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SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- Mitt Romney pledged to reform the nation's immigration laws in his first year as president while criticizing the Supreme Court's immigration decision on Monday in broad terms.
Romney told donors in Arizona that he would have preferred that their state have more discretion in enforcing its immigration laws following a ruling by the high court throwing out much of Arizona's tough immigration law.
"Now you probably heard today there was a Supreme Court decision relating to immigration and given the failure of the immigration policy in this country, I would have preferred to see the Supreme Court give more latitude to the states not less," Romney told some 200 donors seated in a hotel ballroom for his remarks. "And there are states now under this decision have less authority, less latitude to enforce immigration laws."
Throughout the primary campaign, Romney defended the immigration law here, which called for local law enforcement to check immigration documents for anyone who they suspected may be in the country illegally (among other provisions), as the right course for a state to take when the federal government has failed to address immigration.
The court invalidated much of the law except for one of its most controversial prongs: the requirement that authorities check the immigration status of individuals whom they detain and suspect of being in the U.S. illegally.
Romney didn't address that provision directly, pivoting instead to accuse President Obama of a failure to lead on immigration and creating a "muddle" of the issue.
"The president promised in his campaign that in his first year he would take on immigration and solve our immigration challenges, put in place a long term program to care for those who want to come here legally to deal with illegal immigration, to deal with securing our borders," Romney said. "All these things he was going to in his first year he had a Democrat House and a Democrat Senate but he didn’t do it. Isn’t it time for the American people to ask him why?"
Romney has not remarked publicly on the Supreme Court case or immigration today, but in addressing the topic of reform with a group of donors here who collectively gave more than $2 million dollars to the campaign, Romney pledge to forgo stopgap measures and reform the U.S. immigration system within the first year of his administration.
"In my first year I will make sure we actually do take on immigration, we secure our border, we make sure that we grow legal immigration in a way that provides people here with skill and expertise that we want," Romney said. "This is an issue that has to be tackled."
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While I like to see that Romney is actually taking a stance on something, I think he just shot himself in the foot with Hispanics.
Can't be true. Shooting himself in the foot would require a decision as to which foot to shoot.
I'd like to see him aim just a little higher.
This morning I watched for almost 30 minutes an interview of Former Bush Sec. of Commerce Guiterrez conducted by Soledad O'Brien. For all that time, she tried to get a specific answer as to what Romney's specific position was on immgration. She never could. She also played a clip on an inflight ride where a senor Romney pr guy was asked for seven minutes to answer a specific question on SB 1070 but he never would. The problem is that Romney is now in a damed if you do and damed if you don't position. If he tells the hispanics what they want to hear, his support with the right wing goes away. If he says what the right wing wants to hear, his support in the Hispanic voters vanishes totally from about 20% to none. Poor Romney.
I'm not in the least bit surprised that Mr. Romney thinks that there should be more "latitude" concerning the Supreme Court decision about "illegal" immigration. Everything requires more latitude for him. I'm certain that his favorite color is plaid. He has the character and personality of a doily - not even a starched doily, just a limp, colorless one.
Mitt Romney pledged to reform the nation's immigration laws in his first year as president while criticizing the Supreme Court's immigration decision on Monday in broad terms.
*yawns* And let me guess, there'll be peace in the middle east too right?
A chicken in every pot?
For you, Mitt because you've done so much for us!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlnaYOv0DZY
Well there goes Mr. Romney doing what he does best giving an answer that really isn't answer. He's pretty good at side-stepping an issue huh ladies and gentlemen of the right and left???
In other words - We only want people we can exploit and control for the resources they are.
In Roneys mind people are nothing more than a number in the deficet column of a spreadsheet.
We would like to ask Gov Romney or the world's greatest flip-flopper what is, his long term immigration plan? Please tell us, in one of your debates coming up.... tell us a lie..... but tell us something>>>>>
VOTE........................................................................................OBAMA/BIDEN 2012
Examples of Serious Crimes of Illegal Aliens
News accounts of crimes that may have been prevented if the alien had been deported or stopped from entering the country illegally.
Mr. Romney still doesn't understand how Federal Law trumps down State Law every single time eh?
And Mr. Romney still forgets that any law he attempts to pass, must also go through Congress and the Senate House?
So Mr. Romney still believes that ALL americans don't understand how laws get passed in this country.
He's Mormon, the offspring of illegal immigrant polygamists and made his fortune sending American jobs overseas. Please explain to me how the Baptist/Catholic Religious Right, the anti-immigration crowd and America First folks are rallying around him?
Why isn't anyone listening to his "Self Deportation" option? How much money could we save?
Of course Romney wishes this. Then he wouldn't have to deal with the issue because it would belong to the states. Weasel.
Mittens..."latitude" is just a soft word for "abuse", but kuddos for another feeble attempt to stand on the fence so as to not annoy the latinos. *rolling eyes*
Latitude is what the southern governors wanted on civil rights......most of you are probably too young to remember those days but I do. Just another word for "states rights"........
He would have been more honest if he just addressed his AZ constituents by saying, "look, your law is fine. You know damn well that no cop is ever gonna stop and frisk us, or ask for our papers, 'cause we're whiter than the driven snow!".
so funny to watch you liberals drinking your kool-aide ...u mock romney for things he says...which are exact things obama said in 2008...you are all so brainwashed its so sad...and idiots like you will be the reason obama is re-elected...sure lets vote for the guy who has added more debt than any other president..who has broken promise after promise...who if you don't agree with his policies you are racist...the president who will not work with the other side..but blames everything on them and does not stand up for his own mistakes....come on people..use your brain...its common sense to get this guy out of the office...but i understand lots of you are brainwashed into thinking he is so awesome..and so great...just look at the entire picture....and you will see the truth...obama is a joke....nothing but a failure...O.B.A.M.A (One Big Ass Mistake America)
That's right, it would be better to vote for the guy who says the "exact things Obama said in 2008".
You shouldn't criticize when you're brainwashed by the ABO bumper stickers. You make yourself look bad.
It's not that he WON'T work with the other side, it's that he CAN'T! A stated republican congressional objective has been to make Obama a one-term president, and this was established early. If I were him, I would have actually told them where to get off a long time ago and just did what I thought was best; right, wrong or indifferent. He waited too long!!
The cops in AZ do not want to and will not enforce....way to much legal liablilty. Either they ask all stops for papers or their asses will be in court for profiling.
Yeah, let's have 50 different immigration policies and regulations. No wonder his handlers won't let him comment or take a stance on anything, every time he opens his mouth, it's DUMB.
Romney does what is best for him , always.
Veterans, military retirees; note that Romney PROMOTED THE DRAFT, then skipped out to France for extraordinary lenth of time when church missionary tours were limited. When Romney came home, he sided with his dad that the whole Viet Nam War was a scam and that he was against the war. His early flip flops, he is good at.
Promoting the draft, while Americans were dieing, he skipped out, then says he wishes he could have participated. Pro church, Anti Americam.
The support for Romney is waning. The best the GOP has is the ABO vote which usually doesn't work.
How about this for a bumper sticker.....Anybody but Wall Street! Why would anyone vote for a Wall Streeter after what they did to this country? How much of my 401K is in his Swiss Bank account?