The American Spectator

Yesterday Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney released a plan that is designed to make distinction between legal and illegal immigration — and also to defuse a damned if you do, damned if you don’t political issue. The key points:

• Romney wants to “grow our economy by growing legal immigration,” according to a campaign fact sheet
• He would raise caps on high-skilled immigrant visas
• He would also streamline the temporary worker visa process
• Expedite family reuinfication
• Create a path to citizenship for young illegal immigrants who serve honorably in the military
• Balance this with a fairly strong illegal immigration policy including e-verify, better safeguards for people overstaying visas, and completing the border fence

Many of the details still need to be fleshed out, but this is the broad outline. I’m skeptical of both the politics and the policy of this combination, but it is clear he is trying to achieve the difficult balance of being anti-illegal immigration without appearing anti-Hispanic.