President Barack Obama, in a strikingly personal appeal, renewed his call for an overhaul of America’s immigration laws before a supportive Latino audience Friday. He portrayed rival Mitt Romney as an obstacle to measures that would give young illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.”These are all our kids,” he declared.In his speech to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, Obama blamed Republicans for failing to support immigration reforms in the past few years. But he didn’t tell the whole story. His own Democratic colleagues had a hand in defeating one immigration bill two years ago. A day earlier, Romney promised in a speech to the same group that he would ease the path to a green card, fix a complicated and cumbersome system to let farm workers into the United States and finish a high-tech fence along the Mexican border. He was glossing over how difficult some of those changes could be. Some already have been tried, with little or no success.
Here’s a closer look at Obama’s and Romney’s assertions and how they match up with the facts:
President Barach Obama
THE FACTS
Five Senate Democrats voted against sending the DREAM Act to the Senate floor for full consideration. The bill would have created a path to citizenship for many young illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children. Last week, Obama announced plans to stop deporting illegal immigrants who would have qualified for the DREAM Act. The policy change does not include a path to citizenship.
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney
THE FACTS
It’s unclear whether Romney would have the authority if elected
to change the way green cards are issued. Congress sets the annual limits for visas for foreigners who have advanced degrees in certain fields. Lately, Republicans and groups representing U.S. workers have blocked legislative attempts to increase those limits. Republicans have argued that Obama stretched his authority by using his executive powers to relax policies, but Romney seems to be suggesting he, too, could act alone to make changes.
