Republicans Are 'Simpatico' at Spanish-Language Debate
Illegal immigration was the hot topic at Spanish language debate Sunday night.
CORAL GABLES, Fla., Dec. 9, 2007— -- Seven Republican presidential candidates shared a stage at the University of Miami, Sunday night, at a debate that was broadcast in Spanish, by Univision, and focused almost exclusively on issues affecting Hispanic Americans.
It was a forum starkly different from previous Republican encounters, most notably marked by non-engagement between the participants, even as polls show the nomination battle increasingly unsettled in the key early battleground states.
The closest any candidate came to criticism — implicit or otherwise — of another on stage was when Univision cameras caught John McCain snickering during Ron Paul's pleas for the United States to open a dialog with Cuba.
The format of the debate seemed structured to avoid such conflict — there were no rebuttals allowed, and for most of the questions, each candidate was allowed a response.
The topics ranged from Iraq to health care to education, but most of the time was taken up by one of the most contentious issues in front of Republican primary voters this cycle, and one directly impacting the Univision audience: illegal immigration.
One difference between the candidates which emerged during the debate was on the issue of whether illegal immigrants should be required to leave the United States before acquiring legal status.
Under a plan released last week by Mike Huckabee, he would require illegals to return to their native country. Mitt Romney has previously said that he would tell illegal immigrants to go home. The comprehensive immigration bill pushed by McCain earlier this year also had a touchback provision.
Rudy Giuliani, by contrast, has not publicly endorsed such a concept.
Giuliani's immigration plan begins with securing the border. He would then ask illegal immigrants to come forward and identify themselves. The illegal immigrants who do not have criminal records would be given tamper-proof identification cards. They would wait in line behind those who are trying to enter the U.S. legally. But they would be allowed to get on a path to citizenship without leaving the United States.
