So, at least the Democrats aren’t the only ones turning on one another down the home-stretch to primary season. This week Mitt Romney sent a letter to Iowa Republicans slamming GOP frontrunner Guiliani on immigration. Specifically he cites “sanctuary cities” that explicitly avoid crackdowns on illegal immigrants, calling out San Francisco and New York in particular.
Sanctuary cities are essentially areas where law enforcement basically follow a don’t ask, don’t tell approach to immigration that may not be legal. What I want Romney to explain is what he thinks the dozen-plus major cities with such policies would do if they cracked down on laborers in the country illegally? The concept, sanctuary cities, is right up there with Bush’s guest worker program; find as many ways to keep the cheap labor for industry, without having to grant secure status or acknowledge the strain the arrangement has on the workers, or in this case, on law enforcement.
In response, Guiliani has predictably chosen offense as the best defense, charging that, as governor of Massachusetts, Romney had “a record that included allowing the number of illegal immigrants to skyrocket while he was in charge, and even hiring some of them to work on his lawn while he was governor.”
Ah, Mitt, if only the grass was greener.
