Posted on 09/02/2011 5:15:54 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
With Rick Perry proving to be a serious threat to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, the former Massachusetts governor swung through Tampa Friday to exploit what some Republican see as Perry’s Achilles heal: immigration.
"We must stop providing the incentives that promote illegal immigration,’’ Romney told more than 100 people attending a Republican Hispanic conference in Tampa. " As governor, I vetoed legislation that would have provided in-state tuition rates to illegal immigrants and I strengthened the authority our state troopers had to enforce existing immigration laws."
Romney, 64, never mentioned by name the Texas governor, who leads Romney in most national polls as well as in early primary and caucus state. But immigration is a new issue of focus for Romney in this campaign cycle, and his campaign knows that Perry, 61, is already facing criticism from conservatives for not taking a hard enough line on illegal immigration.
Perry, for instance, in 2001 signed a Texas version of the "Dream Act" that made Texas the first state to allow in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants - much like the bill Romney boasted of killing in Massachusetts.
Illegal immigration remains a hot button issues among Republican activists, though leaders in Texas - where 38 percent of the population is Hispanic - have tended to take a more moderate approach to the issue. Perry, for instance, said last year he had no interest in passing a tough Arizona-style immigration law for his border state.....
(Excerpt) Read more at miamiherald.typepad.com ...
Perrys vision of open borders is the vision of the border we have with Canada.
Nobody gives a toss about that open border.
We need to address the problems in Mexico to reform Mexico.
A gov in a lone state has limited power to address these issues.
Perry is NOT a guy that intends for the US taxpayer to give Mexico a blank check.
This place once was Mexico.
You cant just ignore that as a governor and expect to be reelected.
In the same way, it is ridiculous to expect that we can win the national election without some parsing of words.
Daymn that Ronald Reagan! He started this Amnesty crap! /s
And in the 2008 campaign, Romney was one of the candidates who was anti-amnesty and pro-enforcement throughout the campaign. And after Tancredo dropped out, he endorsed Romney as did Sheriff Joe and others.
Nothing is accomplished by misrepresenting Romney's stance on this issue no matter what his faults might be. Many voters remember and it can be researched.
And guess what, when it was Mexico there were about 35,000 Anglos living there, and about 4,000 Mexicans and a few thousand Apaches and Commanches.
So now you see what happens when US borders aren't enforced.
I can't remember how to link the articles... it's been so long since I've been here. Sorry.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/perry-bills-federal-govt-nearly-350m-for-incarcerating-illegals-in-texas/
Exactly, Will88. Mitt Romney was tough on immigration while in the deep blue state of Massachusetts AND he was endorsed by Tom Tancredo and Sheriff Joe. That says a lot. A lot easier to be mildly conservative in Texas than in MA - and, instead, Rick Perry ushered in the Texas Dream Act. Perry’s position on immigration is the same as Obama’s.
One of the more nonsensical remarks often made on this issue. The Simpson-Mazzoli amnesty of 2006 was sold to Reagan and the nation as a one-time amnesty that would clean up the problem and be followed by strict enforcement to prevent a recurrence.
But Reagan was followed by a politician from Texas who had no interest in border enforcement, and then by Slick Willie, and then by the second politician from Texas and then by Obama, all of whom deliberately left the border open and did little more than token internal enforcement.
Another Texas politician who'd follow in the footsteps of those four could usher in Dim majorities for the foreseeable future.
Perry is horrible on illegal immigration, now matter how his apologists try to spin it.
Yes, yes...
It’s all Texas’s fault.
All this Pandering to the Mexicans is Hated by real Americans ,They want them gone, This BiNational healthcare crapola ,his remarks on the border fence,the Dream Act the list goes on.
It’s all Texas’s fault.
An irrelevant non-response to anything I said. But anyone can check what stances the prominent border state politicians have taken on illegal aliens.
Does Assachassets have a big immigration problem?
Its pretty easy to act tough on this stuff in Assachussetts.
Our biggest problem in Texas as a border state is that the Feds wont allow us to act.
And as I mentioned upthread, we do have a problem in that we have to recognize our huge hispanic constituency.
A president will have similar difficulty.
He must govern all equally or he will go down in flames.
Barry is no exception, and he has NOT governed equally.
Have to follow the money on that one!Insurance is a money maker.
Bwahaha. That’s not the point. The point is Romney took tough action against illegals in MA and Perry - a deep red state — did NOT.
Bwahaha. That’s not the point. The point is Romney took tough action against illegals in MA and Perry - in a deep red state — did NOT.
Perry has taken lots of action on the border issue.
Probably more than any Border State governor.
To not recognize his efforts is disingenuous.
P.S. No, actually, it's just the opposite. It's a lot HARDER to act tough in Assachusetts when the legislature is 85% liberal.
How about Perry's support of Rudy Giuliani instead of Fred Thompson (or some other FR favorite) during the last election. Do you support that or have an excuse for that too?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.