Rick Perry and Mitt Romney Fight Over Illegal Immigration (ContributorNetwork)

The one issue that Texas Gov Rick Perry and former Mass Gov Mitt Romney, both running for president, like to fight about more than any other is illegal immigration. Romney is trying to get to the right on Perry on the issue.

Why does Romney believe Perry is vulnerable on illegal immigration?

Perry is considered vulnerable because of his signing and support of the Texas Dream Act, which provides in-state tuition rates to children of illegal immigration under certain circumstances. Perry, while maintaining that he is strong on border enforcement, has been unapologetic in his support for the act, even going so far in one debate to claim that those who opposed it lacked a heart. His point is that since the federal government is lax in border enforcement, Texas is saddled with a number of illegal immigrant children who crossed the border with their parents. His choice is to either not educate them, those creating a new underclass, or to educate them and at least make them productive members of society.

How has Romney attacked Perry on the issue of illegal immigration?

Besides bringing the matter up in debates, Romney has just released an Internet ad comparing Perry to California Gov. Jerry Brown. Brown has just signed into law his own version of the Dream Act. The ad, not too subtly, claims that Perry gave Brown the idea. The ad attempts a two-for, linking Perry to both illegal immigration and to California, whose politics and governance is anathema to most Republican voters. The comparison would seem by many to be bizarre, since the approachs California and Texas have toward business are diametrically opposite.

Has Perry tried to hit back?

During the last debate, Perry brought up and old story dating from the 2008 election in which Romney had hired a landscaping firm for his personal home that turned out to have hired illegal aliens. The firm had fired the illegals at Romney's insistence, but then hired some more later. Romney maintained that he had no way of knowing that the firm he had hired was engaged in such practices. Perry suggests that Romney should have been more careful in vetting the landscape firm, especially since he has chosen to use illegal immigration to attack the Texas Gov.

But Perry Does have Some ties to California, right?

California may not be exactly friendly territory for conservative Republicans, especially Texans, but Perry has managed to shake loose $1.2 million from donors in that state since entering the race. He most recently attended fund raisers in Silicon Valley thus past Wednesday.

Texas resident Mark Whittington writes about state issues for the Yahoo! Contributor Network.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111103/us_ac/10355553_rick_perry_and_mitt_romney_fight_over_illegal_immigration

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