Yesteday, I wrote about the possibility of Mitt Romney facing political problems in Florida because of his pandering flip-flop on immigration. ABC picked up on the issue, and pointed out that Jeb Bush was "disappointed."
Turns out that the Miami Herald picked up the story too:
But his immigration stance is at odds with some of the state’s most prominent Republicans, including Sen. Mel Martinez, who helped craft the legislation, and Gov. Charlie Crist, who supports allowing illegal immigrants to earn citizenship.
Former Gov. Jeb Bush — whom Romney has name-dropped as a potential running mate — has told friends he is ”disappointed” with Romney’s position.
”I don’t speak for Jeb, but I know that as a supporter of comprehensive immigration reform, he is disappointed in people who are exploiting the issue for political gain,” said Republican lobbyist Ana Navarro, who is backing Arizona Sen. John McCain.
Romney’s in-state advisor Al Cardenas said that Romney would soon have a real plan:
Romney advisor Al Cárdenas, a Cuban-American lawyer and former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, said: “The criticism he has received has been over the top and unfair. . . . I am confident that he will [put] forward an immigration proposal that Floridians and Hispanics alike will find fair.”
Romney’s problem is that the things he has asked for are already in the bill:
The record shows Romney has repeatedly demanded stronger border security. A campaign ad calls for tamper-proof identification cards. And in a debate last week, he said illegal immigrants need to go back to their home country and ”get in line” before they can become citizens
”That’s exactly what’s on the table. All of those things are part of the immigration package,” said Marshall Fitz, spokesman for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, a nonpartisan organization of lawyers and professors. “Romney and the other candidates who continue to beat their chests against this legislation are just playing to the conservative base.”
"Beating their chests" is what Jeb Bush hates and finds "hurtful" to him and his wife.
6 Comments
karasoth · May 24, 2007 at 5:54 AM
Yes because clearly when you get a “temporary” visa (which you can renew until you die) which gives you all of the rights of a normal visa CLEARLY that is “getting in the back of the line”
WazooMac · May 24, 2007 at 12:25 PM
Karasoth,
Under the proposed bill, the “temporary” visa is only renewable twice (2 years each time for a total of 6 years) and they have to leave the country for a year between renewals.
eye · May 24, 2007 at 1:30 PM
Well, it appears that you can stay on a Z visa indefinitely. However, I suspect that will change in the future.
bjalder26 · May 24, 2007 at 7:01 PM
If this bill passes it will be a huge burden on our economy, it will encourage more illegal immigrants, it will increase the Democrats base, and it will hurt blue collar Americans. It’s a betrayal of America.
karasoth · May 25, 2007 at 1:34 AM
Read the bill again
the Temporary Z Visa’s don’t have a renewal limit
And According to Bill you don’t have to leave the country. If you violate the provisions of the “temporary” VISA ICE and Immigration courts are required to fill you out a new temporary “bisa”
eyeon08.com » Romney backs off immigration by fine parsing · May 25, 2007 at 12:49 PM
[…] But today in Florida, where he is getting lots of heat for his pandering flip-flop, he said: There are some who get involved in whether it is technically amnesty or not, and I’m not really trying to define what is technically amnesty, […]
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