The Republican Party can do a better job in reaching out to immigrants, Gov. Mitt Romney told NewsmaxTV, and he vowed to prove his bona fides on this issue in his first year when he signs into law sweeping immigration reform legislation.
Romney also said he agreed with comments made by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla) in a recent Newsmax TV interview that the “shrill" voices of some politicians, including those in the Republican Party, have helped create the impression that the GOP is against Hispanics immigrating to this country.
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“I agree with Sen. Rubio when he says some people are so adamant when they’re addressing illegal issues that they miscommunicate, that somehow we don’t welcome immigrants,” Romney said.
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“We do welcome immigrants, and we want a system that makes it easier for people to know what their status is, to have a transparency that doesn’t exist now in our immigration system,” Romney said.
President Obama has put Republicans on the defensive in recent weeks by using executive power to grant de facto amnesty to close to one million children of undocumented aliens living in the U.S. The move has helped bolster Obama’s poll numbers among Hispanics, a key group that could help decide November’s election.
In his sit down with Newsmax, Romney struck back at the President’s track record on helping immigrants.
“Frankly we’d like to do what the president said he was going to do when he was campaigning as candidate Obama. He said he was going to reform immigration his first year. He just decided not to do that.”
Romney also offered a broad outline of an immigration plan that would be conciliatory toward immigrants without status living in the U.S.
“I will reform immigration with an idea of making immigration more transparent, helping reunite families, assuring that we have a large and ample supply of workers that are needed in agriculture and other temporary assignments,” he said.
As for children of those who came to this country illegally, “I want to make sure they have a permanent answer as to what their status will be.”
He then suggested he would go beyond Obama’s plan. “… I’ve indicated in my view that those who serve in the military or have advanced degrees would certainly qualify for that kind of permanent status.”
“There’s a huge first benefit to the country of our immigration system,” Romney said. “Bringing people in legally to America has been a source of vitality from the beginning, and continues to be.”
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Romney, who may be able to forge a reform plan with a Republican Congress more effectively than Obama, suggested the current system needs an overhaul, adding that the country needs to “use our visa program to favor those that want to be reunited with family members. Putting families together should be, if not our highest priority, then one of our highest priorities.”
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