Romney And Sanctuary Cities

In a new, 60-second radio ad airing in New Hampshire and Iowa, ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney once again tries to use "Sanctuary Cities" as a way of distinguishing himself from Rudy Giuliani.

Romney hasn't yet accused Giuliani of supporting amnesty; the very concept of Sanctuary Cities implies an amnesty from the law.

The Republican candidates give the least attention to the arguably the most difficult part of the immigration question: what they'd do with those illegal immigrants who haven't committed additional crimes? Deport them? Imprison them? "Regularize them?"

Both Giuliani and Romney insist they oppose amnesty, but because immigration hardliners have defined amnesty so broadly, it's hard to see how any regularization or normalization proposal would pass muster with talk radio hosts and the Tancredo wing of the party.

Here's what Romney has said:

Speaking on washingtonpost.com's video interview program 'PostTalk,' Romney said he had no desire to 'round them up as one big group' and try to send illegal immigrants back to their native countries. Instead, he said the idea is 'to take people who are here today and working here and replace them gradually and humanely with our own citizens as well as with legal immigrants who come in to take their place

In the back of their minds, some (not all) Giuliani sympathizers believe that Romney is making a coded appeal to the anti-elitist bent of the Republican base. "Newark, San Francisco and New York City," in this view, are proxies for urban disorder and cultural permissiveness.

Script For "Exceptional" (Radio:60):

ANNOUNCER: "Immigration laws don't work if they're ignored.

"That's the problem with cities like Newark, San Francisco and New York City that adopt sanctuary policies.

"Sanctuary cities become magnets that encourage illegal immigration and undermine secure borders.

"As Governor, Mitt Romney didn't wait on Washington. He acted to make our immigration laws work.

"Mitt Romney is the exceptional Governor who took a stand so State Police could enforce federal immigration laws.

"Mitt Romney said 'No' to drivers' licenses for those here illegally.

"Mitt Romney insisted on teaching our kids in English.

"And as President, Mitt Romney will cut back federal funds to cities that provide sanctuary to illegal immigrants."

GOVERNOR MITT ROMNEY: "Legal immigration is great. But illegal immigration, that we've got to end. And amnesty is not the way to do it."

ANNOUNCER: "Mitt Romney – an exceptional leader for exceptional new challenges."

GOVERNOR MITT ROMNEY: "I'm Mitt Romney and I approved this message."

ANNOUNCER: "Paid for by Romney for President, MittRomney.com."

Comments

This article had a great question. What do you do with the ones who are here who haven't comitted crimes? Romney's answer is weak at best. He's going to have to build a huge new bureaucracy to figure out which employers are employing illegals. It's going to start a cat and mouse game as employers figure out how to get around the laws and improve their ability to hide illegals. Rudy Giuliani's plan to secure the border and then throw out only those who have something to hide by not getting the tamper-proof ID card (and they won't get back in because of his plan to secure the border) is the only plan I've heard that has a reasonable chance of working.

Posted by Dan | August 21, 2007 11:59 AM

Excuse men Dan, but (for what I am sure what has been pointed out at least a million times, but is ignored) Illegal Immigration is a Crime

Under Title 8 Section 1325 of the U.S. Code, "Improper Entry by Alien," any citizen of any country other than the United States who:

Enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers; or

Eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers; or

Attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact;
has committed a federal crime.

Violations are punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment for up to six months. Repeat offenses can bring up to two years in prison. Additional civil fines may be imposed at the discretion of immigration judges, but civil fines do not negate the criminal sanctions or nature of the offense.

NO AMNESTY!

GET IT , DAN???

Posted by Stan Pruz | August 21, 2007 12:29 PM

Mr. PRUZ,

You doesn't sound like a Native-American name or surname. EVERYONE at one point was or has been an Illegal Alien. Why don't you just realize that thte fact that you pay $1 for a head of Lettuce or your home being built at a cheaper price isn't a big help for the US. Economy.
Please stop bing such an IDIOT and keep you ignorant remarks to your self.

Posted by Memo | August 21, 2007 1:16 PM

I like the stand of Gov. Mitt Romney. Although I am normally voting for a Democrat for President, I will vote for a President that would fight illegal immigration.

The fight should include actions for misfeasance or malfeasance of Cities' and municipalities' executives, police, and prosecuting attorneys for failure to enforce Federal laws on illegal immigration.

Posted by b.i.dionida | August 21, 2007 1:39 PM

Why is it so hard to understand that we the American people want an end to anarchy?

Illegal workers are criminals, those who hire them are criminals and those who aid-and-abet them are criminals.

Illegal aliens in America have NO rights. We are required to arrest and prosecute, deport them.

No, matter your political party affiliation, and setting aside your thoughts on issues. We all need to remember what it is to be an American Citizen. We need to make sure our elected representatives obey their Oath of Office and keep their Oath of Allegiance.

See http://www.inteliOrg.com/un_american.html. Know whom you are voting for.

Posted by Dr Coles | August 21, 2007 2:00 PM

Memo wrote: "You doesn't sound like a Native-American name or surname. EVERYONE at one point was or has been an Illegal Alien."

Memo, Face it, Illegal Immigration is a crime. Both sets of my grandparents came here LEGALLY and arrived at Ellis Island.

I would gladly pay more for a head of lettuce so that riff raff such as the illegals living in my neighborhood with their gangs of hoodlums would stay out of here and go back to where they came from.

Mexicans should FIX their own country instead of quiety invading ours.

Posted by Polish-German and Legal | August 21, 2007 2:09 PM

Questions for Dionida

What about fining companies that hire illegal immigrants? How about hospitals that treat them and their children? How about charitable organizations that help them out? How about bargain-greedy consumers who buy produce that is almost certainly picked by illegal immigrants? How about the current descendants of anyone whose ancestors came over illegally? How about people who (Romney for one) who didn't bather making sure whether the cheap labor they were using a legal of illegal?

And whose taxes will be raised to pay for the rounding up, processing, detention, etc. of the 15 million of so illegal immigrants?

Posted by Paul | August 21, 2007 2:12 PM

Hey "Memo" -

Actually no, not everyone in the United States was at any point an illegal alien. Ever heard of Ellis Island my friend? That was a mode of LEGAL immigration and many people have descended from those who came here without being illegal aliens.

Second, I don't know how you get off telling someone else to keep "ignorant remarks" to themselves and to not be an "IDIOT" when you plainly set a fine example of what you're preaching against (try proof-reading your own 'ignorant' garbage before posting...and actually think during the process).

Third, you make no point in your post except that you don't think "Pruz" is an authentic Native-American name. What does that have to do with anything? What "Stan Pruz" posted was fact, not 'remarks' or even opinion. It doesn't matter if it makes you angry or happy, it's law--hard fact--and if you stand for justice, you stand for upholding the laws of our land.

Posted by Fuddy | August 21, 2007 2:15 PM

Paul,

Dude, what has to be done has to be done. If that requires taxes being raised a bit, then so be it, even if it sucks. Really it shouldn't be that way; how about we take what the illegals make and have them pay their own way back to Mexico/where ever? Sounds nice (and fair) but it's sadly unlikely.

Posted by Fuddy again | August 21, 2007 2:20 PM

Well it is very obvious that Romney is following Tancredo on the immigration issue. The problem with Romney is that so far he is just for show, all talk and no action. That YouTube video was pretty damaging for Romney, so it is difficult to take him seriously on immigration enforcement.

Posted by Campbell | August 21, 2007 2:52 PM

MITT VS. FACT/SAY. DO. ANYTHING

Romney is a flipflopper who has no convictions. Today he is bashing immigrants, tomorrow he will tango with them.

Romney hired illegal immigrant for working on his yard:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/12/01/illegal_immigrants_toiled_for_governor/

Romney, who just a year ago characterized
the bipartisan efforts as "reasonable proposals," now derides the plans being negotiated in Congress as "amnesty" for illegal immigration.

In a November 2005 interview with the Globe, Romney described immigration proposals by McCain and others as "quite different" from amnesty, because they required illegal immigrants to register with the government, work for years, pay taxes, not take public benefits, and pay a fine before applying for citizenship.

"That's very different than amnesty, where you literally say, 'OK, everybody here gets to stay,' " Romney said in the interview. "It's saying you could work your way into becoming a legal resident of the country by working here without taking benefits and then applying and then paying a fine." Romney also said in the interview that it was not "practical or economic for the country" to deport the estimated 12 million immigrants living in the US illegally. "These people contribute in many cases to our economy and to our society," he said. "In some cases, they do not. But that's a whole group we're going to have to determine how to deal with."

Romney is good only for the job of "Used Car Salesman".

Posted by flipflopperRomney | August 21, 2007 4:24 PM

To those who think that the price of produce will be increased, I say there is another side to that coin.
Yes the price of produce will likely go up. On the other hand the huge burden on our infrastructure will be drastically reduced. Our schools, clinics and hospitals will no longer be overwhelmed. In addition, our roads will be safer because they won't
be flooded with junk cars. Most of which are driven by non english speaking illegals who if involved in an accident either get out and run or if the car still runs, drive away without a second thought. This is not prejudice, it's the plain truth. So you see, you are already paying that high price for a head of lettuce, just in other ways.

Posted by Pat | August 21, 2007 4:36 PM

Illegal aliens as a group actually are among the most law-abiding (obviously apart from their status) in the country - for a variety of reasons (mainly wanting to stay out of trouble plus the need to keep in the country to provide money for their families back home).

The economic trade off is about a balance between extra costs versus extra benefits.

Any policy needs to take into account the mixed- citizenship status of most illegals - that some members are citizens, some aren't.

And the US benefits greatly from the increased economic security that results from the economic benefits of all money sent back to Mexico and other countries - without it, those economies would collapse with huge increased problems for the US.

But in the meantime I hope the GOP keeps it up - it is going to keep the Dems the majority party for a long long time.

Posted by hopeless pedant | August 21, 2007 4:51 PM

Mr. flipflopperRomney

Romney did the right thing and hired a company that was legit according to the US government and paid US taxes. Romney did NOT directly hire a bunch of illegal immigrants, nor was it his duty to check on it. It is the duty of the company that he hired the illegal immigrants to check, and is their sole responsibility. You can't simply pass the buck on up the latter and stop conveniently where you want.
The rest of your argument is abstract and empty.

Posted by Billy | August 21, 2007 5:44 PM

Until we have a viable legal mechanism for guest workers, there is no hope of solving this problem by border and workplace enforcement. Why not set up a system of incentives to work legally and control the number of such permits to get jobs filled that would not otherwise without compromising wages on jobs Americans actually want.

Most of these people who seem to think we don't need any guest workers have obviously not hoed lettuce, picked grapes or cleaned hotel rooms

There is a legitimate job market here - it should be legal. The enforcement-only folks are ignoring a huge market force

Posted by Passionate Moderate | August 21, 2007 6:42 PM

To Paul:
Your comments on penalizing hospitals who treat illegal aliens is just plain ignorant. Doctors and nurses treat and care for the sick and injured period. It is not our function to start segregating who is legal, and who is not, we don't have that kind of time. Furthermore, if we ever did have to start doing that, it would be a very scary time for the public. Where would it stop? We treat all patient's the same, and let the government sort out the issues of a person's status. Our job is to care for the sick.

Posted by Laurie | August 21, 2007 7:57 PM

What do you do with the ones who are here who haven't comitted crimes?

Doesnt anyone get it?

If they are here as illegals then they have commited a crime. 100% of the time an illegal immigrant is a criminal by definition.

They didnt find out the law after already getting here. they knew it was illegal when they jumped the fence, the victims are legal Americans and legal immigrants.

Posted by Mike Kraft | August 21, 2007 8:04 PM

Laurie,
You are obviously a medical person. So am I. Tell me what YOU personally do when a majority of patients come to you, don't pay, and YOU personally have to pay for the supplies you use to help them. At one point, you will either need to close your door, or the government (i.e. taxpayers) will have to pay for the supplies. You are remarkably generous with other people's money. Are you so generous with your own money? Perhaps you are. Perhaps you are not.

The simple truth is, if we cease to be a nation of laws, we cease to be a nation. The system simply can't handle lawlessness and lack of individual responsibility. Every nation that has tried to "take care" of its citizens instead of the citizens taking care of themselves, has FAILED.

Posted by Steph | August 21, 2007 10:06 PM

Immigration should not be illegal. It's a dumb law made for dumb countries. If you're not a criminal escaping another country, and you're willing to work I say: "Welcome, friend."

If you're already here, working, and haven't committed other crimes, you should stay and be counted as an American.

Yeah, that's great that all existing Western and Eastern European immigrants got here legally via Ellis Island, but it's only because your preceding Western and Eastern European immigrants arrived here illegally (via Plymouth Rock) and created a system of immigration laws biased to their brethren.

Immigration laws are not Free Market. When did The Atlantic readership become so Socialist?

Posted by Terry G | August 21, 2007 10:21 PM

And uh... RE: "we cease to be a nation of laws" etc.

It's not _morally_ wrong to move from one patch of ground to another is it? I can't think of a good reason why it should be legally wrong (unless you are already a criminal). Don't tell me breaking the law is morally wrong, either, read your Ethics 101 text again, please.

We can fix this panty-bunching problem be getting rid of the immigration laws. Then everyone can be law abiding citizens.

Here's a rhetorical question: Would current law-abiding citizens break a speed limit driving a loved one to the hospital in an emergency? If a person is willing to cross a desert to get a job... I really don't see why we would want to criminalize them.

Posted by Terry G | August 21, 2007 10:30 PM

Terry,
In regards to breaking the speed limit...check your understanding on that one. That's not a great rhetorical question. Where I live, even police and Ambulance drivers, with lights and sirens blaring, are not allowed more than 10 mph over the speed limit (i.e. the speed everyone drives normally) and are subject to getting a ticket if they exceed that limit. Why? Because they risk not making it at all if they speed. There are reasons, good reasons, for the laws we have, EVEN IN AN EMERGENCY.

Get rid of immigration laws? Same as above. There are reasons, good reasons, for the laws we have! Your 'logic' is dangerous and would open up any country to utter chaos. Your reasoning is too simplistic. Just moving from one "patch of ground to another" is not what this is about. Does it suprise you to know that even YOU couldn't simply move from "one patch of ground to another" within your own city without abiding by strict laws? If you think you can, just try it and see if some city officials don't come look at you strange. There must be order, hence laws, or we would all suffer tremendously. That is true at the local and national levels. It is against the law to just waltz into this country for good reasons. Our laws serve you and me well.

Posted by Steph | August 21, 2007 11:01 PM

I am sick to death of people who don't consider illegal immigration a crime. Robbing a bank, murder, child abuse, rape and tax fraud are crimes...illegal immigration is a crime and this country should stop discriminating!! If we enforce laws for other crimes on the books, then let's prosecute and DEPORT, DEPORT, DEPORT those who are trying to steal United States Citizenship. This cancer must be stopped before it is too late to save our country. ENFORCE THE LAW!! Just being in this country without proper documentation is a crime. Anchor babies are no excuse for criminal parents to stay in this country, it is just another way of spitting in the face of legal Americans and those who want to come here legally. There are more illegals in this country than those who legally passed through Ellis Island before it closed. DEPORTATION! DEPORTATION! DEPORTATION! NO AMNESTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Alexandra | August 21, 2007 11:31 PM

TOM TANCREDO is the real answer to our problems of illegal imigration. He is the only candidate that will enforce our laws, and put America first. NO AMNESTY ! Learn our laws , learn our language, respect our country!

If illegal imigration is your main issue wether you are a dem or a repub VOTE TOM TANCREDO, and save this great country of ours.

"This is our culture; fight for it. This is. our flag; pick it up. This is our country; take. it back." - Tom Tancredo

Posted by BULLITT65 | August 22, 2007 1:55 AM

After (insert a date here) anyone...including public agencies.... hiring or providing housing, shelter,any form of aid, welfare including education, medical, etc., will be severely fined and/or imprisoned. Simple, and it will work! If this invasion of illegals doesn't stop , there will be no USA left as a sovereign nation.

Posted by H Neil | August 22, 2007 2:44 AM

** Marc asks, "what they'd do with those illegal immigrants who haven't committed additional crimes?"

Well, there can't be THAT many of them that haven't committed additional crimes! Be it visa violations (like overstaying their visitors visa, dropping out of school on a students visa) or other crimes like identity theft, forgery of an identity, contract fraud, illegally operating a motor vehicle, conspiring with illegal employers to circumvent wage and labor laws...and on and on. If an illegal can prove that the only law they've broken is trespassing over the border, well, I'd certainly be receptive to offering them the chance to legalize their status...

** Passionate Moderate says, "Until we have a viable legal mechanism for guest workers, there is no hope of solving this problem by border and workplace enforcement."

We already have several different guest worker programs to bring foreign workers to the U.S. They aren't being utilized. For example, current law allows for the admission of unlimited numbers of agricultural guest workers, but the program is not used by employers because they'd have to pay legal guest workers more than they pay illegal aliens. We don't need another program, we NEED to enforce the laws we have.

** and Terry G "We can fix this panty-bunching problem be getting rid of the immigration laws. Then everyone can be law abiding citizens."

So you advocate for the New World Order? One world-wide government?! Because once you erase the borders (which universal citizenship will do), the Global Government won't be far behind. Are you one of those PNAC nuts?

Posted by Mara | August 22, 2007 7:55 AM

As H Neil, and others, have alluded to, the demand side of the equation, not the supply, is where legislation or regulation will have the most impact. The people coming across the border have little to lose and if sent back, will attempt to return. The businesses and those who stand to profit from the exploitation of those people, for their own profit, at the expense of the local, state, and national economies, will think twice before they do so.

Posted by Joe | August 22, 2007 8:08 AM

Mara: New World Order, New World Schmorder. Your words, not mine. Let the UK, Germany and Italy do what they want. The US should welcome all workers to our economy. It doesn't have to be universal citizenship, readily available working visas are fine with me. Frankly, anyone who can say "New World Order" without cracking a smile is nutso in my books.

---

Steph: My analogy may be weak, but it is apt. Let people without papers (green cards, work visas, whatever) pay a fine analogous to a speeding ticket. It should be a moving violation, not a felony (actually, I don't know what "class" breaking an immigration law is). Deportation does not fit the crime.

But, you're right about moving from one patch of ground to another. Cuba and North Korea restrict the free movement of resources, and it serves them well. Order out of chaos.

---

Joe is right, it's the demand side of the equation that is driving this problem. Let's see how this subprime mortgage load fiasco pans out. Maybe we'll be lucky, the economy will tank, and _we'll_ be the ones trying to earn a buck in a foreign land.

The demand for US citizenship is one of the better problems to have, sorta like a widget factory that can't make enough widgets. We should acknowledge this strength of the American economy and use it to our advantage.

---

HEY SYSADMIN/WEB DESIGNER:

The name at the top "Terry G:" and the "Posted by: Terry G" at the bottom is a bit redundant, don't you think?

Posted by Terry G | August 22, 2007 10:05 PM

HEY SYSADMIN/WEB DESIGNER:

I guess that's only during the "Preview" stage.

Posted by Terry G | August 22, 2007 10:06 PM