The Obama campaign on Wednesday pounced on former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney after a Republican debate in which he opposed a pathway to citizenship for those in the country illegally.
“Governor Romney is somebody who once claimed to support comprehensive immigration reform,” said Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt in a conference call with reporters. “Now he’s a candidate who’s actually demagoguing the issue of immigration in a politically craven way.”
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In Tuesday night’s Republican debate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called for immigration reform that many in the conservative base dismissed as amnesty.
“I don’t see how the party that says it’s the party of the family is going to adopt an immigration policy which destroys families that have been here a quarter-century,” he said Tuesday. “And I’m prepared to take the heat for saying, ‘Let’s be humane in enforcing the law without giving them citizenship but by finding a way to create legality so they are not separated by their families.’”
In response, Romney said that such an approach would create a “magnet” for illegal immigrants to come to America.
LaBolt also criticized Romney for opposing the federal Dream Act, saying that his shift to the right on immigration reform was an insincere attempt to appease GOP primary voters.
The Obama campaign is banking that the conservative position on immigration will damage Republicans’ standing with independent and Latino voters in swing states, such as Florida and Arizona.
