Thread: Romney to pledge to fix troubled U.S. immigration

Appeal to be aimed at Hispanic voters, who favor Obama By Steve Holland

LOS ANGELES, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will pledge to Hispanics on Monday that if elected he will fix the troubled U.S. immigration system in an appeal to a rising voter bloc that overwhelmingly favors Democratic President Barack Obama.

Looking to rebound after a tough week in which he fell behind Obama in the polls, Romney will couple his immigration promises with a commitment to get a handle on America's problem of rising national debt and massive budget deficits.

This is part of the Republican's drive to spend more time talking about the specifics of his economic proposals in answer to voter demands for more information as they choose between him and Obama in the Nov. 6 election.

Romney's immigration remarks to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will be aimed at shoring up a weakness in his candidacy: the fact that a huge majority of Hispanics support Obama.

"Americans may disagree about how to fix our immigration system, but I think we can all agree that it is broken," Romney will say.

In excerpts of his speech released by his campaign, Romney did not get into the specifics of how he would patch up a deep divide between Democrats and Republicans on the approach to repairing the U.S. immigration system.

The last serious attempt at an immigration overhaul, made by Republican President George W. Bush in 2007, collapsed in Congress as conservatives rebelled against the plan, which they called an amnesty for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already living in the United States.

After promising during his 2008 campaign to take on the immigration issue, Obama never followed through, leading to disappointment among various Hispanic groups.

Romney will point to Obama's inability to work on the problem as a failure.
"Candidate Obama said that one of his highest priorities would be to fix immigration in his first year in office. Despite his party having majorities in both houses of Congress, the president never even offered up a bill," Romney will say.

U.S. BORDER INTEGRITY
Romney will vow to "work with Republicans and Democrats to permanently fix our immigration system," while stressing that any plan must first ensure the integrity of U.S. borders - a problem on which the Obama administration says it has already made progress.

"I believe we can all agree that what we need are fair and enforceable immigration laws that will stem the flow of illegal immigration, while strengthening legal immigration," Romney will say.

The Republican's campaign is built around pledges to improve the U.S. economy and spur job growth and he has used the same message in appealing to Hispanics with the view that all Americans want a good job whatever their ethnicity.

"While national unemployment is 8.1 percent, Hispanic unemployment is over 10 percent. Over two million more Hispanics are living in poverty today than the day President Obama took office," Romney will say.

His campaign is trying to recover from a week in which Romney made a political issue of the deaths of four Americans in Libya, prompting criticism from Democrats and some Republicans that he had botched his reaction to a national tragedy.

Obama also has enjoyed a bounce in support from the Democratic National Convention in late August, forcing Romney to play catch-up in a race that appeared to be turning against him.

A Gallup poll on Sunday, however, suggested Obama's bounce was dissipating with his lead reduced to 3 percentage points - 48 percent to 45 percent for Romney.

Romney to pledge to fix troubled U.S. immigration system | Reuters

that a good one .
well I still with out a jobs .
you want to be President well help the USA first On your list .Not all the other Country
2 get all of the illegal immigrants not only mexico all of the other Country also
go to all Company & see who is working at the company ?
3 any company that move over sea . American don't buy any thing
I will tell you what company is doing all the hire .
& the gov know as well also ?
Kappa Book
industrail Park laflin Rd
they have Indian . chinese. mexican
& go to TJM . kmark also & allstate Alumin Pittson Men wear house . pittson
& no Driver's LIc for the illegaL immigrants .
No amnesty Or Dream act

Mitt Romney on Immigration

http://mittromneycentral.com/on-the-issues/immigration/

I believe this interview/debate will be very telling where Romney's stance on illegals is.

Univision Q&A At University Of Miami Draws Barack Obama And Mitt Romney

I hope Romney does not do this at a meeting of the Hispanic Chamber of commerce because if he does that will make it pretty clear he is going to push Amnesty.

W

Originally Posted by Illegalssuck

Mitt Romney on Immigration

Mitt Romney on Immigration: Quotes, Videos, and Links | Mitt Romney Central

Mitt Romney on Immigration

"I very firmly believe that we have to make sure that we enforce our borders, that we have an employment verification system, and that those people who have come here illegally do not get an advantage to become permanent residents, they do not get a special pathway." - Mitt Romney 6/3/2007 Manchester, NH

Summary: Mitt Romney on Immigration

Securing the border is priority number one.

Those who have come to the United States illegally should not be given amnesty or an easier path to citizenship over those already in line.

An employer verification system must be implemented to ensure jobs are not given to illegal immigrants.

Illegal immigrants should be required to return to their home country.

Giving tuition breaks to the children of illegal immigrants needs to stop.

Federal funding for cities who consider themselves sanctuary cities should be reduced.

The United States needs to be made more appealing to legal immigrants.

Ending illegal immigration only strengthens legal immigration.

Videos at link

Originally Posted by Illegalssuck

I believe this interview/debate will be very telling where Romney's stance on illegals is.

Univision Q&A At University Of Miami Draws Barack Obama And Mitt Romney

I don't suspect he'll say anything different than he has been saying all along.

Originally Posted by MW

I don't suspect he'll say anything different than he has been saying all along.

Seems like I was pretty much on target on his being consistent with his message (no special pandering).

Evan McMorris-Santoro
September 19, 2012, 9:01 PM
TPM



At a Univision candidate forum in Florida Wednesday, Mitt Romney squirmed under a barrage of questions on his immigration policy, mostly sticking to his conservative positions. He even used the hot-button term “illegal aliens” to describe children brought to the the United States illegally by their parents.

Romney has struggled with the Hispanic vote since sewing up his party’s nomination back in April thanks to what Hispanic advocates say are hardline positions on immigration, including his opposition to the DREAM Act.

Peppered with questions about the DREAM Act, Romney again said he favored a “permanent solution” for DREAM-eligible youth. He offered only a plan to let DREAM-eligible youth who serve in the military earn permanent status. That proposal has been a part of Romney’s platform for a while and has been more or less roundly rejected as insufficient by DREAM advocates.

Romney also expressed support for the DREAM compromise plan that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) dropped following President Obama’s executive order granting temporary legal status to some DREAM-eligible youth. Rubio never offered up the specifics of his plan, so it’s not clear exactly what Romney means he would support when he mentions it.

In what could be a shift, however, Romney spoke glowingly about Rubio’s plan, which among its features “said that kids that get higher education could become permanent residents of the United States.” In the past, Romney has vowed to veto existing DREAM Act legislation, which provides a path to citizenship for undocumented children who complete certain education targets.

“This is something that’s going to have to be worked out by Republicans and Democrats together,” Romney said. “I will lead a program that gets us to a permanent solution.”

He again attacked Obama for putting in place what even Obama called a “stopgap measure” when it came to DREAMers. Romney did not specifically answer when asked whether he’d allow the undocumented youth made legal by Obama’s action to stay in the United States, referring only to the “permanent solution” he said he’d achieve.

The audience at the Univision forum was reportedly pre-packed with Romney supporters, so many of Romney’s responses received enthusiastic applause.

The Obama campaign was less impressed.

“On critical issues, he continued to refuse to answer any of the tough questions or provide any specifics on what he’d do as president,” Obama campaign spokesperson Lis Smith said. “We are just two weeks away from the first presidential debate, where the American people will demand more than vague answers and empty platitudes. It’s time for Mitt Romney to come clean and get specific about his policies.”

Smith accused Romney of “doubling down on asking immigrants to self-deport.”

Romney likely didn’t do himself any favors with the Latino advocates who have repeatedly attacked him for his hard line on immigration. He made clear he’s sticking on the conservative side of the discussion with his mention of the phrase “illegal aliens,” which rankles immigrant rights advocates.

“For those that are already here, that are undocumented, that were brought here by their parents and therefore are illegal aliens in this country, my view is that we should put in place a permanent solution,” Romney said.

Romney Toes Conservative Line On Immigration, Refers To ‘Illegal Aliens’ | TPM2012