U.S. Senate hopeful Mitt Romney said he maintains a tougher stance on immigration than President Trump and believed people who were protected from the threat of deportation under an Obama-era program shouldn’t have been permitted to stay in the U.S. legally.
Romney, who announced last month he would run for the seat currently held by retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, discussed his views on immigration during a question-and-answer session in Provo, Utah, on Monday.
“I’m also more of a hawk on immigration than even the president,” Romney told the crowd, according to the Daily Herald. “My view was these DACA kids shouldn’t all be allowed to stay in the country illegally.”
The Trump administration announced in September it would be ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in March, setting up a six-month deadline for Congress to take action to protect “Dreamers,” the name given to children brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
But the president’s action was swiftly challenged in federal court, and judges in California and New York issued nationwide injunctions blocking the Trump administration from ending the DACA program.
The issue is now before the federal appeals courts.
Trump rolled out an immigration framework that included a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million illegal immigrants, called for $25 billion for border security measures, including the border wall, and limited chain migration.
But efforts to reach an immigration deal with Democrats have floundered.
Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, said he disagreed with providing a pathway to citizenship for those in the country illegally.
“That was not my posture,” he said. “So, I was more conservative than others in my party. Now I will accept the president’s view on this, but for me, I draw the line and say, those who’ve come illegally should not be given a special path to citizenship.”
Instead, the Senate candidate believes DACA recipients “need to do more” to gain permanent residency in the U.S., like earning a college degree or joining the military.
