Associated Press
Back in June, President Obama unveiled a new immigration policy, which included using the executive branch's prosecutorial discretion to implement many of the goals of the DREAM Act. What did Mitt Romney think of the move? He's been reluctant to tell anyone.
Pressed for a position, the Republican refused to answer simple questions. When GOP leaders in Congress said they'd accept Romney's position as their own, the candidate continued to have no position.
It took him four months to think of an answer -- no Profile In Courage Award for you, Mitt -- but as of yesterday, Romney finally has a response.
Young illegal immigrants who receive temporary work permits to stay in the United States under an executive order issued by President Barack Obama would not be deported under a Mitt Romney administration, the GOP presidential hopeful told The Denver Post Monday.
"The people who have received the special visa that the president has put in place, which is a two-year visa, should expect that the visa would continue to be valid. I'm not going to take something that they've purchased," Romney said. "Before those visas have expired we will have the full immigration reform plan that I've proposed."
I don't mean to sound picky, and I'm delighted Mr. Self-Deportation was willing to say something about this, but I'm afraid this position doesn't actually tell us much. The good news is, we now know Romney, if elected, intends to allow those receiving a two-year visa now to keep that visa.
The bad news is, we still don't know whether he'd keep the policy in place, extending the same visas to other eligible immigrants. We also still don't know what that "full immigration reform plan" would look like. We also still don't know if he'd start deporting Dreamers after two years if Congress fails to pass this mysterious "full immigration reform plan." We also still don't know why he thinks immigrants are "purchasing" visas.
For that matter, we also still don't know why Romney would veto the Dream Act, which used to enjoy bipartisan support, if it reached his desk.
That said, this certainly appears to be an Etch A Sketch moment for Romney. After a year in which he's positioned himself as the most anti-immigrant presidential nominee in generations, Romney is now trying, at least a little, to appear slightly more forgiving. Whether Latino voters fall for the ploy remains to be seen.
Leave a Comment:
Actually, Steve, we absolutely know Romney's stance on immigration: to pander and shift positions as needed.
The guy is not only the worst candidate I can remember in all the elections I've been aware of going back to 1956, I can now say he is the worst candidate I have ever read about in all the history of politics in America I have ever read. He is the all-time winner of the All Time Worst Award. He makes me long for the days of that Fount of All Things Evil, Richard Nixon.
So is this the October surprise or a zinger?
" pander and shift" is all he has- he is one of those "Incurious People"- lookin' at you, G.W.-who show not the slightest interest in anything that does not have a direct bearing on their own happiness and success.
TC- Worst can mean a lot of things.
On the Nixonian evil dimension, Wallace was pretty evil. We would have no Nixon if it were not that Wallace wanted to exact vengeance for the Kennedy/ Johnson reforms. Romney's memes of subtle and not so subtle racism attempt to resonate with the post Obama aftershock, but it only dimly mirrors that 60s tectonic shift of US politics in the South, which in turn was an aftershock of Civil war reconstruction.
On the anti democracy dimension, Richard J. Daley's practices of patronage, ballot stuffing, and corruption defined the template for elites right and left on how to effectively destroy the republic and maintain autocratic rule.
On the incompetence scale? Doesn't that involve a discussion of the mechanics of politics- the stuff of sports locker room interviews? What competence means is being the most technically adept at using the means at one's disposal to win votes. Yet many of those allowable means are wrong. I don't think we need to celebrate those who champion technical competence. Don't get me wrong- there is a great need for competence but the crucial question is not your technology but the judgment of appropriateness on how and where you apply those skills. We should celebrate those who champion the ideals of our democracy.
And the Romney family tradition on immigration is to get out of the country before the lynch mob catches them.
Does the etch-a-sketch phase have an end date?
November 7, 2012
1) After all this time Rawmoney says "his administration would allow those with Visas to stay" - desperate times call for desperate measures.
2) Mittens it's too little to late.
3) Latino's aren't stupid, they know that you're pandering, and this doesn't encourage them to vote for you.
4) Again that mysterious "trust me" we'll take care of this later - sure we will.
5) Bye-bye.
I think the "I am not going to take something they've purchased" to be the most interesting line in the announcement. What does he mean by "something they've purchased?"
In Rmoneyworld you are either given something from your parents or you buy it.
He has no concept of 'earned'.
i believe the 2 year visas for under 30 immigrants brought here by their parents include a $465 fee in addition to proof of residence for the entire time they have been in the country (school records and the like count for this afaik).
This would be why the republicans are counting it as something purchased...
If Romney attempts to shift his position on the basis of compassion and sympathy for the Dreamers who were brought to this country as children and whose only allegiance is to America, the GOP base will be outraged. But if he says that it's unfair to gip people out of an application fee, republicans can accept that.
It's very revealing. They paid money for it, so Romney takes it seriously. Unlike voting rights, protection from discrimination, Pell Grants, infrastructure...
I have a friend who is a lawyer who specializes in immigration law and he says that this has been a great turn of events (this visa) for both the applicants ( only the serious ones apply due to the cost) and the government (revenue), so I suspect that Mr. Romney likes the 'purchase' part because it is a good source of revenue. I wonder what Mr. Norquist would say about of this type of revenue....?
Wouldn't it be nice if Romney thought the same way about jobs. Let's pretend for a second that everyone has purchased their job, would romney find a way around that too? So, all he has to do which he willl do, if he were to become President was to re-categorize the 2 year Visa as something that wasn't payed for. So, in essence he is saying that he will let them stay but, he will raise taxes on the Middle Class in order to offset the balance. He's not too clever, that you can't figure out his lingo.
He thinks they've bought the visas because that's how you get anything in this world - you buy it!
October surprise--Mitt starts to sort of, may be, partially answer a question--with caveats
I doubt he wins a single Hispanic vote with this, but he is sure to lose thousands of bigots who will now stay home. You can't turn off the pander switch so easily. The time to get on board with this expired long ago...
Don't get too excited. There still is a 24-hour news cycle whereby the political winds will shift and either Mitt or his advisors will reverse or add conditions to his comments. Remember, this is a presidental campaign designed and built on confusing the voters.
This "we don't know" idea of Governor Romney is exactly how I feel about him. Melopsittacus is absolutely right that he panders from minute to minute. I wonder if it would be good debate strategy for Obama/Biden to concentrate on the idea that the Romney/Ryan ticket has been so vague during their campaign and "for it before they were against it" that the only way to postulate how he would govern as President is to look at how he has stood up to Republican and right-wing media criticism, this is to say that he hasn't... ever. So I would expect him to govern like the Republican House. This totally terrifies me and Boehner and company are broadly unpopular with the electorate. Would it be a good goal for the President tomorrow night to link Romney/Ryan with the party and branch of government that brought us the debt limit fight, personhood bills, voucherized Medicare, popular program austerity especially in regards to Veterans and general obstructionism?
The latest polling shows President Obama leading Romney 73% to 21 percent among Latinos nationally, up from the 69% to 24 percent advantage just last week. Romney's “47 percent” comments have made his "outreach" even more difficult. It looks like Obama will surpass the 67% to 31% margin with Latinos in 2008. Not a good sign for the Romney campaign.
If Mitt Romney were the president of the company, U.S.A, you would purchase their products, like visas. Isn't that how you're supposed to talk about the company you want to run?
From his famous secret video: "My dad, as you probably know, was the governor of Michigan and was the head of a car company. But he was born in Mexico ... and uh, had he been born of uh, Mexican parents, I'd have a better shot at winning this," Romney says in the video. "But he was unfortunately born to Americans living in Mexico. He lived there for a number of years. I mean, I say that jokingly, but it would be helpful to be Latino."
Last month I believe the 20th of September he appeared on Univision - where was his Immigration Plan, wouldn't that have been a good time to unveil the details of your plan?
Because he is such a Pinocchio what happens it he is elected and than institutes his "Self Deportation Plan", which was very accepted by the extreme right who seem to be running this party.
There is nothing sincere about this person, he has no honor or integrity and no respect for the 47% of this Country.
Romney is such a Pinocchio that they will have to introduce his nose 30 seconds before he approaches the podium. "Ladies and gentlemen, Govenor Romney's nose........ah... Governor Romney."
Gather around folks and witness the greatest invention since fire! Watch as this incredible machine goes from deep fat fryer to ice cream maker then evolves into a vegetable slicer. It slices,it dices and then it can glue the slices back together! Yes sir this wonderful Mitt Witt can be anything you want it to be and all for the amazing low price of one Nations welfare.
But wait there's more...If you order before November we will toss in at no extra charge the Ryan Basket. Inside this wonderous weave of faux brass lies lies. It will provide miracles. With a simple stroke it can balance your bank book and delete your debt. It has the ability to create a person from a mere two celled lump. It can replace all your kids textbooks with a simple "I believe" pamphlet. No additional shipping or handling charges either!
Hurry while your ignorance lasts! (note many have spent millions on this dynamic duo already but you can have them with just a vote.) Not intended for personal use except by ultra wealthy investors.
Self-deportation worked for the Romney clan. They went to Mexico and started a "mission" mansion. Of course we should not delve into that since it brings up such matters as where was Mitt born and were his Parents American citizens or how patriotic can he be if his clan fled in order to continue to have the extended family of many wives that their faith once condoned.
Mr. Romney believes Visa's are purchased because that's the way you get anything from the government in Romney World. You bribe someone.