Thread: Romney’s immigration speech

Romney’s immigration speech

Wasington Post
By Jennifer Rubin

Mitt Romney tried to thread the needle in a speech on Friday to the Republican Hispanic National Assembly. On one hand, he wants to appeal to Hispanic voters, who are an increasingly critical part of the electorate. On the other hand, he wants to exploit his chief opponent’s record on illegal immigration, which is a sore point with the conservative base. So how did he do?

In reaching out to Hispanic voters, Romney made clear that he is a proponent of legal immigration, a point rarely made by GOP contenders in 2008:

I am a great proponent of legal immigration. Many of you are living proof of the unique strength of America that is constantly renewed by new Americans. The promise of America has brought some of the world’s best and brightest to our shores. It’s what brought Mel Martinez, the first Cuban American U.S. senator here. And it brought to America the parents of Marco Rubio, who is one of America’s great leaders today.

And while Romney’s own family doesn’t have an immigrant story to tell, he did stress the theme of upward mobility, which echoes the experience of those who come to America seeking better opportunities for themselves and their families:

I believe in that America. I know you believe in that America. It is an America of freedom and opportunity. A nation where innovation and hard work propel the most powerful economy in the world. A land that is secured by the greatest military the world has ever seen. . . .

My father never graduated from college. He apprenticed, as a lath and plaster carpenter, and he was darn good at it. He learned how to put a handful of nails in his mouth and spit them out, point forward. On their honeymoon, he and Mom drove across the country. Dad sold aluminum paint along the way, to pay for gas and hotels.

There were a lot reasons my father could have given up or set his sights lower. But Dad always believed in America; and in that America, a lath and plaster man could work his way up to running a little car company called American Motors and end up governor of a state where he had once sold aluminum paint.

For my Dad, America was the land of opportunity, where the circumstances of birth are no barrier to achieving one’s dreams. Small business and entrepreneurs were encouraged, and respected, and a good worker could almost always find a good job.

And for good measure he made an economic appeal.(“Hispanics have been hit terribly hard, with an unemployment rate that is higher than the national oneâ€

RELATED

Romney takes tough line on immigration
http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-249168-0-da ... omney.html

With Rick Perry proving to be a serious threat to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, the former Massachusetts governor swung through Tampa on Friday to exploit what some Republicans see as Perry’s Achilles’ heel: immigration.

When asked about Texas’s law allowing in-state college tuition for illegal immigrants, Perry said: “I don’t believe these individuals should be punished for a decision their parents made through no fault of their own

On the other hand it is entirely their fault that they are still here.

Originally Posted by AmericanTreeFarmer

When asked about Texas’s law allowing in-state college tuition for illegal immigrants, Perry said: “I don’t believe these individuals should be punished for a decision their parents made through no fault of their own

On the other hand it is entirely their fault that they are still here.

If my folks robbed a bank and gave the money to me to spend, it wont be taken away from me when its found out how I got that money because I was innocent of the crime?

Sweet.

/sarcasm off

They are NOT being PUNISHED by being returned to their homeland/nation of origin.