Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney squabble on illegal immigration

Mitt Romney accuses Rudy Giuliani for being too soft on illegal immigration, Giuliani has a plan.

Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney squabble on illegal immigration It was a big mistake for Rudy Giuliani and John McCain to skip the Ames Straw Poll, making Mitt Romney one of the leaders for Presidency in 2008 after his 31% victory in Iowa.

And the former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney saw the once in a lifetime opportunity, seized the moment and attacked the favorite GOP presidential hopeful on the hot-button issue of illegal immigration. Just a few days ago Mitt Romney accused Rudy Giuliani of turning New York into one of the biggest sanctuary city during his time as a Mayor of the Big Apple. During his campaign in Iowa, Romney said that Giuliani intentionally "instructed city workers not to provide information to the federal government that would allow them to enforce the law," turning a blind eye on the growing problem.

"New York City was the poster child for sanctuary cities in the country and I think that's the wrong way to go," Romney attacked Giuliani. While Rudy Giuliani was a mayor, in 1996 he sued the federal government for new provisions in federal immigration laws that would encourage government employees to turn in illegal immigrants seeking benefits from the city.

But now it appears that Mitt Romney was not quite prepared to start this fight. While speaking in South Carolina today, Rudy Giuliani quickly declared the immigration issue as one of his famous "12 commitments", vowing to put an end to illegal immigration, secure the border and account for each of the non-citizens in the United States (probably having the 12 million illegal immigrants in mind, as the permanent residents are also non-citizens, although quite well documented).

"My response is, you have to look at the results. New York City had the least amount of illegality per capita of any major city in the country and I brought that change about," Giuliani said.

Rudy Giuliani did not just take the defensive stance, but fired back at Mitt Romney, pulling out his governor of Massachusetts record and pointing out that during his term, the Massachusetts cities of Cambridge, Orleans and Somerville all declared that they are in essence sanctuary cities. "Why should the American people believe Gov. Romney has the right kind of executive experience for America when he claims he was powerless to take action against the three sanctuary cities in Massachusetts who refused to enforce illegal immigration laws?" Jim Dyke, a senior Giuliani campaign strategist, was quoted by ABC News.

Though break for Mitt Romney, as the Democratic mayor of Sommerville since 2004, Joseph Curtatone, claimed later that he had not received any communication from Romney on the issue. Curtatone said that when Sommerville declared itself as "city of hope" in 2006, it was simply an official recognition of what exists everywhere in Massachusetts.

Although the battle on immigration was started by Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani is definitely coming out as a winner of this one.

The odds on the presidential candidates remain unchanged for now. Rudy Giuliani is listed at 5/1 to become the next President and Mitt Romney is right behind with 9/1, as posted by the online oddsmaker Bodog Sports. Giuliani is still the favorite to be named as the Republican Candidate for the 2008 US Presidential Election at 3/2, but Mitt Romney's odds was slashed to 4/1, passing John McCain at 5/1.

Published on 08/14/2007