The GOP finalized its immigration platform last week in Tampa at the party’s national convention but not a single speaker took on the issue in their prominent prime-time speeches.
Jeb Bush described the party’s approach to immigration was “acting stupid” and encouraged the Republican party to change its language on the issue because it has come off as inhumane and anti-Hispanic.
Round up: GOP on immigration and Latinos
The GOP finalized its immigration platform last week in Tampa at the party’s national convention but not a single speaker took on the issue in their prominent prime-time speeches.
The party platform is based on the ideas of legal immigration, enforcement and self-deportation. Some of the enforcement strategies will include implementation of a national worker verification program, restricting federal funding from universities that allow in-state tuition rates to undocumented students, and the completion of a double-layer border fence. The New York Times outlines the process of building the platform of the convention.
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Elizabeth Aguilera
Sept. 1, 2012
Throughout the primaries, GOP candidate Mitt Romney said he would veto the DREAM act, held up Arizona’s state immigration laws as a model for the country and said the idea of “self-deportation” for the undocumented immigrants is best.
Off stage, Jeb Bush, former Florida governor and member of the presidential Bush family, described the party’s approach to immigration was “acting stupid” and encouraged the Republican party to change its language on the issue because it has come off as inhumane and anti-Hispanic. He chatted with CNN about his take on the approach.
In this Aug. 29, 2012, photo, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez addresses the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. The Republican Party’s next generation of leaders were in deep supply at the GOP’s national convention as they positioned for future national roles and, perhaps, even their own shot at the White House in four or eight years.
Former GOP Senator Mel Martinez also joined Bush in criticizing how the party is addressing the immigration issue saying the tone is all wrong.
At the Tampa convention, in an effort to reach Latinos and to show it has Latino members the GOP put a the spotlight on some of its prominent Latino members. It invited New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval and Texas senatorial candidate Ted Cruz to address delegates.
She lit up the crowd with a story about carrying a magnum .357 while working for her parents security company. She took that opportunity to emphasize they built the company on their own (a jab at a recent comment from President Obama about how no one goes it alone even the very wealthy).
This week Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaragoisa criticized the GOP saying that it could not just trot out Latinos to speak and expect the Latino community to jump on board.
"Window dressing doesn't do much for a candidate. It's your policies, your platform. This is a party with a platform that calls for the self-deportation of 11 million people," he told reporters earlier in the week.
Rubio agreed with Villaragoisa in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on what he thinks Romney and the GOP need to do on immigration.
Texas GOP Senatorial candidate Ted Cruz said this week he would ask Mitt Romney, if he becomes president, to cancel President Obama’s deferred action for certain undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children.
The current plan, which began August 15, gives a 2-year reprieve from deportation and provides a work permit. It does not give legal status and, as Cruz prefers, can be revoked at any time. Candidate Romney has had little to say about how he would deal with the program if he is elected.
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