The reemergence of illegal immigration as a campaign issue, which tripped up Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential debate on Tuesday night, could also prove troublesome for some Republicans.
Prompted by Clinton’s equivocation over whether illegal immigrants should get driver’s licenses, GOP presidential candidates spent Wednesday accusing each other of being weak on the issue. They are acutely aware that illegal immigration is a make-or-break issue among the conservative base.
Mitt Romney said rival Rudy Giuliani welcomed illegal immigrants to New York when he was mayor.
“He said, ‘Look, if you happen to be in undocumented status,’ which is code for an illegal alien, ‘we welcome you to our city and we will protect you in our city,'” Romney told radio talk show host Laura Ingraham. “That kind of attitude, that sanctuary city attitude, is something we have to stop.”
Giuliani refrained from attacking fellow Republicans, but took a shot at Clinton for speaking in favor of a plan by New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer to provide driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.
“Of course you don’t give out driver’s licenses to illegals,” Giuliani told CNN. “Among other things, it’ll make it even more difficult to deal with all the fraud, all the forgery that’s going on.”
The reemergence of the issue in the Democratic debate could be bad news for Republican Sen. John McCain, whose campaign suffered earlier this year when he backed a comprehensive immigration reform bill that would have granted a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. The failed bill, which was also supported by Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy, was derided as “amnesty” by conservatives.
The bill was invoked Wednesday by Bill Lacy, manager of Republican Fred Thompson’s presidential campaign, who accused Romney of flip-flopping on immigration.
“Romney called the McCain-Kennedy amnesty bill ‘reasonable’ while the vast majority of conservative Republicans called it ‘unacceptable,'” Lacy said. “No matter how many millions he spends trying to cover up his previous positions, Romney’s record is to the left of the GOP base on immigration, just as it is on matters of life, gay rights and fiscal responsibility.”
Romney spokesman Kevin Madden countered that “Fred Thompson is as wrong on this issue as he is late to this campaign and the debate over tougher enforcement.”
He added: “Governor Romney strongly opposed the McCain-Kennedy legislation and was a vocal critic of the blanket amnesty it provided to lawbreakers.”
