on the trump spectrum
Mitt Romney wants to deport all the DREAMers
On a scale of 1-to-Trump, Mitt Romney wants you to know his conservatism is off the charts.
Speaking in Utah on Monday, Romney, who is running for Senate in the solid-red state, reassured the crowd of his deeply conservative views and described himself as even more conservative than President Trump on many issues.
"For instance, I'm a deficit hawk," Romney said, per the Daily Herald out of Provo, Utah. "That makes me more conservative than a lot of Republicans and a lot of Democrats. I'm also more of a hawk on immigration than even the president. My view was these DACA kids shouldn't all be allowed to stay in the country legally."
Romney, who is running to fill the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch (R), told the audience that he is actually more right-leaning than he appeared during his 2012 presidential campaign, which he says adopted a more "mainstream conservative" platform.
His new bid for office will apparently double down on his previous claim that he was "severely conservative," opposing legal residence for hundreds of thousands of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients. The DACA program allows people who immigrated to the U.S. illegally as children to avoid deportation and obtain work authorization. Trump announced the end of the program in 2017.
"I was more conservative than others in my party," said Romney on Monday. "Now I will accept the president's view on this, but for me, I draw the line and say, those who've come illegally should not be given a special path to citizenship."