Mitt Romney says he favors what he calls “self deportation” over policies that require the federal government to round up illegal immigrants and return them to their home countries, the AP reports.
Romney, speaking at Monday night’s GOP presidential debate in Florida, said the idea behind self deportation is that immigrants will decide they can do better for themselves by returning to their home countries when they can’t find work in the United States.
Romney says if employers enforce high standards for legal documentation of their employees, potential illegal immigrants will not be able to find work. He says this will allow the federal government to avoid having to round up people because they will leave on their own.