform on both fiscal and moral grounds.

But how deep is his commitment to protecting the interests of immigrants, including undocumented individuals already living in Illinois? Like virtually everyone in politics, Brady wants the federal government to fix its broken immigration system. Following the event, he even told reporters he'd like to see lawmakers in Congress negotiate proposals that would create a pathway to citizenship for the undocumented. But he did not say what the cost to those residents of staying in the country would be. Nor did he add any specifics about how many immigrants he'd like to see let through the nation's "door." And he made no mention during the brief speech of how he would actually foster humane immigration policies in his role as the state's chief executive. The platitudes, in other words, are almost too vague to be useful.

Other pieces of evidence don't really illuminate a more nuanced picture of Brady's immigration position, either. Take his voting record. Brady did not make friends among anti-immigrant organizations when he voted in 2003 to provide in-state tuition to undocumented students residing in Illinois if they meet certain academic criteria. He also supported a statute (ultimately struck down by the courts) that prohibited employers from enrolling in the federal E-Verify pilot program until it met certain standards for speed and accuracy. Those are solid decisions, even if the bills passed with huge, bipartisan majorities in the General Assembly.

Last year, meanwhile, he introduced legislation barring the Illinois Housing Development Authority from extending loans or aid to non-citizens, regardless if other parties in the household (including spouses, extended family, children) are citizens and have an interest in the property. In 2000, he voted down a bill offering wage and health protections to day laborers. On the campaign trail in 2010, Brady's message has also shifted depending on the audience. At a Tea Party rally in Ottawa, he told 400 attendees that he would not grant "amnesty or sanctuary" to the undocumented. He even advised the Obama administration to drop its (successful) lawsuit challenging SB 1070 in Arizona and chided Highland Park high school's decision to prevent its girls basketball team from playing in an Arizona tournament. (His campaign website, for what it's worth, does not contain one reference about immigration.)

On the other side of the race, Gov. Pat Quinn has upheld Illinois' position as a leader on immigration issues by renewing, via an executive order, the state's New Americans Immigrant Policy. That's an executive department that coordinates state programs to help newcomers transition more smoothly into life in Illinois. He's also spoken out openly against the Arizona law, calling it "un-American." Still, his website includes no information about immigration policy. He's likewise been criticized in the past for performing mediocre outreach to Latino policy experts and pols.

Both candidates risk alienating a huge and growing voting bloc if they choose not to discuss their positions on these issues in concrete terms before November. It's a debate Illinois residents of all origins deserve to see.