FACT CHECK: Rubio & Romney Are Too Extreme On Immigration
As Senator Marco Rubio prepares to introduce Mitt Romney, one thing is clear: he and Mitt Romney are just too extreme on immigration. Both Rubio and Romney have opposed the DREAM Act, with Romney promising to veto the bill and calling it a “handout.” Both supported the anti-immigrant Arizona law, which Romney called a “model for the nation.” And Romney’s immigration policy is nothing more than “self-deportation.” Despite the polished videos and speeches, Mitt Romney and Marco Rubio are just too extreme on immigration.
ROMNEY AND RUBIO ARE TOO EXTREME ON IMMIGRATION
LIKE ROMNEY, RUBIO ENDORSED THE CONTROVERSIAL ARIZONA IMMIGRATION LAW THAT ALLOWS RANDOM DOCUMENT CHECKS AND DETAINMENT
Romney: “I Support The Arizona Law.” “Immigration is an important topic for voters in the state that borders Mexico. Residents wanted to know if the candidates will support Arizona's controversial immigration law. ‘Well, I support the Arizona law by recognizing what Arizona has done -- underscored the failure of the federal government to do its job,’ Romney told the audience. ‘It has been the responsibility of the federal government to protect our borders. And the federal government has failed. If I'm lucky enough to be president of the United States, I won't fail,’ he said.” [CBN News, 9/15/11]
Romney Called The Arizona Law “A Model” For How To Enforce Immigration Laws. In a Republican debate, Romney was asked, “Should there be aggressive, seek them out, find them and arrest them as the Sheriff Arpaio advocates?” Romney said, “You know, I think you see a model in Arizona. They passed a law here that says -- that says that people who come here and try and find work, that the employer is required to look them up on e- verify. This e-verify system allows employers in Arizona to know who's here legally and who's not here legally. And as a result of e-verify being put in place, the number of people in Arizona that are here illegally has dropped by some 14 percent, where the national average has only gone down 7 percent. So going back to the question that was asked, the right course for America is to drop these lawsuits against Arizona and other states that are trying to do the job Barack Obama isn't doing.” [CNN Arizona Debate, 2/22/12]
LA Times Headline: “Romney Calls Arizona Immigration Law A Model For The Nation.” [LA Times, 2/22/12]
Rubio Said He Would Have Voted For The Arizona Immigration Law. In an interview with Human Events, Marco Rubio said he would have voted for the Arizona immigration law that passed. “JM: If you were in the Arizona state legislature, would you have voted for the law? MR: The second one that passed hit the right note. Yes.” [Rubio Interview with Human Events, 5/6/10]
Arizona’s Immigration Law “Requires Immigrations To Carry Their Alien Registration Documents At All Times And Requires Police To Question People If There’s Reason To Suspect They’re In The United States Illegally.” “Arizona's law orders immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and requires police to question people if there's reason to suspect they're in the United States illegally.” [CNN, 4/23/10]
Arizona’s Immigration Law “Would Make The Failure To Carry Immigration Documents A Crime And Give The Police Broad Power To Detain Anyone Suspected Of Being In The Country Illegally.” “The law, which proponents and critics alike said was the broadest and strictest immigration measure in generations, would make the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and give the police broad power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally. Opponents have called it an open invitation for harassment and discrimination against Hispanics regardless of their citizenship status.” [New York Times, 4/23/10]
ROMNEY AND RUBIO OPPOSED THE DREAM ACT
When Asked If He Would Veto The DREAM Act, Romney Said, “The Answer Is Yes.” “‘The question is if I were elected and Congress were to pass the Dream Act, would I veto it and the answer is yes,’ Romney said.” [Reuters, 12/31/11; Le Mars, IA Meet & Greet, 12/31/11]
Romney Suggested The DREAM Act Was “Favoritism” And “A Special Route” For Undocumented Immigrants To Become Permanent Residents Or Citizens. Romney: “Now with regards to immigration policy, I absolutely believe that those who come here illegally should not be given favoritism or a special route to becoming permanent residents or citizens that's not given to those people who have stayed in line legally. I just think we have to follow the law, I think that's the right course. … I have indicated I would veto the DREAM Act if provisions included in that act to say that people who are here illegally, if they go to school here long enough, get a degree here that they can become permanent residents. I think that's a mistake. I think we have to follow the law and insist those who come here illegally, ultimately return home, apply, and get in line with everyone else.” [Fox News/Wall Street Journal SC Debate, 1/16/12]
When Asked About His Opposition To The DREAM Act, Romney Said That If “Hispanic-American” Voters Want “A President Who Is Going To Talk To Them About A Handout Or More Benefits For Free, They Got That Guy.” Romney: “You know, the Hispanic-American voters I speak with are overwhelmingly concerned with opportunity. They want good jobs in America and rising incomes. If they want a president who is going to talk to them about a handout or more benefits for free, they got that guy.” [Starting Point, CNN, 1/4/12]
Asked About Romney And The DREAM Act, Rubio Said, “Well, First Of All, I Think He's Been Pretty Clear He Doesn't Support The DREAM Act And I Don't Support The DREAM Act Either.” Asked about Romney and the DREAM Act, On CNN’s “Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer,” Rubio said, “Well, first of all, I think he's been pretty clear he doesn't support the DREAM Act and I don't support the DREAM Act either. I do think there's a better way to do it. I talk about that in my book. There is a way to - to accommodate these kids that are - find themselves in this circumstance, through no fault of their own. But there's a way to accommodate them without encouraging or incentivizing illegal immigration in the future. And I think that's what you saw Governor Romney say today, is that if he's president, he's not going to find a political solution or a talking point, he's not going to find a stopgap measure. He's going to find a real serious, balanced, responsible approach that honors our legacy as a nation of immigrants, that understands the humanitarian component of this problem, but that does so in a way that doesn't encourage or reward illegal immigration in the future.” [CNN, “Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer,” 6/21/12]
ROMNEY HAS PROMOTED THE INHUMANE IMMIGRATION POLICY OF SELF-DEPORTATION AND RUBIO SUGGESTED THAT CHILDREN OF UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS SHOULD BE DEPORTED WITH THEIR PARENTS
Romney Pushed “Self-Deportation” For Undocumented Immigrants. SMITH: “You say you don’t want to go and round up people and deport them, but you also say that they would have to go back to their home countries and then apply for citizenship. So, if you don’t deport them, how do you send them home?” ROMNEY: “Well, the answer is self-deportation, which is people decide they can do better by going home because they can’t find work here because they don’t have legal documentation to allow them to work here. And so we’re not going to round people up. The way that we have in this society is to say, look, people who have come here legally would, under my plan, be given a transition period and the opportunity during that transition period to work here, but when that transition period was over, they would no longer have the documentation to allow them to work in this country. At that point, they can decide whether to remain or whether to return home and to apply for legal residency in the United States, get in line with everybody else. And I know people think but that’s not fair to those that have come here illegally.” [NBC Florida Debate, 1/23/12]
New York Times Editorial: “In States Where ‘Self-Deportation’ Is Official Policy, The Results Have Been Deplorable” And “Have Caused A Civil-Rights Emergency.” “In states where ‘self-deportation’ is official policy, the results have been deplorable. In Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County sweeps neighborhoods making mass arrests, and people are afraid to leave home. In Alabama, farm and construction workers have fled by the thousands; tornado victims are afraid to go to a shelter. These laws hijack the federal government’s responsibility for immigration and have caused a civil-rights emergency. But Mr. Romney’s response has been to condemn the Obama Justice Department for fighting them in court.” [Editorial, New York Times, 2/20/12]
Rubio Suggested That Undocumented Immigrant Children Who Have Spent Most Their Lives In The U.S. Shouldn’t Be Allowed To Stay In The U.S. Rubio “suggested in an interview with a conservative publication, Human Events, that even illegal immigrant children who have spent most of their lives in the U.S. shouldn’t be allowed to stay. He later told The Associated Press: ‘Young children have to go wherever their parents are.’” [Associated Press, 6/4/10]
…AND RUBIO DEFENDED ROMNEY’S PROPOSED “SELF-DEPORTATION” PLAN
Rubio Defended Romney’s Comments About The Likelihood That Undocumented Immigrants Would “Self-Deport” If The Federal Government Cracked Down On Illegal Immigration. “Marco Rubio on Thursday defended comments Mitt Romney made earlier this year about the likelihood that undocumented immigrants would self-deport if the federal government cracked down on illegal immigration. ‘I've never understood self-deportation, in what the governor has presented, as a policy. It's not a policy,’ Rubio told reporters during a breakfast meeting in Washington, D.C. ‘I think it's an observation of what people will do in a country that's enforcing its immigration laws.’” [ABC News, 6/21/12]
Rubio Declined To Criticize Romney’s “Harsh” Positions On Immigration Issues Like “Self-Deportation.” On Fox News Latino, correspondent Juan Williams asked Rubio the following: “Let me ask about Mitt Romney who says he wants self-deportation. Mitt Romney, the frontrunner, the likely Republican nominee has taken the harshest position of any of the Republican candidates on immigration reform. Are you ready to endorse Mitt Romney?” Rubio replied: “Well, I’m endorsing Mitt Romney because I think he’s going to be a much better President than Barack Obama is. On the issue that you’ve outlined, I think what Mitt Romney would say, and he needs to – obviously he has spoken on that issue, and he can tell you more in depth about what he feels.” [Fox News Latino Interview With Marco Rubio, 3/29/12]
RUBIO OPPOSED BI-PARTISAN COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM BILL
2007: Romney Said He Does “Not Support” McCain’s Immigration Reform Bill. “Romney spoke at length on illegal immigration on a day when he was in San Diego where illegal immigration is among the most emotional issues. The candidate said he does ‘not support’ legislation introduced by McCain and Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy that would offer a pathway to citizenship for longtime undocumented immigrants living in the United States. ‘Instead, we should have an employment verification system for enabling employers to identify who is legally able to work here and who is not,’ Romney said. ‘And then, once a system is in place, we would insist that employers follow the law, or be penalized, just like they are if they don't pay their taxes.’” [San Francisco Chronicle, 3/16/07]
Romney Opposed The Senate Immigration Bill And “Any Legislation That Allows Illegal Immigrants To Stay In The Country Indefinitely, As The New ‘Z-Visa’ Does, Is A Form Of Amnesty. A Romney press release read, “Governor Mitt Romney issued the following statement on today's U.S. Senate agreement on immigration reform: ‘I strongly oppose today's bill going through the Senate. It is the wrong approach. Any legislation that allows illegal immigrants to stay in the country indefinitely, as the new 'Z-Visa' does, is a form of amnesty. That is unfair to the millions of people who have applied to legally immigrate to the U.S. Today's Senate agreement falls short of the actions needed to both solve our country's illegal immigration problem and also strengthen our legal immigration system. Border security and a reliable employment verification system must be our first priority.’” [Press Release, Romney for President, 5/17/07]
2011: Rubio Said Comprehensive Immigration Reform Is A “Political Non-Starter…These Days.” “Rubio further explained his positions, saying that passing a comprehensive immigration bill is a political non-starter in Washington these days. ‘It’s a difficult problem, politically. At this moment, a solution doesn’t exist on a political level, the votes don’t exist, nor the political will to deal with that,’ he said during the interview.” [Univision, 11/3/11]
Rubio Opposed The 2006 Immigration Reform Proposal Spearheaded By Republican Senator Mel Martinez. “The son of Cuban exiles born in Miami says he opposed the proposal spearheaded in 2006 by former Sen. Mel Martinez -- whose early retirement triggered Rubio's 2010 campaign -- that would have allowed illegal immigrants to work toward citizenship.” [Miami Herald, 11/10/09]