Thread: Gingrich: Some illegal immigrants can stay

Gingrich: Some illegal immigrants can stay
orlandosentinel.com
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
6:59 p.m. EDT, September 14, 2011


Former House Speaker and 2012 GOP presidential contender Newt Gingrich addresses mostly tea party members during a roundtable at the Orlando Public Library. (JOE BURBANK, ORLANDO SENTINEL / September 14, 2011)

The United States should find a way to let long-time resident illegal immigrants stay in the U.S. and their children follow a path toward citizenship, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said Wednesday in Orlando.

Gingrich's comments, coming to the media after he addressed a Tea Party town hall meeting at the Orlando Public Library, expanded on assertions he made to CNN Monday night following the GOP presidential debate in Tampa.

There, the former Georgia congressman and U.S. House speaker called for local boards to be established to "apply a human approach" to screen long-term resident immigrant to determine if they might stay legally, though he stopped short of suggesting they could become citizens.

On Wednesday, Gingrich suggested possibly offering citizenship, especially to people who arrived as children. He said he opposed blanket expulsion of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States, saying Americans do not want to "force that kind of human hardship."

"Recognizing there are millions of immigrants who have been here a short time, who have no roots here, and they probably should go home," Gingrich said. "On the other hand, you have someone who came here at 3 years of age and now they're 19… I suspect we're going to want to find some way to enable them to move toward legality, if not citizenship."

However, Gingrich still distanced himself another Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who allowed children of illegal immigrants to enroll in Texas universities at in-state tuition rates. Gingrich said that Perry "narrowed the choices way too much."

Gingrich's immigration comments came after he told about 100 people at a meeting jointly organized by the East Side Tea Party and the Orlando Tea Party that he believes in the conservative ideology shared by many of the Tea Partiers, but that success of the Republican Party must come first. He defended endorsements he gave to GOP congressional candidates whom many in the Tea party considered too moderate.

Yet Gingrich also said elections should provide contrasts of broad ideological choices, not specific issues.

"I believe, like [Ronald] Reagan did, in 'big-choice elections.' I believe in elections that say, 'Look, if you want to go in this direction, vote for this person; if you want to go in this direction, vote for this person,'" he said.

Gingrich, who with his wife Callista helped produce a movie about Reagan, also was scheduled to speak at a Reagan Day Dinner Wednesday night in Lake Mary, sponsored by the Ronald Reagan Republican Assemblies of Florida.

smpowers@tribune.com or 407-420-5441.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/pol ... 3467.story

How about deporting them and then they can wait in line behind everyone else if they want back in??

Doesn't surprise me. Gingrich is a total neocon and not a true conservative.

I want them all out EXCEPT the ones that worked here for 15+ years, have never had any govt assistance, paid taxes and totally assimilated. They are Americans. Hope that comes about. The rest of them must go.

As of now there are only 2 at the most recent debate I would trust on the issue of the ILLEGAL invaders. Hopefully Romney would make three!

Yea, you don't want that scandalous man to become president.

In his own words, he plans on handing out amnesty.

Dixie