A "Brilliant" Romney Adviser Favors The Senate Immigration Compromise

We know there's debate between the Republicans about immigration -- OK, between Tom Tancredo and John McCain, really, because we know precisely where they stand.

But there's also some debate within at least one campaign. One of Mitt Romney's principal economic advisers, prof. Greg Mankiw, supports the Senate immigration bill. Romney, of course, does not.

Mankiw, writing with other conservatives in the Dallas Morning News today, calls the bill "the most far-reaching and thoughtful reform of our immigration system in four decades and one that will significantly enhance American competitiveness."

Is it amnesty? "We don’t think so. And surely it is in America’s interest to know these workers’ real names, vet their backgrounds and get them paying their full freight in taxes. Eventually, once the current backlog of legal applicants is cleared, these newly registered workers will have an opportunity to earn citizenship. But this will take at least 13 years and another $4,000 fine. Heads of households will have to return to their home countries to apply.”

Romney disagrees, calling the bill's proposed Z visa program the "A visa" program -- with A standing for "amnesty, because that's what it is." Romney hasn't said what he'd do with or to the 12M illegals already here. When asked, he lists three priorities: securing the borders, instituting a workable and enforcable employee verification program and not giving illegals any leg up towards citizenship.

When Mankiw was announced as one of Romney's key econ advisers, the candidate called him "brilliant." Even the brightest lights, Romney might say, are turned off occasionally.

Comments

News Flash: Someone in Romney's campaign disagrees. Uh-oh, this is a first.

On a side note, this should be a great site Marc, looking forward to it.

Jason
www.mymanmitt.com

Posted by Jason | June 5, 2007 5:09 PM

Dozens of commenters have shown many of the ways Mankiw is wrong at his blog, and he also signed the childlike joke called the OpenLetteronImmigration. The latter letter failed to note many aspects of this issue, such as the political power that Mexico has inside the U.S., reconquista sentiments, and so forth. In brief, Mankiw lives in a fantasy world.

The current letter says: "it will make sure that the law is enforced first, before any other provisions of the legislation take effect". That's actually false: they'll be semi-legalized immediately, with the gov only having 24-48 hours to turn down their application.

As for whether it's amnesty or not, what matters is how it will be perceived by millions of prospective illegal aliens around the world. They'll ignore the "tough" provisions and concentrate on the prize. And, they'll come here to try to claim that prize.

Background information on the other signatories linked from my name's link.

Posted by More on the signatories | June 5, 2007 5:44 PM

Mankiw is extremely ignorant about immigration. If you gave him a test of factual knowledge on the subject, he'd fail dismally. All he really knows about immigration, as he frequently repeats, is that his four grandparents were immigrants from the Ukraine.

Posted by Steve Sailer | June 5, 2007 8:01 PM