Thread: Romney's words grow hard on immigration

Romney's words grow hard on immigration
By Scott Helman, Globe Staff | March 16, 2007

PHOENIX -- When Mitt Romney swooped into the heart of John McCain country this week, he brought a pointed message on illegal immigration: McCain's approach is the wrong one.

Proudly touting the endorsement of Joe Arpaio, a sheriff in the state who is known nationally for rounding up immigrants in desert tents, Romney boasted of cracking down on illegal immigrants as governor and denounced an immigration bill that the Arizona senator introduced with Senator Edward M. Kennedy in 2005.

It is a theme Romney has hit hard in recent weeks in his appeals to conservatives, many of whom attack McCain's immigration bill for proposing an eventual path to citizenship for immigrants living illegally in the United States and a guest-worker program to help fill American jobs.

"McCain-Kennedy isn't the answer," Romney said in a well-received speech to conservatives in Washington this month, describing it as an amnesty plan that would reward people for breaking the law and cost taxpayers millions to provide them benefits.

But that is markedly different from how Romney once characterized McCain's bill, elements of which are receiving new attention in Congress and from President Bush. Indeed, Romney's past comments on illegal immigration suggest his views have hardened as he has ramped up his campaign for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

In a November 2005 interview with the Globe, Romney described immigration proposals by McCain and others as "quite different" from amnesty, because they required illegal immigrants to register with the government, work for years, pay taxes, not take public benefits, and pay a fine before applying for citizenship.

"That's very different than amnesty, where you literally say, 'OK, everybody here gets to stay,' " Romney said in the interview. "It's saying you could work your way into becoming a legal resident of the country by working here without taking benefits and then applying and then paying a fine."

Romney did not specifically endorse McCain's bill, saying he had not yet formulated a full position on immigration. But he did speak approvingly of efforts by McCain and Bush to solve the nation's immigration crisis, calling them "reasonable proposals."

Romney also said in the interview that it was not "practical or economic for the country" to deport the estimated 12 million immigrants living in the US illegally. "These people contribute in many cases to our economy and to our society," he said. "In some cases, they do not. But that's a whole group we're going to have to determine how to deal with."

Asked about the discrepancy between Romney's comments in 2005 and now, spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said: "Over the past year and a half, as the American people have learned all the details of the McCain-Kennedy approach, they have arrived at the same conclusion as Governor Romney: It rewards people who are here illegally."

Fehrnstrom added that Romney took strong action against illegal immigration as Massachusetts governor by vetoing a measure to grant in-state tuition rates to children of undocumented immigrants, opposing proposals to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, and authorizing National Guard troops to assist with border patrol.

Last year, shortly after the Globe reported that some state contractors relied heavily on illegal workers, Romney sought federal permission to deputize state troopers to detain illegal immigrants they encountered on the job.

Asked by reporters in Phoenix Tuesday to elaborate on his immigration views, Romney said he disagreed with several aspects of the McCain-Kennedy bill, charging that the legislation sought a special course for illegal immigrants already in the country that "could result in virtual amnesty."

"My view is there should be no advantage for those that are here illegally in pursuing a course of permanent residency," Romney said at a press conference at the Arizona Republican Party headquarters. He also indicated he opposes a guest-worker program because it would "substantially increase the number of individuals who would come through on a temporary worker basis and open a path for citizenship for them, as well."

Romney also declined to comment on last week's federal immigration raid of a New Bedford leather goods company, Michael Bianco Inc., that resulted in the detention of more than 300 workers. And he renewed his call for a fraud-proof federal identification system for foreign workers, so employers know the status of the people they hire.

Other Republican opponents of McCain's legislation have tried to deride it as an amnesty bill, a label to which McCain and other proponents have objected strongly.

Under McCain's and Kennedy's plan, which also called for stepped-up border security, undocumented immigrants could obtain temporary, three-year visas by paying fines and back taxes, getting certification from an employer who wants to hire them, and clearing security background checks. The visas could then be renewed for another three years.

The bill envisioned that workers, once they completed six years on a temporary visa, could apply for a green card and permanent residency, but would not get extra credit for having held the temporary visa and would have to get in line behind legal residents already in the citizenship pipeline. They would be able to continue to work legally in the United States for up to five years while they applied.

"They're definitely not getting any advantage over people who come today," said Eileen McMenamin, McCain's Senate spokeswoman. She added that it is wrong to suggest that the bill would not provide illegal immigrants public benefits such as Social Security, as Romney charges.

Romney has also expressed an openness to changing the US policy of granting automatic citizenship to those born on American soil, regardless of their parents' immigration status. Some conservatives call them "anchor babies," because as adults they can apply to bring their relatives from abroad.

Romney's recent rhetoric on immigration has drawn criticism in some quarters, including in Florida, where many politicians are more accepting of immigration as part of the state's heritage.

His appearance this week with Arpaio -- a Springfield, Mass., native viewed as a hero by opponents of illegal immigration -- underscores his pursuit of the conservative GOP primary vote. Romney called Arpaio "a man who respects the law, enforces the law, and does his very best to help people by teaching them the principles of the law."

Arpaio said in an interview that Romney -- who is facing questions about his shifts to more conservative positions on abortion, gun control, and other issues -- first sought a meeting with him last year and that he has met with Romney five times since then. He said Romney's positions and actions on immigration were a major factor in deciding to endorse him, though not the only reason.

"If I could go around, I'd get my deputies arresting every illegal here and dump them and bring them back to Mexico," Arpaio said. "It could be done, state by state."

Romney's trip to the West came as Bush, in Latin America, faced criticism that the United States had failed to modernize its immigration laws to recognize the value Latin American immigrants bring to the US economy.

Scott Helman can be reached at shelman@globe.com.



© Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/artic ... migration/

There was a disinformation piece distributed on the web earlier this year which claimed to be from the "Lowell Sun" but which had never appeared there either online or in print.

What Romney should do right now is to come out with a message in support of legitimate trade and investment in Latin America. The Latin American individuals living in the United States (mostly Mexican) should stop concentrating on drawing the Fortune 500 Multinationals. They should begin with measures that can help to increase income and to create jobs within their own families where they came from. They should not expect further indulgence if they bring family and friends to the United States without authorization to compete with us for our jobs and receive public benefits for which there has not been a comensurate rise in public revenues.

Mitt Romney should start first with doing something for the area in Chihuahua his family lived in for twenty five years. The Pratt and the Romney family's Mexican branches are affluent and do not need Mitt Romney's help. Donating a dining hall and a garden to the Mormon temple would be a measure that could be done outside of the blind trust and benefit the town generally. So would encouraging Americans to visit the district.

Romney, keeping talking....you're headed in the right direction. Now you just have to convince us that you really mean it.

BTW, any large guest worker program could be viewed as the first stepping stone to an eventual path to citizenship. Even if an outright amnesty is not created immediately, there would be nothing to prevent new legislation in the future under more favorable political circumstances from creating a path to citizenship for all legalized guest workers. Keep this in mind as this moving target immigration bill evolves!

Oooooo Hard Words from Romney. That is about anyone can expect from him. He has proven he is not serious about immigration enforcement. He is a two faced con artist like Senator Frist!

W

This is why I consider myself a NumbersUSA activist who merely posts on ALIPAC. In my capacity as a vounteer for the local immigration enforcement lobby the Massachussetts Citizens for Immigration Reform MCIR I was asked to fact check the article posted on the web as having been in the Lowell Sun supposedly by Evan lehman. What I found was that the news article was a fake which did not appear either on their website or in their print version. The one possible defect in Romney's position is that he favors automatic green cards for foreign graduate students at American universities. Otherwise his record has been very good.

Now I realize that people who post here are not supposed to do actual research, analysis or to god forbid think for themselves but when people find this board they are not thinking that this is for your own "Democratic Centralism".

W,

I agree Romney is a liar, BUT at least it means all our hard work and other groups like us are being heard loud and clear and for that I am thankful!!!!!!!!!

"McCain-Kennedy isn't the answer," Romney said in a well-received speech to conservatives in Washington this month, describing it as an amnesty plan that would reward people for breaking the law and cost taxpayers millions to provide them benefits.

I like the way he talks - lately anyway. I know he is a flip-flopper.
I think I'll send him a nice email thanking him for his position on illegal immigration.

Romney's words grow hard on immigration

Maybe hard from a LaRaza perspective.

He sure sounds good and he is trying hard as hell to convince people he really is on our side. However where the rubber meets the road, amnesty, he is just like Bush, Brownback, McCain, Guiliani et al. He supports amnesty. Just like them he won't call it that and says everything to sound tough but he still supports amnesty. Oh he'll support "weeding" out the bad guys but he is for letting the rest of the criminals stay in America. For rewarding law breaking.

Instead, the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally should be required to register with the government, according to Romney.

"When we learn how many people there are and what their individual circumstances are, then we can decide how to proceed with each individual,'' Romney said.

March 13th, 2007
http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=416117

This part I like:

"If I could go around, I'd get my deputies arresting every illegal here and dump them and bring them back to Mexico," Arpaio said. "It could be done, state by state."

We need someone like him in CA. Can you imagine?