An immigration reform organization says Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney needs to stop "me too" politics if he wants to convince voters he's serious about enforcing U.S. immigration laws.
Earlier this month, Mitt Romney told The Denver Post that if elected president, he would not deport young illegal immigrants who are being allowed to stay in the U.S. under President Obama's special amnesty program. That program, which was enacted without congressional approval, has raised the ire of those who want stronger enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.
Later, Romney clarified his statement, telling The Boston Globe he would honor the "deportation exemptions" given to illegal aliens under Obama's administration, but if elected, he would discontinue the backdoor amnesty and not grant any new amnesties under the program.
Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), says this is good and bad news.
"The fact that he is not going to offer any new administrative amnesties is certainly a positive thing from our perspective," Mehlman comments. "But the status quo is also untenable, and I think people want to hear what he would do to change the status quo."
He suggests Romney mistakenly believes he will win over Hispanic voters by pandering to those who are in the country illegally.
"American voters are never impressed with 'me too' politics," the FAIR spokesman asserts. "President Obama has staked out a position, and if Governor Romney thinks that he is going to come along and impress those voters for whom giving amnesty to illegal aliens is actually something that they want, he is going to be very sorely mistaken."
Mehlman says Romney needs to give voters some clear guidance about what he plans to do about the problem of illegal immigration.