GOP Presidential Hopefuls Discuss Immigration During First Spanish Debate

December 11, 2007 6:26 a.m. EST

Coral Gables, FL (AHN) - Republican presidential hopefuls held their first ever Spanish language debate Sunday night, but most of them displayed lackluster performances that failed to make an impact on the nation's largest minority group or cause any damage to their Democratic rivals.

Responding to a question why polls were showing that Hispanics were choosing Democrats over Republicans, the GOP White House hopefuls avoided criticizing one another and, with the exception of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), carefully chose their words to elaborate on their anti-amnesty stance for illegal aliens.

"I think some of the rhetoric that many Hispanics hear about illegal immigration makes some of them believe that we are not in favor nor seek the support of Hispanic citizens in this country,'' McCain, who supports citizenship for illegal immigrants with some restrictions, said while mispronouncing the name of one of his local supporters.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who had a heated exchange with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani during a debate last month on the issue of illegal immigration, said he supported rewarding immigrants who came to the U.S. legally.

"We welcome the cultures that come here, the education, the work ethic, the family values," said Romney, who also displayed frustration over being asked about the illegal workers he fired last week from his home.

"[E]verybody in the country understands who those folks are," Romney said. "It became a big news story."

Romney said in a statement last week that he had terminated the services of the landscaping contractor for his home in Boston after persistent, "disappointing and inexcusable" reports that the company was employing illegal laborers. The Boston Globe published interviews two illegal laborers who were allegedly working in Romney's home the morning after the CNN/YouTube Republican debate when Giuliani accused Romney of having illegal workers in his "sanctuary mansion."

"This is a situation where none of us have been perfect,'' Giuliani said during the Spanish forum. 'All of us have been struggling with this for a long time.''

The debate, broadcast from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida by the Univision network, came two months after Democratic presidential contenders held their own first Spanish language debate. It was postponed from its original schedule after only McCain agreed to attend. It was conducted with moderator speaking in Spanish while interpreters translated candidates' answers.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said illegal immigrants should return to their native country, but that they "shouldn't live in hiding."

"They ought to have their heads up, because the one thing about being an American is, we believe every person ought to have his or her head up and proud, and nobody should have to be in hiding because they're illegal when our government ought to make it so that people can reasonably come here in a legal fashion, " Huckabee said.

Discussing Latin-American relations, Giuliani got the loudest applause after he said he agreed "with the way King Juan Carlos spoke to Chavez," referring to the Spanish monarch's telling off of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to "shut up" during a summit in Chile last month.

Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) drew boos from the crowd when he said "we're at a time where we even ought to talk to Cuba and trade and travel to Cuba.''

Rep. Ton Tancredo (R-CO), an outspoken critic of rapid assimilation of legal immigrants, did not attend, saying he wouldn't participate in a debate conducted in a language other than English.