Rick Perry Facing Immigration Backlash in Iowa

While visiting Iowa last weekend, Texas governor and 2012 presidential hopeful Rick Perry vowed to introduce a detailed “when-I’m-president” jobs plan. Instead, Mr. Perry found himself confronting an entirely different issue: immigration.

Since the GOP debate in late September in which Mr. Perry labelled his opponents “heartless” for opposing legislation he passed allowing the children of illegal immigrants to attend public colleges for in-state tuition rates, the Texan has been forced to abandon emphasizing his economic record. Rather, Mr. Perry began three campaign stops in Iowa explaining the various steps he took to enforce immigration laws. Specifically, he spoke to audiences about his veto of legislation that would have granted driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants and the law he signed that requires voters to show proper identification.

However, many in the audience at these events were not convinced by these rather meager claims by Mr. Perry. In fact, a large number of audience members were not at all shy about expressing their skepticism, as they repeatedly and bluntly asked him to explain the aforementioned in-state tuition law. To his credit, Mr. Perry did not repeat his “heartless” claim –  but nor did he rescind it. In fact, the Texas governor actually sought to provide an economic rationale for his controversial legislation:

“Are we going to kick these people to the side of the road and let them become tax wasters? Or are we going to give them an opportunity to go to an institution of higher learning, pay full in-state tuition, which we do, and require them to pursue citizenship? The issue was really driven by economics.”

Despite Mr. Perry’s best efforts to dissuade his opponents, they have shown little interest in dropping the immigration issue. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, Mr. Perry’s main rival, released a flier on the eve of Mr. Perry’s arrival in Iowa which stated that the Texas tuition legislation amounted to a break of about $70,000 per student; Mr. Romney, in the days following the September debate, also called the legislation a “subsidy” and a “magnet” for potential illegal immigrants.

Although he is certainly facing a significant amount of scrutiny, Mr. Perry may be relieved by the fact that many voters interviewed after his speeches stressed that the Texan’s immigration positions are in no way a dealbreaker. “Texas is its own country,” said one woman. “He’s under the gun down there.”

As this writer previously noted, it is perhaps geography that trumps Mr. Perry’s political ideology, and the woman quoted seems to agree. Texas, a border state, boasts a population that is about 38% Hispanic. When compared to the Hispanic populations of other Republican hopefuls’ states — Massachusetts, Minnesota, Georgia, Utah — one can begin to understand Mr. Perry’s rather moderate stance. Whether Republican primary voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina will excuse his deviation from the party line remains to be seen.

Watch Gov. Perry’s in-state tuition legislation come under fire during September’s GOP debate here.