Sen. John McCain, a top Romney surrogate, told reporters on Tuesday that the presumptive nominee supports immigration reform, despite Romney’s statements to the contrary, reports the Huffington Post. Romney does not support a path to citizenship, a key element of comprehensive reform.
“He’s already said that immigration reform is something that he’s committed to,” McCain said.
McCain also denied that Romney supports a policy of self-deportation, the idea behind the Arizona and Alabama immigration laws — though Romney has touted self-deportation as “the answer.”
“No he hasn’t. He’s said that’s one of the options he’s looked at,” McCain said. “So don’t put words in his mouth.”
But in a GOP primary debate in January, Romney expressed support for the policy:
The answer is self-deportation, which is people decide they can do better by going home because they can’t find work here because they don’t have legal documentation to allow them to work here.
