During his speech at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) conference, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney underwhelmed and failed the leadership test, according to pro immigrant groups.
Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
“Romney’s remarks on immigration today? FAIL. He once again dodged the question on whether he will keep or rescind the President’s executive action for DREAMers. He promised a mandatory employment verification system – which is the underpinning of his radical ‘self-deportation’ position – with no mention of a line to get into for the millions of undocumented workers currently in the U.S. He refused to distance himself from his hardline primary stances of pledging to veto the DREAM Act and supporting Arizona’s immigration bill that uses racial profiling in an attempt to purge immigrants from the state.
“Platitudes about legal immigration policies were expected. But if Romney really does want to be President, he can’t continue to dodge the key questions: What about the 11.5 million undocumented immigrants currently living and working in the U.S.? Would he keep or rescind Obama’s new directive on DREAM-eligible young people? Given his promise to veto the DREAM Act, when he calls for a permanent solution for DREAMers, what exactly does he mean? How will he protect the up to 1.4 million DREAMers expected to benefit from President Obama’s recent executive action? Does he still think that ‘self-deportation’ is the right approach for their parents and the millions of other immigrants living and working here without papers?
“Today’s speech did nothing to boost his credibility – or his chances – in November. Latino voters are looking for leadership and someone who will stand up to the anti-immigrant minority in the GOP who continue to block immigration reforms. Yet Romney again failed to take the golden opportunity to do so today, showing that he remains tethered to the party’s hardline right. Romney told the NALEO audience, ‘you do have an alternative.’ Unfortunately, on immigration, Romney failed to provide a shred of reason why that alternative should be him.”
Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum Action Fund:
«At his NALEO speech, Mitt Romney fell short. American voters want — and the Republican Party needs — visionary plans to fix the immigration system, not tweaks around the margin where the only path to legal status for grandmothers is to enlist in the military. For the leader of the Republican Party to ignore his Senate colleagues’ obstructions to the DREAM Act in 2010 is revisionist history.”
Center for American Progress:
When Mitt Romney outlined his ideas about immigration policy at a Latino conference in Florida, he endorsed removing the cap on visas for the spouses and children of lawful permanent residents. This measure would allow the more than 300,000 people who are waiting for a family-sponsored green card to skip the years-long wait for a visa under a Romney presidency. “We will exempt from caps the spouses and minor children of legal permanent residents. And we will eliminate other forms of bureaucratic red tape that keep families from being together,” he told the crowd at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference.
This is not a new idea — Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez (NJ) has championed this provision as part of a broader comprehensive immigration reform bill. But, as Menendez pointed out in a statement after Romney’s speech, Republicans have “failed to endorse” the idea of allowing more family visas. “I’ve reached out to Republicans to help me fix our legal immigration system but unfortunately to date, Republicans continue to oppose reforms to our family immigration system,” Menendez said.
Indeed, no Republican co-sponsored Menendez’s immigration proposal that would expand the number of family visas. And when the senator’s office has reached out to Republicans to compromise on the provision Romney mentioned, Republicans rejected the olive branch, a staff member told ThinkProgress.
ThinkProgress reached out to Republicans on the House and Senate Judiciary committees to see if they would support Romney’s proposal. In response, House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) said in a statement Romney is “right to recognize that immigration reform needs to be geared towards bolstering our economy and job creation,” but did not comment on the GOP candidate’s visa expansion proposal.
As an Associated Press fact check of Romney’s speech points out, Romney would need Congress’ help to expand the limit if he were president. But after failing to support legislative attempts to increase the limit, it’s unlikely Republicans will jump on board now simply because Romney has suggested it.
Read the full TP post here.
NDN and New Policy Institute (NPI) President Simon Rosenberg:
“Today in a speech to NALEO, Mitt Romney did not in any way distance himself from the “self-deportation” strategy he outlined during the GOP primaries.
While he did address other parts of the immigration policy debate, on the core and most difficult issue – what to do with the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently in the country – Mitt Romney did not alter or augment in any way what has become the position of Jan Brewer, Joe Arpaio, his own campaign and much of the rest of the Republican Party over the past few years – they want those undocumented immigrants to leave the United States as soon as possible, and intend to make their lives miserable enough so they do. He also made it clear that he will not renew the two year visas for DREAM eligible young people being currently introduced by the Obama Administration.
While we applaud Governor Romney for attending the NALEO conference, this speech offered little hope that he has the courage to do what it takes to fix America’s broken immigration system. In that sense this speech was a major disappointment.
