McCain-Kennedy isn’t the answer,” Romney said in a well-received speech to conservatives in Washington this month, describing it as an amnesty plan that would reward people for breaking the law and cost taxpayers millions to provide them benefits.
But that is markedly different from how Romney once characterized McCain’s bill, elements of which are receiving new attention in Congress and from President Bush. Indeed, Romney’s past comments on illegal immigration suggest his views have hardened as he has ramped up his campaign for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.
In a November 2005 interview with the Globe, Romney described immigration proposals by McCain and others as “quite different” from amnesty, because they required illegal immigrants to register with the government, work for years, pay taxes, not take public benefits, and pay a fine before applying for citizenship.
“That’s very different than amnesty, where you literally say, ‘OK, everybody here gets to stay,’ “ Romney said in the interview. “It’s saying you could work your way into becoming a legal resident of the country by working here without taking benefits and then applying and then paying a fine.”
Romney did not specifically endorse McCain’s bill, saying he had not yet formulated a full position on immigration. But he did speak approvingly of efforts by McCain and Bush to solve the nation’s immigration crisis, calling them “reasonable proposals.”
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.
“Romney did not specifically endorse McCain’s bill”
I see you purposefully chose not to bold this partcular sentence while at the same time, implying that Romney would have supported McCain-Kennedy.
“...saying he had not yet formulated a full position on immigration. But he did speak approvingly of efforts by McCain and Bush to solve the nation’s immigration crisis, calling them “reasonable proposals.””
Okay, so again, here the article is careful to state that Romney had not yet formulated a full position, yet you are now holding his feet to the fire for criticizing McCain-Kennedy as it stands now. Romney approving of “reasonable proposals” to solve the immigration issue is a far cry from him supporting the current bill as it stands now. That is a straw man argument and I think you know it.
“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.”
And any reasonable person would likely agree. Romney’s not promising them amnesty or citizenship with this statement, but he is recognizing that it’s impractical to employ the typical “ship them all out!” mentality.