Watch the interview with Tim Russett. Romney does not say that he supports giving amnesty to 12 million illegals. He says that the idea of allowing some people to register with the government, live, work and pay taxes in the U.S. for 5 years before being allowed to become citizens is a reasonable one.
That is a far cry from what you are suggesting.
My argument with such a plan would be that America's first priority must be to secure the borders, then identify and deport illegals guilty of felonies here or in their own countries, and only then consider who might be allowed to stay on condition of working toward citizenship rights.
I would very much like to hear Romney's response to that suggestion and then make a judgment on whether his current views on immigration are acceptable, especially given how much worse - and dangerous - the problem has become over the course of the past 7 years.
“He says that the idea of allowing some people to register with the government, live, work and pay taxes in the U.S. for 5 years before being allowed to become citizens is a reasonable one.”
It isn’t reasonable. It’s the opposite of reasonable. It’s insane.
I would love to hear how “registration,” or for you poetic types, “bringing them out of shadows,” solves anything.
The problem isn’t their status. The problem has never been their status.
The problem is their PRESENCE.
Their PRESENCE is what has overwhelmed California’s welfare system and bankrupted the state.
Their PRESENCE has turned California’s public school system into a daycare center for Mexico’s poorest, non-English-speaking children, to the terrible detriment of two generations of Americans.
Their PRESENCE — their overwhelming numbers have closed swamped emergency rooms all over the country. (And can we please stop lying about the actual numbers? There’s pretty good evidence that 11 million illegals live in California alone.)
Their PRESENCE has driven down wages and driven Americans out of innumerable trades and occupations.
So someone please explain to me — how does “registration” and allowing lawbreakers slow-motion citizenship make anything better? Except for illegal immigrants and weak politicians who won’t do do their first and most important Constitutional duty to protect this nation from foreign invasion?.
The Southern border has been abrogated and abandoned by the Federal government. How can anyone talk about anything else?