Romney Pushes Back on 'Anti-Immigrant' Charge

Immigration took center stage today as Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich fought for votes among Latinos in Florida:

• Romney criticized Gingrich for calling him "anti-immigrant," calling it "very sad for a candidate to resort to that sort of epithet," reports ABC. At a Univision forum, he added: "I’m not anti-immigrant, I’m pro-immigrant. I like immigration. Immigration has been an extraordinary source of strength in this country."
• Gingrich pulled a Spanish-language ad using the phrase against Romney after Sen. Marco Rubio criticized it as "inflammatory," notes the Miami Herald.
• Even though his father was born in Mexico, Romney said he didn't really consider himself a Mexican-American. “I don’t think people would think I was being honest with them if I said I was Mexican-American,” he said, joking that he would "love to be able to convince people of that, particularly in a Florida primary.”
• A new CNN/Time poll has the two candidates in a statistical dead heat in the state, with Romney at 36% and Gingrich at 34%. Behind them are Rick Santorum (11%) and Ron Paul (9%). More at CNN.

Click to read about how Gingrich thinks the US should give Cuba the same attention as Libya. (More Mitt Romney 2012 stories.)