Elephant In the Room

Romney Avoids Immigration Issue

Despite large Hispanic population in Florida.

Mitt Romney is avoiding discussing his harsh stances on green cards and the DREAM Act while in Florida—home to 450,000 Hispanic Republicans—and is banking on the hope that the state's Latino voters care more about jobs and the economy than immigration. Luckily for Romney, this hope might not be far off, as Hispanics in Florida largely hail from Cuba and are less concerned with immigration law. They have, for decades, been automatically granted residency after one year in the U.S. Cuban-Americans are, however, concerned about unemployment, which affects 9.9 percent of Florida's citizens—particularly Hispanics—compared with 8.5 percent of all Americans. Still, it's expected that Newt Gingrich's lighter stance on immigration can only help him against Romney in Florida.