Romney For President -- Of Hypocrites

On the list of opportunistic Republican politicians who pick on immigrants just to pander to the conservative extremists in their party, add the name of Mitt Romney.

The outgoing governor of Massachusetts, who is thinking of making a bid for the White House, is clearly presenting himself as an alternative to Sen. John McCain and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, the two leading Republican presidential hopefuls, who happen to be unusually sympathetic to immigrants.

So how does Romney show the hardliners that he is one of them?

Less than a month before he is scheduled to leave office, he cuts a deal with federal authorities allowing Massachusetts State Police troopers to arrest and seek deportation of illegal immigrants.

All over the country, many law enforcement authorities have come out against making state and local cops enforce federal immigration laws. They say that society as a whole would be negatively affected.

If illegal immigrants are subject to arrest by local authorities, they will be driven deeper underground and will be less likely to report crimes and even communicable diseases.

And how are the troopers going to determine who is an illegal immigrant? By targeting Hispanics and engaging in ethnic profiling? Will they be pulling over U.S.-born Latino drivers because they could be illegal?

It's simply a terrible idea.

Even the co-chairman of Romney's own Advisory Committee on Immigrants and Refugees said this arrangement would overburden the troopers and undermine their relationships with members of the immigrant community. And Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has already warned that he will not allow state troopers to assist city cops in minority neighborhoods as long as the troopers have the power to arrest illegal immigrants.

But Romney doesn't seem to care. He has other priorities — himself and his bid to become president.

Positioning themselves for elections and going after votes from xenophobic haters, many other Republicans have been bashing immigrants in the last few months — only to be banished by voters on Election Day.

So one has to wonder why they keep trying.

Now it looks like Romney will be the candidate who will learn that harsh lesson in the 2008 presidential race.

He is trying so hard to appeal to the extremely conservative wing of his party, to differentiate himself from moderates like McCain and Giuliani, that he is likely to turn off the rest of America.

And what is most amazing about Romney is that this is a guy who, according to recent reports in the Boston Globe, used illegal immigrants to mow his lawn for much of the last decade. The garden at Romney's Belmont estate was reportedly maintained by a landscaping company that relies heavily on undocumented workers.

But all is fair in politics, especially hypocrisy.

This is a guy who travels around the country talking tough on immigration, advocating the construction of a wall along the Mexican border and constantly using code words to appeal to xenophobes. He says he is opposed to "amnesty," although he knows that no one is asking for outright amnesty for these undocumented workers — including the ones he employed.

This is a governor who leaves office on Jan. 4 and knows that his deal with the feds is likely to be overturned anyway, since his Democratic successor has said he is opposed to turning state police into immigration agents.

"I'm going to investigate what power I have," Governor-elect Deval L. Patrick told reporters recently. "You know that I think it's a bad idea for state troopers to be involved in immigration enforcement. They have enough to do as it is, and I said that consistently."

But Romney doesn't seem to care. Grandstanding to become the poster boy of the xenophobes is more important to him now.

To find out more about Miguel Perez, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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