Ken Cuccinelli English-Only: Virginia Gubernatorial Candidate Flip-Flops On Immigration, Supports English-Only Legislation

Virginia's gobernatorial race is heating up as Ken Cuccinelli and Terry MacAuliffe spar on what has proven to be a surprisingly major issue during the campaign: Latino issues, primarily immigration. Cuccinelli has gained the support of ProEnglish, an organization based in Arlington, Va. aimed at making English the official language of the U.S. and supporting legislation prohibiting speaking another language in certain situations. The group posted a photo Friday of a sign on a door reading, "Speaking another language is a fireable offense" and declaring it "Cuccinelli's Virginia." The photo is likely a reference to the Attorney General's drafting of a bill that would deny unemployment benefits to those would didn't speak English in the workplace in 2008, Think Progress reported.

Cuccinelli is coming under scrutiny for his changing stance on immigration. He said in a debate July 20 that immigration was an integral issue and implied fixing a broken system.

"I want very much to see some sort of compromise reached in the area of immigration," he said. "This issue needs to be resolved...in a way that's favorable to expanding our economy in America."

A a town hall the Monday following, he told conservatives that his "very favorite" representative was Steve King, R-Iowa, who has been in the spotlight recent for deriding young immigrants as drug mules when discussing the DREAM Act. A series of petitions have sprung up demanding that King be removed from his seat on the immigration board. He also condemned amnesty. Cuccinelli himself is also guilty of comparing immigrants to rats in 2012 when asked how to deal with the rats at Occupy D.C. camps. Cuccinelli's spokesman said that the candidate believes in solving the immigration issue in a way that does not include a path to citizenship.

"He believes Congress should be able to come up with a solution that fully secures the border and does not allow for any form of amnesty," said spokesman Richard Cullen. "Lawmakers should do everything possible to help individuals and families come into this country legally and contribute to our economy."

ProEnglish has not released any statement on its support of Cuccinelli other than its Facebook post.