Critics pounce after Mitt Romney says he'd honor Obama approvals for illegals
Mitt Romney finds himself in a familiar position after saying he wouldn鈥檛 alter the status of young illegal immigrants granted special protection from deportation by President Obama: He鈥檚 not loved by those on either side, and there鈥檚 plenty of ambiguity about his stance.
For those in favor of Mr. Obama鈥檚 policy, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Mr. Romney鈥檚 statement came off as either halfhearted or only slightly helpful.
For those opposed to the move, he missed an opportunity to criticize what some on the right see as an illegal and perhaps unconstitutional power grab.
DACA is a modified executive-branch version of the more famous DREAM Act legislation, which is currently stalled in Congress. The Obama program allows young illegal immigrants who have been in the United States for at least five years without committing major crimes to receive a two-year 鈥渄eferred action鈥� from deportation proceedings, as well as the ability to apply for a work permit.
"The people who have received the special visa that the president has put in place, which is a two-year visa, should expect that the visa would continue to be valid. I'm not going to take something that they've purchased," Romney told on Monday. "Before those visas have expired, we will have the full immigration reform plan that I've proposed."
(The DACA program does not, in fact, confer visas on illegal immigrants.)
Crucially, however, Romney didn鈥檛 say whether the program would continue under his watch while he pursues a wider-ranging immigration plan. Romney previously promised to veto the DREAM Act.
For some critics, Romney鈥檚 lack of distinction on some points is the key stumbling block.
鈥淚t tells us all we need to know about Mitt Romney that he sees fundamental fairness and decency for immigrant children who grew up in America as nothing more than a 鈥榩urchase鈥� he doesn't want to cancel,鈥� said Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D) of Illinois, one of the House鈥檚 leading Democratic voices on immigration reform, in a statement. 鈥淧rotecting these young immigrants from being deported sounds no more important to Mitt Romney than protecting someone who bought a sweater at the mall.鈥�
As a practical matter, however, many potential applicants and immigration advocates have feared what Romney might do with the DACA program. His recent comments, says Morna Ha, the head of a Korean-American group that works on immigration issues, will be incrementally helpful in allaying an applicant鈥檚 fears. But they still come up short of what she thinks potential applicants need to hear to encourage them to apply.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a start to say that he wouldn鈥檛 cancel it for the young people who have already applied, but I think it is critical for him to ensure that all of those eligible ... might be able to benefit from this program,鈥� says Ms. Ha, executive director of National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC).
As many as 1.8 million people could be eligible for the program, according to estimates from the Migration Policy Institute, of which 82,000 had applied as of Sept. 13, according to federal data. Of those applicants, more than 1,600 advanced to the final review stage, with a handful of approval decisions rendered, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
On the other side, conservatives could quibble with the fact that in The Denver Post interview, Romney didn鈥檛 take the president to task over how the program was handled (although Romney has done that before). Obama announced DACA as an executive decision to be carried out by the Department of Homeland Security.
鈥淩omney didn鈥檛 take the opportunity to say that he鈥檒l stop this power grab in which the president does things that the Constitution assigns to Congress,鈥� says Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, a group that supports lower immigration levels. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the disappointing part of it, that he didn鈥檛 take the opportunity to criticize Obama for having done it this way.鈥�
Mr. Beck also takes issue with the lack of specificity in Romney鈥檚 plan to pursue comprehensive immigration reform.
鈥淭here鈥檚 some kind of a permanent solution, things to do, to help some of these people on a permanent basis that I would assume would have some offsets too,鈥� Beck says, meaning decreasing immigration from other groups in exchange for aid to young illegal immigrants. Romney 鈥渏ust has not laid out any of those things.鈥�
