Plan B Forum

What Romney Should Do About Immigration

By C. STEWART VERDERY, JR.

During a lengthy primary season, Romney’s effective use of base politics on immigration was a key part of his victory, especially in snuffing out Rick Perry’s potential ascent. But after those strategic attacks, which included Romney’s awkward “self-deportation” plan for illegal aliens, Romney must execute a creative pivot to the middle to attract moderate voters, especially Hispanic moderates. In an election that looks to be razor-close, how effectively Romney recaptures turf in the immigration debate could decide swing states like Nevada, Colorado and Virginia. Looking longer-term, a President Romney would have to find a solution to the immigration issue — a social crisis that has eluded political consensus for two decades — if he wanted to save his party from slow-fuse political suicide.

Romney dedicated much of the speech he gave to the Latino Coalition earlier this week to education, but here are five policy announcements — of varying degrees of political controversy — that Romney should wrap into a high-minded address on immigration and competitiveness that would capture the middle ground. While the details are important, the tone would be, too – most Americans are weary of bombastic talk radio rhetoric on this issue and are looking for thoughtful, bold leadership.

High-skilled immigration: Romney has already endorsed proposals that would allow more highly skilled scientists to enter the United States under temporary visas and to allow foreign students educated here to receive green cards to allow them to stay here and work. However, these proposals have been blocked in Congress by proponents of a broad amnesty that is a non-starter with most Congressional Republicans. Romney should demand passage of the high-skilled agenda before the graduation of the class of 2013 next spring produces another crop of international leaders, educated here in America, needlessly forced to return home to compete against us. If you graduate with an engineering degree from Stanford, we should staple a green card to your diploma.

Temporary travel: President Obama has seized travel as a means to create jobs in the service sector. He released a national strategy to cut visa wait times and endorsed an expanded list of countries from which tourists and business travelers can come to the United States without a full-fledged visa interview. Romney should build on these goals by promising to expand access to the United States to job creators by allowing visa interviews by videoconference and creating fast-track consideration for businessmen and women looking to purchase American goods, attend American trade shows, or purchase American medical services.

“Good Neighbor” visa: Romney opposes the Democratic version of the Dream Act, which would provide legal status and citizenship to those who arrived in the United States as children. What he needs to find instead is a class of immigrants whose continuing contributions to society are worth protecting. He should propose a new visa category of unlimited duration that allows “good neighbors” to remain in the United States without gaining any special advantage over those who have obeyed the law while seeking to become citizens. This “good neighbors” group would include individuals with a clean criminal record working in the military, in law enforcement, or as a first responder, people who are running businesses with at least 10 employees, or serving as clergy members or teachers. Hundreds of thousands of our neighbors in this “white hat” group are viewed sympathetically by all but the fringes of the American electorate. This would allow Romney to base his immigration policy on a person’s good behavior and contributions to society, rather than the circumstances of his or her arrival. Even those seeking a broader amnesty might see some merit in showing Americans the benefits of recognizing the contributions of immigrants who broke the rules to get here.

Enforcement: Romney has pretty much endorsed a kitchen sink approach to enforcement, but budget realities may complicate his ability to make major additional investments. It is clear that the most cost effective enforcement activity is to concentrate on criminal aliens via the Secure Communities fingerprint program and to implement new employer enforcement checks under the E-Verify program (in tandem with the Good Neighbor program). Even as President Obama has increased deportations, the undeniable truth is that mandating workplace checks is the only effective long-term approach to turning off the jobs magnet attracting illegal labor to this country.

“American Dream” constitutional amendment: The antiquated provision of the Constitution that requires the president to be born on American soil should be repealed. In becoming the first Western democracy to elect a racial minority to the highest office in the land in 2008, the United States once again demonstrated its “melting pot” quality to the world. Allowing any United States citizen, no matter where he or she was physically born, to run for president would send a similar signal that Americans care most about a person’s ideas and character, not race and origin. This goal would also put an appropriate and necessary end to the distraction of the Obama “birther” debate that has captured a sliver of the far right’s attention – most Republicans and moderate voters would embrace this “American Dream” proposal as a way to demonstrate their support of legal immigrants.

Wrapping these five policy announcements into a broader speech about how the United States needs the best talent possible to compete internationally would mesh well with Romney’s broader economic game plan. More urgently, it would reposition Romney for the general election fight by showing a different attitude on immigration and diversity issues.

In becoming the first Western democracy to elect a racial minority to the highest office in the land in 2008, the United States once again demonstrated its “melting pot” quality to the world.

Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, KG, PC, FRS, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British Prime Minister, parliamentarian, Conservative statesman and literary figure. He served in government for three decades, twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Although his father had him baptised to Anglicanism at age 12, he was nonetheless Britain's first and thus far only Prime Minister who was born into a Jewish family—originally from Portugal.

Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool KG PC (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British politician and the longest-serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since the Union with Ireland in 1801. He was 42 years old when he became premier in 1812 which made him younger than all of his successors to date. During his time as Prime Minister from 1812 to 1827, Liverpool became known for repressive measures introduced to maintain order, but also for steering the country through the period of radicalism and unrest that followed the Napoleonic Wars. Jenkinson's 19 year old mother, who was the part-Indian daughter of a senior East India Company official William Watts, died from the effects of childbirth one month after his birth

Dadabhai Naoroji was a Member of Parliament (MP) in the British House of Commons between 1892 and 1895, and the first Asian to be a British MP

Jean-Baptiste Belley (1746-1805) was the first French Black deputy during the French revolution.

In January 1870, Mississippi impressed Congress by electing Hiram Revels as a U.S. senator. Mississippi was readmitted to the Union, but the New York Herald predicted that Revels would never be allowed to take his Senate seat--especially since Mississippi's most recent senator had been Jefferson Davis, who had walked out to become president of the Confederacy. In fact, political bickering did delay approval of the new senator's credentials. But finally he was seated on February 25, 1870 and held the office until March 3, 1871, becoming the first African American U.S. senator.

The largest pockets of "Hispanic" voters are in states that are not in play.

rubato wrote:Portuguese is White European. Not a racial minority. Try again. yrs, rubato

I rather think that the issue was Jewishness

rubato wrote:Portuguese is White European. Not a racial minority.

Try again.

yrs,
rubato

any fule kno that.

keld feldspar wrote:

rubato wrote:Portuguese is White European. Not a racial minority.

Try again.

yrs,
rubato

There are a great many folk in Portuguese speaking South America that would beg to differ...

The ancestors of Benjamin Disreili were from Portugal. Not "Portuguese speaking South America". So the fact that a lot of "Portuguese speaking South Americans" are of African origin is wholly meaningless.

Any fule kno that it's a Nigel Molesworth quote.