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Originally posted by Niki2:
My sympathies on your having kin down this way; I'm not terribly proud of my country the past few years. Hopefully things will get better. The pendulum always swings...

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Originally posted by Niki2:

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Mitt Romney's use of the term "self-deportation" to describe an element of his immigration policy was "horrific," Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said on Friday.

Romney suggested at a GOP primary debate in January 2012 the U.S. should push undocumented immigrants to return to their home countries by making it impossible for them to find a job in America. And that, Priebus told reporters on Friday, was a big mistake.

"Using the word 'self-deportation' - I mean, it's a horrific comment to make," the chairman told reporters at the RNC's annual meeting in Boston, according to an audio recording from Business Insider. "It's not something that has anything to do with our party. But when a candidate makes those comments, obviously it hurts us."

Priebus' denunciation echoed the RNC's post-election "autopsy" report, released in March, that blamed some Republicans' divisive rhetoric on immigration for driving Latino voters away from the GOP.

If "Hispanic Americans perceive that a GOP nominee or candidate does not want them in the United States (i.e. self-deportation), they will not pay attention to our next sentence," the report said, urging the party to "embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform."

The Republican Party has since largely moved away from support for comprehensive immigration reform, particularly in the House, which is moving forward with a piecemeal approach, pushing a series of bills that address portions of the immigration system. GOP leaders have also had trouble tempering the rhetoric from some of their more vocal members, like Iowa Rep. Steve King, who recently suggested that many children of undocumented immigrants are used as drug runners. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57598925/rnc-chairman-reince-prieb
us-romneys-self-deportation-comments-were-horrific/]

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In case you missed King's remarks:

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In a July interview with a conservative website, King waved away the argument that many undocumented immigrants are high-achieving students, and should therefore be given a path to citizenship, saying that for every valedictorian who's legalized, "there's another 100 out there that weigh 130 pounds and they've got calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert."

When NBC's David Gregory pointed out that his remark had been debunked because there's no way to know for certain how many valedictorians or drug smugglers would be legalized, King stood his ground.

"My numbers have not been debunked," he said. "I said valedictorians compared to people who would be legalized under the act that are drug smugglers coming across the border. My characterization was exclusively to drug smugglers."

King's refusal to walk back his remarks drew the ire of GOP strategist Ana Navarro, who was participating in a panel discussion on the show.

"I think Congressman King should go get some therapy for his melon fixation. I think there might be medication for that," she said. "I think he's a mediocre congressman with no legislative record and the only time he makes national press is when he comes out and says something offensive about the undocumented or Hispanics."

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, for one, said King's assertion was "deeply offensive and wrong."

King fired back, insisting his remarks had been twisted: "First of all, I spoke only of drug smugglers."

He then appeared to question Navarro's facility with the English language: "And if Ana understands the language, she should know that. I didn't insult her or other Republicans."

Navarro, an American citizen who was born in Nicaragua before emigrating to the United States in 1980, responded, "I'm not undocumented, Congressman. I vote."

Still, King held fast. "There are people in America who are dying today because of our immigration policy," he said. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57598020/rep-steve-king-stands-by-
divisive-immigration-comments/

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That King, he's a keeper. Just like Romney. Poor Priebus.

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Originally posted by Niki2:
Mmmm, I see the misquote was that some misheard "it hurts us" for "it's racist". The article I put up quoted him correctly. None of the initial reports had the misquote, I imagine that flared up all over hell and gone when it started!

Then again, the more I think about it, he might well have been MISUNDERSTOOD, as well (and misspoke some); he might well have meant "it's horrific for us", meaning the party...he follows the "horrific" remark with "It's not something that has anything to do with our party. But when a candidate makes those comments, obviously it hurts us." That seems to indicate (coming right after "horrific") that he meant that such a comment coming from a candidate was horrific for the GOP, not the illegal immigrants. I'm surprised he didn't clarify that, because the more I think about it, the more I think that might be true. You're right in that suggesting illegal immigrants go back home voluntarily because there's no work isn't "horrific" in and of itself, but it hurt the candidate, ergo the party, pretty bad.

Mostly I think the idea of self-deportation is just all the things you said, so I'm more and more convinced he meant horrific for Republicans. I also wonder why so many were so dumb as to mistake "hurts us" for "racist", when the original quote was out there and all over the place initially. Typical story of people hearing what they want or expect to...the race thing has become hypersensitive, and of course politics is all about "gotcha".

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