The Latest: Illegal immigration early focus of GOP forum
By KATHLEEN RONAYNE and STEVE PEOPLES, Associated Press
Aug 3, 2015 6:23 PM CDT
Moderator Jack Heath, center, rehearses with stand-in's before a forum for most of the major Republican candidates for president Monday, Aug. 3, 2015, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)   (Associated Press)

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — The Republican Party's jam-packed presidential class faced off Monday night in New Hampshire, where more than a dozen White House hopefuls aim to warm up for the first full-fledged debate of the primary season.

Here's The Latest from the forum at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire.

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7:05 p.m.

An early focus of Monday night's GOP candidate forum is illegal immigration.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry led off the event by offering a common refrain among the Republican candidates for president, saying any effort to overhaul the nation's immigration laws has to start with improving security along the nation's borders.

Perry compared the borders to a "serious wound" that must be healed. Perry says, "If you elect me president of the United States ... the will to secure the border will reside in the Oval Office."

Asked about people who arrived legally but have since overstayed their visas, Perry says, "You go find 'em, you pick 'em up and you send 'em back where they're from."

A report from the Pew Hispanic Center issued in 2006 found that up to half the number of people living in the U.S. illegally have overstayed their visas.

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6:50 p.m.

Almost all the GOP's 2016 presidential candidates are at Monday night's forum in New Hampshire, but not all.

Among those who elected not to take part are billionaire businessman Donald Trump and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore didn't get into the race on time to make the forum.

And some of the candidates aren't in Manchester for the event, but rather at C-SPAN studios in Washington.

Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida plan to take part via satellite.

They were unable to make the trip due to a vote in the Senate on a GOP effort to end federal funds for Planned Parenthood.

Monday's mostly party-line vote in the Senate was 53-46, seven short of the 60 votes the Republicans needed to halt Democratic delays aimed at derailing the bill.

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