Mitt Romney Wins in Florida

Mitt Romney rolled to victory in the Florida primaries earlier this week, coming ahead of Newt Gingrich and reclaiming his dominant position as the leading Republican presidential candidate. Florida Republicans went strongly for Mitt Romney voting 46% against 32% for Newt Gingrich. Unfortunately, this means that the Latinos who came out and voted for Romney also voted for the candidate with the firmest opposition to amnesty and the strongest support for enforcement. Romney has said he supports a "self deportation" strategy, which is just another name for "attrition through enforcement," an immigration model that means handling the illegal alien population with something between mass legalization and mass deportation. According to Roy Beck, founder and CEO of Numbers USA, this model involves taking away the things that drew illegal aliens here-mainly their jobs-and let them leave the country out of their own will. However, the Immigration Policy Center points out that "there is little evidence that 'attrition through enforcement' is actually causing unauthorized immigrants to leave. In fact, a July 2011 study from the RAND Corporation found that, despite improved economic conditions in Mexico and worsened conditions in the United States, fewer Mexican immigrants returned to Mexico in 2008 and 2009 than in the two years before the recession. Although Floridians picking the least immigration-friendly candidate is a huge disillusionment for immigrant activists, it is too early in the race for this to be a reflection of what the Republican presidential ticket will look like because Gingrich, who had been considered an underdog thus far, has also had his fair share of victories. We shall keep paying close attention to the developments as the 2012 presidential race starts gaining momentum.  Related articles

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