Giuliani, Romney shade their records on immigration LOL

McClatchy Newspapers ^ | David Lightman

[Dubya]

WASHINGTON — Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney share a big problem as barnstorm across American trying to act like tough guys on immigration: their past.

Each ran a jurisdiction that's arguably among the nation's most tolerant, where cracking down on illegal immigrants wasn't good politics.

But now, Giuliani, the mayor of New York from 1994 to 2001, and Romney, the governor of Massachusetts from 2003 through January, are battling for the Republican presidential nomination amid an uproar over illegal immigration. So they're gritting their teeth, squaring their shoulders and vowing to throw the bums out and keep them out.

The result has been a schoolyard brawl.

"Mitt Romney is a hypocrite on immigration," charges former New York City Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro.

No, Romney fires back, Giuliani's a coddler who openly welcomed illegal immigrants into his city.

"You don't promote a lawful society," says Romney, "by condoning illegality."

But while both men have been talking and in some cases acting tough on illegal immigration for years, they haven't always been as tough as they'd like Republican voters to think they are.

Giuliani hasn't significantly changed his views, said Fred Siegel, a history professor at The Cooper Union in New York, but "he's changed his emphasis."

Romney, said Elena Letona, the executive director of Centro Presente, a Latin American community organization in Cambridge, Mass., didn't make immigration a top priority while he was governor.

"It seemed like when it became obvious that he was campaigning for national office, he started talking about his opposition to illegal immigration," she said.

The biggest fight between the Giuliani and Romney camps centers on who tolerated "sanctuary cities."

These are cities that try to be havens for undocumented workers, and that generally means that law enforcement officials aren't permitted to ask people about their immigration status when they seek city services.

Romney insists that New York was such a city. Giuliani insists that it wasn't.

At a 2003 congressional hearing on the city's immigration policies, John Feinblatt, the city's criminal justice coordinator, opened his testimony by saying, "Let me begin by making one thing crystal clear: New York City has no sanctuary policy for undocumented aliens."

In Massachusetts, a handful of cities did designate themselves as sanctuaries. Cambridge, for instance, had that designation since 1985, and in 2006 took a new vote to reiterate that status.

The city council resolved that the city "rejects the use of the world illegal to describe human beings and the use of the word aliens to describe immigrants." It urged the use of the word "undocumented" and "immigrant" instead.

Letona called the sanctuary designation largely symbolic, and Romney's campaign points out that there was little that Governor Romney could do to stop such local efforts.

Romney did oppose giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and vetoed legislation that would have made them eligible for in-state tuition at state schools.

Perhaps he could have withheld state aid, but since the governor faced an overwhelmingly Democratic legislature, the chances are any such effort would have failed.

Romney spokesman Kevin Madden explained that the problem with sanctuary cities "is that they ignore federal immigration law, not state law, since there is no state immigration law."

As president, Madden said, Romney would use federal money going to states "in order to have leverage over localities that are ignoring federal immigration law to change course and start enforcing the law."

Giuliani and Romney also are battling about who was more tolerant of undocumented workers.

The Romney camp likes to trot out a 1994 Giuliani statement: "If you come here and you work hard and you happen to be in an undocumented status," he said, "you're one of the people we want in this city.

"You're somebody we want to protect, and we want you to get out from under what is often a life of being like a fugitive, which is really unfair."

Mastro argued that people should examine the full statement. The mayor's next sentence was: "And if you're someone who comes here and you want to violate the drug laws, the laws against violence, the laws to protect us in other ways, then I'd like to see you apprehended and put in prison and then sent back to where you came from."

Giuliani wasn't encouraging illegal immigration, said Mastro, but he realized the value of staying tied to the community while he undertook his anti-crime initiatives. Illegal immigrants could help police find criminal suspects.

The third ring in this circus involves enforcement.

Romney likes to boast about how he gave Massachusetts state troopers the power to arrest illegal aliens on immigration charges, but he did so only on Dec. 13, 2006, about three weeks before he left office.

Campaign officials said that Romney realized he could seek that authority only in summer 2006, and it took a few months to put everything in place.

In New York City, the dispute focuses on a 1989 executive order, issued by then-Mayor Ed Koch, that barred any city employee or office from reporting an illegal alien to the feds — unless that person was "suspected by such agency of engaging in criminal activity."

Giuliani cites the drop in crime during his stewardship as evidence that the policy worked. Feinblatt insisted that "the order could not be clearer, and any suggestion that the city of New York maintains a policy that interferes with such cooperation is simply incorrect."

Or is it?

Romney points to the order — and to Giuliani's 1996 federal lawsuit challenging federal policies that require city officials to provide the names of illegal aliens who wanted police protection, hospital care, education and other services — as evidence that New York was a sanctuary city. Giuliani said at the time that Washington would "do nothing with those names but terrorize people."

So which guy is tougher?

Not Romney, said Mastro. "Romney's trying to hide his own abysmal record on illegal immigration by distorting Rudy's," he said.

Not Rudy, said Madden. "Rudy Giuliani, as mayor of New York City, actually publicly advocated and welcomed illegal immigration, even promising to offer lawbreakers a sanctuary of protection," he said.

They're both kind of right. And they're both kind of wrong.

ON THE WEB

Links: Executive Order 124 (.pdf)

Cambridge City Council 2006 sanctuary resolution: www.rwinters.com/council/050806.pdf

[W04Man]

One of the reasons Military & Veterans support Fred Thompson is his stand on illegal immigration. See this Video for a short discussion of this support:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iNc3q3DOCw

FRED VETS, SIGN UP TODAY AT:

[ansel12]

“One of the reasons Military & Veterans support Fred Thompson is his stand on illegal immigration. See this Video for a short discussion of this support:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iNc3q3DOCw

---

Here is a Romney video on immigration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpUNVRNVk-E

[Clara Lou]

I’m waiting for the Julies and the Mittsters to come and debunk this. Where are they, already?

[Man50D]

The so called media labeled “top tier” candidates are becoming increasingly consumed with pointing out they are all more Conservative than each other in a poor attempt to appeal to the large number of Conservatives in and outside the GOP. Duncan Hunter doesn’t need to claim he is Conservative because his actions are proof enough. The GOP’s only chance of returning to what was once it’s Conservative base is by nominating Duncan Hunter.

[aroundabout]

Last week I recall a thread about a reporter from this newspaper that tried to force his way into the green zone using intimidation and bluster. He failed and subsequently his blog was discovered and on it was all sorts of anti military crap and opt right lies of what happened in Iraq as he tried to gain entry.

The response then was swift and unequivocal. McClatchy was a left wing rag and anyone working for them were certified left wing water carriers.

Now they seem credible to many because they are hitting on Giuliani and Romney.

So what gives?

[Liberty2007]

I cant wait for Huck’s shill Dano1 to pile on.

[Liberty2007]

a broke clock is right 2 times a day.

[no-to-illegals]

Careful, I hear the Anti-Truth Tell League is circling just outside the server. I Understand their Battle Cry has been heard as they were attempting to link to the cable, in order to gain entry. But Thank You for telling the truth! The server Kitties, I hope, will hold 'em off.

[sageb1]

Fred Thompson's Border Security and Immigration Reform Plan

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

[Liberty2007]

I hear ya man, they can’t scare me with Giuliani is the only one that can beat Hillary. Hell President Giuliani scares me. If/when the country goes to crap under hillary it would be under the democrats watch....If/when it goes to crap under Giuliani we could hang up ever getting a republican again.

[Clara Lou]

Some affectionately call him “Drano.”

[Leisler]

Even Billary had to back track on driver’s licenses, so this is all good. The further to the right all these politicians can be pushed, pulled, boxed, put on YouTube....the better.

[aroundabout]

agreed

[cyberella]

>Obama told La Raza that the mass protests lately for immigration rights of Mexicans is equal in greatness to the civil rights protest of the past
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/S.../barack_obamas
_strange_ethnic_politics

“I will stand with the Muslims and protect them..” Obama.
http://www.freedomsenemies.com/_more/obama.htm