Obama, Romney clash on illegal immigration
US: US President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney
clashed Tuesday over illegal immigration in their testy second televised
debate three weeks before Americans go to the polls.
The issue came up in the second half of the 90-minute face-to-face,
with the Romney accusing Obama of failing to come up with an immigration
reform bill as he had promised before assuming office in 2009. “When the
president ran for office, he said that he would put in place in his
first year a piece of legislation, file a bill in his first year, that
would reform our immigration system, protect legal immigration, stop
illegal immigration. He didn't do it,” Romney charged.
Romney said he would encourage immigration by people with skills
while preventing undocumented immigrants from accessing some government
services. Obama fired back by saying he had in fact tried to push
through reform but ran into Republican opposition in Congress. “That's
not true. I sat down with Democrats and Republicans at the beginning of
my term, and said: 'Let's fix this system, including Republicans
previously on the other side,” Obama said.
“It's very hard for Republicans to support comprehensive immigration
reform if their standard-bearer says: 'This is not something I'm
interested in supporting,'” he added.
AFP
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