Congressional candidates debate in Idaho Falls

It was a lively debate between the two candidates for Idaho’s 2nd Congressional District.

Rep. Mike Simpson and former congressman Richard Stallings had sparks flying for an hour Friday. At times the discussion became a little tense and other times downright funny.

The two faced each other during the City Club of Idaho Falls debate held at Idaho State University’s Bennion Student Union Building.

One question was about what to do about the 14 million illegal immigrants in America today.

Simpson said, “What can you do without giving them an advantage over people coming here legally with the normal immigration process? What you can do is give them permanent green card status. Which allows them to stay here and work brings them come out of the shadows. Allows them to pay taxes. And participate in society instead of being in the shadows. But not citizenship. If they want citizenship, then they have to go through the regular process everybody else goes through. The people back in their countries, trying to through the normal legal process, these people that came here illegally should not get an advantage for doing that.”

“This is hogwash that we keep these people in the shadows and make them second-class citizens,” said Stallings. “They’re an important part of our economy. That have some say in how their own lives are going and what their futures should be. They should be able to participate in the American dream. As second-class citizens, they would not have that opportunity.”

The two also talked on what to do about minimum wage.

“For the party that expresses family values, these folks are doing everything they can to hurt these families,” said Stallings. “It is unconscionable that you put people in this kind of a box and make no allowance for them. Raising the minimum wage is a simple solution. We can do it quickly. If I’m elected, I will work very, very hard in this next congress to make that happen.”

“We need to get the economy moving, is what we need to do,” said Simpson. “The best thing for low-income workers is a job. And we shouldn’t be taking away those jobs.So I don’t think raising the minimum wage is the right way to address it.”

You can watch the entire debate at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11 on the Local News 8 NOW Channel found on Channel 8.4 over-the-air or on Channel 20 on Cable One. You can also watch it on localnews8.com by clicking here.