As an immigration activitist myself who will be heading to SC next week as part of a coalition of immigration groups to educate the public about where the candidates stand on amnesty and immigration reform, I am convinced that Romney is our last hope to head off amnesty.
I have been a Thompson supporter from the beginning, but I have been disappointed by his performance in the debates on immigration. Thompson has the best and most detailed plan on immigration reform and control of the borders, but he has not been able to articulate it during the debates nor has he gone after McCain on the issue like Romney has. I know Thompson's advisor on immigration, Kris Kobach, who wrote the plan. He is solid. However, Thompson has been a disappointment. He either does not have command of the subject matter and is unaware of what is in his own plan or he is just paying lip service to the issue to attract support.
Here are Roy Beck's grades for the candidates on the subject As you can see, Fred is the best and Romney second. Roy's group is part of our coalition that will be going to SC. If Fred were a more viable candidate, I would support him without reservation. He also has the best and most detailed plan on entitlement reform, the other issue that I consider to be the greatest threat to this country's future.
We have been in contact with Romney's campaign on immigration issues. We are satisfied that he understands the issue and will deal with it better than any of the other viable candidates. In the meantime, we will be going to SC to derail the campaigns of McCain, Huckabee, and Giuliani. If any one of them gets the GOP nomination, immigration will be taken off the table in the general election since their positions are similar to those of Hillary and Obama.
Romney also said in the interview that it was not “practical or economic for the country” to deport the estimated 12 million immigrants living in the US illegally. “These people contribute in many cases to our economy and to our society,” he said. “In some cases, they do not. But that’s a whole group we’re going to have to determine how to deal with.”
Romney understands the political reality. No one is going to advocate mass deportation. The proponents of amnesty are wont to create the false choice between amnesty and mass deportation of 12 to 20 million illegal aliens conjuring up images of the Holocaust with a cruel, heartless government relentlessly tracking down and rounding up cowering, innocent men, women and children in the middle of the night and packing them into cattle cars for return to the hellholes they risked life and limb to escape. And the staggering numbers make it seem like an impossible task. Faced with such a choice, amnesty seems to be the most humane and logical way to handle the millions who have entered the United States illegally.
Attrition thru enforcement is the real answer. And that is both Fred's and Romney's position. We cannot grant these people legal status because they will be able to sponsor tens of millions more to enter the country legally thru existing chain migration politicies, i.e., family reunification. Robert Rector estimated that the 2006 bill that passed the senate (S.2611) would have allowed 66 million more legal immigrants over a 20 year period in addition to the normal 1.2 million a year we let in now. If that happens, the country is finished period.
The Boston Globe (owned by the NYT) is not a big fan of Mitt Romney.
Thompson argued for McCain-Feingold and gets a big X in that department for his departure from conservatism. Romney argued in favor of McCain-Kennedy and gets a big X for his RINO efforts. By the way, what is this big love affair that RINOs McCain and Romney have going on with Kennedy?