Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean voiced Democrats’ strong support for comprehensive immigration reform. While Democrats are working for tough and smart reform, Republicans are only offering more of the same failed leadership, including the GOP presidential candidates who according to the New York Times are “falling over themselves to convince voters where they stand is not where they stood” as they pander to the right-wing of their Party.
Mitt Romney’s “contortions” include calling the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill “sensible” and then “dissing it as amnesty in this year’s campaign.” Rudolph Giuliani has “sharply changed his tone.” And once a champion for documenting undocumented workers and providing them a path to citizenship as the author of the McCain-Kennedy bill, McCain has turned his back on reform in an effort to please conservatives on the campaign trail. [New York Times editorial, 4/30/07]
“Democrats strongly support tough, smart and practical reform, but Republicans, including the presidential candidates, continue to play politics with this important issue,” said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. “America needs comprehensive immigration reform that strengthens our borders, protects U.S. workers and their wages, and allows immigrants who pay taxes and obey the law to earn the opportunity to apply for the responsibilities of citizenship.
President Bush and Republicans should abandon their plan to call for self-deportation and work in a bipartisan manner with Democrats towards a workable and practical solution. The American people expect nothing less.”
