President Obama’s sensible approach to immigration reform stands in stark contrast to Mitt Romney’s refusal to propose effective, long-term solutions. While Romney says undocumented immigrants should “self-deport,” President Obama has fought for comprehensive immigration reform and strongly supports the DREAM Act, which would give hardworking students a chance to be part of the country they call home. While Romney has embraced Arizona’s extreme anti-immigrant law, President Obama has consistently fought against extreme state laws that seek to interfere with the federal government’s authority to set and enforce immigration policy. Here’s how the two candidates compare on the issues:
The DREAM Act
President Obama strongly supports the DREAM Act, which would allow undocumented young people to earn a path to citizenship through military service or the pursuit of a higher education. He has joined Latino leaders and immigrant advocates in a “full court press” to fight for its passage because he understands that it “makes no sense to expel talented young people from our country—they grew up as Americans.”
Romney promised to veto the DREAM Act and told young immigrants—who know no other home—that “the answer is self-deportation.”
Deferred action
- When Republicans blocked the DREAM Act, President Obama decided to act where Congress wouldn’t. His administration announced that it was taking steps to lift the shadow of deportation from young people who were brought to this country through no fault of their own. Under the Obama administration’s deferred action policy, people younger than 31 who came to the United States before the age of 16, have no significant criminal convictions, pose no security threat, and pursued their education or served in the military can get a two-year deferral from deportation. As President Obama made clear, this policy does not amount to “amnesty”—but rather a step to give “a degree of relief and hope to talented, driven, patriotic young people.”
Romney says the President’s executive order will make it more difficult to find common ground on comprehensive immigration reform—but he refuses to propose any meaningful alternatives, saying only, “We’ll look at that setting as we reach that.”
S.B. 1070 and anti-immigration laws
President Obama strongly opposes Arizona’s S.B. 1070, which requires police to check people’s immigration status if officers believe there is “reasonable suspicion” someone could be an undocumented immigrant. “No American should ever live under a cloud of suspicion just because of what they look like,” the President said. The U.S. Department of Justice has challenged both Alabama and Arizona’s anti-immigration laws, arguing that they unconstitutionally interfere with federal enforcement of immigration policy and unconstitutionally harass “foreign visitors, legal immigrants and even U.S. citizens.”
Romney praised the Arizona law as a “model” for the nation and his chief immigration advisor, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, advocates a “true nationwide policy of self-deportation.” As the New York Times noted, Romney’s approach to immigration is “mass expulsion: a fantasy of ridding the country of 11 million unauthorized immigrants by making their lives unbearable.” But states like Arizona, which already promote a “self-deportation” policy, have suffered from “deplorable” results and even “caused a civil-rights emergency.”
President Obama believes these talented, responsible, young people deserve better. “These are young people who study in our schools,” the President said. “They play in our neighborhoods, they’re friends with our kids, they pledge allegiance to our flag. They are Americans in their heart, in their minds, in every single way but one: on paper.”
Mitt Romney offers immigrants nothing more than a cold shoulder and vague assurances of solutions down the road. President Obama stood up for what was right when Congress wouldn’t, and he will keep fighting for immigration reform that is consistent with the basic American principles of fairness, equality, and opportunity for all.