Ahead of President Obama’s Friday address to a group of Latino politicians and officials, his campaign is on the attack against rival Mitt Romney over his position, or lack thereof, on immigration reform.
The campaign said that after almost a week of dodging question over whether he would repeal the president’s new measure, Romney has not given a straight answer on immigration. In a video released on Friday, Romney is shown giving vague answers to reporters regarding Obama’s immigration policy.
“Seven days and counting,” the ad reads. “Why won’t Mitt Romney give a straight answer?”
The Romney campaign has attacked the president over the effects that the struggling economy has had on Latinos. The unemployment rate for that demographic is at 11 percent, far above the national rate.
On Thursday, Romney addressed the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials -- the same group Obama will be speaking to. He called the president’s recent immigration policy shift a short-term, stopgap solution and said he would replace the policy if elected.
“Despite his promises, President Obama has failed to address immigration reform,” Romney said on Thursday. “For two years, this president had huge majorities in the House and Senate. He was free to pursue any policy he pleased. But he did nothing to advance a permanent fix for our broken immigration system. Instead, he failed to act until facing a tough re-election and trying to secure your vote. … I believe he’s taking your vote for granted.”
Last week Obama issued an executive order that would stop deporting young illegal immigrants by providing a path to earning work permits.
About an hour before the president was expected to speak at the NALEO conference at 1:40 p.m. at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla., the Romney camp shot back with an ad critical of the president geared toward Latinos.
Titled "Since He's Been Gone," the spot criticises Obama for what the Romney camp says are his failures to fulfill campaign promises.
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