Which Plausible Presidential Candidate Can Be Tougher on Immigration? Romney vs. Guiliani, Mano a Mano (to the death?)

On August 9, we reported that Republican Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney had accused fellow Republican Rudy Guiliani of being “soft” on immigration when he was mayor of New York, a cruelly ironic accusation given that Romney stands accused of employing undocumented workers at his home in Massachusetts.  As they say, for every action, there is a reaction.  CNN now reports that Giuliani promised today to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States by closely tracking visitors to the country and beefing up border security.  For a video of Guiliani’s statement that the nation can end illegal immigration, click here.

Although Tom Tancredo is the current Republican presidential candidate who takes the toughest stance on immigration, most agree that his campaign is going nowhere but back to Colorado.  The Reps now seem resigned to be jockeying over which one is the most plausible candidate who is enforcement-first when it comes to immigration.  At least for now, the more mainstream conservative approach to immigration, like that endorsed by President Bush  (at least before the last Congressional immigration refom debacle), seems to be in full retreat.  That, of course, is bad news for reasonable minds on immigration reform.  One can hope that cooler minds will prevail after the 2008 Presidential election.

UPDATE   Giuliani also said that, along with his various immigration enforcement efforts, he would propose that all immigrants who want to become citizens learn English.  He seems a bit behind the law (Isn’t he a lawyer?), however.  Immigration and Nationality Act § 312 requires that naturalization applicants must be able to read, write, speak, and understand ordinary English.  Some applicants are exempt because of age or mental condition.

KJ