Immigration, Racial Profiling, Patriot Act Divide Republicans At GOP Debate

abcnews.go.com
By ABC News
Nov 22, 2011 11:07pm

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ABC News’ Michael Falcone, Shushannah Walshe and Z. Byron Wolf report:

More foreign policy and national security fault lines emerged among the eight contenders for the Republican presidential nomination on everything from racial profiling to the Patriot Act to the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

The candidates met in Washington, D.C., for their 11th debate of the GOP primary cycle at an event sponsored by CNN, the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute.

It was their second straight opportunity to confront one another over foreign policy and national security matters, and they wasted no time illuminating their differences of opinion.

Gingrich Goes Out on a Limb on Immigration.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has risen to the top of the national polls, staked out a bold and moderate position on immigration, endorsing a legal status for illegal immigrants with family ties in the U.S.

Although this position could help Gingrich in a general election, it could create a vulnerability for him in the Republican primary, particularly among conservatives in Iowa and South Carolina. Rival Rick Perry’s support for in-state college tuition for the children of illegal immigrants has already cost him significant support.

“I do not believe that the people of the United States are going to take people who have been here a quarter of a century, who have children and grandchildren, who are members of the community – take them and expel them,â€