Candidate Review - Illegal Immigration - Mitt Romney

Well Mitt Romney does through a bit of a sop to legal immigration, but he's really down on illegal immigration, taking particular aim at sanctuary cities.

They said there's no way to stop them at the border, unless you close down the magnets. And the magnets are sanctuary cities and having employers sign people up that have come here illegally to do work here. You have to end sanctuary cities. You have to cut back on federal funding to cities that continue to call themselves sanctuary cities and welcome people in, as New York has done. And you have to say to employers that hire people illegally, 'That's also going to be sanctioned.' This is the way we're going to have to finally end it.

I do have to say I see some difference between a city saying that they aren't going to prosecute illegal immigrants too badly and employers saying we are going to exploit the hell out of people who can't really defend themselves. But Romney knows which is going to piss off the Republican base more.

He's also in favor of a national I.D. incorporating biometrics. And he's in favor of recruiting skilled immigrants. He doesn't really address the question of "Where are we going to get guys to pick tangerines for a fraction of what we would have to pay American workers?"

But none of the Republicans are addressing that one, I suppose.