ThinkProgress published comments from anti-immigrant lawyer Kris Kobach yesterday on the Obama Administrations announcement that they will not be deporting many DREAM Act immigrants. Kobach is an adviser on immigration for GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney:
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R), an immigration adviserto the Romney campaign, said President Obama’s new policy to not deport DREAM Act-eligible youth is “deeply troubling.”
Kobach, who wrote the extreme anti-immigrant laws in Alabama and Arizona, told ThinkProgress that the “deferred action” policy was “illegal” because it violates a section of the 1996 Immigration Reform Act. “What the president is describing is a policy that we will refuse to initiate deportation proceedings,” which Kobach said goes against current law.
But Kobach’s position appears to be at odds with Mitt Romney’s position, who did not say if he would reverse the president’s directive protecting undocumented students. Romney also said he agrees with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). Earlier today, Rubio said Obama’s announcement would be “welcome news for many of these kids desperate for an answer,” but called it a short-term answer for the nation’s immigration policy. Rubio has floated the idea of introducing his own version of the DREAM Act, but has not yet introduced a bill.
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