Thread: Mitt Romney promises to stop illegal immigration

Mitt Romney promises to stop illegal immigration
The Arizona Republic
by Dan Nowicki and Edythe Jensen
Sept. 15, 2011 12:00 AM

Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney renewed his vow to salvage Social Security at a campaign stop Wednesday in the Sun Lakes retirement community south of Chandler.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, has emerged in the GOP field as a defender of the popular but financially stressed safety-net program for older Americans. During a televised debate Monday, he took Texas Gov. Rick Perry, his chief GOP rival, to task for calling it a Ponzi scheme. He continued to hammer his support for the program before a mostly friendly audience of about 500 people in a packed ballroom at Oakwood Country Club.

"I will save Social Security financially and as a federal program and a federal entitlement," Romney said during a 60-minute, town-hall-style meeting.


Mitt Romney speaks in a packed ballroom at the Oakwood Clubhouse at Sun Lakes Wednesday. Romney was one of the first of the 2012 Republicans running for the GOP Presidential nomination to come to Arizona. He campaigned Wednesday in Tucson and Sun Lakes and attended a private event in Tempe.

Romney took several shots at Perry, some veiled and some direct, over Social Security. Romney characterized Social Security as a savings plan or pension plan that has worked for 75 years while stressing that it is not a Ponzi scheme. He acknowledged that Social Security "absolutely" faces financial trouble in the future and that reforms are needed in order to keep the program solvent for younger Americans who are now working.

"There's no change needed for people who are currently retired or near retirement," Romney told the almost exclusively senior crowd. "But for those that are in their 20s, 30s and 40s, we're going to need to change the system somehow. . . . But don't worry, it's not going to change for anybody in this room."

Sun Lakes Republican Club Chairman Mike Tennant said Romney's campaign selected the location because "We've got senior voters down here who are very intelligent, and this is an important part of Arizona."

The town hall was one of three stops in the state Wednesday for Romney, who arrived two days after a strong performance in Monday's CNN/Tea Party Express GOP debate. He hosted a morning business round table in Tucson and held an evening fundraiser at the Tempe Center for the Arts.

Maricopa County voting records show that Sun Lakes' nine precincts have about twice as many registered Republicans as Democrats and voter turnout is extremely high - nearly 70 percent in the 2008 presidential election. Romney has talked a lot about Social Security, an issue that will resonate in a retirement area like Sun Lakes, said Scott Taylor, a Chandler District 21 Republican activist and Romney supporter

During the meeting, Romney fielded questions on topics such as energy policy, the loss of manufacturing jobs to overseas and tort reform. He also was asked about border security and illegal immigration, a perennial issue at any Republican candidate event in Arizona.

Romney said he likes legal immigration "a lot" and would stop illegal immigration by building a border fence.

Sun Lakes resident Elsie Rashleger, 90, said she was a lifelong Democrat until a few years ago and remembers Herbert Hoover's presidency from her childhood and Franklin Roosevelt's from the Depression years.

"I've gone through so many presidents, but I don't like what's going on now," she said. "Something's got to change. I like him (Romney), and I hope I live long enough to see him elected."

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... z1Y4q0uJ3u

This article has two brief mentions of illegal immigration and yet it has that kind of title? Guess they figure to get the attention of the people in Arizona since it has been a huge issue for them.

Stopping illegal immigration by building a fence? Is that it? Because a fence alone will not stop it, he ought to know that.

Mitt Romney vows to halt illegal immigration

by KTAR.com (September 14th, 2011 @ 8:43pm)
Comments:1


Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said told a packed Sun Lakes country club that he would build a border fence and halt illegal immigration if he were to be elected president.

According to The Arizona Republic, at least 400 people were apart of the standing-room only crowd who routinely interrupted Romney with cheers.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu was in attendance and said that, though he agrees with Romney wanting to build the fence, he has not decided whether to back his candidacy or not, despite Romney's hard-nosed stand on illegal immigration.

Romney said the nation needs to "turn off the magnet" that draws illegal immigrants; that means creating tough employer sanctions, making it easier for businesses to check residency and cutting in-state tuition benefits for illegal immigrants.

Romney's visit officially kicked off the presidential campaign season in Arizona. Attendees of the rally said Romney, who chose to visit Arizona first on his campaign trail, showed that he had Arizona's issues at heart and was committed to the state's well being.

The former Massachusetts governor spoke out against several of President Obama's new policies, including Obamacare, saying they are inefficient and costly.

Romney's campaign spokesman, Ryan Williams, said that Romney plans to campaign heavily in Arizona.

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