Republicans talk tough against illegal immigration

By Steve Holland

MIAMI (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidates stuck to their tough line against illegal immigration at a Spanish-language debate on Sunday, a stance that could spell trouble for them with Hispanic voters in next year's election.

Hispanic-Americans had backed President George W. Bush's plan to grant illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship and watched in dismay as conservatives torpedoed it last summer.

Given the outrage over Bush's proposal to give illegal immigrants a temporary worker status, the overriding Republican position is to vow to improve control over the U.S. border with Mexico and insist that illegal immigrants not be allowed to get ahead of prospective legal immigrants.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney defended his firing last week of a landscaping company that cared for the lawn at his home, saying he terminated the contract with the company because it had employed illegal immigrants even after he had told the company "in no uncertain terms" to stop the practice.

"We're going to end illegal immigration to protect legal immigration," said Romney.

Even Arizona Sen. John McCain, whose campaign almost collapsed because he took a more compassionate approach toward illegal immigration, spoke of the need for better border enforcement.

"We cannot reward illegal behavior. We have to fix the border," McCain said, while adding: "We cannot allow this nation to be inhumane or without love and compassion."

The debate, sponsored by Univision, dealt largely with issues important to Hispanic voters, and was a far more gentlemanly affair than some of the recent Republican encounters.