Romney Adviser Jabs at Obama Immigration Plan

Wall Street Journal (Article by Jennifer Corbett Dooren and Alicia Mundy): A top adviser to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Sunday suggested an executive order by President Barack Obama that would allow some young people who are illegally in the U.S. to stay and obtain working papers could be repealed if Mr. Romney were elected.

Every executive action that President Obama has taken will be subject to review, Romney senior adviser Ed Gillespie said Sunday on CNNs State of the Union. There are legitimate questions about the legality of it, Mr. Gillespie said of the executive order on immigration, which would ban the deportation of certain children and young adults of illegal immigrants.

Mr. Romney said in a speech on Thursday that he would replace and supersede the presidents temporary measure with his own long-term solution on immigration.

Mr. Gillespie, however, side-stepped questions about whether the executive order, which also establishes a process for some illegal immigrants under age 30 to obtain temporary work visas, would be rescinded immediately.

On NBC's Meet the Press, Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), who had been working on legislation addressing the status of the children of illegal immigrants, accused Mr. Obama of injecting election year politics into an issue that will never be solved as long as its a political one.

Immigration policy has been in the political spotlight since President Obama issued his executive order and as the Supreme Court is set to announce a decision this week on the legality of Arizonas immigration laws.

The issue has become touchy for Republicans. The Romney campaign had to respond to rumors among Latino Republicans this week that the campaign had eliminated Mr. Rubio as a vice-presidential candidate, and Mr. Romney himself later said that the senator is being thoroughly vetted as a running mate. Mr. Rubio has taken a middle position on Arizonas tough immigration law, saying the state had the right to pass the measure, but that he doesnt think it should be a model for the nation.

Democrats have played down the impact of the potential addition of Mr. Rubio to the Republican ticket. "I think historically vice presidential selections give you little bit of a bump but they don't give you much else," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said on CBS's Face the Nation.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, an Illinois Democrat, said on CNN's State of the Union that Hispanic voters are more likely to be influenced by Mr. Romney's criticism of the Dream Act, legislation that would have granted temporary status to some children of illegal immigrants that stalled in the Senate. "The Latino community just isn't going to suffer from amnesia and forget the GOP candidate's earlier statements," said Mr. Gutierrez.