Romney would veto DREAM Act
While the DREAM Act has been stalled during President Obama’s term, don’t expect it to pass if Mitt Romney is elected president. (Dave Delay, Flickr)
By JORDAN FABIAN
Channel: Politics
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney would veto the federal DREAM Act if it passed while he is in the Oval Office, he said Saturday.
Romney, a front-runner for the Republican nomination, told a voter of his position while he campaigning in Le Mars, Iowa during the home stretch for the state’s first in the nation nominating contest, according to Boston Globe reporter Matt Viser.
Passing the DREAM Act, which would provide a pathway to citizenship to some undocumented children of immigrants who serve in the military or pursue a college degree, is a major goal for Latino activists and immigration reform groups.
Romney’s position is not surprising, but it’s also his most definitive statement on the immigration proposal yet. He vetoed a similar measure as governor of Massachusetts, which would have provided in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants and he’s tacked to the right on immigration during the 2012 campaign, criticizing his opponent, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, for signing an in-state tuition bill in 2001.
While his statement might give him a final boost with Iowa Republican caucus goers, who largely oppose government benefits for undocumented immigrants, just days before the Jan. 3 contest, it may also hurt his standing with Latino voters should he reach the general election.
According to a Pew Hispanic Center poll released last week, 88 percent of Latino registered voters nationwide support the DREAM Act. Strong majorities of Latino voters also support the DREAM act in three key swing states; Florida, Colorado and New Mexico, a September Resurgent Republic poll said.
The Pew poll showed Romney trailing Obama 68-23 percent among Latino voters.
Congress has failed to advance the DREAM Act through both chambers during President Obama’s time in office. Several versions of the legislation have been introduced, at times with Republican co-sponsors. But all Republicans and a handful of Democrats have recently blocked the bill in the Senate.
