Center for Immigration Studies

Will Romney Play the Illegal Immigration Card against Perry?
By Ronald W. Mortensen

August 31, 2011

According to recent polls, Rick Perry has moved ahead of Mitt Romney in the race for the Republican nomination.

Could immigration be the ace in the hole Romney needs to defeat Perry? A look at their records would appear to give Romney a huge edge if he chooses to make illegal immigration a key issue; however, as a Mormon, Romney would have to go against his Church’s recently voiced support for illegal aliens.

In the past, while Perry was busy following a generally pro-illegal immigrant agenda, Romney was drawing a line in the sand both as governor of Massachusetts and as a candidate for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008.

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2010, Texas had the second-largest illegal alien population in the United States – between 1.45 million and 1.85 million illegal aliens. In addition, illegal aliens made up 9 percent of the state’s total population and 6.7% of the state’s workforce.

Perry has been a strong supporter of benefits for illegal aliens, has opposed efforts to enforce immigration laws, and has supported legalization of illegal aliens.

Gov. Perry proudly touts and defends Texas taxpayer-subsidized in-state tuition program for illegal aliens, which he signed into law in 2001, although only 12 percent of voters nationwide support this program. And, he has done little to protect local taxpayers and hospitals who shelled out a net $928 million in 2005 for illegal aliens, according to a 2006 study by the Texas Comptroller.

Since illegal immigration and identity theft go hand-in-hand, one would think that Gov. Perry would take a leadership role in fighting this devastating crime (Texas had the fourth-highest rate of identity theft in the nation in 2010 and 21 percent of all identity theft in Texas was employment-related). However, even though illegal aliens prefer the fraudulently obtained Social Security numbers of children and thus victimize millions of American children, Perry says that E-Verify, which stops virtually 100 percent of job-related child identity theft, “wouldn’t make a hill of beans difference.”

In addition, unlike Arizona, which attempts to protect its citizens through tough enforcement of laws impacting illegal aliens, Gov. Perry pushes back against enforcement. Rather than using the 10th Amendment rights he has at his disposal, he calls for federal action to secure the border in order to look like he is doing something while at the same time calling proposals to build a fence along the Mexican border “idiocy.” Then he asks the federal government to reimburse Texas taxpayers for the $349.2 million dollars that they spent to incarcerate illegal aliens although he knows that the feds won’t pay up any more than they responded to his calls to enforce the border.

Perry further takes a Chamber of Commerce, Utah Compact approach to illegal aliens who have violated United States laws. He supports automatic citizenship for children born in the U.S. of illegal alien parents and he would forgive illegal aliens for their violations of immigration law, sacrifice millions of Americans by turning a blind eye to massive illegal alien felony identity theft, and give illegal aliens work permits.

Thus, Perry has consistently avoided taking any action to protect Americans from the negative impacts of illegal immigration and has consistently tried to find ways to make it look like he is doing something, when in reality he is doing his best to ensure that the status quo continues.

On the other hand, Mitt Romney was governor of a state that had between 140,000 and 230,000 illegal aliens. Romney vetoed in-state tuition passed by a legislature controlled by the opposition party and his veto was upheld. The next year, he fought in-state tuition again and it never got out of the Democrat-controlled legislature.

Romney also ensured that illegal aliens were not granted Massachusetts driver’s licenses, opposed amnesty of any type, and enrolled the state police in the 287g program.

During the 2008, campaign Romney reiterated his opposition to amnesty and said that all illegal aliens should be given a period of time to get their affairs in order and then return to their home countries.

Based on their records, Romney can legitimately portray Perry as a politician who turns his back on American children who are victims of illegal alien identity theft in order to protect illegal aliens, who is comfortable with using taxpayer funds to subsidize the college education of illegal aliens who cannot legally work in the United States once they graduate, and who encourages ever more illegal immigration by refusing to support the enforcement of laws, opposing the use of E-Verify and supporting the issuance of work permits for illegal aliens already in the United States.

Perry is vulnerable. Romney has a strong record. But will Romney aggressively go after Perry on illegal immigration or will he temper his attacks in order to comply with the Mormon Church’s recent calls for what amounts to amnesty for illegal aliens?

Only time will tell.

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Carroll County Tea Party

STAND UP AMERICA RALLY

Saturday Sept 10, 2011
10am – 12:30pm
City Hall Park (315 Bradley Street)
Carrollton, GA

INFO HERE

Dustin Inman Society Fundraiser

WHEN: Saturday, October 8, 2011 – 6:30 PM

WHERE: VFW Post 7583, Warrior Service Center – 140 Dobbs Drive, Roswell, Ga. 30075 (map and directions HERE )

EVENT HOSTS:

Ga. State Representative Harry Geisinger
Mr. & Mrs. Ken and Judy Craft
Mr. and Mrs. J.L. and Sheila Galbreath
Mr. and Mrs. Christopher and Lynda Mores
Mrs. Kristine Barnett
Conservative Republican Women of North Atlanta
Cherokee County Teen Republicans
Republican Women of Cherokee County
Mr. and Mrs. Jim and Suzy Voyles
Mrs. Nora Monahan
Mrs. Ruby Robinson
Mr. and Mrs. Charles and Lori Pesta

Guest Speakers:

*Georgia state Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers
*Georgia state Representative Matt Ramsey
*Georgia state Senator John Albers
*Ms. Inger Eberhart, DIS Board Member
*Mr. Phil Kent, author, columnist

Full table of ten… $650.00, saves $100.00
Group of six……. $390.00, saves $60.00
Group of four…… $260.00, saves $40.00
2 tickets………… $130.00, saves $20.00
Individual ticket $ 75.00

For online reservation and payment options visit:http://www.ccrwcga.com/fundraiser.html

Deadline for Reservations: October 5th, 2011
Contact Lori Pesta for additional information 678-520-2236

For those who cannot attend because of scheduling or distance issues, please click HERE for info on how to make a tax-deductable donation

A Cowboy from Texas in charge of stopping illegal immigration…what could go wrong. RIGHT?

Washington Post

June 2006

Illegal Hiring Is Rarely Penalized

Between 1999 and 2003, work-site enforcement operations were scaled back 95 percent by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which subsequently was merged into the Homeland Security Department. The number of employers prosecuted for unlawfully employing immigrants dropped from 182 in 1999 to four in 2003, and fines collected declined from $3.6 million to $212,000, according to federal statistics.

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Illegal Workers Used Tax Credit to Pocket $4.2 Billion, Audit Shows

Talk about a tax loophole.

Undocumented workers collected $4.2 billion in a certain tax credit last year, up from less than $1 billion five years ago, according to a new audit.

The report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration looked only at a tax benefit known as the Additional Child Tax Credit, a refundable credit meant for working families. The audit found that as a result of vague U.S. law — as well as an expansion of the tax credit in stimulus legislation and other measures — the number of illegal workers collecting the money has skyrocketed.

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The inspector general’s office expressed concern about the trend and urged the IRS and Treasury Department to determine once and for all whether that money should be paid out.

“The payment of federal funds through this tax benefit appears to provide an additional incentive for aliens to enter, reside and work in the United States without authorization, which contradicts federal law and policy to remove such incentives,” the report said.

The report highlighted a quirk in U.S. law. Even people who are not authorized to work are supposed to pay the IRS taxes on their income. Many of those people cannot obtain a Social Security number, so to facilitate this the IRS hands out what are known as Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers — so illegal workers can file returns. However, in doing so many of those workers are claiming tax benefits like the Additional Child Tax Credit. For some, it’s a way of making even more money.

“Refundable credits can result in refunds even if no income tax is withheld or paid,” the report noted.

The Additional Child Tax Credit is an offshoot of another tax credit worth up to $1,000 per child. Restrictions for the tax credits were loosened in 2001, and eligibility was temporarily increased by the 2009 stimulus bill.

“As such, more taxpayers could claim the ACTC or claim a greater amount,” the report said. The inspector general’s office said 2.3 million undocumented filers claimed the credit in 2010, adding up to $4.2 billion worth of refunds.

Not all immigrants who are unauthorized to work are necessarily illegal immigrants. However, any legal immigrant who works without authorization would be in violation of his or her immigration status.

The report said that if the administration determines the credits should not be paid in the future, then the IRS needs the authority to stop them.

According to the audit, the IRS agreed with that recommendation.

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