tags: , , , , , , Blog

Romney Changes Tone But Not the Substance of Anti-Immigrant Policies

Share This:

With a softer tone than he used in the GOP primaries, Mitt Romney tried to trick his audience at NALEO into thinking that he’s a moderate on immigration.  But Greg Sargent, Mark Murray and Michael Tomasky weren’t fooled (see below).  Once the smoke cleared, there was no fire.  Romney did not walk back fthe hard line positions he staked out in the GOP primaries.  Nothing he said today changes the stances he’s taken: veto the DREAM Act, self-deportation for millions of undocumented immigrants currently in the U.S., and Arizona as a “model for the nation.”  He might, in some unspecified way, help some DREAMers, but even on this he refuses to offer up details and firmly commit.  The bottom line is this: what’s Romney’s current policy position regarding most of the 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.?  Get out and go home.

On immigration, Mitt Romney dodges yet again: In a post on his Plum Line blog, Sargent writes:

The most charitable interpretation of this is that Romney is signaling that he will let Obama’s policy stand until he comes up with a long-term replacement, but just isn’t willing to say so in those terms. In this interpretation, Romney would not repeal Obama’s order, which would put him at odds with conservatives who are trying to roll it back. But again, he’s not quite willing to say this, and it’s even less clear what he would do if he and Congress don’t come up with a ‘long term solution.’ Would he leave Obama’s policy — no more deportations for hundreds of thousands of DREAM-eligible youth, depending on certain factors — in place indefinitely?

Romney’s Immigration Speech: Interesting Definition of Progress: Said Mike Tomasky:

The lede coming out of this will be that Romney dropped his confrontational stance from the primaries and moderated his position etc etc., but that isn’t saying much. It’s the polite way of saying, “Well, Romney used brown people to whip white Republican primary voters into a rage against Rick Perry, and he’s here to say he won’t do that sort of thing this fall.” That was the real point of the appearance.

Romney still doesn’t answer if he’d overturn Obama’s immigration action: Writes Mark Murray of NBC News:

In remarks he delivered in Florida before Latino political leaders, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney once again declined to answer if he would overturn President Obama’s executive action to no longer deport qualified young illegal immigrants…Today wasn’t the first time Romney has declined to say if he would overturn Obama’s policy to no longer deport young illegal immigrants who have graduated from high school, who are serving in the military, and who have a clean criminal record.  Mitt Romney criticized the action after the president announced it last Friday. The reason: because it is temporary…But that begged the question: Would a President Romney reverse it?