Thread: Romney talks tough on immigration, pushes values

Romney talks tough on immigration, pushes values
Standing-room-only crowd greets candidate at Greenville restaurant

Published: Saturday, September 1, 2007 - 2:00 am



By Dan Hoover
STAFF WRITER
dchoover@greenvillenews.com


Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney wrapped up two days of South Carolina campaigning in Greenville on Friday where he pushed a values agenda and talked tough on illegal immigration.

Both are hot-button issues in conservative South Carolina, where the former Massachusetts governor has generated only modest support, according to most polls.

Romney called for a nationwide statute that would define marriage as between a man and a woman and said the way to restrict illegal immigration is to remove the incentive by cracking down on rogue employers.

His comment was sparked by an Iowa judge's ruling that redefines marriage as including same-sex couples.


"Children come first," Romney said, questioning the ability of same-sex couples to provide well-rounded nurturing of children.

Recounting a conversation with Border Patrol agents south of San Diego, Romney said they told him more illegal immigrants cross the border there than they catch each day, despite double fencing.

"I asked them how are we going to stop the illegal immigration, and they said we've got to turn off the magnets, companies that hire people who come over illegally," Romney said.

"We've got to stop that," he added, drawing a round of applause.

Romney also called for a crackdown on "sanctuary cities" that shelter illegal aliens.

"I'll do just that," he said.

Romney was greeted by approximately 200 people in Aiken on Friday morning and a standing-room-only crowd at Stax's Omega restaurant in Greenville, many of them young people in T-shirts, shorts and flip-flips.

The visit came on the heels of an American Research Group poll showing that Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, has surged into a four-place tie with him at 9 percent each.

But Romney cited his lead in polls in Iowa and New Hampshire and Aug. 11 victory in the much-watched Ames, Iowa poll, saying that emphasizing those early states had paid off and now "it's time to concentrate on the other early states -- South Carolina, Michigan and Florida."

Warren Tompkins, Romney's lead South Carolina consultant, said Romney's higher standing in Iowa and New Hampshire comes from "substantially more investment of time and money," elements due to change quickly.

Only one candidate, Republican Sam Brownback, a Kansas senator, has announced Labor Day weekend campaigning in South Carolina.

Brownback will be Summerville and North Augusta today, then tailgate at the University of South Carolina-Louisiana-Lafayette football game in Columbia. On Sunday, he'll participate in a voter forum in Lexington and on Monday will attend the Simpsonville Labor Day Festival from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.d ... /709010303

Same old song with pictures

Friday, November 9, 2007
Romney talks tough on illegal immigration


VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30siVmjvBgY

Mitt Romney, trying to capitalize on angst about illegal immigration among the Republican rank-and-file, is airing a new TV ad in Iowa and New Hampshire promising to get tough.

In the ad, as Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama are pictured, Romney says Clinton and other Democrats "have it wrong on illegal immigration" with their support for a comprehensive reform that offered a path to citizenship for some of the 12 million undocumented workers already in the country, if they paid fines and back taxes and met other requirements. That initiative, which was supported by President Bush and Republican presidential hopeful John McCain, failed in Congress earlier this year.

Romney and other critics of that plan call it amnesty. Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson are also proposing tough measures to stem illegal immigration.

In the ad, Romney also says he will cut federal funding from cities that don't enforce federal immigration law. The former Massachusetts governor claims credit for opposing driver's licenses and in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, and also for getting authority for State Police to arrest illegal aliens, though that program was rescinded by Governor Deval Patrick, who succeeded Romney, before it took effect.

"Legal immigration is great, but illegal immigration ? that's got to stop," he concludes in the ad.



Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor at 09:50 AM