Romney’s immigration ad

Mitt Romney, trailing in the polls in his bid for the Republican Party’s Presidential nomination, has turned to the topic of immigration in his Iowa campaign ads.  His new ad, addressing immigration, can be found on YouTube, or here.   Romney opts for a hackneyed approach, explaining that he supports “legal immigration” but not “illegal immigration.”  (Which sets him apart from other candidates how exactly?)  His opening remarks seem to support the creation of a national workplace database.  (Again, I’m not sure how this is distinctive from most other candidates in both parties.)  Then he notes that he does not support “amnesty” — without defining what he means by the concept. Finally, he notes that “illegal immigrants” should “stand in line” for legal status, blithely ignoring the important point that there is no “line” for most low wage workers to stand in, because the law presently fails to provide for legal avenues of entry for the vast majority of these workers.

-jmc