Mitt Romney Says Immigration 'Dream Act' Would Get Veto From Him

OTTUMWA, Iowa -- Mitt Romney said Saturday that he would veto the Dream Act, a bill that would provide legal status to some undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as children.

"The question is, if I were elected and Congress were to pass the Dream Act, would I veto it? And the answer is yes," said the candidate, speaking in Le Mars, Iowa.

But he added that he could support a system that offered legal status to people who served in the U.S. military. One provision of the Dream Act, which failed in the Senate when it last came up for a vote in December 2010, would allow some undocumented immigrants to work toward citizenship by joining the armed services for at least two years.

Undocumented immigrants are currently barred from serving in the military, although some do anyway. Only undocumented immigrants who entered the country under the age of 16, had clean criminal records and either attended college for at least two years or joined the military would be eligible for legal status under the bill.

Although the Dream Act once enjoyed considerable bipartisan support -- it was first introduced by Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois -- it has since been coined "amnesty," something of a death knell for immigration reform measures among Republicans.

Romney said he wants to take more steps to end unauthorized immigration into the country. He also took a dig at fellow candidate and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, though not by name, for a law Perry signed that allows some undocumented immigrants in Texas to receive in-state college tuition.

"For those who come here illegally, the idea of giving them in-state tuition credits or other special benefits I find to be contrary to the idea of a nation of law," Romney said. "If I'm the president of the United States, I want to end illegal immigration so that we can protect legal immigration."

Jon Ward contributed to this report.

Comments

[prncaragorn]

01:19 PM on 02/12/2012

Why do liberals want illegals, undocumenteds and prisoners to be able to vote...oh, and not have to produce identification to do so? Who would be disenfranchised?...the dead?

[troika]

04:36 PM on 02/12/2012

You have no modicum of common sense. First of all illegals cannot vote unless they are citizens and thats the law. Secondly prisoners cannot vote. Thirdly, you are parroting the dummies in the GOP. BTW the GOP is trying to disenfranchise the voting bloc made up of the poor, black and the elderly. If you do not already know the secretary of state of Indiana a REPUBLICAN has been indicted for voter fraud. Yes we LIBERALS want everybody eligible to vote, TO VOTE. Go read the constitution.

[Cruz A Ortega]

10:22 PM on 01/15/2012

The Republicans have always hated the immigrants, never want to make laws for, seek laws otherwise find them, so many Latinos defend the democrats, are the only ones who want to make laws in favor of immigrants .. not met, the laws that the Democrats want to ayuadar to immigrants, because the Republicans are always looking for the negative, are racist and that as Latinos we give a hand to the Democrats, can not fulfill the desires of all presidents in little time, but if the Republicans hate so much and are against everything that has to do with immigration issues, even for students who want the law for them to continue studies.

[AZVet3Wars]

11:33 AM on 01/04/2012

Music to my ears!!

[ModerateCentrist]

12:05 PM on 01/04/2012

mine, too.

[prncaragorn]

01:11 PM on 02/12/2012

Somewhere, a violin is playing.

[ennis438]

10:15 AM on 01/04/2012

No big surprise. The only people Romney gives breaks to are fat cat friends who purchase his elections for him.

[Davwbaird]

12:26 AM on 01/04/2012

That is easy for him on the other hand if rid ourselves of rich callous republicans

[AngelicaS]

11:24 PM on 01/03/2012

This life-long Democrat agrees with Romney. I assure you that the Democrats have grossly miscalculated this issue--- African American unemployment exceeds 16%--- African American teen unemployment approaches 40%.

America does not owe immigration lawbreakers or their offspring rewards for their lawbreaking. Specifically, it does not owe them taxpayer-subsized financial rewards. To grant such rewards is insulting both to American citizens and to LEGAL immigrants who paid a high price, went through a rigorous background check, and waited their turn.

While I do have some sympathy for the children who had no choice and were brought here at a young age, the problem with granting financial and other rewards for lawbreaking is that it WILL ONLY SERVE TO INCENTIVIZE EXPONENTIALLY MORE LAWBREAKING-- as demonstrated by Reagan's flawed 1986 Amnesty. Also, the 1986 Amnesty invited fraud on a large scale. Also, as soon as you grant rewards for immigration lawbreaking to the children, you will hear louder and louder cries --- "Don't deport our parents"-- and we already hear that chorus because for the advocates for immigration lawbreaking the strategy is Dream Act first then the entire family next!

This issue will factor HUGE in 2012, as the media and left-wing Democratic leadership are wrong when they promote the false message that the only people who support enforcement of our immigration laws are right-wingers! NO!

A GOVERNMENT WHICH REFUSES TO ENFORCE ITS OWN LAWS IS INTOLERABLE AND WILL NOT BE TOLERATED BY ITS CITIZENS!

[ModerateCentrist]

12:08 PM on 01/04/2012

great post. and this is the main reason why many former Dems are now Independents. myself included.

[teagle01]

04:37 AM on 01/06/2012

maybe we should just go buy some mexicans . Bring them here. Then sell them to the farmers and the African American thing can be the Mexican American thing.

[prncaragorn]

01:14 PM on 02/12/2012

Then a mexican-american gets with an african-american and ya get a__--__--__......well, they would sure qualify for something..

[spytheweb]

06:08 PM on 01/03/2012

The dream act is a giveaway to illegal aliens, it should be vetoed. Has anyone read it? Many of the requirements for it can be waived if there is hardship involved. So in fact, there are no requirements. It just another chain immigration giveaway.

[Davwbaird]

12:27 AM on 01/04/2012

deluded and callous

[reddy52]

03:05 AM on 01/04/2012

You're right, the illegal supporters are deluded and callous.

[amd02148]

04:13 PM on 01/03/2012

Doesn't matter Romney is NEVER going to be president. So not to worry.

[reddy52]

12:55 AM on 01/05/2012

Worry? Vetoing the Dream Act would be great, that's not something to worry over.

[troika]

04:41 PM on 02/12/2012

Mitt doesnt need to make any long term plans regarding this issue for he is not going to get it. His chances for the WH is DOA on Nov. 6 2012.

[Summer77]

03:26 PM on 01/03/2012

Only a Latin fool would vote for any of the Republican Candidates!

[treeshack]

03:03 PM on 01/03/2012

Pandering to Hispanics isn't going to help Obama win. But Romney's stand against illegal immigration will win him a lot of Independent votes.

[CrestedSparrow]

04:59 PM on 01/03/2012

Pandering to racists isn't going to help any Republican win.

[treeshack]

10:40 PM on 01/03/2012

That's it - play the race card. Obviously you don't have anything else.

[CrestedSparrow]

05:09 PM on 01/03/2012

Oh, yes it will. The Obama WIN I mean.

[Henry Torres]

01:17 PM on 01/03/2012

As soon as he hears that the Latinos are not going to vote for him that will change.

[spytheweb]

06:10 PM on 01/03/2012

"Hispanics are less likely to vote than other groups, even if citizen. In the 2008 election, only 7.4% of voters were Hispanic."

http://super-economy.blogspot.com/2010/05/hispanic-voters-are-few-compared-to.html

[Henry Torres]

03:06 PM on 01/04/2012

Thank you but it is still 7.4% which can make a difference in a close election. Also I am sure these candidates would like support of the Latino community. Why do you think they say one thing to one group and then something different to the other.

[CrestedSparrow]

04:05 PM on 01/04/2012

We are only 15% of the nation's population and accounted for 9% of the vote. While it may not sound like a lot, in states with a high Hispanic population it can make all the difference for a candidate. Don't be so quick to dismiss us as irrelevant as much as you try.

[carlosiic]

11:47 AM on 01/03/2012

I will veto Romney by not voting for you so will another 10 million more... and I'm not a Mor..mon

[rubbercow]

09:22 AM on 01/03/2012

This has to be the top: Moderators, you really deleted my comment that merely stated "Care to provide your bona fides?". So much for open discussion. Hilarious.

[Davwbaird]

12:31 AM on 01/04/2012

facts?

[rubbercow]

10:42 AM on 01/04/2012

Someone was claiming to speak for all people of one group and the entirety of my post was "Do you care to provide your bona fides?". Deleted after about an hour. Pretty pathetic, really.

[saint bernard mom]

01:02 AM on 01/03/2012

It is a huge safety issue to not know who is coming into the US and to have the "organized crime" from the drug cartels going on in cities here. 

"20 illegal immigrants discovered in south side stash house"

http://www.woai.com/news/local/story/20-illegal-immigrants-discovered-in-south-side/5NqaO6SgakWU9qwq13FmWw.cspx?rss=68

"Illegal immigrants tortured in drop house "

"The man who will testify against the smugglers has a clean record, but DPS officials said several of the others had been arrested in the past for such crimes as drug possession, weapons misconduct, child abuse, crimes against children and even murder."

http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/18-people-found-inside-an-Avondale-drop-house-135242228.html

"Federal immigration agents on Wednesday discovered 108 illegal-immigration suspects crammed inside a drophouse in west Phoenix, the largest drophouse bust in more than three years and the second-largest since 2006."


Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2011/05/25/20110525west-phoenix-drophouse-100-plus-people-inside-abrk.html#ixzz1iN8jAy7z

[AMF400]

02:31 AM on 01/03/2012

All organize crime should be prosecuted. No real criminals should get papers.
I wonder WHO are the buyers ??????

[rt1027]

12:47 AM on 01/03/2012

well there is one more reason to vote for him