Can the Teaparty afford to not take on Rick Perry on Illegal immigration? Romney lay's out differentiations

If you have watched the last two debates it may have been a surrprise to you that the "teaparty guy" Rick Perry has very soft to liberal viewpoints on Illegal Immigration. Yes Rick Perry signed the Texas Dream act in 2001 giving children of illegal immigrants instate tuition rates. He went on to defend this at the Teaparty debate to a chorus of Boo's. Perry has also opposed a Border wall, opposed e-verify and opposed the teaparty backed tough immigration law SB1070 that Jan Brewer is trying to enforce in Arizona. Perry has also been supportive of Laraza while Governor of Texas. In fact Teaparty groups in Texas are starting grassroots protests "Fed Up" with Rick Perry's liberal immigration stances. http://blog.chron.com/rickperry/2011/09/texas-tea-party-to-rick-perry-we-are-fed-up/


Mitt Romney has taken Rick Perry to task on immigration notably in a speech in Florida recently. Speakinge to the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, Romney was careful to differentiate between immigrants & illegal immigrants. “I am a great proponent of legal immigration. Many of you are living proof of the unique strength of America that is constantly renewed by new Americans,’’ http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/02/2388089/romney-takes-tough-line-on-immigration.html

Informative Excerpts from a Newsmax Interview with Mitt Romney talking about his differing views pro tougher illegal immigration policies versus Rick Perry. Romney took plenty of swipes at Rick Perry his main opponent in the race for the Republican nomination, especially on immigration. http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/romeny-obama-healthcare-jobs/2011/09/21/id/411862

“Gov. Perry and I have very different views on illegal immigration. He said in a letter to the editor that he was open to amnesty. He opposes a fence, He’s also opposed the Arizona law and says states shouldn’t be able to enforce federal immigration policy. He put in place one of the magnets that draw people here illegally, which is giving in-state tuition credits to illegals.

“I did just the opposite and have an entirely different view.

“I believe in building a fence. I believe in having enough border patrol agents to secure that fence. I believe in turning off the magnet. I’d go after employers that hire people who are here illegally.

“When a bill reached my desk, like the bill Gov. Perry signed which gave tuition breaks to illegal aliens… in Massachusetts, I vetoed it and I was able to convince enough legislators to stand with me to uphold my veto.”

And when asked whether the Department of Homeland Security had brought in the provisions of the DREAM Act through the backdoor, Romney replied, “We clearly have to have people enforce the law in this country and the federal government has failed to enforce immigration law through a whole series of missteps on their part.

“One of the most flagrant is having an open border without a fence, having insufficient border patrol agents, having states in the case of Texas and others provide in-state tuition breaks to illegals. That makes absolutely no sense at all.
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Illegal aliens cost taxpayers Billions of dollars and is a huge fiscal conservative issue in the 2012 GOP primary. Can we afford to not address this?