By NBC’s Alex Moe
NAPLES, FL -- Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich defended his immigration policy after days of criticism from other GOP contenders – reiterating that he does not support amnesty -- on Friday night before his largest crowd yet on the campaign trail.

Erik Kellar/AP
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich addresses a town hall meeting Friday at the Naples Hilton in Naples, Fla.
"I am not for amnesty for anyone. I am not for a path to citizenship for anybody who got here illegally," Gingrich told the crowd of roughly 750 people, many of whom were forced to stand in the hallway. "But I am for a path to legality for those people whose ties are so deeply into America that it would truly be tragic to try and rip their family apart."
The former House speaker, who is seen as one of the front-runners for the GOP nomination, has been taking some heat on his stance on immigration since Tuesday’s debate. After the debate some of his Republican rivals – Michele Bachmann and Mitt Romney – have accused Gingrich of supporting amnesty, which the speaker said Friday night was misinformed.
"It speaks badly of any candidate who would deliberately repeat something which they know is not true," Gingrich told the packed crowd inside a Naples Hilton ballroom. Later, he added, "Ironically, in the Reagan Library debate I think most of them actually agreed with me," on my immigration policy.
Gingrich wants to model his immigration plan for illegals already in the country on the WWII model of the Selective Service System program, which allowed local communities to decide who would be drafted for war. He noted that the program "really tried to take general policy and give it a human face."
"I think the vast majority [of illegal immigrants] will go home and should go home and then should reapply. I do not think anybody should be eligible for citizenship," the former speaker said to loud applause in Southwest Florida with his wife, Callista, sitting in the front row of the audience. "I am suggesting a certification of legality with no right to vote and no right to become an American citizen unless they go home and apply through the regular procedures back home and get in line behind everybody else who has obeyed the law and stayed back there."
Gingrich has been rapidly rising in the polls recently despite questions raised about his ties with Freddie Mac and now on his policy on illegal immigrants. Back in the summer months, many Republicans and pundits wrote off the former speaker after more than a dozen of his staff quit unexpectedly.
"Remember, I was supposed to be dead in June or July," Gingrich said. "One side of that is that for a long period of time, they didn’t pay any attention to me."
Gingrich and his wife are scheduled to sign books Saturday morning in Naples.


God help America. Obama’s won a second term, so we can expect Sky high gas prices as he plays into the Environmentalists zealots hands. Even more rules and regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to inhibit the drilling of petroleum, natural gas and the inevitable extinction of the coal industry. A massive illegal alien invasion under President Obama’s watch to give the 20 million illegal aliens a path to citizenship, in this once sovereign nation. Instead of small business created the demoralization as the companies leaving the U.S.A for less taxed countries. Huge influx of more illegal aliens are pouring into the country, for Obama’s entitlement programs (BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP) bringing their babies in even huge waves and an astronomical burden on taxpayers. Unions becoming even more powerful, buying favors from the already corrupt political parties. More draining of the U.S. treasury to pay for so called friends in incompetent foreign countries, and the dismissal of a once powerful military defense, conceding to huge cuts in budgets to pay for the spongers, scroungers and freeloaders amongst the population who have no intentions of finding a job.
An even deeper recession with this administration printing more money, adding to a growing inflation, more expensive food and even more crushing threats of the Justice Department against states as Arizona, Georgia, and a few others in the 50 states by bloated agencies. America is going to founder if we keep encouraging the awful poverty from other countries? What does either political party think when they can justify a two Trillion deficit (THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION), if This President can push through another fraudulent amnesty like the one Reagan forced upon this nation in 1986? YES! To the higher echelon of scientists, engineer, mathematicians’, because they will not be the virus that lives of the working public, but we can ill afford to cater to the desperate and impoverished who come here as criminals, with their hand out.
Marxists such as the notorious Eric Holder, ultra Liberal as Janet Napolitano, Communist Czars and his rash of simpletons in his federal agency who sued states trying to protect their taxpayers from spending their hard earned money on supporting illegal aliens. A clamp down on free speech, liberties and freedoms by Obama’s liberal’s goons throughout the states. More control by the United Nations as Obama administration is subservient to them, to provide a global tax of all the industrialized nations. The United States is becoming a more secular country under this government, which is prosecuting the rights of the church and religion because of the harsh Socialist agenda. This country is becoming more Balkanized by 137 foreign languages instead of the one foundation of everybody speaking English. Our educational system is in dire trouble, with a failing beyond what we can imagine and covered up? Places with large populations with illegal alien children are flooding our schools and distracting our teachers from producing our performance of legitimate Americans and legal immigrants. The loss to our great country is returning our school structure to our states and not compromised by a bunch of bureaucrats in Washington. Instead I suspect a monolithic rise in government agencies that is a danger to our fundamental liberties.
Political correctness forced on a nation so that terminology such as terrorist is banned or words attributed to the murderers spawning seed in the Middle East. The right to bear arms will be something this administration tries to erase in the next four years. However, one bright light at the end of the tunnel, whichever way you see it? The Republicans with the growing spread of the TEA PARTY in the House of Representatives means another four years of deadlock, where no major policies can be passed. No bills of any importance will also be accomplished in the Senate, with a senile old man called Harry Reid of Nevada. Nothing and I mean nothing will find passage under majority leader Reid, because both parties hate each other. I am extremely grateful that the House of Representatives holds reign of the purse strings, so funds can be withheld from the Tax and spend Democrats.
This new America has been built on the backs of takers, that is, those who take the entitlements but, do not produce. The Takers won last night. Obama cunningly promised more entitlements to an entitlement driven society, and, like a moth to the light they embraced his offer and sold their votes (souls) for more stuff. As the takers sold their votes they empowered the government, so now Washington can control of their lives as long as the gravy train keeps rolling. With gridlock in Congress, little or nothing will be done. Obama’s minions used the racial separation, the illegal migrant and immigrant major issue and has shown through his first four years of an administration full of derision, anti-conservatism and a serious move towards a European type socialist Democracy. I worked 29 years in the Merchant Marine and earned my 4 pensions. I want to know “WHY” for the my hard work of grueling, arduous years at sea for my family, that my taxes are taken to pay for the living standards of “Freeloaders” and the largest majority of illegal aliens who are parasites at the public trough? NOTHINGS GOING TO CHANGE? ILLEGAL ALIENS WILL KEEP COMING DEMANDING CITIZEN RIGHT AND WE ARE THE FOOLS THAT WILL PANDER TO THEM.
ALL I KNOW IS MY FAMILY HAS BEEN IN THE SANCTUARY STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOR GENERATIONS, SO IT WAS TIME TO MOVE ON FROM EXORBITANT TAXES TO PAY FOR FOREIGNERS THAT DO NOT RESPECT OUR LAWS, COMPLETELY IGNORE THEM.
The Tea Party is now more significant than ever before with estimates of 41 million voters. We told the Republicans they should be more confrontational, more direct and display Obama’s record for the world to see, but their egotism blinded them to the reality. The accomplishments of the Tea Party is the only shining light in the conservative movement and the GOP took complete advantage of our work as well as the sweat of our backs, and yet, the blind Pharisees refused our wise counsel. This leaves us with little choice but to take it, get tougher and protect our American heritage with all we’ve got. Mr. Mitt Romney worked hard, but played it safe, stayed in the safe waters and refused to expose ‘America’s Fraud President’ and what was the result? Mr. Romney lost, and the Republican Party failed America. However, the greater issue is far beyond Obama or Romney. This Presidential race clearly shows America is a DIVIDED NATION looking for a tough no-nonsense management with real conservative values. The Tea Party is the last remaining stronghold of TRUE Conservative values in America, we must not stop!
Now is the time that we must surge. We shall not go quietly into the night, but we are ready to take our stand here, we will not back down, ever.